<p>My dad makes around 250k agi and around 170k (net after alimony). He says he can only afford what he is paying now for my high school (10-15k), my parents recently went through a divorce (money is tight). Will i be able to expect any financial aid from colleges? My grades are average (around a 3.6 weighted gpa) and SAT scores between 1700-1800. Will filling out fafsa be of any help? or will not filling it out help me get into some schools that I would previously not be able to get into...</p>
<p>First of all, who do you live with the majority of the year … your dad or your mom? You will only use the parent you live with for the FAFSA. Profile schools often (not always) want info from both parents, and a few FAFSA-only schools will also ask for non-custodial parent info. </p>
<p>If your EFC will be higher than your parents are willing to pay, you will need to focus on schools that you can afford … either on their own or with merit money. You will be eligible to borrow $5500 in an unsubsidized Stafford loan at the very least.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear of your parent’s divorce. If the $80K alimony is your mom’s only income, you live with her, and you’re applying to FAFSA only schools, then you might receive some need based aid depending on what your EFC is and the school’s policies. You might also qualify for some state grants, where the phaseout is generally more gradual. You can target schools that will give merit aid, although getting your SAT a little higher (1800-1850) would help.</p>
<p>As far as the admissions tip for not applying for FA, it’s a risk that has come back to haunt some kids. I don’t believe that you would be accepted at schools where you wouldn’t have been eligible for acceptance anyway, although you may get the tip over a similar student who does need FA. But there’s no benefit to saying you don’t need FA if you actually do, since it deprives you of knowing what they would have offered and apparently some schools will not allow you to later apply for aid (other than loans) if you indicate that you will not need FA. If you read posts here from the last few months, you’ll see that there’s been alot of angst over acceptances at unaffordable dream schools. If you’re sure you won’t receive any need-based aid, and the school will consider you for merit aid separately, then filling out FAFSA will still leave you with the subsidized/unsub Staffords and the Plus loans as an option, as kelsmom said.</p>
<p>You can do the fafsa4caster or, for more info and a better understanding of what’s factored into EFC, here’s a link to the formula guide with worksheets (see those marked A):
<a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/111408EFCFormulaGuide0910.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/111408EFCFormulaGuide0910.pdf</a></p>
<p>Check out some of the threads with a list of schools with significant merit aid and a lower COA.</p>
<p>For example Whitworth in Spokane WA, Chapman in Orange County CA, Baylor in TX</p>
<p>Each has a COA les than $40k (I think) and offers merit aid up to $10-15k annually, add that to your Dad’s $15k and you can have a private school experience for with perhaps only a stafford loan and work study</p>
<p>I live with my father so our income is around 170k-200k (with all taxes/alimony taken out)…</p>
<p>Your FAFSA will have to be filed with your dad’s income and asset info. You can look into your state’s grant aid, some may not be need-based, to see if you would qualify for anything if you stay instate. And look at your state publics to see what their merit aid qualifications are. Since it’s likely you’ll need to take Stafford loans, you should still file the FAFSA.</p>
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<p>I know this may not be what you want to hear…but $15,000 from your dad PLUS the Stafford loan (which you will be able to get in your name simply by filing a FAFSA) should cover the costs at one of the public universities in your home state. Have you checked into that??</p>
<p>I think Thumper’s advice is very good. The other alternative I am seeing here are kids going to local privates and commuting. With some loans, work and maybe a little merit aid, it can be done. Otherwise look for schools that will really want you and have generous merit awards. You are not likely to qualify for much in financial aid at most schools. I suggest you and your dad run some numbers through the online calculators to see what you can expect.</p>
<p>My son who is in high school is seriously considering going locally and commuting. It would have been a very inexpensive deal with merit money for my son who is in college now.</p>
<p>You could ask your father if he would double the yearly amount for two years if you attend community college for the first two years: Attend a local community college for two years, then transfer to a four-year for the last two years. His total contribution would be about the same ($60,000), but it would be $30,000/year for Junior and Senior year instead of $15,000/year for all four.</p>
<p>Nearly all colleges will expect a contribution from your father of more than $10-15K a year, given his large income, unless he can document that his money is tied up and simply unavailable to help you. There have been newspaper articles suggesting that some colleges this year have been trying to deal with their financial woes by admitting more students who do not need aid. But what good does it do you to be admitted to a school that costs $50k a year if you can’t afford it? Apply for financial aid, and hope for the best. Meanwhile you need to prepare for the real possibility that you will not be getting financial aid, and apply to a set of schools that you know you can afford (and some dream schools, too).</p>
<p>If your mother has lower income, is there a possibility of living with her. This could dramatically impact financial opportunities.</p>
<p>^ Agreed with scottaa. I have a friend whose folks are divorced since maybe 3 years ago. She moved in with her mom during last Fall, and then applied only to non-CSS schools so that the father’s income was off the radar (he had major issues anyway, but he was unable/unwilling to pay anything, and it was not a resolvable situation). If living with your mom is not an option, then you’ll need to consider the fact that you may need to attend somewhere less expensive until something changes.</p>
<p>Oh, and do not take a year off, or anything along those lines, with an aim to save up. That can lead to you never getting back to school.</p>
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<p>If your dad plans to “tie up” his money so that it is unavailable to you, he probably should have done so already. Simply “saying” it’s not available just won’t work.</p>
<p>I would suspect all of us would be thrilled to show our kids’ colleges that our money is tied up & unavailable to help pay for college … because the reality is that most of us do live in such a way that we use what we earn. The bottom line is, though, that the financial aid formulas don’t care about HOW we invest/spend our money … what counts is what is earned and deemed to BE available. This doesn’t always jibe with our personal realities … but it’s the way it is & we need to understand that so we can make college choices accordingly.</p>