<p>I currently took a semester off due family problems and I am planning on applying for college for the spring semester. I was just wondering if applying for spring admissions will drastically affect my financial aid package. I know I am not eligible for State aid and that some public universities will not grant me merit scholarships either but will it have an effect on private universities? I plan on applying to University of Maryland at College Park, University of Tampa, and Clark University and I am sure with my grades I will be above the average ( average for UMCP ). Any advice? Any Colleges that you know that offer incoming freshman for spring admissions that offer financial aid will also be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>I think you should skip spring and apply for next fall…unless your family will happily pay the costs. If your parents won’t pay, how will you pay? </p>
<p>Do you qualify for much aid? </p>
<p>Yes I do think I qualify for a lot of aid. I am an independent student under Fafsa and my parents are not willing to aid either. Federal aid I will receive maximum but I am in hopes that I will be granted some merit aid from the university I plan on attending. </p>
<p>You should out and out ask the admissions offices at the universities you are considering. Usually, the merit money and a lot of other funds are gone by the end of the fall admissions cycle is the way it works at most universities I know that give merit aid at all, and those that do not guarantee to meet full need. Even many of them that do guarantee to meet full need are out of certain favored funds like SEOG, Perkins, and may have to resort to secondary resources. The mantra for financial aid and merit money is to get those apps in as early as you can. But again, this can vary from school to school, so do ask. Ask Admissions if they have ANY scholarships for those applying in the spring and if the chances are the same, better or not as good to get any merit money as a spring applicant. Also ask that if you do apply and are accepted as a spring applicant, if you are eligible for as many awards the next fall that are offered to the next crop of students or if you are now a returning student that does not get considered for those awards. The schools you have mentioned do not guarantee to meet full need and do not tend to do so, and use merit to try to get the students they most want in the fall. How they treat spring applicants, you need to aske them. So after talking to Admissions to find out how you would stand in merit money, call up the financial aid offices and talk to an officer there and ask what the situation is for aid for spring applicants, and whether you would do better as a fall applicant, and as noveau rather than a transfer (don’t take courses that would change your status that way if those schools that interest you say that first time freshman applicants get the best choices in aid and merit ).</p>
<p>The one area where you will benefit is in the Direct Loans. You can borrow the full amount of Direct Loans for a spring term, whereas if you start in the fall, you can only borrow half that amount for each term. that is a quirk in the way the Direct loans are set up. Also you likely could use some of the direct loan towards summer courses if you have anything left over. </p>
<p>Frankly, I think you are better off applying in the fall, but ask and let us know what each school answered.</p>
<p>Are you a transfer student? You mentioned semester off…</p>
<p>@BrownParent No I am not a transfer. I just graduated high school…
@cptofthehouse Do you know of any schools that meet the full need? Likewise would I be able to receive Perkin Loans and FSEOG the next year if I come in for the spring semester?</p>
<p>There are about 60 colleges that meet full need, they are competitive. What are your stats? You would have to apply for fall and count this as a gap year. You would not take any classes meanwhile so you preserve your freshman status for aid.
<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014</a></p>
<p>I am afraid that if I apply for the next fall semester I will be ineligible for Federal Aid because I claiming independence on stance of homelessness. I was declared by my school’s liaison but since I graduated I will be unable to get another letter because I no longer attend the school. The 2015 - 2016 school year I require I would require verification of my homelessness after July 1st 2014 which I am unable to obtain. However, I am contemplating on applying for the fall semester anyways as I would be eligible for the Merit based scholarships. Hypothetically though, If I was to complete the fafsa to the best of my knowledge ( Indicating that my parents refuse to give any of their information and unable to obtain a dependency override for my situation ), would I still be eligible for the Merit base scholarships?
@Brownparent 29ACT, 3.6 GPA with a few AP classes. </p>
<p>@kelsmom works in financial aid and has already said you likely qualify for Independent status. If you qualify in the spring you will qualify for the fall, I believe. The documents you already have may be sufficient. You can also get more recent verification from any organization you are using perhaps. How old are you and when is b-day month?</p>
<p>Where are you living and where are you planning to live this fall? Maybe spring will be best if you can get sufficient aid so that you will have somewhere to live. But those meets needs schools are usually fall admissions. Unless your state meets need. (Forget places you mentioned like SDSU where you get little/no aid.)</p>
<p>Are you working?</p>
<p>M or F?</p>
<p>State of residency?</p>
<p>Are you still wanting a nursing program.</p>
<p>@Brownparent @kelsmom How would I go about on the Fafsa than for the 2015 - 2016 though? Because I was not declared after july 1st of 2014 but the year prior which is why I qualify for the upcoming fall and spring semester. I turn 18 next month so right now I am 17, and I currently living with my grandparents but my shelter typically ranges from friends and extended family.
- I was unable to hold down my job while being migratory but when I turn 18 it should be easier
- Male
- NH
- Yes</p>
<p>Are you sure you would be independent for FAFSA? </p>
<p>@Erin’s dad. Yes I am 100% sure because I applied to colleges for this fall semester and I passed its verification. I am unsure I would for the next year because I wasn’t determined by my homeless liaison. </p>
<p>I don’t want to misrepresent so wait for @kelsmom or someone else to confirm everything I say here. But I think that with the homeless designation your have now, and police and CPS reports that the financial aid officers can use something called Professional Judgement to process you as Independent. Called a Dependency Override based on your well documented abuse and abandonment that occurred as a minor.
<a href=“Dependency Overrides - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid;
<p>You will need to fill out the FAFSA for 2014-15 to get aid for spring so you might as well do that now while you are 17, it is free and easy, and it will be ready to go if you find spring admission and aid. You will say YES to unaccompanied homeless youth and have your first FAFSA on file as independent with zero income. Then you can file a 2015-16 FAFSA as soon as Jan 2 and also file independent and answer YES; Right?</p>
<p>So filing means you can get the Pell grant of 5,500 and the student loan of 5,730. Any aid after that has to be from your state for your state school, if available. Or from the college itself. Or from outside sources.</p>
<p>I think the Direct Loan is $5500 and the Pell is $5730. But it’s the same amount total.</p>
<p>@brownparent for the 2015 - 2016 the Fafsa will ask " On or after July 1, 2014, were you homeless or were you self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?" I can choose yes but it will be followed by 3 questions regarding my homelessness.
-" At any time on or after July 1, 2014, did your high school or school district homeless liaison determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?"
- “At any time on or after July 1, 2014, did the director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?”
- “At any time on or after July 1, 2014, did the director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?”
If I fail to choose yes to one of the following 3 questions I will still be considered dependent. The reason why I am independent now is because my school district homeless liaison determined it. I might be able to get away with a dependency override but I am extremely paranoid about that because If it fails I might not be able to go to college till I am 24.</p>
<p>@thumper1 If I enter in as an independent the Pell Grant would remain the same but I would be eligible for Direct loans of $9500 ( $3500 Subsidized ) for the first year. < <a href=“https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized”>https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized</a> ></p>
<p>What I also might be able to get away with is the tuition waiver offered for unaccompanied homeless youth in Maryland. I failed to send a Maryland school prior to the March 1st deadline, I didn’t know of this tuition waiver till a few weeks ago ( hoping that I still might be able to get this waiver for the spring semester ), but no where on the website does it say that there is a given date of determination. < <a href=“http://www.mhec.state.md.us/financialaid/ProgramDescriptions/prog_homelessyouth.asp”>http://www.mhec.state.md.us/financialaid/ProgramDescriptions/prog_homelessyouth.asp</a> ></p>
<p>Yes, that is correct for the Direct Loan amount for an independent student. </p>
<p>Did you not even read my post or my link about Professional Judgement and Dependency Override? </p>
<p>Yes you can get more Loan if you have to when you are independent.</p>
<p>What about the colleges you got accepted to from last applications? What were they? Did you think about calling them to see if they have room for fall still?</p>
<p>@BrownParent No I read it but what I am saying about a dependency override is that I am paranoid about it as It would let to the judgement of financial administrator. I got accepted into UNH, UC, and UT. I contacted them and was unable to get a spot. </p>