Hello all,
I am a white female student looking to apply class of 2022 out of state for top schools. I don’t have ACT/SAT scores yet but have a 3.93 GPA, am on track to finish 13 APs by the time I graduate. My expectations for ACT are no less than a 33 (or higher) as I consistently rank in the same percentile on similar standardized state exams.
It is likely that my family will be able to contribute close to nothing. I am a single child of a single mother who has been out of work for 5 years (will probably not be in work by the time I start applying to schools, so this will be 7 years) and is looking at disability benefits. So, our family income (sans child support and federal benefits) is $0. However, she holds a Ph.D if this has any bearing.
We also have very little savings. My father is a professor at a large research university but he would not be on any financial paperwork as he has no custody / parental rights other than child support, but realistically holds some amount of college savings for myself.
So, needless to say, when looking at schools that are top 30 (and come with a $50k sticker price) I would be in a bit of a pickle to pay for them. I am not opposed to taking out loans, but I do plan on being pre-med and medical school subsequently.
My current top choices are:
Cornell
Yale
Duke
Georgetown
Brown
Rochester
UNC - Chapel Hill
College of William and Mary
Wake Forest
A handful of safeties where I would be guaranteed a full ride.
What kind of aid would these schools likely give me? A lot of them supposedly meet 100% of demonstrated aid, but in my situation, would it still be reasonable for me to attend pending admission?
Most of those schools will consider your father’s income, as well as your mother’s social security income (if that’s what you live on). Make sure you have some safeties that you LIKE and would attend. Here is a list with some possibilities
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
Use the Net Price Calculator that is available on each school’s website. Some NPCs are better than others at dealing with divorced parents and disability income, so keep that in mind.
From what I understand my father would not even appear on FAFSA or any other financial aid documents as my parents were never married. Am I mistaken?
Yes, you are mistaken. Schools that use the Profile form (primarily very selective schools like you have listed) usually expect both parents to contribute to a child’s education, even if divorced or never married. Each school will have a financial aid web page that lists financial aid application requirements. Start there.
Not mistaken for the FAFSA, although child support he pays to your mother for your support appears on the form. On the CSS, which is another application form for FA used by all or almost all the colleges you listed, will require the non custodial parent’s information. You will list him and they will send him forms to complete. Never married doesn’t matter.
If he works at a university, might you have tuition exchange programs available to you?
As @BelknapPoint indicated above, you are quite mistaken - your father’s financial info will be required, and his income/assets will be taken into account in calculating your need-based aid. Not at all schools - most of the schools that won’t meet your full need don’t care one way or another. But virtually all of the schools that do meet full need will want to see your father’s info, and if you don’t provide it, you won’t get any institutional aid (aid directly from that school).
So here’s your problem:
(1) Your father has money.
(2) He’ll need to provide a financial statement to the schools.
(3) His income/assets will reduce the aid you’re eligible for.
(4) With that reduction in aid, you won’t be able to afford those schools.
Given your mother’s financial situation, the ideal school for you would be one that meets full need without loans for low income students. But once your dad’s finances are taken into account, the price for that school may still be out of reach. So, what you need to do is go to the websites for the schools you’re interested in, and run the NPC (net price calculator) with your dad’s income/assets included. See if any of the schools are affordable.
Your other option is to forget about need-based aid, and focus instead on schools that provide generous merit aid. Most merit awards still expect the family to contribute something, though - usually at least the cost of room & board. But you should be able to cover that with a Pell grant (a federal grant based on your mother’s income alone) and a $5500 federal student loan, along with summer earnings and work study during the school year, so a generous merit award could work for you - and nobody will give a darn about your dad’s money!
Look at these schools:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
And these:
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
And, for right now, don’t focus on “top schools” - focus on affordable schools. If it turns out that the schools on your list are affordable, fantastic! But if they’re not, then it’s time to look at some different schools.
If you’re looking at top schools, then nearly all will require your dad’s income and savings information.
Schools that use CSS Profile are the ones that give the best need based aid, so they want to see what the dad earns as well. FAFSA is nearly meaningless to those schools.
If your dad has a good income and won’t pay then NONE of those schools will work out for you.
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My father is a professor at a large research university but he would not be on any financial paperwork as he has no custody / parental rights other than child support, but realistically holds some amount of college savings for myself.
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Now you know that he WILL be on financial paperwork. The fact that your parents were never married is irrelevant. (BTW…he does have parental rights.)
If you think your dad has college savings for you then you need to find out how much he has. He may not have any. He may think his child support is “enough”. You need to ask him how much he’ll contribute towards college for four years. If you can’t trust that he’ll contribute “his fair share” determined by colleges, then you need to find other schools that will work for you.
Not to discourage your early interest, but keep in mind that the game may change dramatically in seven years. I’m not sure you can predict an outcome this far in advance.
^^ I think the OP means high school class of 2018, college class of 2022. Either that or this is a sixth grader.
I second the other posters. Focus on merit opportunities for now. Talk with your father. See if there is any tuition benefit for faculty dependents, if he has saved for college and finally, if and how much he will pay for college.
Ditto. Yes, @1650mile, I know you said you want to apply to top schools “out of state” - but your list has to include your in-state options, and it would be helpful for us to know what those options are.
Also, at which “large research university” is your dad a professor? If his position at that university can get you a reduced cost, that’s also something you need to consider. If you give us the name of the university, we can help you figure that out.
Finally, as mentioned above, your dad’s affiliation with University X may also get you reduced tuition at other universities, through what are called “tuition exchange” programs: University X lets faculty children from University Y attend at a reduced cost, and University Y does the same for faculty children from University X. And the list of universities participating in the program may include several “top” schools!
Your father would not matter for FAFSA, but most schools with good financial aid also require the CSS Profile which normally requires the non-custodial parent information. In another thread, forum people were only able to find three private schools with good need based financial aid that do not require the non-custodial parent information (Chicago, Albright, and usually Vanderbilt, according to http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1871106-lets-make-a-list-of-colleges-with-good-financial-aid-without-needing-the-non-custodial-parent-p1.html ).
Your in-state public universities may or may not require non-custodial parent information, and may or may not offer good need-based financial aid for in-state residents. It depends on the state and the school (e.g. better to be in California than Pennsylvania).
For schools that use FAFSA only or do not require non-custodial parent information, you can use their net price calculators with just your mother’s financials. For other schools, you need to include both parents’ financials, although many net price calculators are less accurate in the divorced parent case even if you do include both parents’ financials.
Realistically, your parents’ divorce will limit your college choices; beyond the above, you need to build a merit-seeking list. See the links in reply #6 for ideas, although college web sites should be checked since some information may be out of date at those links.
Also, the PSAT taken in 11th grade is the qualifier for National Merit. National Merit status can open the door for more scholarships. See http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ (but check college web sites to verify).
[ quote]Cornell
Yale
Duke
Georgetown
Brown
Rochester
UNC - Chapel Hill
College of William and Mary
Wake Forest
[/quote]
I believe all of these schools use the Profile. But it is very possible that they don’t all use the non-custodial parent form. Cornell, Yale, Duke, G’Town, Brown use the none custodial parent form. In addition, their acceptance rates are very low with better than 85% of applicants NOT getting accepted.
Until you have your SAT or ACT scores, it’s hard to make a varied list. Right now, I think your list is very top heavy…very.
“Not to discourage your early interest, but keep in mind that the game may change dramatically in seven years. I’m not sure you can predict an outcome this far in advance.”
I am a sophomore in HS right now - so it would be 2 years.
“Which state are you in?”
I’d prefer not to answer this right now since it’s a state with only one notable research university, and this site is called college confidential for a reason…
" Right now, I think your list is very top heavy…very."
Yes it is top heavy because this list doesn’t include safeties, which I left out because I know that I will not only get accepted but also receive generous merit financial aid from these. My question really only extended to top schools that I have less information on.
Ok…in you post you state you plan to attend medical school. That being the case, you need to keep,your undergrad debt to a bare minimum. Nothing is better.
As others have told you, your dad’s income and assets will be considered by many of the top schools you have listed. If your dad is married, his wife’s income and assets will also be included.
Most of the schools on your list do NOT give merit aid at all…they give only need based aid.
Really a lot of this will tease out better once you have your SAT or ACT score. Really until then, you are guessing if you even will be a competitive applicant for these schools. Same with those full rides you are hoping to get. If your ACT or SAT score isn’t sufficiently high…those could be questionable too.
At this point, I would suggest you prep for the PSAT and SAT/ACT and prep well. Your scores on these tests could be the deal breaker for your plans.
ETA…good that you are planning ahead, but you are counting your chickens before they hatch.
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Yes it is top heavy because this list doesn’t include safeties, which I left out because I know that I will not only get accepted but also receive generous merit financial aid from these. My question really only
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Ok…you’re a sophomore in high school, so your understanding about these things is going to be very limited.
As you learned yesterday, your dad’s income and assets will be used to determine what your family (each family) can pay for college (at the better schools). Your dad’s income/assets will mean that you won’t get as much need based aid as you thought. You may not get ANY need based aid. You need to ask your dad how much he’ll spend each year on college.
You need to stop assuming. There are MANY safety schools that do not give “generous merit aid.” There are many safeties that don’t give ANY merit aid.
Please, assume that you know nothing, and be open to learning about the process so that you don’t make some serious missteps that will cost you later.
I think your potential for even those full rides isn’t guaranteed until you have your SAT or ACT score.
But aim high, and prep well for those tests.
If there is one piece of advice that I could give, it’s to implore you to seriously research a range of good safety schools that you would gladly attend if you are unable to attend the top schools on your list, and then to show serious interest. The college acceptance process has become more unpredictable in recent years - I have been through the process twice with my children and both times we were surprised by ‘safety’ schools that either offered far less aid than their reputation suggested or waitlisted my child despite their having test scores that should have all but guaranteed admission. Don’t fall in love with those top schools yet, because you might ultimately find that they will not love you back.