| I am considered an independent student because I am older than 24, so my parents are not included in my financial aid.
I was working full time while in community college, but quite my job the year that I transfered. Because of the income I made during the time I was working, I was given an efc of $6,000. Berkeley still gave me a full financial aid package, but filled that $6,000 in with unsubsidized loans. Since I would not be working while at Berkeley, I turned in an appeal form with a note from my employer stating that I quite my job. My appeal was accepted and my efc adjusted to 0, giving me a full financial aid package with subsidized loans and a generous ug grant.
Because I got my appeal so late in the year, all the Cal grants had already been given out regardless of my adjusted efc. I was really worried about this, but soon realized that it didn't matter in the end. Since Berkeley replaces the ug grant with the Cal grant, you get the same amount of money whether you get the cal grant or not.
This all took place over quite a few months and many back and forth e-mails, so I feel fairly confident with the ins and outs of financial aid at this point. |