My parents went through a very nasty divorce and the situation is very complicated, but I was wondering if opting to pursue financial aid could hurt my chances of acceptance, especially if I’m a border line student. My top choices are UMich and University of Southern California. My mom is a stay-at-home mom and relies on alimony and child-support, while my father lives in Chicago (I live in NJ) full-time and has an income of around $800k. I’m almost positive that I’d receive no aid, but my father has a very do-it-yourself attitude and told me to seek aid since he had to pay his way through college. However, I’m worried it could really hurt my app. Any help greatly appreciated.
Colleges can’t hold the fact that you need money against accepting you or not. Aid is given based on how you complete the FAFSA. Whether or not a college accepts you or not is based on your application and your stats,essay, and EC, they won’t and can’t reject you simply because you need more money to attend college than the average student. (I’m not including any merit scholarships because for highly selective schools merit scholarships are very limited and you stated that you’re already on the borderline) However the fact that you will receive a decent package is once again determined by the FAFSA, which is basically a report of your families income. I’m not exactly sure how it works with divorced parents but I do know certain single parent household can qualify for more aid. However your dad makes a great deal of money and although you said he won’t offer any help, the FAFSA may not consider this and your aid package might be lower than what you need and you may have to consider taking out loans.
Basically what I’m trying to say is 1) no schools can’t use the fact that you need aid as a reason to not accept you and 2) make sure you can afford the schools you listed above because they may not provide you with the most aid.
Point 1 in response #1 is just not true. Schools can be need-aware when deciding on admissions (and often are).
When your father says he had to pay his way through college, does that mean he expects you to do the same?
In that case, you need to find FAFSA-only schools that will only consider your custodial parent’s income, and with low price tags (i.e. in-state tuition). Because with 800K income on your father’s side you will get nothing, and there is almost no way for a high school student to save/earn enough to pay for the schools you named. An acceptance to a school you cannot afford is basically the same as a denial – you don’t get to go there.
The other option is to get huge merit scholarships. But if your stats are borderline for UMich, there won’t be many schools on the list of places that would give you a full ride.
Post #1 is indeed highly inaccurate. A school’s being need-aware is the issue, but even that often affects only those on the cusp after the financial aid budget is depleted, though at some schools it’s considered before depletion.
Where do you get your information? This is not accurate. Please read my #1 point below.
Schools that are need aware for admissions DO consider your ability to pay when they consider your application. And in some cases...they DO deny admission because the candidate requires too much aid for them to reasonably admit him or her.
University of Michigan uses the CSS Profile AND the non custodial parent form for evaluating need based aid. If this father earns $800,000 a year...this student won't get a dime if need based aid from Michigan. So...if parent won't pay...he can't afford the school. Michigan has some very highly competitive merit awards for OOS students... it not very many.
University of Southern California gives primarily need based aid as well. They also use the Profile...and the non-custodial parent form. The school gives some merit aid...but only to very very top applicants. If the student is a NMSF they have a chance at awards.
So...what's wrong with the colleges that.might be affordable in NJ? Oh let me guess...you don't want to stay in NJ...too many kids from your HS go there.
If your parents will only provide limited monies for you to attend college…you need to consider that when crafting your application list.
Oh…and if you are a well qualified applicant…don’t worry about whether you are applying for aid…or not. The reality is your ability to pay will,be calculated as FULL pay…and that won’t hurt your admission chances.
You can google a school to find out if they are “need blind”. USC says they are, meaning admissions will not consider whether you are applying for aid or not. When I googled Michigan, I found info saying they were need blind a few years ago; however, I couldn’t find that statement on their website (I didn’t look that hard, though). Regardless, Michigan is a state school, so they favor in-state residents for financial aid.
In order to apply for financial aid, you will have to submit the FAFSA. That one only asks for the custodial parent’s finances. Note that the custodial parent definition is not necessarily the same as the one on divorce papers. It’s the parent you spent the most nights with in the past year from the date that you submit the FAFSA.
The more competitive schools (including UMichigan and USC) will also require both parents (and step-parents if there are any) to complete the CSS Profile. This looks at their finances more in-depth. There a tiny number of schools that are CSS Profile schools that do not request the non-custodial parent to complete the CSS Profile, but these colleges then often have their own special forms and/or reserve the right to request info if they choose to or something like that. I’m thinking UChicago and Vandy. With your dad’s income, you will not qualify for aid from CSS Profile schools.
I’m sorry you have to go through this. You need to sit down with each parent (probably separately in this case) and find out how much they are willing to contribute. Show them some examples of what college costs these days. It’s waaaay more expensive than when your parents were young and maybe could work their way through. Show them some college websites. Ask them to give you realistic numbers for what they are willing/able to pay. Ask them to complete some Net Price Calculators on college websites. Don’t let them just tell you to apply and then they will see where things are - that’s not fair to you.
Then you will know where you stand. You can take that info to inform your college list. Maybe you will need to go to community college for two years and then transfer to a four year - many do this. Or maybe you will need to go to your in-state public so only your mom’s income is taken into account. Or maybe dad will be generous once he sees how much college costs and you can apply to some more expensive schools. If you have decent grades and test scores, you can apply to schools that give merit aid. Check out some of the sticky threads of schools with automatic merit based on stats. It’s good that you are thinking about this now before you apply so you will be able to create a pragmatic list. Good luck.
For THIS student…it doesn’t matter if the school is need aware. The student has NO…ZERO financial need. When they look at his financial need, if they are need aware…they will see that he is a FULL pay student. FULL pay…he doesn’t have any financial need.
So even for need aware schools…it won’t matter…because he has NO NO NO need.
Your father’s idea about you paying your own way shows how out of touch he is with the reality of college fees.
You need to pick a university that is affordable. Posts 2,3, and 4 are absolutely correct. A school does NOT have to provide you with funding. They often CAN and DO reject your admission based on need.
USC is $72k per year. For NMF, you get 1/2 tuition. That does NOT include housing nor any other fees. How would you cover those ridiculous costs?
Try your instate options first. If Daddy won’t pay, then you have to find a work-around.
@itsintheprocess I appreciate you trying to help but you’ve given out a lot of false information on multiple threads.
OP, it won’t make a difference to U of M but you’re also not going to get a penny of aid. You need to look at FAFSA-only schools which will only take into account your mom’s information. HOWEVER, these schools are not usually generous.
You need to make sure you have solid safety schools that you can afford either through merit or at a price your mom can pay.
Actually UChicago doesn’t use non custodial parent income at all nor will they request it, but like @Springbird said very few schools are like that and those that are…are going to be difficult to get into.
Yes…Chicago is a FAFSA only school. It as I noted above…If dad earns $800,000 a year…mom’s spousal and child support are likely much mire than chump,change…and those will be listed on that FAFSA.
Plus…the OP didnt ask bout University of Chicago…at all.
What has happened since last year. Last October, you wrote that your tuition would be covered by your parents at all of your potential schools. Is that still the case?
@romanigypsyeyes sorry for misinformation I that I have spread. Also what other information have I spread in other threads that I was wrong about. I’m not trying to be rude or anything I genuinely want to know so in the future I won’t say the wrong thing again. Last thing I want is to hurt someone when my intentions were to help. Thanks!
@NightAtTheRox What are your stats? There was a sweet spot in the 80s where you could work your way through school. No more. Your dad is out of touch. Hopefully you have summer jobs? You might be looking at commuting to a community college or local college if no one can help you. You can take out $5500, $6500, $7500 and $7500 a year for each of your four years. Do you have any other money besides the loans you can take? No education fund? No savings? Start working during the school year. Plan for a gap year to work and save are also possibilities.
Any school that’s a top choice should meet a few criteria:
you should be reasonably sure that you’ll get in.
it should offer what it is you want to study.
it should be a place you can see yourself living and learning for 4 years.
it should be geographically favorable-- a place you can afford to get to.
it should be workable in terms of finances.
If any single one of those factors doesn’t apply, then it should not be a top choice.
You live in NJ and you’re talking about going to Michigan and California. One parent doesn’t work, and the other doesn’t want to pay.
How are you planning to get to college? Drive cross country? Fly? With what money? Thinking of coming home for Thanksgiving or Christmas? (And are the dorms even open over Christmas? ) How are you going to handle the transportation?
Once you work out the geography, you can start to talk about tuition. As others have said, colleges absolutely do take your ability to pay into account when they consider your application. Basically, they can’t afford to subsidize their whole student body. They have to keep an eye on finances if they’re to stay open. They’ll offer money to the top kids they admit, far less to those “on the cusp” as you describe yourself.
It sounds to me as though your top choices should be state schools to which you can commute from your NJ home.
Some colleges do this. Many colleges claim to be need-blind, meaning that they do not look at the financial situation when considering an application for admission.
But, as pointed out, at a need-aware college, OP is not at risk of being denied based on a need for aid. On paper, with the non-custodial profile (NCP,) OP has no “need.”
But separate from that, he needs matches and safeties that will work for his actual academic record, not dreams. And offer the cost he can afford, whether that means lower priced or with merit to bring cost down.