Hi all—-
I am a high school sophomore that stresses often about college and my future. I have a GPA of 3.92/4.18 (unweighted/weighted) and haven’t taken any ACT or SAT yet. Currently, I hope to go to American University and major in International Relations and eventually go to law school (my dream school would be Georgetown).
My first question relates to payment and financing. Although I hope to get many scholarships, the schools I wish to go to are very costly. My parents are divorced but my parents split custody exactly half and half. My father makes much more than my mother does. Would it make sense for my mom to get 1% more custody than my father so that my income on college apps is lesser?
My second concern relates to debt. To reiterate, the schools I like are very expensive. My mom thinks that I should do undergrad at a state school where I can spend less, thus accumulating less debt. Overall I understand the argument, but it makes me feel that I am wasting all my time and energy working so hard in high school. Also, I question if law schools such as Georgetown care about where I go to undergrad. However, my dad disagrees. He feels that I should go to AU (assuming I get accepted) because it will increase the likelihood I get into a good law school and get a good job.
I understand that it is very premature that I am focusing on this as these concerns are also based on the assumption that I will get accepted to AU, however, your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
There’s 365 days in a year. Thats an is number. Your custodial parent will be the person where you spent half of 364 days (182)+1.
For most private universities, it doesn’t matter since both parents’ income must be added to the CSS profile (financial aid system) and if they remarried, their new spouse’s too. most financial aid comes from the colleges themselves, which is why you need to run the NPC on every single college. NPC = net price calculator. You Ali need to know your EFC and whether your parents can afford it (generally , they can’t). Your application list will be different if your efc is 0 and if it’s35k but your parents can afford 20k. Finally, you don’t have to at sticker price (published) if you apply to theright colleges - what those are
Note that good colleges for international relations include Macalester, Tufts, Kalamazoo, UMD college Park, Dickinson, Middlebury. Run the NPC on every one of them and talk with your parents to see which ones are affordable.
Finally note that you will be allowed to borrow 5.5k for freshman year - any other loan would have to be taken by a parent and it’s just a bad idea.
You actually have a LOT of questions in your first question.
- For FAFSA purposes...if your parents are divorced...the parent with whom you reside 51% of the time with for the year preceding the DATE of your FAFSA filing is your custodial parent. ONLY the custodial parent is listed on the FAFSA...but the do need to include any spousal or child support received. So...for FAFSA purposes it might benefit you to live with your mom 51% of the time.
BUT…that is for FAFSA. It might not actually net you any additional need based aid…because your mom’s income might still be too high to quaify for federally funded grant money.
What is your mom’s annual income?
You should be attending High School and doing well for the education you are receiving there…and doing as well as possible to maximize your college application options. But doing well in high school should not make you feel like you deserve a “reward” of attending any specific college.
Oh please. Your law school acceptances will be based on the strength of your LSAT score, college GPA, LOR, and any significant relevant exoerience you might have. It’s nit based on the name of your undergrad school.
What state are you from? There are some state flagship universities that are very strong…and actually would be less costly for you instate than American…which doesn’t meet full need…and has limited merit aid…and is costly.
Also, you need to look at your probable college lists carefully.
American University, for example, uses the CSS Profile as well as the FAFSA. A,erican also requires the non-custodial parent Profile. So for that college…the income and assets of BOTH of your parents will be considered for institutional need based aid.
There is some aid for some law schools students…but it’s not particularly plentiful. You will want to keep your undergrad debt to a minimum.
So…what state are you from?
For parents with equal joint custody, FAFSA specifically states that the parent who provides more support completes the FAFSA. Most likely CSS Profile also has a rule. This situation is not all that uncommon. You definitely don’t get to just choose which parent’s info to use.
Just because there are an odd number of days in a year does not mean anything. We are talking about a custody decree or parenting plan that says something like 50-50, parents share residential custody equally, etc.
Parents who suddenly change custody to slightly favor one parent, right before completing financial aid forms for a student in high school, may well be subject to extra scrutiny and even legal sanctions.
@Future_student101 Your dad wants you to go to AU. Is your dad going to pay for this? Private schools won’t care which parent you spend 1% more time with. They will look at income and assets for both in detail in the Profile.
That’s only if there is truly a 50/50 split.
There will be NO scrutiny if the student spends one additional day with another parent. Not one bit. And no legal sanctions either. This is perfectly allowable. And it’s even been suggested numerous times. Reality is…it could happen very legitimately…like kid spends more weekends with one parent than another or something. It’s not illegal.
@alooknac where did you hear there could be legal sanctions for spending ONE additional day with a parent. Not true.
And the divorce decree…means NOTHING in terms of school financial aid…neither does tax filing status.
@kelsmom ??
If by equal joint custody you mean what a legal document (divorce agreement, etc.) says, this is not correct. The first test used is which parent did the student spend the most time with in the preceding 365 days, regardless of what any agreement or legal document stipulates. That parent’s information is reported on FAFSA. Profile does not really have a similar rule, because the great majority of schools that use Profile require that both parents, custodial and noncustodial, provide financial numbers.
Your dad’’s income will be considered for AU. They use both parents’ incomes and any new spouses’ incomes.
Talk to your parents about how much they’’ll each spend each year on college. Do you have younger siblings that they’ll have to also put thru college?
There’s a big difference with what we want and what we can actually afford. If your parents are willing to pay the additional tuition and keep your student loans to under $27k for your entire bachelors degree, then American University is fine. If they’re unwilling or unable to pay the additional costs, then you need to find a school you can afford.
@thumper is correct. As is @mom2collegekids , who correctly states that AU will use both incomes (and the incomes of any step-parents, as well). And @coolguy40 has sound advice.