<p>Throughout my whole high school years I thought I would be going to Lamar University in my hometown of Beaumont, Texas mostly because of financial reasons. However this changed not long ago when I decided I wanted to do Forensic Science as my major and Lamar does not offer it, I also finally took my ACT and scored well with a composite score of a 28. Now on to my situation, before I was born my dad left, then when I was one month old I moved in with my grandparents and have lived with them ever since. When I was in 5th grade my dad died, and then in 6th grade my mom moved into the house with me and my grandparents (she is on disability, has mental problems, isn’t my legal guardian, and has no money to support me at all), then in 7th grade my Grandma got Alzheimer’s and soon after my Grandpa got diagnosed with it too. I have had to spend a lot of time in high school taking care of my grandparents and mom too as she can’t do anything on her own and it has affected my GPA, I only have a 2.8 but I think I can bring it up to a 3.0 at the end of this semester, I know I can do better than this it’s homework that hurt my GPA. Now my grandparents are getting to the point where they are about to go to a nursing home and my uncle will be getting full guardianship over them which means all of their money has to go towards taking care of them and since they are my legal guardians that obviously leaves me with problems paying for college, especially when my mom is of NO help even if she wanted to be. Baylor and St. Edward’s are two schools in Texas that have good Forensic Science programs and I would like to go to one of them, what kind of aid do y’all think I would get with this situation? Any information will help, I’ve been completely on my own applying for college and it’s getting confusing.</p>
<p>If you have been in a court-ordered legal guardianship after the age of 13, you are an independent student for financial aid purposes. It looks like your situation fulfills that requirement.</p>
<p>However, just because you have a lot of financial need, does not mean that there will be a lot of financial aid out there for you. Most colleges and universities do not meet financial need. So do sit down with the Net Price Calculators at the websites of the places that are on your list, and figure out if there is any chance that they could be affordable.</p>
<p>Your GPA will be a big problem for you. You need to meet with your guidance counselor and get some advice about places that are likely to accept you. Your guidance counselor also ought to be able to put you in touch with social services to get some help with your family members. It should not be your responsibility to completely run the house for them. If they are all on disability, there should be some kind of help available for you.</p>
<p>When your grandparents go to the nursing home, who is going to still be responsible for your mother? Your uncle? You? What will you be living on then? A four-year college degree would be very nice, but you may need to consider a quicker path to a guaranteed career so that you can have the money that you need to support yourself with. Talk with your guidance counselor about that as well.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>
<p>My heart goes out to you, for all of the losses and struggles you’ve had.</p>
<p>Have you considered joining the military, and is this something that might work for you? Perhaps if you became an MP there might be funding to help with college during or after your service years?</p>
<p>I want to echo KKmama in saying that I admire you for all the responsibilities you have had on your plate while growing up. I just saw a news story this week about how over a million kids in this country are helping to take care of other family members, and how it takes a toll on them in school and in life in general. I would also encourage you to consult counseling staff at school like happymomof1 advises. And maybe some will disagree with this idea… but writing about it in essays can help, too. I am sure there are one million stories out there like yours, but until you share it, people don’t know, and if the colleges see that good ACT score and improvement in grades, they will see why you have had a hard time. I echo the other people who posted: good luck, and again, I admire you very much.</p>
<p>I don’t COMPLETELY run the house, I just have a lot more responsibilities than a normal high schooler. My situation sounds a lot worse than it actually is probably, my grandpa was a CPA until my grandma got diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about 5 years ago then he retired so they have enough money to take care of their bills and also planned on paying for at least some of my college but they no longer can with the situation they are going into. And I used a bad choice of words on saying my mom can’t do anything for herself, she can live on her own she is just very dependant on others. She doesn’t drive, has bad anxiety, and was a drug addict. She has access to enough government assistance to survive on her own, she used to before she moved in with us in 6th grade. I am definitely going to college, that is not in the question, worst case scenario I end up at Lamar in Beaumont. I just really would like to go to a college with a forensic science major. With the research I’ve done (looking at admission charts and other info online) with my ACT score and GPA, also coming from a Catholic college prep high school that is well respected, especially in Texas, I am quite confident I will get accepted to Baylor and almost sure I will get accepted to St. Edwards. It’s not the admissions to the schools I’m looking at I’m worried about, it’s paying for it.</p>
<p>Also I do plan on mentioning my situation, or at least parts of it, in my essay(s). Essay prompt B for ApplyTexas this year is a perfect chance to do so. It asks about overcoming a obstacle in your life.</p>
<p>I also extend my best wishes to you. It sounds like you have more than enough on your plate. Is your school counselor familiar with your situation? Could that person include something in their statement to support that you have many other family issues that you have dealt with?</p>
<p>I agree…it’s the finances that are your issue. Baylor is a terrific school, but it is costly, and they do not meet full need for all students. You could try their net price calculator, but I’m not sure how accurate it is for independent students. But it might give you a ballpark in terms of aid.</p>
<p>One thing to hold onto…your end result is what you want to achieve. Many students are in a position where finances are the issue in terms of college. In that regard, you are not alone. </p>
<p>You probably are entitled to the maximum Pell Grant of $5600, and $5500 in Direct Loans as a freshman. That $11,000 would likely pay your cost at a community college within commuting distance. I know that isn’t your current goal, but if it a means to an end, it could benefit you.</p>
<p>Were your grandparents given court ordered legal guardianship?</p>
<p>If the answer is no, then you are still a dependent student. You will file the FAFSA using the income/assets from your mom, which will still most likely net you a 0 EFC. </p>
<p>Are there any UT schools close by?</p>
<p>Are you eligible for any texas state aid?</p>
<p>The problem is I’m not 100% sure if they did get court ordered legal guardianship. I never really asked before they got Alzheimer’s and my mom isn’t too sure but she said that she thinks they did. And no there isn’t a UT school close by, but Lamar University is in my hometown and current city Beaumont, Texas and is a pretty good sized school with about 13,000 students and a pretty decent school all around, that’s where I would go if I couldn’t get enough aid to go anywhere. Also I’m not sure if I’m eligible for Texas state aid I’ll look into it.</p>
<p>If you were in a court-ordered guardianship, the paperwork should be somewhere in the house. Your uncle may even know the details if your mom can’t recall. If you have always lived in the same town and attended the same school system, chances are that someone within that system would know as well. Ask around.</p>
<p>You can also ask at the courthouse in your county - if the paperwork was filed there, they would have a copy.</p>
<p>If the guardian ship was not court ordered, and many are not, you will have to file with your mother as the custodial parent according to FAFSA rules. Families often do things on an ad hoc basis, casually without going through the legal traffic, so this is entirely possible.</p>
<p>If your mother has very low income, little in assets, it may not make that much difference. You may still end up with a zero EFC. If you qualify for an auto zero, then you would get full Pell and access to loans. THe only issue might be the maximum Staffords you can take without your mother getting denied a PLUS which she would get denied if she has outstanding bills. So this could all be a wash anyways.</p>
<p>As, I was saying above, this is not unusual at all. Many kids end up raised by a relative or friend without the legal papers ever filed, and it’s not an issue until college time. Then if there is a live parent, then you need to use that parent’s info unless you get a Professional Judgement waiver from a financial aid office ,each FA office, in fact, not just a blanket one for all school, to exclude the parent and apply on your own as non dependent.</p>
<p>FA aside (it sounds like you will have a 0 EFC whether you are independent or not) , your obstacles and difficulties can be explained in an essay if you’ve learned something from them or overcome them in some way…but better still might be for your guidance counselor to address them in his/her recommendation.</p>