<p>Scenario 1: Mother with income 45 000, father income 57 000, brother in university.</p>
<p>Scenario 2: Mother with income 45 000, step father with income 55 000, step sister in university, younger sister in elementary school, father with income 57 000 and brother in university.</p>
<p>What do you think? (assume that no one has any substantial assets)</p>
<p>For a CSS Profile school that requires NCP info…</p>
<p>Scenario 1 would probably get more.</p>
<p>You do know that if your mom is remarried, she is REQUIRED to provide your stepdad’s info on ALL financial aid application forms. In your second scenerio, you describe a stepdad. Why doesn’t one exist in your first scenerio?</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids - thanks, that’s what I suspect too
@thumper - she is technically single</p>
<p>(and yes it would be a css profile school, so an in depth fin. aid app)</p>
<p>Any other opinions?</p>
<p>Are you asking for your own purposes?</p>
<p>What is your situation? </p>
<p>What schools are you considering?</p>
<p>Have you asked both parents how much they will each contribute?</p>
<p>^ Yes, these scenarios roughly emulate my circumstances. UPenn ED. Mom will contribute $0 and Dad maybe $5000 - $10000 per year.</p>
<p>What do you mean my situation?</p>
<p>(Step dad will contribute $0)</p>
<p>Does not matter how much anyone is willing to contribute. Mom, stepdad and father’s information will be used to calculate your financial aid ($147,000 unless you have a stepmom, then her income will be counted also).</p>
<p>If your mother is "technically"single, your stepfather’s information may not end up being used for the FAFSA, but it will be used for the profile.</p>
<p>Your EFC will be way more than the $10,000 that you are calculating that your dad is willing to contribute.</p>
<p>You need to make sure that you have some fafsa only schools on your list and some schools where you will be in line for merit $$.</p>
<p>OP…here is the deal…you will need to give EVERYONE’s information for UPenn. Parents and step parents. Custodial and non-custodial. Penn uses the Profile. There is no way around this.</p>
<p>Even IF you could use just your mom for the FAFSA, that would only yield you federally funded aid of a portion of the Pell grant (the most is $5500) and a Stafford loan of $5500…hardly enough to fund a year’s study at UPenn. UPenn’s remaining aid would be THEIR institutional money. For that money, you complete the profile including ALL information from parents and any stepparents. So, in your case, it sounds like at the very LEAST you would be reporting your mom, dad and stepmom to UPenn. Dad and Step mom would complete the non-custodial parent Profile. Your mom would complete the regular Profile.</p>
<p>What does “technically single” mean? If you have a step father, your mother is not single.</p>
<p>Why do you say that you have a “step-dad” if your mom is “technically single.”</p>
<p>Is your mom married to the guy or NOT? Does he just live with you? If that is the case, then his income won’t count.</p>
<p>Since it seems like your family (mom, dad, step) may not contribute what colleges will expect them to contribute, then YOU need to protect yourself by ALSO applying to schools that will give you big scholarships. Otherwise, you could end up with a handful of acceptances and not enough money to pay for your share.</p>
<p>Dad maybe $5000 - $10000 per year.</p>
<p>Your dad only makes $57k per year. You have a sibling in college. You better ask him how much he’ll pay for YOU. He may have NO intention of paying that much each year for you when you also have a sibling.</p>
<p>Ask your dad exactly how much you can expect him to contribute each year.</p>
<p>This is not the time to be engaging in wishful thinking. There’s no time for a do-over next spring. You need to know exactly what your financial situation is so that you don’t end up with no affordable schools.</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>BTW…applying ED to Penn is a REALLY bad idea in your circumstance. Really bad. Just look at last Dec/Jan posts from kids like you.</p>
<p>OP is a Canadian, so will that affect his finaid award? Don’t internationals have to fill out a different form for UPenn?</p>
<p>Oh…Canadian…so an int’l. That makes things even more difficult. Is UPenn need aware for int’ls?</p>
<p>If Op is canadian, s/he will not be eligible for US federal aid so student is ineligible to file the FAFSA. However, s/he will need to file the following forms:</p>
<p>Financial Aid Application for Canadian Citizens
Noncustodial PROFILE for Canadian Citizens
Parents’ and Student’s 2009 federal provincial income tax returns, all pages, schedules, and T-4 slips
Divorced/separated parents? Your noncustodial parent’s tax returns are also required.</p>
<p>[Financial</a> Aid Checklist](<a href=“http://www.sfs.upenn.edu/finaid-checklists/checklists-pro-canadian.htm]Financial”>Submit My Documents | Penn Student Registration & Financial Services| Penn Srfs)</p>
<p>Since the OP is Canadian, I will amend my previous post to say…OP…you will not get any aid EXCEPT the instititutional aid UPenn decides to give to you. As noted by Sybbie, you will be expected to provide financial information from both parents AND both step parents.</p>
<p>I appreciate everyone’s input thus far.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: Yes, I am aware of the fact that I should be looking for more affordable schools, thanks for the heads up though.</p>
<p>As for the “technically single” line, sorry for the confusion. My stepdad has lived with us for 12 years, they are not married though. I was wondering if including him would be beneficial, as then I could include the child he and my mom had together and his step daughter on the application. If I were to omit any mention of him, then I think we would only include me, my brother, and our mom and dad.</p>
<p>Oh, and a brief overview of stats:</p>
<p>2300 SAT (790 CR 750 W 760 M)
SAT IIs (TBD Oct. 28 - should be 700-800 each)
Several solid leadership positions at my school (e.g. School president)</p>
<p>I’m just learning the ropes, but I believe your younger sister is included no matter what – all your bio. parents kids should be listed.</p>
<p>Ok Longhaul, thanks. That would definitely be ideal, I just don’t know how suspicious/ethical it would be.</p>
<p>And as a Canadian citizen, UPenn will consider me on the same footing as US applicants in terms of financial aid (need-blind). I am not too concerned about getting sufficient fin. aid for the following reasons:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Which implies that the university is need-blind towards Canadians. Also, the average aid package for students with parents who have a combined income of $100,000-129,000 is $37,400.</p>
<p>It’s in reach…</p>
<p>NEED BLIND- this is for admissions. It means the school does not consider need when considering your admissions application. It has NOTHING to do with financial aid awards.</p>
<p>MEETS FULL NEED- This pertains to schools that guarantee to meet the full need (cost of attendance minus the family contribution) for all admitted students. This DOES have to do with financial aid.</p>