What difference will it make? He would have to show two full years of independent support…including paying all of his living expenses and college costs. Will he be able to do so?
Read this part again…I don’t think his age matters.
In his case, he could be independent for financial aid FAFSA purposes if he is age 24. That would be the case. BUT that does not mean he would be considered an instate resident for tuition purposes at UCLA.
How many terms has he used the Pell Grant…because that IS limited.
He COULD try and apply to Pomona College (NOT Cal Poly Pomona). It’s HIGHLY selective (much more so than UCLA) so he’d need a GPA as close to a 4.0 as possible and medically-related activities where he makes a real difference. Pomona won’t care that you live abroad and they meet full need, so for an EFC 0 student it’d probably be the cheapest option. Again… IF he can get in.
Tumper1 - this is exactly the point, in states that if age 24 and proven two years financial in depended (FAFSA counts) plus other residency requirements (which he has as registered car, address etc), he can be considers for residency. Same i saw on Bereckly website. What yo think? I know it may or may not qualifies but if UCLA will want him, that should be ok isn’t it?
I really appreciate all your great help. It will dominate the future of my son. I do take all your inputs seriously but the learning curve is slow… :-* sorry
He would have to show that he had enough money for two years to FULLY support himself.
This includes EVERYTHING…his tuition, fees (which sound like financial aid covers), books, personal expenses, housing, utilities, health insurance, car insurance, car registration costs, etc. EVERYTHING.
So, he would have to have enough financial aid plus income to prove that he paid ALL of his bills…all of them.
It clearly states that he cannot take support from anyone else in that two years.
1 - If so I will transfer apartment I own to him and he will get rent to support himself?
2- What will they require for “show that he has enough money to support himself”?
3- About Pomona, how is the area itself? Is it in the better part of LA?
4- How most of the undergrads in UCLA pay for their studies?
Rent will be considered income and will raise his EFC.
Schools will request his W2 and tax transcripts from the IRS. School can/will ask for bills in his name. They can even ask for bank statements to prove where the money has come from.
Most undergrads at UCLA have parents who have a physical presence n California and are paying for them to attend.
If you transfer the ownership of the apartment to your son, then the value of the apartment will become your son’s asset. He’ll need to report that on FAFSA and that will decrease the amount of FA he’ll receive. (He’ll be expected to sell or take out loans against the value of the asset to pay for college.) Owning the apartment could completely disqualify him for the Pell grant.
Any rent he takes in from the apartment will be counted as his income–and again this will lower the amount of FA he is eligible for and may disqualify him from receiving a Pell grant.
he will be asked to provide documentation–rent received, bank statements, W2 forms, FA forms, loan statements, tax returns-- to show that he can pay for 100% of his tuition, fees, housing, utilities, car insurance, health insurance, food, & clothing costs, gasoline & car maintenance costs, etc. He will have to show a FA officer his bills to prove he has enough income to pay for all of that.
Their parents pay or take out loans to pay. They are state residents and use Cal grants or other scholarships/grant programs. They work full-time & go to school part-time.
RE: attending UCLA and going to the UCLA (or any California) medical school.
UCLA gives ZERO preference in admission to students who attend the undergrad. In fact, UCLA SOM gives ZERO in-state preference to California residents. It's a top ranked med school and students from all over the US compete for admission.
Except for UC-Riverside, not a single CA med school gives any admission preference to California residents. For UCR--only applicants from the Inland Empire area of CA are considered.
CA is the single largest supplier of med school applicants in the US. Over 6500 last year.
Most CA med school applicants are not accepted anywhere. (Close to 70% are not accepted to any med school anywhere in the US.) Of those who are accepted, most attend an out-of-state med school.
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does it help any that he has very strong medical background, some certificate of excellence, lost of passion and amazing knowledge in the medical field (mainly trauma)?
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No. What's matters is GPA (3.7+ was the average for matriculating students last year ) and MCAT score (511-512--or top 15% of the all test takers in the US). Medical schools don't particularly care what college/university an applicant has attended. GPA/MCAT is used for the first cut.
Once those basic criteria are met, then everything else get considered (letters of recommendations from professors, long term clinical volunteering, long term non-medical community service with the disadvantaged, laboratory research experience, leadership roles/positions held, physician shadowing experiences, personal statements & essays, teaching/tutoring/coach experience, plus anything else the specific med school feels important to have an a physician candidate)
Med school admission is extremely competitive--only about 40% of those who apply get any acceptance at all.
Med school is also extremely expensive and parents are expected to contribute to paying the costs to attend no matter how old the student is, whether or not the student is married and whether or not the student is and has been self-supporting for years.
There are very few scholarships or grants to pay for medical school. Just lots and lots of loans.
He can take classes and keep a high GPA at CC, try for Pomona (yes it’s one of the most prestigious universities in California and it’s highly selective - UCLA is highly selective with only 15% applicants admitted, and Pomona’s acceptance rate is 8%). You don’t need to be a resident to receive financial aid but you need to be exceptional.
It doesn’t matter how much UCLA “wants him”. If he isn’t a resident for tuition purposes, he will be considered OOS and won’t get financial aid…at all.
If you gift your son an apartment so that he can support himself with the rental income, that still doesn’t show that he supports himself independently.