@Durable Here is an article link that you could review to see if you made any of these mistakes on your FAFSA. http://www.thecollegesolution.com/11-common-fafsa-mistakes/ I find the information about college financial issues on the website The College Solution to be very hepful. The author has a facebook page and on Fridays answers posted questions so perhaps you could ask her for advice then. Also I know Edvisors offer free information, perhaps they could review your submitted FAFSA to see if there are any mistakes.
I know how you feel but know that there are 3000 colleges and I also tell my students that there is one out there that is the right fit and affordable for them. The student just has to find them. When I have students who find themselves in similiar circumstances, I have them retake the SAT or ACT to try and raise their score where they could get merit, I have them take a gap year to give them time to apply a bit “smarter” and earn more money to help with their bill and I have them focus on schools where merit can be stacked with a reducation like WUE or other state sponsored discount programs. Good luck.
Unfortunately with CUNY having 29 colleges and SUNY having 64 colleges they are not part of the WUE. Op lives in NYC and the affordable option would be attending CUNY and living st home.
@Durable did you daughter apply to the Macaulay Honors College at CUNY?
Definitely look for some merit schools and instate schools quickly. Even the close to meets full need schools will probably cost close to your EFC if not more PLUS they typically add a student work contribution in the neighborhood of $5000. With the instate and merit schools adding back in what your student can earn from working, what you can afford, and perhaps a small student loan you can probably make one of these schools work.
Assets are 0 for both of us. Paycheck to paycheck.
She did apply to other schools, including CUNY Macaulay for Brooklyn and Hunter, and SUNY Purchase. Addd Emerson to the list. She just got accepted at Hofstra with a 50% rate. Would be a shame with her interest and grades for her to have to forego on the schools with the best programs because of their tuition. She wants to write for TV and film. Brilliant kid with Asperger’s autism. 32 on ACT, 1460 on SAT, Lots of ECs. Has done writing and film programs with SummerArts, NYU and 3T. Great Recs.
The TOTAL income was 66k. 15k of that was put into retirement because I am trying to be proactive since I am already 58 and this is a second career for me. I have no other savings but my IRA. My take home for the year was about 40k. Where do they find 14k available for college? Maybe if a parent is 43 years old and has a long time to save for retirement they could take the retirement money but to do that to someone who may retire in 7 years is ridiculous. Inherited my home that we lived in with my mother when she passed 2 years ago. Keeping up the expenses is cutting me close as it is. Single mom. Never received aid, though I did qualify at certain times. Never took SS for her disability because I didn’t want to play the system. Now it’s playing me.
I did run Net price and got $7k for EFC but FAFSA gives me the higher amt. I already sent in CSS profile to her schools.
They consider the retirement savings to be optional. It is a good use of discretionary income, but a person who can spare $15K to put into retirement could use that money to pay for college instead.
It’s a matter of priorities. You will need to decide whether saving for retirement over the next 4 years is a higher priority than paying for your daughter’s college. When my kids were in college, I cut way back on retirement contributions – some years it was -0-. I think I pretty much quit contributing to my SEP-IRA and just put money into my Roth IRA if it meant I would qualify for a tax credit.
Obviously everyone needs to set their own priorities, and it is legitimate to save for retirement. But the FAFSA system is built on the assumption that college payments come first.
FAFSA doesn’t really matter because it only determines Pell eligibility - and a $62K income is clearly outside of that range. Your D will be able to borrow $5500 no matter what - FAFSA just helps determine whether $3500 of that will be subsidized. It really is going to depend on the individual schools. Barnard and Vassar will meet full need, as they determine it (not FAFSA), but they are going to count home equity. NYU is probably not going to give your DD anything meaningful in terms of aid. Your daughter’s stats aren’t the type to win full-ride scholarships anywhere either.
You will have choices with the CUNY / SUNY options – it just might not be the choices your daughter has been hoping for.
32 act can be a full ride. But probably not at a place for writing.
If her portfolio/audition is good, NYU may offer her something off tuition such as she would commute. Don’t count on it but it happens for Tisch.
Do have her apply to DENISON TODAY. (deadline Jan 15)
Add Eckerd, Knox
The OP said that the her daughter has Asperger’s. Most of the colleges she listed are in NY, a couple in Boston.
It’s possible that the OP would not be comfortable with the daughter going too far too college – so colleges in Ohio, Illinois & Florida might not really be feasible no matter what kind of financial aid they offer.
If the daughter is accepted to Macauley it is essentially free. CUNY Hunter is $6000 a year. So it is not as if there won’t be choices for an affordable education - it’s just that the kid will probably feel let down if she gets into Tisch but has to attend CUNY because of financial reasons. But it could be disastrous if the kid went off to a college that was far away from any family support system that wasn’t even on her radar except for possible financial aid – every Aspie is different, but this kid might have social limitation that could make adjustment to the college environment different.
I don’t know. But it’s one thing to suggest a college, quite another to tell the mom that the daughter must apply today.
I think that the daughter can achieve her goals at CUNY. It won’t be what she wants, but there are also opportunities to pursue outside of school, perhaps many more in NYC than if she were to attend a distant college.