My daughter has been accepted into Amherst. Right before she left for the Overnight Open House (this weekend) we found out that she didn’t receive a financial package because the CSS was never completed. Like I said VERY long story.
I have encouraged her to go to the FA office while she it there. And let them know she is VERY interested in going there and doing whatever it takes to expedite the FA process at this time. Appointments are required and the only available appt is after her plane departure time.
Should she:
Camp out in the FA Office hoping to talk with someone for even 5 minutes if an appointment is a no show?
or
Go to the scheduled activities (tours and classes and receptions) and call when she gets back on Wednesday?
There is really nothing that can actually be done as I’ve just uploaded all of the documents on IDOCS and it will take 3+ days for them to even make it to Amherst, is that correct? So nothing will be done in the meantime.
However, I’ve always been told/taught you get in front of someone’s face to make sure they know you are serious. Squeeky wheel and all that. So my concern is that they will think “she was here all weekend and never bothered to come by she’s not really that interested.”
She NEEDS that aid to be able to go to school. She has to reply to the admittance offer by May 1st! Three weeks from tomorrow!!!
SO what’s the better strategy? Go to classes/tours and call later or sit in the office hoping for a scrap of a conversation.
{Her college counselor told her to not worry about the FA if she can’t get an appt. But this is the same woman who completely missed that the CSS was a requirement of a couple of schools my daughter applied to. (Grrrrr. Didn’t even KNOW about it!!) so I am kinda taking her with a grain of salt while my daughter still thinks she’s God’s gift to the college bound senior.}
I’d go to class. YOU can communicate with FA. (This is one situation where it is ok for the parents to do it)
And regarding FA – that is not the high school GC’s job. They know little about FA or even if you are applying for it. You and your kid need to own that miss.
Ultimately it is the responsibility of you and your daughter to make sure that everything is submitted on time in order for her to get financial aid package. I would not be mad at the counselor, because she is not writing the check to send your kid to college the information and deadlines are readily available on the school’s website. There is nothing that your D can do until the school gets the information and puts together a package.
She requested an appointment. They said the only time they can see her is after the time for her plane to leave. She needs to make her flight (unless you are going to absorb the expense for changing her flight and getting her to the airport.
She should go, enjoy her admitted students day and deal with it when she gets home, or you make the calls while she is there.
Would you consider it the GC responsibility to make known to students the various components of application? Like the FAFSA and CSS? I agree it is not her responsibility to help with or submit applications. She completely missed informing my daughter that the CSS existed!
If I had been allowed into the process (remember VERY complicated situation) then I would have quickly found it on various sites and resources. The fact that my very intelligent (but flawed… as am I) daughter was clueless to its existence having worked with this woman all year concerns me. Is that unreasonable of me? (again 4th day on forum in the midst of a very stressful, immediate and emotional situation)
I just read that and thought I sounded like a jerk… I’m really asking for input not being a jerk. My sis who’s lived on these boards for years shared my shock and frustration that she didn’t know but maybe we are both amiss. ?
It is absolutely not the GC’s responsibility to make sure your child applies for financial aid. Schools, will have FAFSA nights to make sure that students file FAFSA, but never for the institutional aid.
At many schools, GCs are not even allowed to discuss finances with students/families outside of advising students to make sure that they have some financially feasible options.
This is totally your bad!! and the error happened at your house on your watch.
The first thing it mentions in big letters is the CSS profile
I don’t understand how you say that you were not "allowed"in the process. Did you not have any conversations with your child about college? Did you not set any financial parameters? Did you not sit with your child and run your numbers in the net price calculator
Amherst requires information from both parents (if you are not married) then the school will not give a package with out income assets from both the custodial/non custodial parent (unless you receive a non custodial waiver).
I agree you should start the dialogue with the FA office now, your D should visit and do the classes and whatever else. There is zero reason for her to camp out there without an appointment when you (or she, if that’s what it needs to be) communicates with them by phone and/or email.
I’m guessing Amherst will work with your family to get the FA done, because they accepted her and want her to attend. They’re need-blind so her acceptance wasn’t predicated on not requiring aid.
Does the net price calculator predict enough aid for her to attend?
The FA forms are not the GC’s responsibity. They don’t know your financial situation, nor is it even really appropriate for them to ask if your kid is full pay, actively seeking merit aid, or is applying for need based aid. They will help ID colleges your kid may be able to get into and do the school’s side of the paperwork.
My point is the college counselor that she met with weekly made sure she knew about the FAFS but made no mention of the CSS. Wouldn’t the counselor know about that piece? NOT that she should apply for her or determine how much aid might be.
With respect to the GC, I’d treat it as water under the bridge at this point. While it would have been nice if she had brought it up, I would not have expected the GC to mention the CSS Profile. Depending on the situation and your relationship with the GC, I might mention it to her that I understand it was not her responsibility to mention the CSS Profile. Then I’d add something like “given the stress that this correctable mistake on my end caused, the GC might think about mentioning stuff like this to other families in the future, since I know the GC really wants to help families, this is something we all learn from…”
Huge congrats to your daughter for getting accepted into Amherst. I agree with the others that she should attend the activities, and leave the FA discussion to you. The FA office will be busy this time of year helping families like you - they do this every year. Hopefully they come up with a package that meets your family needs.
My daughter has barely spoken to us since her father went into a yr long rehab program. So No we were not able to sit down and have a conversation with her. Nor were we allowed into her life as far as knowing when parent meetings/workshops/seminars were held. I tried very hard to keep in touch with the schedule of the school (it is an Arts school so it is very big calendar). We were not even told when her pieces went on exhibit. I would call the school but even though we are legal guardians and responsible for her the school will not talk with us about anything unless the student is present. That is a policy whether the student and parent are best friends or Cliff Huxtable or June Cleaver. There is no access to teachers without the student present. When a teenager is angry and hurt they are very effective in shutting you out. She will not live in our house… she lives with her grandmother although her room here is hers and will always be hers. So NO we did not have any conversations with her. I was THRILLED when she was in a (no injury) car accident and she called me!! Can you imagine? I was deathly scared for her and yet absolutely thrilled to not just have been told about it at some point but to actually be called right after it happened. It has been an EXTRAORDINARILY difficult and heart breaking time.
I know that she applied to a few Ivy’s and Amherst only after the fact of her admission and the letter stating they needed her CSS information.
I honestly have no idea why my 3.9 GPA, 34 cum ACT, dedicated, competent hard working daughter who I know has been working on this stuff since August, didn’t know about it. I agree I found it the first time I perused the website looking at financial aid.
I tell you that not because it matters to you or anyone else or that it is really something of which you should be made aware. It changes none of the facts of what has and what needs to happen. I’m simply giving you a very small view into a very complicated and painful situation.
I GREATLY appreciate you help.
I do not appreciate the tongue lashing. Not everyone is as stupid and incompetent and irresponsible as they may appear to you (or others.)
I am desperately trying to be an “involved mom” now that I have been given the opportunity and I have 3 weeks to figure out what you have had the luxury of months learning and discussing. So, most assuredly I deeply appreciate your assistance and thank you for the insight your have given.
Both my pups applied and were accepted at Amherst. We attended the info sessions and tours with each of them. It is a terrific school and one thing made clear to us was that the FA dept will work with families. Before DS applied, I met with a FA officer about the process and the one thing made clear to us was that they very much are committed to working with families to make sure the school is affordable - they don’t want the net cost to be a reason someone turns it down if they can help it.
They have a lot of squeaky wheels to deal with this week, but I would be shocked if they do not have the FA offer available to her well before the 5/1 acceptance deadline. The one thing you need to do now is make sure they have all the information in the CSS profile application.
I don’t think anyone is tongue lashing you or calling you incompetent as much as trying to let you know that your frustration/anger with the GC is a little misplaced. The financial aid process is very daunting.
Whose income did she use to file the FAFSA?
Are you and your husband the custodial parents? Is her bio mom still alive?
If yes, then she must submit the CSS profile for her custodial parent (s) and the Non-custodial profile for the other parent(s). If there is no relationship between D and bio mom, then you may have to go back to this same GC, who you are not checking for right now to assist you in getting a non-custodial waiver (if you are the custodial parents). If mom is deceased, then you must also supply that documentation so that the school does not put your information on hold while waiting for information from the non-custodial parent.
I really hope that your D can mend her relationship with the 2 of you, or at least open the lines of communication. She will have to apply for financial aid every year that she is in school and is dependent on you to pay your EFC in order for her to attend school.
While it is not to her benefit to have an adversarial relationship with you and her father at all, this is not the hill that she should be willing to die on, because you are not obligated to pay for college.
You will have rights to information if she signs the FERPA (and you can request that she do as a condition of continued financial support from you and your husband)
Also re: the original question, if she is the one who needs to deal with this as far as Amherst’s privacy policies are concerned, she can call the FA office - she doesn’t have to go in person to get this done.
It is unfortunate that your daughter did not complete the correct documents or let you know that you needed to do them. She is not the first 18 year old to have to figure this out on her own if she refuses your help, and it will continue every year until she is 24 or graduates. If she wants to go to Amherst, she’ll have to either work with you or forgo financial aid. There are a lot of students who deal with parents who will not complete the forms at all and who then cannot get financial aid. Your daughter has parents who will complete the forms, so she’s in a much better situation. The school will not grant an exception for her because she lives with her grandmother, they require her to file the FAFSA and CSS with your information.
Her high school GC is not responsible. Many public school GCs know what is needed for the instate public schools and that’s it. Our GC did not help AT ALL, did not even inform us that there was an instate grant for attending a private school. I just did the footwork myself. If my kids had refused my help, they wouldn’t be in college because they couldn’t pay for it.
Honestly at this point it is your daughter’s issue. Nobody can make you pay full rate for a college.
You are allowed to say to her: “We can’t afford Amherst without aid. You can’t take out loans larger than $5500 without us co-signing and we are not willing to do that for $YY,0000. What we can afford is $XX,)000 per year. We would like to try to make Amherst work for you, but unless you get financial aid it won’t happen. So what can we do to help you?”
Now that things are working out, are you less anxious to want to point a finger at her guidance counselor?
Under the circumstances, it isn’t clear if you have had much contact with the GC anyway, or if most of the contact was directly between your D and her GC. From the little you have shared, it sounds like the latter, and her GC actually deserves praise for meeting with your D so frequently, perhaps helping her with several issues unrelated to her college application process.
Many people, not just on CC, forget that this is a significant role that GC’s play. Your kid has overcome a lot, and is going to a fabulous and affordable school. While this wasn’t the smoothest possible ride, she’ll be getting to the right destination for her.
Best of luck to you and your kid, I hope the rest of the journey is not nearly as bumpy.
