Hello so here’s the situation since 9th grade I’ve been saving up for college with my birthday and Christmas money and odd jobs here and there (no taxable income). I recently read that it might not be beneficial for me to have a savings in my name because college will give me less financial aid for it? I have approx 6k in my name but I was wondering if I should just withdraw it all and keep it in a safe place at home for now?
You may need to report it regardless it is in the bank or under the mattress.
Put it into a 529 plan before the FAFSA is filed.
Hiding it in a safe place and not reporting it is fraud, punishable to the full extent of the law.
If you have that $6000, it doesn’t matter where you have it. It can be stuffing your mattress or it can be in the bank. It is still your asset. $1200 of it (20%) will be added to your FAFSA EFC.
Before you do anything, you need to understand that your parent income is the thing that drives your need based aid calculation. Would you qualify for need based aid anyway?
You can use this money to purchase things you will need for college…maybe a new computer for example. That will reduce the amount in your account if you do this before you file your FAFSA.
I understand that my parents income is the main factor for need based aid. My parents EFC using the calculator on this website would be about 17000. While 1200 isn’t that much compared to it, it’s still 1200 dollars.
My parents have stated they will max out at 10k per year (fairly reasonable in my opinion). I’m not interested in acquiring heavy student debt while in undergrad, so I’m trying to see what would the best options for me to be.
If your parents will only pay 10K, then it doesn’t matter at all whether your EFC is 17k or 18.2k. Almost any place that would meet need would include a student loan in the aid package, and you will still come up 7k or more short.
You need to be looking for a college or university that won’t cost more than 10K plus the 5.5k you can borrow with a student loan plus however much you want to pitch in from your savings and however much you think you can make in summer and school year jobs.
If your grades and test scores are good enough, a full-tuition scholarship will bring your cost down to what you can afford. Look here for ideas: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest If your grades and test scores aren’t good enough for that (don’t feel bad, most students fall into that category) then you need to be looking at in-state publics and commuting distance options. For example, if you spend the first two years at a community college, will your parents save the difference between that tuition cost and the 10k they can afford now, and then put that toward your last two years at another college/university?
Thankyou for the response happy mom. My stats I would believe would get me into one elite/ close to it type school (3.97/4, 2220) and I have been applying to several scholarships. I’m a senior and my parents didn’t tell me about how much they’d pay until after I sent in all my apps. If I do get into an ivy/equivalent I won’t be too worried because they give out good aid, im just worried about the schools just a tad below that. For reference, I applied to Stanford, Yale, Hopkins, UCB/LA, Oberlin, Wesleyan, Chicago, and Carelton (plus my local state school sdsu)
How much is your local state school?
Are any of these schools a financial safety?
Do you have younger siblings?
Will your parents pay $10k each year for 4 years? Or will they increase it 5% each year as tuition increases?
Is your parent income under $80,000?
My local state school is 7k a year. I’m not sure how excited I would feel about going there given that my stats are significantly higher than the norm but it may be the smarter choice.
I have two younger siblings but both aren’t in high school yet
If your parent income is lower than $80,000 a year, you would perhaps qualify for the Calgrant. SDSU is not a bad choice either.
Keep in mind that most of the schools on your list also use the CSS profile in addition to the FAFSA. Have you sat with your parents and ran your numbers through the net price calculator. There are things that the FAFSA does not consider (equity in primary residence) that CSS profile schools do take into consideration. Keep in mind that the only thing the fafsa does is qualify you for federal aid. The CSS profile or the college’s own financial aid forms will determine how much institutional aid the school will give.