Unique situation and aid at top schools

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi there. I'm a junior and my father earns around 150k which is seemingly too much for any substantial aid, even for the ivies. However, my sister has a debilitating, life-long disease that ends up costing 80-100k in medical bills a year (and this is after my dad's great insurance). We also have to live in one of the country's most affluent (and consequently most expensive) areas to have access to adequate medical services. My mother can't work because she is my sister's caretaker. Because of this, we are basically desperately broke. I have to pay my parents half of my salary from my minimum wage part-time job just to make ends meet. Suffice to say, even a 10k bill a year wouldn't be doable.</p>

<p>Now, fortunately I have a 4.6 and a 2400 (ivy/stanford caliber stats but I know it is essentially a lottery). I'm 99% confident I will make NMF. This means that there are colleges that will give me a free ride, none of them are ideal or what I would love, but I will definitely go and be grateful if I have no other options.</p>

<p>I'd love to apply to the ivies etc but I'm wondering if anybody knows if the ivies/stanford/MIT would give me more financial aid because of my fairly unique situation. When I asked my counsellor she didn't know (and she to deal with like, 500 kids) and when I tried Harvard calculator it didn't give me any options to put in medical debt. I ask this because I am going to have to budget well in advance to afford application fees and if they don't take special circumstances into consideration there is absolutely no point in me applying.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I’m sorry for your situation.</p>

<p>You would have to seek a special circumstances review. And you would have to demonstrate that your out of pocket expenses were essential…not elective. Most health insurance policies have a cap on annual costs…what you are posting seems HIGH to me, but perhaps that is what it is. If these are essential medical costs, you would have to provide documentation of the costs, and the need for these expenses…to the college. </p>

<p>If these are elective costs, you might not have much luck. If they are essential, you might get some consideration.</p>

<p>I would suggest that you apply to schools with guaranteed merit awards…you are,fortunate to have that option. Then pick one or two selective schools that give need based aid only. Contact the financial aid office with your situation, and see what they say.</p>

<p>There are also some terrific colleges that are selective AND give merit awards as well. Look into Vanderbilt, for example. </p>

3

<p>There is a process that you can complete called a Professional Judgement. You would complete this process at each school. Basically, the school can alter (decrease) your family’s wages/agi/taxes paid on the FAFSA in order to lower your EFC and increase aid. This is in order to make your FAFSA more accurately reflect your family situation. This is a very objective process. You would need to provide proof (receipts) of paid medical expenses that WERE NOT covered by insurance. Each school handles this process differently and the results may be different at each school. </p>

<p>Since a Professional Judgement is a time consuming process for the school, generally this will only be completed once you have been accepted by Admissions. </p>

4

<p>P.S. unless something has changed, there IS a place on the Profile to explain other things that might affect your financial status. You absolutely can put information about these medical expenses in that section. But do contact the schools anyway as they will absolutely want documentation of the necessity for these expenses, AND that they have been submitted to insurance and denied…and why they were denied.</p>

5

<p>While there is a place on Profile, there may not be a place on the NPC’s so the student isn’t getting an accurate estimate.</p>

<p>"If these are elective costs, " </p>

<p>Yes, if some of these non-covered insurance costs are elective then schools may not consider. Are you sure that the costs are THAT much? If so, then every year your family is going to be adding more and more debt. </p>

<p>Since your dad has “great insurance” and that usually means a “max out of pocket” each year, that suggests to me that some of those costs aren’t really medical. (I think my H’s great insurance has a max out of pocket of like $5k or 10k per year…I realize some would be higher, but “great insurance” shouldn’t have an OOP cost of $80k+ per year.</p>

<p>Does you sister qualify for any gov’t assistance benefits? If your family hasn’t looked into that, they should. </p>

<p>"s. My mother can’t work because she is my sister’s caretaker. Because of this, we are basically desperately broke. I have to pay my parents half of my salary from my minimum wage part-time job just to make ends meet. Suffice to say, even a 10k bill a year wouldn’t be doable.</p>

<p>Now, fortunately I have a 4.6 and a 2400 (ivy/stanford caliber stats but I know it is essentially a lottery). I’m 99% confident I will make NMF. This means that there are colleges that will give me a free ride, none of them are ideal or what I would love, but I will definitely go and be grateful if I have no other options."</p>

<p>To further address your question…You can go ahead and apply to some ivies if you want, but be aware that getting in anyway is like a lottery…and then getting enough aid may be an even more difficult. </p>

<p>If your family is running a debt EVERY year, then that suggests that they can’t really pay ANYTHING towards college. I doubt a school will give you a “0 family contribution”. </p>

<p>Ask your parents how much they CAN pay each year. If the answer is “nothing” or very little, then you need to make sure you have adequate safeties in place.</p>

<p>So…protect yourself and be sure to apply to some schools that will give you HUGE merit (near full rides or more). Not just “full tuition”…you’re going to need MORE than full tuition scholarships.</p>

<p>thankfully, you’re a likely NMF. Which schools are you going to apply to that give huge NMF awards?</p>

<p>What is your major or career goal?</p>

6

<p>Just clarifying…you got a 2400 SAT score taking th test early in your junior year?</p>