Strange family situation

Paying for College
1

<p>So, I have a very strange family situation (that I'd rather not discuss) that leaves me and my two younger brothers living with my grandparents. My mother passed away at the beginning of soph year and my father isn't "around." The house that we lived in is valued at 250K and is now under the name of me and my brothers (even though we're all under 18?). It's vacant now, and on the market, but nobody has even considered buying it. My brothers and I were left with some money of my mothers and her life insurance, which after being split 3 ways, leaves us each at about 30K, plus the value of the house. I have really been considering Northwestern, but due to their high costs, I don't even know if this is realistic. If it is, I'm afraid that they'll expect me to use up all of my 30K, which I really would like to have after college for grad school/an apartment, etc and living expenses during college. My grandparents are somewhat financially stable but already explained to me that they won't be able to help me pay for college, so I'm completely on my own. I want to try not to take out too many loans for undergrad since I'm sure that I'll have to take out many for grad/med school. Is Northwestern within reach financially (if I get accepted), or should I just try public schools. </p>

<p>I'm completely clueless about all of this since I'm the first one in my family to ever go to a four year university, so any help would be greatly appreciated :)</p>

2

<p>Your situation is one of those where you will benefit from discussing your situation with the college's financial aid advisors. You can always contact NW's financial aid office & talk to them. They can't give you any "for sures," but they can give you general advice. NW is a Profile school, so you won't be able to tell how they'd treat your situation by using an aid calculator.</p>

3

<p>Post this question on Parents forum also. Good luck! If NU isn't feasible, UIUC is still a fine school.</p>

4

<p>I'm sorry about your mom. :(</p>

<p>It's very likely you will have to use the proceeds of the house sale and the $30K for school expenses. This is not a bad idea, especially if this helps you stay out of debt. If you would like to conserve some cash -- also not a bad idea -- you could take on some debt rather than deplete your cash. So long as it's a reasonable amount of debt, that would allow you to hold onto some of the cash and earn some interest on it to offset some of the interest you are paying on the debt.</p>

<p>Please find a range of colleges you'd like to attend (reaches, matches, safeties) rather than pinning all hopes and dreams on one college, and look for colleges at which you may be able to get merit money.</p>

<p>If you have specific questions about the financial aid available from a particular college, it's best to check that college's website/talk to one of their financial aid advisers for information.</p>

5

<p>You need to figure out whether you will be considered an independent or a dependent student for financial aid purposes. Your personal assets will be treated more favorably if you are an independent student. If you are a dependent student, expect most of the 30K to go towards your Expected Family Contribution (EFC.)</p>

<p>You can start by visiting FAFSA</a> - Free Application for Federal Student Aid and clicking on the "Determine Your Dependency Status" link to figure out if you will be considered Independent, or if there is anything you can do to become one (which is usually very hard to do.)</p>

6

<p>I'll be considered independent, which I hope will help me financially. Thanks for all the answers, they are very helpful. :) Although Northwestern isn't set in stone, it's still nice to have some kind of idea of what will happen financially, and Sam Lee, you are right, UIUC is an excellent school ans is a close second with NU.</p>

7

<p>What are your stats? Can you get merit aid?</p>

<p>You mentioned med school. Did you score high enough on the PSAT in the 11th grade to become a National Merit semi-finalist? What score did you get on the PSAT? You can go online and find out whether you scored high enough to be a NMSF.</p>

<p>If you are a NMSF, you can go free (everything--room, board, tuition) to U. Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS.</p>

<p>If you get to finalist (based on being NMSF and your GPA), then you can go free to U. Alabama at Huntsville.</p>

<p>If that doesn't work: What about community college for 2 years? Now that would be practical, costs half (at least) of what a state university would charge and you get your basic classes done. Then transfer to a 4 year college for the last 2 years. My sister's former sister-in-law (very well off) "encouraged" (i.e. flat out told) her 2 sons to go to community college first, then the state university to finish. One is currently at M.I.T. now for grad school. </p>

<p>I would be looking at saving that money (the $30,000) for a downpayment on a house someday.</p>

8

<p>It looks like you will have an EFC of close to $0.</p>

<p>To check if that is the case, go to FAFSA4caster</a> - U.S. Department of Education and run your own numbers.</p>

<p>You should also find out what will happen to the numbers when your house sells and you suddenly get tens of thousands more in your name. You want to make sure you don't end up paying taxes on that income and also having it show up as income on your FAFSA, a double whammy.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, a low EFC does not guarantee a free ride. There are other threads on this forum on the subject, e.g.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/288982-does-anyone-else-here-have-efc-0-a.html?highlight=efc+0%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/288982-does-anyone-else-here-have-efc-0-a.html?highlight=efc+0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Financial aid is a strange animal. It may be cheaper for you to attend a generous private school than a less expensive public one. You may also get merit aid at a school where your stats put you close to the top of the class. Best luck in your search.</p>

<p>PS: Regarding PSAT, did you make National Hispanic Scholar? Some schools are as generous with NHS as with NMSF.</p>

9

<p>I'm not so sure about the 0 EFC. The house in your name, whether sold or not, is an asset, just like the 30K, and will be considered as such. Schools do not generally think it's incumbent on them to leave you with assets to start life with post-college, as most student will not have these ( though they may or may not have gone through the exigencies you have. I work at a school where hundreds of students have had difficult to horrendous life experiences, and none will graduate with anything remotely defined by the word "asset.")</p>

<p>You might want to focus on merit schools which could award you scholarships regardless of your assets.</p>

10

<p>Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Female
ACT: 28 (9 on writing)
GPA: 3.95 (unweighted); 4.14 (weighted)
Rank: 7/320
ECs: Key club, drama club, varsity tennis, German club, Class Gov., National Honor Society, and I have had a part-time job sine September of 2007</p>

<p>Our school only offers AP US History and AP Calculus, (I took APUSH last year, and I'll be in calc this coming year) but we offer duel credit with a community college in English, Sociology, Pyschology, APUSH, AP Calc, and Western Civilization... all of which I have or will be taking. Also, I've taken all science courses offered including Adv. Chemistry, that was only not considered an AP course (even though we used an AP book) because the teacher isn't certified to teach an AP class and this was the first year that the school offered it.</p>

<p>I've taken the hardest courseload possible and will conclude with:
4 Years of honors English (We consider the duel class "honors")
6 Years Science (Bio, Adv. Bio, Chem, Adv. Chem, Phys, Earth Sci)
4 Years Math (Geometry, Adv. Alg, Pre-Calc/Trig, AP Calc)
4 Years foreign lang. (German)
4 Years Social Science/History (world hist, APUSH, sociology, physcology, west. civ.)</p>

<p>The rest of my classes were devoted to graduation requirements (P.E., Dr. Ed, etc.)</p>

<p>Those are my stats copied and pasted from another forum.
Pensive123, I unfortunately was never informed what the PSAT even was until it was late, so therefore cannot benefit from that. The thing with the community college is all the duel credit classes I'll be taking and AP test credits... I've considered and talked to my GC and he said I'd only need a semester there before I'd have to transfer, so that kinda ruined that.</p>

<p>Thanks for the input everybody! Anybody know any good schools in Illinos I could get good merit based aid with my stats?</p>

<p>Thanks again :)</p>

11

<p>I think it is a good idea to consult with one of the professionals.</p>

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<p>You would probably be a great "catch" for some strong LACs. If you are interested in a small school environment, you should have some good options. Large schools are good bets, too ... it's just that some of the small, private schools have great merit opportunities! Schools are looking to increase their Hispanic enrollment, and you are a strong candidate. Check out some of the smaller schools in the midwest that offer merit scholarships - do a search on the forums & go to websites to see if a particular school interests you. Check out a few reaches, too. If you put together a compelling application, you will generate some good interest.</p>

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<p>The 0 EFC was calculated assuming that the OP qualifies for the Simplified Means Test, which does not take assets into account. Only the OP has enough information to know if this is in fact the case. That's why I suggested she run her own calculations.</p>

<p>I should also have mentioned that a $0 FAFSA EFC does not guarantee a similar EFC from private colleges using the institutional methodology.</p>

14

<p>It sort of sounds like you live in the Chicago area? I would second the advice to look at some of the strong private LACs that are within 6--8 hours drive from you (even if you don't live right around there). They might also be able to be more flexible as far as your unfortunate personal situation. </p>

<p>Try Illinois Wesleyan or Augustana College--Rock Island, Beloit or Lawrence in Wisconsin, Carleton, Macalester, St. Olaf, Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline in MN, Luther, Grinell, Cornell in Iowa, Valparaiso in Indiana. Wonderful schools, some of them have a lot of money to award (Grinell) or a lot of heart (the religious ones). Most of them are dedicated, and financially dedicated, to increasing their diversity. </p>

<p>You WILL have to have SOME basic information about your father, in order to do the FAFSA. It just won't go thru the computer, and you HAVE to do the FAFSA as the basic building block of financial aid applications. You will need at least his name, birthday, and social security number. You could leave all the rest of the information on him, blank, and the system will "spit it back" (verification) and you will need to explain the circumstances to the finan. aid people wherever you are accepted and they are working on a finan. aid package for you. Don't worry, that part will be in the winter, but you will need to get that info from him, and if he is not "around' it could take all fall.</p>

<p>Most of the schools I have mentioned have good med. school acceptance rates. And they are wonderful schools! Particularly the ones below the CConfidential radar, will be easier to get into and are looking for students like you. Luther, and one or 2 others I believe, have very high yield rates--meaning that the students that are accepted there, REALLY want to go there, and the institution really wants them. Which is the best--trumps name and status any day!</p>

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<p>I would imagine that the OP has a social worker assigned to her family given the circumstances. I suspect the social worker can get the Father's information so the OP can fill out the FAFSA, etc.</p>