<p>All good advice. You are applying to a very expensive school, one that many of us cannot afford for our children and are asking them to front you the money to attend so don’t take it personallly, but on some level they do have a moral obligation to ensure that your need is genuine. They don’t walk in your shoes, so they are sitting at a distance looking at numbers on paper. Sit down with your mom and have her put together her monthly/annual budget with you. Where the money comes from and how she affords to support the family so you understand. As others have said, if your father is deceased there may be social security income, etc. that you might not be aware of. Did you sit with her when you filled out the finaid forms? When that is all done (and you understand the situation down to the last cent), then write your response to the college. Perhaps you already know the answers, but if not,you need to take the time to understand. There are many fixed costs each month in addition to rent such as utilities, garbage, etc. that may or may not be included in your rent. Perhaps you don’t have TV,phone, internet, medical co-pays etc. We don’t know and neither do the colleges. But most people at first glance would say that your family cannot possible live on the income you mention with the rent cost you state along with life’s other “expenses.” If you and your mom discover any errors (eg social security income that was not reported, monthly income checks from relatives, etc.) fix your errors. At your income level it probably won’t make much difference, but I agree that you need to be abit more proactive about your situation in light of the money you are asking to be contributed to your family from the colleges. You are not over thinking. It is serious to be applying to expensive colleges and asking them to pay the cost.</p>
<p>oops cross-posted with Sue…really, though, just another reason to understand. Perhaps the grandparents can assist with understanding the financial situation in order for the OP to respond.</p>
<p>*OP is living with grandparents in CA and mom is in UT *</p>
<p>Well that clarifies a lot. The grandparents have been largely supporting the OP. I wonder why mom’s rent is so high in Utah for 2 people (if the younger sib is living with mom)</p>
<p>I’m wondering if the father had been the breadwinner. In any case, my condolences on the loss of your father, flyingllama.</p>
<p>It sounds like the OP has applied ED to Middlebury. That being the case, the college is probably trying to craft a financial aid package to go with an ED decision…wouldn’t that be the case? Otherwise, the deadline for filing the Profile is after the first of the year. </p>
<p>OP…just do as others have suggested…get all of your mom’s finances listed out…both expenses and the means for meeting those expenses. I think you will likely need to explain how your grandparents are supporting you and the reason your permanent address is Utah, but you are graduating from a public high school in CA (right?). </p>
<p>Just document it accurately and get it to Middlebury ASAP. Good luck to you!!</p>
<p>I don’t think he applied ED, so good question, why is Midd so early out of the box?</p>
<p>OP has posted numerous times about the grandparents helping and previously living with them. I could see them wanting their adult child being independent so perhaps that’s why they don’t all live together now. He also posted, I believe, his father died as a college student before his birth, so good chance he had not paid in enough to SS for survivor benefits.</p>
<p>The issue is that we all know Profile colleges look for every cent. Midd is looking at what they have (maybe they use IM?) and saying no one who lives only on this income pays that much for rent. Especially in UT. </p>
<p>This family is probably going to need to defend itself. And I’m thinking saying all of their food comes from charity is probably not the best way.</p>
<p>Even if the grandparents gift enough for food and necessities, it probably won’t push the EFC much past zero and he’d still be qualified for maximum Federal aid. My thinking is that it would probably be fine to say the grandparents do this and they didn’t know it needed to be counted as income.</p>
<p>father died before OP was born, read his other posts</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, since your dad passed on, perhaps you are using a life insurance policy pay off or savings from your father, etc? Is that perhaps what is happening?</p>
<p>father died when he was a student at Stanford, probably pretty young. May have not been any insurance money (and since he died ~18 years ago, it could be long gone).</p>
<p>Oh, sorry :(. Well I was just throwing it out there. Wait, the OP’s parents had 2 kids while at Stanford?</p>
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<p>The above are the deadlines for the financial aid application forms for Middlebury (the Profile). FAFSA isn’t completed until after Jan 1.</p>
<p>If the OP didn’t apply ED I or ED II, then why did they even complete the Profile so early? Just curious.</p>
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<p>Sorry? The OP didn’t state that on this thread, so the only way to know would be to do a search to see where that was mentioned.</p>
<p>Wow, lots of posts since the last time I checked. Thank you all for the advice and for caring. </p>
<p>I’ll try to address everything that has been suggested/speculated since I last posted.</p>
<p>Yes, my father passed before I was born. (He actually passed before my mother knew she was pregnant.) We don’t receive any social security benefits, or anything of the sort. Oh and I’ll tell my mom about EITC, thanks.</p>
<p>You have to understand that my mother grew up in France, and knows very little about benefits such as EITC. Many of you grew up in the US and attended prestigious colleges, or have had affluent families / social circles. My mother didn’t even graduate college. She’s doing more than her best with what she knows, and what she is capable of.</p>
<p>I am living in LA with my maternal grandmother and my 15 year old half-sister. My paternal grandparents live in Utah. Both LA and UT grandparents have helped with food. My mother is still in Utah paying the high rent. She is thinking about moving somewhere smaller, now that it seems I am staying in LA for the school year. But right now we’re talking about 2008/2009 incomes, not possible 2010 income/rent.</p>
<p>She has a job teaching some French classes, and she works graveyard shifts at a call center. She cannot live with UT grandparents. They frequently rent their home for money, so it’d become to unstable to move around all the time.</p>
<p>She spent the month of October living without electricity. In Los Angeles, things haven’t been perfect either. I moved here in early September because my mother felt increasing financial strain. However, even here we lived for 3 weeks without running water. We filled containers with hose water from neighbors and used that to shower etc. Churches continue to help us in both LA and UT. Utah grandparents are fine but they are also on a tight budget. We are living miracle to miracle, and nothing is exactly guaranteed.</p>
<p>Now, about income. My mother’s income is exactly 20,200. That’s what’s on the 2008 tax form. I think she received a thousand or two as a tax refund. But 20200 is exactly how much money she earned, pre-tax. This includes money contributed from family members. No more money than that 20200 has been received. Yes, we are living on $20,200 with $1,400 rent. There’s no hidden income… this is the truth. The same goes for 2009, projected.</p>
<p>The problem is that the truth looks like a lie, especially since we’re living on miracles. I’ll explain these things to Middlebury with the form they have supplied me. I am applying RD and have completed the CSS so early because of the Questbridge process. I had to send the CSS to several QB schools, and I decided to send the CSS for non-QB schools to get it over with.</p>
<p>My permanent address is still the one in Utah. If things run smoothly, hopefully I will be able to graduate from this high school in CA, where my temporary address is. Those are the addresses I used for my applications.</p>
<p>Again, there is no extra income. Food has been supplied continuously, though not always regularly, and we have just been living day-to-day and miracle to miracle. The numbers don’t lie.</p>
<p>I like the idea of writing a letter explaining these things to each financial office. I think I’ll do that, especially if more of you concede with the idea. Who else thinks this is necessary? Any other comments on the situation would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Hopefully I’ve covered everything. Thanks again</p>
<p>Ah…I understand about the early Profile. Good luck to you. I hope the finances work out for you!!! And good luck with Questbridge.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think I’d be all that worried. My family of 4 had an impossibly low income, low enough that every year we had to send supporting documentation (tax returns and other documentation) and it never affected my eligibility for financial aid.</p>
<p>No more money than that 20200 has been received. Yes, we are living on $20,200 with $1,400 rent. There’s no hidden income… this is the truth. The same goes for 2009, projected.</p>
<p>I think you need to be careful how you word this… You’re saying that “we” are living on $20k income, but YOU are not. You and your sibling don’t live with your mom. It looks like mom (alone) is living on $20k income. </p>
<p>so, you need to be careful how you word your explanation. It will be more believable if you say that your mom lives on $20k, while you and your sibling live with your grandparents who feed and house you.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that your grandparents’ income will come into play, but at least it’s more believable that your mom is struggling alone on $20k than supporting a family of 3 on $20k with high rent.</p>
<p>llama, the overriding message here is that someone needs to help your mom manage finances. You’re smart, talk to her. That rent is crazy in UT. That’s why colleges will ask.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’m not worried about colleges asking me how this is possible. In fact, I hope they ask me, so that I can clarify the situation for them.</p>
<p>What I’m worried about, is that schools will simply become suspicious and not bother to ask me to explain, and just throw me in the reject pile.</p>
<p>Hopefully they understand that people living on 20K/year are always surviving through gifts/food/miracles. Hopefully they also realixe that people on 20K/year aren’t the most financially-savvy around.</p>
<p>As long as they don’t think I’m lying, I’m happy. I just don’t want this tricky financial situation to overshadow my application.</p>
<p>EDIT: mom2collegekids: thanks. however, for 2008 and part of 2009, we were all living in UT on that 20K income. Only for 3 months have I been in CA with grandmother. So we were living on that income. Now, however, is as you said.</p>
<p>hmom5: I’ll talk to her about all that. right now i was just focusing on the college-app side of the issue but thanks again.</p>
<p>Remember, mom’s rent amount might change soon (for 2010. I’ll get her to move by March/April since that’s when rent and employment contracts end. she’ll also need money to move the stuff, so I’ll get her to instead sell anything instead. but that’s not happening in time for college apps), and the CSS has already been submitted. And those figures (20K and 1400/month) were true nonetheless for 2008 and 2009.</p>
<p>Now that I’ve painted a more complete picture…</p>
<p>1 - Who thinks I should send an explanation letter to each FA office?</p>
<p>2 - Who thinks I should instead wait for colleges to ask me first (like what Middlebury did)? Some colleges might understand the situation, and the fact that we are irregularly being provided food and other supplies, while those that don’t understand the situation will simply ask. I’ve already outlined our situation in my personal statement. Sending explanation letters pro-actively might come across as being insecure and even more suspicious.</p>
<p>Thanks again to everyone who posted in this thread. (I have a Penn interview in 2 hours!!)</p>
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<p>I’ve read a number of your other threads…and MOST of the schools to which you applied (including Middlebury, I believe) are NEED BLIND for admissions. This means that the schools do NOT look at your financial need when they are making admissions decisions.</p>
<p>It is possible that some of your schools are not need blind or are need aware. This means that your family finances ARE taken into consideration when you apply. If that is the case, your ability to pay would be considered when the enrollment management folks help decide who will be admitted or not. </p>
<p>Even WITH your grandparent’s help, it is still very possible that your finances would still put you in the low income range. Didn’t you have to demonstrate low income status to apply for Questbridge?</p>