<p>My situation is kind of tricky. My parents divorced about three years ago, and my mother is my primary caretaker while my father has visitation rights. My mom works a part-time job at slightly above minimum wage (certainly under $20,000 annually) and is limited by mental illness, but my father has a high-ranking position at a prominent petroleum company and easily makes more than enough for me to even be considered for need-based aid. However, he has made it explicitly clear to me that he cannot afford to put me through a $50,000 private school without a ton of scholarships. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but even with good test scores and URM status I wouldn't be able to obtain the financial aid I need for high-caliber private schools.</p>
<p>Which is why I ask this: is it at all possible that I can apply for universities under my mother's income and not my father's? I know this seems underhanded and unfair, but it may be my only option if I want to go to schools like Cornell and Duke.</p>
<p>This will not work at Duke or Cornell or any of their peers, but most state schools only ask for custodial parent info. Unfortunately, the colleges with generous aid expect your parents to pay whether or not they plan to.</p>
<p>Your situation is actually very, very typical.</p>
<p>There are some Profile schools that do not require the non-custodial parent form. However, these are not the most generous of the schools. Duke and Cornell both require the non-custodial parent form, I believe.</p>
<p>Schools that use FAFSA only will only require your mom’s info. With an income of under $20,000 a year, I believe you will have an automatic EFC of $0 (I could be wrong so hopefully someone will correct me if I am). This will get you the maximum Pell grant about $5000 and the stafford loan of $5500 for freshman, plus any state grants that you might be eligible for in your state. However the federally funded need based aid will be a drop in the bucket at schools like Cornell and Duke which require the Profile and non-custodial parent info.</p>
<p>Colleges honestly don’t care that your parent SAYS they won’t pay…the colleges care only about what they compute your parents SHOULD pay. That your parent won’t pay for college is not something the college considers. And as posted above…this is not a unique situation at all.</p>
<p>Usually the schools that give the best aid are ones that will consider your dad’s income. Some schools don’t use the CSS Profile form for NCPs, but have their own form for NCPs.</p>
<p>You need to find out now from your dad how much he is willing to pay each year for your education.</p>
<p>If you have the stats for Cornell and Duke, then you probably have the stats for a good scholarship to go elsewhere. You need to have back up schools that will financially help you by rewarding you with scholarships for your stats…</p>
<p>-2320 SAT (800 M, 790 CR, 730 W)
-4.0 GPA unweighted, 4.6 weighted
-Top 4% in a top 500 public school
-National Hispanic Recognition Program</p>
<p>That’s the basic information. I didn’t think Duke, Cornell, and other similar schools would allow this to happen, and I’m aware that my situation is far from rare. I was simply curious, and I think it would be a shame if I had the capacity to go to such fantastic schools but not have the financial means to do so.</p>
<p>^^^
Actually, you’re not in any different situation then kids with married parents who have good incomes but they can’t/won’t pay $50k a year. Those kids also have the capacity to go to fantastic schools without the financial means to do so because their parents can’t/won’t pay. </p>
<p>These schools have to reserve their money for students who don’t have parents with good incomes. If you think that Duke and Cornell wouldn’t “allow this to happen,” the question they would ask is, why is your dad allowing it to happen? Right?</p>
<p>What was your PSAT? Will you also be a National Merit Semi-Finalist/Finalist?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that these top schools don’t give merit scholarships. So, to ensure that you don’t end up with a bunch of unaffordable schools, you need to apply to some schools that will give you big merit for your stats.</p>
<p>It’s an unfortunate fact that many, many kids have the capacity to attend top schools who are not able to financially. Colleges, unfortunately, often convince students that money doesn’t matter. For most, it matters a lot.</p>
<p>OP…you need to read the Duke website. They offer some limited need based aid. They also have the Robertson Scholarship. I don’t know if that has a need component.</p>
<p>Other threads indicate you are taking a trip to see MIT, Cornell, Princeton. NONE of those schools offers merit aid and MIT and Cornell require the Profile with non-custodial parent info. Princeton has their own financial aid form, and last I hear, they also used non-custodial parent info. If you can’t pay for these schools, you might consider adding some where you might garner merit aid to the list. There are some great schools offering Engineering programs…how about Lafayette and Lehigh…Villanova. All are places where you would likely get some merit aid to offset your costs.</p>
<p>UT is a bargain for you as an instate student. There are other schools in the Texas system that offer engineering too. </p>
<p>And as an editorial comment (which is really OT)…you also mention going to the Hamptons after your college visit trip. Is this a vacation? Just a note…most of us can’t afford a vacation home in the Hamptons.</p>
<p>Maybe your father does not realize that schools at that level do not offer merit based scholarships. There is a lot of misinformation and confusion out there among many (adults and students alike). I have seen parents throw out comments like “you’re going to need to get scholarships” in order to motivate kids to do their best without realizing that the Ivies and that level do not award any merit scholarships. Getting in is an acknowledgement of your achievements but aid will based on parental ability to pay.</p>
<p>I recommend an open, non judgemental discussion with your dad. If you have naviance at your HS, perhaps in front of the computer. Discuss your stats and your current school list. Show him how you have worked hard to even have the stats to be a viable candidate for admission. Show him the information from school websites that they do not give merit aid and that both parents’ financial information will be considered. </p>
<p>Also develop a list of schools that has some financial safeties. In state publics, schools with guaranteed merit and some that are competitive merit. Cast a wide net. See if you can get your dad to discuss what he is willing to contribute once he has all the facts. </p>
<p>I do not know your father but I have, on occasion, seen parental ego kick in and once a kid was admitted to a top tier school, they ended up ponying up the money because they then had bragging rights about where their kid was going to school. This may be more common in the northeast but as long as you don’t pin your hopes on it and realize there are many fine school and many paths to achieve your ultimate goal you will succeed!</p>
<p>Good suggestion that the dad may not realize that those schools don’t give merit scholarships.</p>
<p>However, if the dad has remarried or is thinking about remarrying, his reluctance to pay $50k+ per year may have something to do with his decision. Or, perhaps he has to pay his ex (or had to pay his ex) a lot of money and that is affecting his decision.</p>
<p>I do think a “heart to heart” with the dad is a good idea. He needs to know that the top, top, elite schools don’t give merit scholarships because (nearly) all their students have super, super stats.</p>
<p>However, I do think that you need to ask your dad exactly how much he will pay each year. If he says something like, $25k per year, at least you’'ll know what you’re dealing with so you can find schools that will supplement that with merit scholarships so that you can still have some good choices.</p>
<p>You do need to apply to schools like Vanderbilt, Santa Clara, Emory, and USC (calif) because they might give you a big merit scholarship and then your dad’s contribution will make up the difference. :)</p>
<p>Then, you also need to apply to some schools that will give you big assured merit scholarships. With your stats, there are schools that will automatically give you big merit scholarships - those can be your financial safety schools. You should apply to 2-3 of these.</p>
<p>Look at schools that do not use non custodial parent info for financial aid. FAFSA only schools fall in that category, but there are some schools that use PROFILE and their own apps that also follow this method. They do not tend to give generous aid, however. The ones that give the most aid, tend to be more meticulous in all possible sources of money, and non custodial parents are not exempt even if they refuse to pay or even refuse to fill out the forms, both of which are very common scenarios.</p>
<p>Duke does have merit money, but it is very difficult to get. Merit awards are another source of money for you if you have strong stats, but schools like the ivies do not offer merit awards. What many parents say, is go for the merit money, eliminate those schools that won’t give it to you. NYU gives some merit money, and uses FAFSA only. There are a number of schools that give automatic, guaranteed merit money. Your state schools and/or commuting may be an alternative. If your dad won’t pay, then that does eliminate some possibilities for you.</p>
<p>Pioneer needs to get a dollar amount that the dad will pay. I wouldn’t be surprised if the amount is similar to the amount of UTexas (perhaps minus Pell amount).</p>
<p>I agree that definitely the first step is to ask your father what he is comfortable contributing. He might not be willing to shell out $50,000 a year (can you blame him!?) but there are plenty of colleges that are cheaper than that. Good ones too. Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to go to One True College to be happy, or that only colleges that cost about $50,000/year are any good.</p>
<p>He might not be willing to shell out $50,000 a year (can you blame him!?) but there are plenty of colleges that are cheaper than that.</p>
<p>True, but a lot of the popular privates do cost that much (however, some that aren’t tippy top might give some merit). And, many OOS publics are expensive if you don’t get any merit money.</p>
<p>I know, but the OP doesn’t necessarily have to go to a popular private or to an OOS public. As you say, merit money might be available to make it cheaper and for OOS publics some have regional cartels (I’m not sure what they’re actually called) where certain majors can pay in-state tuition even away from home.</p>
<p>The OP can also supplement the father’s contribution by trying to find a job, taking out Stafford loans, or seeking work-study opportunities on campus.</p>
<p>And, of course, there is always the possibility of attending the state flagship or another in-state option. </p>
<p>If you don’t have $50,000 a year, for whatever reason – and this can be having an affluent parent who is unwilling to pay, or simply not having access to that kind of money – then you should go back and reassess how much money you actually do have available and work from there. It doesn’t make too much sense to ignore options that exist in favor of ones that don’t.</p>