<p>Even if I don't get a dime from my parents, would their income still affect my eligibility for financial aid and the amount I'm able to get? Thanks.</p>
<p>Unless you are an independent student; 24 or over, married, ward of the court, legal guardianship since the age of 13, active or military veteran or you have a child of your won for whom you are supporting at least 51% of the time, you are a dependent student. </p>
<p>As a dependent student, your income and assets along with your parents income and assets will be used to assess your eligibility for need based aid regardless of who actually pays the bill.</p>
<p>Yes…otherwise ALL parents would say, “We’re not paying”…and then the whole FA system would fall apart.</p>
<p>The issue isn’t that your parents won’t pay…</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Colleges I’m considering (in no particular order):
Northwestern
Carnegie Mellon
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of Texas - Austin
University of the Sciences
Yale (2 generation legacy)
Washington University in St. Louis*</p>
<p>You have OOS publics on your list. It wouldn’t matter if your parents’ income was considered or not…those aren’t going to give you needed aid. </p>
<p>You expect to score between an ACT 27-31…well, you need to be studying for both the ACT and SAT to get the highest scores you can AND THEN apply to schools that will give you HUGE, HUGE, HUGE merit scholarships for your stats.</p>
<p>How much can YOU pay towards college? YOU can only borrow $5500 for frosh year.</p>
<p>If you’re under the age of twenty-four, you are still considered a dependent. There are very few special circumstances where you could be independent under that age, such as being a ward of the court, being married, or having a child, but sometimes those situations could be questioned by the state and they could request verification of all that information, and they will find a way to make you dependent due to the age.</p>
<p>As a finanical aid administrator, it is always interesting when students say ’ I am the one paying’ when really they have no way to pay. If you had a large trust and were paying for school with that, it would make sense. But usually, what they mean is- my parents won’t pay, so I need someone else to pay ( ie taxpayers). Financial aid is calculated based on the financial strength of the family. It is a tough situation when parents really will not assist at all. If your parents will at least fill out the FAFSA, you can get student loans ($5500) but the difference will have to be made up in merit aid so I would advise you to cast a wide net when it comes to admissions as the amount of merit aid you will need will be huge.</p>
<p>it is always interesting when students say ’ I am the one paying’ when really they have no way to pay…my parents won’t pay so I need someone else to pay.</p>
<p>lol…I thought the SAME THING, which is why I asked how much the student can pay. Since the student is asking for FA, the student wants the school or someone else to pay.</p>
<p>If they had a large trust paying for college…they wouldn’t be asking about college loans, etc! :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the help everyone! I’ve been saving money for college, but I’m aware it’s no where near what I’d need. My parents are willing to help pay depending on the college I go to. They’d be more willing to help if I went to Northwestern than say Twin Cities (where I really want to go, at least at the moment). It’s all kinda confusing to me, so I really appreciate all the help.</p>
<p>My parents are willing to help pay depending on the college I go to</p>
<p>Now this thread is really getting ridiculous. You’re asking if a college will give you aid if you choose one that your parents don’t think is good enough to pay for???</p>
<p>What is your home state? </p>
<p>How much will your parents pay if you go to NU?</p>