Suggestions for a VERY nontraditional transfer student!

College Search & Selection
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@catssaymeow you are what they call an “outlier” and many of the colleges being suggested will value that. I am glad that Swarthmore and Haverford recognized your value.

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Meeting the FAFSA independence test (age 24, married, military veteran, or a few other less common criteria) may do it. But some private colleges do not follow the FAFSA rule and may consider FAFSA independent students to still be dependent on their parents.

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I have never heard of this, do you have any examples of schools that do this? Usually the private colleges are more likely to do a dependency override for students who don’t qualify for FAFSA independence, rather than the other way around.

@kelsmom Can a private school even do this…override a student who is independent per FAFSA and make them a dependent/require parent financials?

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I don’t know if I am classified as an independent but after I attended college I was shunned by my family. I live on someone’s couch right now. I had a bad semester because of that and also kidney stones which I couldn’t afford to pay the medical bills for. I think losing your entire support system might be a good reason for a lower grade.

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Barnard: General Policies | Barnard College

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Thanks for your response! I’ll definitely apply

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@catssaymeow how are you paying for community college?

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FAFSA dependent or independent status is described at Federal Student Aid

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Thanks for sharing that, I did not know that is Barnard’s policy. I do wonder in practice how that works, because generally if a student has legal guardians, the parents are not in the picture (dead, in jail, unstable mental health, homeless, etc.).

It’s pathetic that Barnard would make independent students like this (I work with many) go through the steps needed to re-certify that they are independent, after they already did that on FAFSA. That’s quite the barrier/equity issue.

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Community college is free. I go get fasfa and Pell grants but they had a free community college promise for the graduating class of 2021 because of COVID.

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@catssaymeow so you have never had the need to complete the financial aid application forms.

Please please, go and speak to the transfer advisor at your college. It’s very possible they can give you some good guidance!

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Believe me, I am very frustrated about it. I feel my own future slipping down the drain. I have adult ADHD and something always seems to go wrong at the last second- like a bad test or assignment and it all goes down the drain. It’s incredibly frustrating and I often feel like I will never escape from my circumstances.

Thanks for your input though, my grades are entirely my responsibility no matter what I am going through in life.

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Do you get the Pell Grant? If so…who completed the FAFSA? Or is this a typo?

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Sorry for the typo. My mom had helped me fill out the fasfa and I just use the IRS data retrieval tool. She won’t be able to help PAY because of the whole religon thing and the issues with shunning, but the estimated family contribution was already under 1,000 dollars.

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So will your mom continue to help you complete the FAFSA, and if needed, the CSS Profile?

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Yes.

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How Do I Qualify as a FAFSA Independent Student? - Finaid
You can only qualify as an independent student on the FAFSA if you are at least 24 years of age , married, on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, financially supporting dependent children, an orphan (both parents deceased), a ward of the court, or an emancipated minor.

You should have health insurance for kidney stones and help with ADHD. Does community college allow attendance without it? Have you applied for Medicaid?

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I have insurance through my job!

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The student says her mom will complete the FAFSA with her. She is not looking to be independent it seems.

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A catssaymeow this is why I asked about insurance.

@thumper1 the mom did help fill out the FAFSA but can’t pay and the student is “shunned,” so there was quite a bit of discussion about independent status. I didn’t realize ucbalumnus had already posted the criteria but it seemed appropriate otherwise.

A friend of my daughter waited for college until she was old enough to be independent (23 as long as you turn 24 by 12/31).

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