<p>Hi all,
I've been lurking a while, but this is my first post, and I'm in total panic mode. Here's the deal. My daughter was accepted to a UC last fall. A few things happened:
1. her aid was drastically reduced due to UC anticipating a political move that did not happen
2. her heart wasn't set on this college after orientation, and the classes she got during registration were terrible
3. her dad and I separated and all of a sudden taking out a 22K loan wasn't something we could do at that moment.</p>
<p>She is taking CLEPS and just registered for spring at a local CC. Has applied to more reasonably priced schools next year. (She's my 1st in college, and I didn't realize her safety school was one of the most impacted schools in the US) She was way overqualified academically and didn't get in.
BUT! She was just accepted for Spring at a private school that has a $50K sticker price per year. (I thought she applied for Fall 2013 and we'd have plenty of notice as to final cost)
I realize I can't correct fafsa because we weren't separated when it was submitted, so I will submit a new one Jan 1st. The school expects a decision within the next 2 weeks. How are we supposed to decide whether we can afford to send her or not without any idea of aid package? Should I call the office and explain that our financial situation is drastically different from the beginning of the year?
Thanks!</p>
<p>I think you need to ask for her enrollment to be delayed until Fall. You can’t use the next FAFSA for this spring’s enrollment. You have to use the one that you already filed.</p>
<p>Besides…spring enrollees usually get horrible aid.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses.
No, I can’t afford to send her without aid. It’s her #1 choice, and that one school that you apply to hoping to get a good aid package, lol. Every other school she applied to was a state school, this was the only private.
I’ll call them tomorrow and see what they say. I read on another thread that admissions has the option to take changes in the fafsa into consideration? At this point, she can’t even get in to see her bill without accepting enrollment first.
Thanks again</p>
<p>Have you tried the NPC on the website? Again, keep in mind that spring admissions often don’t get as much aid.</p>
<p>Is this school known to give good aid? </p>
<p>Does it require CSS Profile? If not, then it may not give great aid. Usually privates that give great aid require CSS Profile and often require the NCP’s info as well. </p>
<p>Will your husband be contributing?</p>
<p>*she can’t even get in to see her bill without accepting enrollment first. *</p>
<p>You need to call the school. It shouldn’t require you to accept enrollment (or pay a deposit) before you’ve seen the FA pkg.</p>
<p>I have to get the tax returns from my soon to be ex to do the calculator. The good news is, in Fall the numbers look good, lol.
The school indicated on its website that over 80% of students get aid, and the average is about 22K.
CSS profile is not required. (That’s a good tip about CSS being an indicator of aid, thanks)
Her dad will be contributing, per the divorce agreement, but he has a cap, so anything over that will be my responsibility. I’ve been a SAHM so no job yet.
I’ll call them, thanks.</p>
<p>“average aid” doesn’t tell you how much you can expect. That can mean that some receive $10k and some get $30k and the average is about $22k. It can also mean that some are getting state aid or fed aid because they’ll low income. </p>
<p>How much does the school cost in total? $50k? If so, then if you got about $20k in aid, that leaves about $30k…is that affordable? How much does the dad have to pay for? </p>
<p>You need to call the school and ask what they will do with your currently filed FAFSA (filed before the separation). </p>
<p>Also ask if aid will be better if your D delays enrollment til Fall.</p>
<p>Call the school & explain that you were divorced after filing the FAFSA. They can choose to allow a parent to update marital status. However, even if you end up with a low EFC, most schools do not have aid available for spring starts … another thing to ask about.</p>
<p>Since your divorce isn’t yet final, I think it would be better to delay these decisions til Fall. Right now there seems to be too many unknowns.</p>
<p>From what others have posted, when NCPs are ordered to pay for college, then there are some other important things that are given up. For a SAHM, those things may be too hard to give up. </p>
<p>It also sounds that you have other children. </p>
<p>Unless you know for sure what child support, spousal support, health insurance coverage, etc, will be, it may be too hard to know.</p>
<p>I also wouldn’t have your D take any CC classes this spring. You don’t want to ruin her status as an incoming frosh.</p>
<p>I’m not certain about CLEP but AP and IB credit won’t hurt her freshman status. I don’t <em>think</em> CLEP hurts either, but like I said I’m not as familiar with that program.</p>
<p>CLEP will not affect her status because like AP and IB it is up to each college/university to decide which CLEP exam (if any) counts for college credit. </p>
<p>If the aid situation can’t be sorted out in time, your daughter should stay out of school for spring semester and apply for the fall. Not what she wants to hear, I know, but given that the family financial situation is tenuous, it may be best in the long run.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for all the replies.
I called fin aid office this morning and they were very helpful. They gave me an pretty accurate estimate of what aid she is currently eligible for based on her scores, GPA, etc.</p>
<p>They also gave me an idea of what she would qualify for if she waited until Fall, but again, not based on my new financial situation. Just on University Aid, a Presidential Scholarship, etc.</p>
<p>She also suggested that if I sent in my separation documents and an estimate of income, we may be able to get a Pell Grant. But it would not affect need based aid for this year. She will call admissions to have them input some missing information, and will try to get the aid package up by tomorrow.</p>
<p>She did suggest that either I wait until Fall, or let my daughter go to CC and come in as a Junior. I guess we will make that decision based on what the “amount due” number looks like.</p>
<p>It’s kind of a strange situation though. If the admissions and fin aid office doesn’t get her info in by tomorrow, the first day back from break is the day she’s supposed to start school. Yikes!
Thanks again everyone</p>
<p>She did suggest that either I wait until Fall, or let my daughter go to CC and come in as a Junior. I guess we will make that decision based on what the “amount due” number looks like.</p>
<p>Coming in as a junior probably means that she won’t get the Presidential scholarship…likely only for incoming frosh.</p>
<p>Call and ask what their holiday hours are. They may not be closed the whole time. </p>
<p>I think waiting til Fall is the best idea.</p>
<p>There’s also another big reason to start in the fall. Schools usually have big welcome activities for new frosh in the fall which helps with making new friends, etc. Coming in the spring means missing all these things…and many of the frosh have already made their social friends.</p>
