how much financial aid should i expect from a college?

Paying for College
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<p>I know schools have an EFC tool, but when i did it for spelman college, they only said i would be eligible for $5000, which isn’t much.</p>

<p>so i don’t know how this works but here goes: one of two children, single mother, $60-70,000 ish salary (mother only source of income), rent an apartment, own a car (i think she paid it off last year), first child in college… umm that’s all i can think of. and my mother is also in school, she’s an RN working towards a higher degree</p>

<p>i have heard that ivies are known for giving great financial aid. here are the schools i like probably will be applying to in the fall:</p>

<p>MHC, MIT, Yale, Smith, Wellesley, Spelman, Columbia, Howard, RPI, Northeastern (boston), and I think that’s it.</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

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<p>That’s a pretty strange list … what could you possibly be interested in studying that both MIT/RPI and Wellesley/Smith would offer? Maybe Engineering with a cross-town minor in Schizophrenic Studies?</p>

<p>Just joking, but it’s a really, really strange list. What’s the story?</p>

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<p>keep in mind that a number of those schools are going to insist on seeing the financial info of your father.</p>

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<p>I have to ask. Do you have the stats to get into MIT and Yale? If so, why not look at some schools that give good merit aid?</p>

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<p>This might be one place to start: [Project</a> on Student Debt: What’s the Bottom Line?](<a href=“http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php]Project”>http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php)</p>

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<p>MisterK, i’m going to do a dual degree engineering program (the 3+2 one), so it doesn’t matter where i go(well you know what i mean) as long as the school has the program.</p>

<p>mom2collegekids- if he’s not in my life they can’t have his information.</p>

<p>Erin’s Dad- i believe i do, just need to bump up my SAT score about 200 points which i can surely do, it goes up by that much every time i take it.</p>

<p>college_ruled thanks that was a big help.</p>

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<p>and also MisterK, the environments of the schools (HBCU v women’s etc) vary widely, but i like each of them.</p>

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<p>For schools that require NCP info, there must be a compelling and well-documented reason for them to grant you a waiver. Otherwise, they will not give you institutional aid without his info and you’ll probably be unable to afford a $50K/year school without that. You may want to research this a bit more - there are numerous threads from other students who have had this problem right on this board. Your alternative is to apply to schools that only require FAFSA or those who require Profile but not the NCP. You can find that list on College Board.</p>

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<p>CPUScientist - Ah OK, the 3+2 makes sense. You had me baffled!</p>

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<p>sk8rmom what’s NCP? i’ll check the threads, but even the state of ct can’t find him…no job, no place to stay, don’t even know if he’s in ct</p>

<p>MisterK yeah, no schizophrenia over here haha</p>

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<p>Non Custodial Parent (or Non Custodial Profile if you’re talking about aid apps for Profile schools). Here’s a link to the list of school that use Profile to determine institutional aid which shows whether they require NCP or not:</p>

<p><a href=“https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv[/url]”>https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>You will need to get an NCP waiver then. Not all schools will give them, so be prepared. And, you may have to apply for the NCP waiver every year. </p>

<p>You can’t just say, “I don’t know where he is”…you have to provide some kind of documentation/proof. </p>

<p>if a school will not give you an NCP waiver, then the school will NOT process your FA application. </p>

<p>Protect yourself…also apply to affordable schools that will not require NCP info.</p>

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<p>Of course all of the schools I want require that… Thanks sk8rmom and mom2collegekids</p>