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You do not have to be financially independent to get a dependency override.
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I didn’t say that it was required.
I said that since she’s living with her non-abusive mom, she wouldn’t be ruled independent. Why would she be? There are a gazillion kids from broken homes out there with NCPs that won’t pay. Those students do not get dependency overrides.
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He has a very high income but Uses that to control others and dangles that carrot just like your dad is doing. You are in a tough spot and I feel for you. I believe if you live with your mom (and he lives elsewhere) and she files FAFSA in her name only and leaves his income out of equation, you may qualify for aid at many schools.
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Is the OP’s dad dangling anything? I may have missed that.
The student needs to take a gap year and apply to instate NJ publics. Those are mostly the only ones that will use FAFSA only and give her better aid. The other FAFSAonly schools tend to give lousy aid. In NJ, she would qualify for NJ aid as well.
It sounds like she did file FAFSA w/o dad’s income because she mentions getting some aid, which sounds like maybe Pell.
It is not likely that a student will get a dependency override…when the student is living with a parent.
Unless the custody of the child was actually with the department of social services. Legal custody may very well have been transferred to the state, even if child continued to live with the parent. If legal custody was with the state at any time after the student’s 13th birthday, the student would be independent for FA purposes.
If the student was a ward of the state after age 13…that student would not need a dependency override.
But I never heard that this student was removed from the home. The father was. CPS can be involved with a case…and for years…with no assignment if custody taken away.
Do file for dependency override. Ask your cps worker. It may not work but try anyway. File a restraining order.
Of course your father won’t pay for a UC. He’s just using that ‘maybe’ to torment you. (Even loving, married parents with no mental health issues and no history of abuse can’t pay for a UC OOS with a $150K income.) It’s likely to end with 'well, if you had done x’or ‘if you hadn’t done z’… “I would have paid for it.” Don’t believe it. Congratulations on getting into UC 's, but they were never happening for you. If you want to attend a school in California, you’ll have to apply to private colleges. And of course you’re better off applying to colleges in-state in NJ or find a full ride/full tuition scholarship based on merit.
Take a gap year during the time it takes for the dependency override to work out. It won’t allow you to attend a UC but it’ll be a chance for you to attend a college at all, which right now isn’t happening. Right now, you have no affordable option.
You could apply to CityYear, which will provide you with a stipend for volunteering in innter-city elementary schools.
If you know how much your mother can give you toward college (DO NOT count on anything from your dad - just don’t believe anything he says), have a job/savings, what’s your budget?
What are your stats?
(Can you retake the SAT or ACT before you graduate?)
We can suggest colleges based on your choice of major, stats, and budget.
And custody (legal) can be transferred to the state even if the child is never removed from the home. We don’t know. as the OP just said “I was placed under the care of CPS” and may not know if legal custody was transferred.
That’s the question, was legal custody ever transferred to the state?
Dependency override doesn’t take a year to get. We helped our young man start the process in late spring and even with an uncooperative guidance counselor from the high school, difficult doctor etc, we got it by late June. It was not easy, there were a ton of hoops and paperwork, but we managed it. I do not think it is impossible, and it was totally worth it, because the parents no longer can hold anything over his head or threaten not to provide or complete FAFSA/tax paperwork. Huge relief.
Even a dependency override isn’t going to help the OP afford the schools she’s applied to - which all seem to be OOS publics.
^ exactly. It’ll help OP but not for UC 's. So she needs to pursue both venues - override AND gap year.
Did I miss something? Where is the list of accepted colleges for this student? Also, aren’t there schools in NJ that are rolling admissions like Montclair?
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Flash forward to current time, the protective order in place for me has expired due to my turning 18, and she has yet to file/ensure that I am protected.
To make matters worse, my father is the one who has my family’s income. He earned $150k+, so can afford to pay my tuition. My mother however, since there is no divorce or any legal contract, has no income. She refuses to begin the divorce process, which thus means that whether or not my tuition is paid is at the mercy of my dad, who has expressed numerous times that he “may or may not pay”. I worry due to his abusive behavior and mental instability that he will give me trouble with paying, considering he does not approve of the school, that he will likely be a potential for disaster come time to pay my tuition. Either way, it’s a huge problem.
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I missed the “may or may not pay” part of the dad’s position regarding paying OOS for a UC.
There are several potential problems with this young woman’s situation:
the dad has already faced a legal situation involving this student (that he caused, but likely doesn’t admit). This may or may not have impacted his job.
This student is going to file to reinstate the protection order (which is another “hit” on his record.) This may impact his job.
The student needs the dad to pay 12 times (for each of the 12 quarters) at her UC. At any point, he could refuse.
4 ) The student may end up facing a blackmail situation…where the dad will insist that she recant (to clear his record) in order for him to make the “next payment”. Or, he may blackmail for some other reason.
She’s dealing with someone who likely is seriously mentally ill. She already knows that he’s dangerous. Heck, it sounds like he hit her with a golf club! that could be deadly.
It is a serious mistake to be under the control of someone who is seriously mentally ill and dangerous.
Instead, the student needs to take a gap year and apply to instate schools where she can get NJ state aid that will supplement her fed aid, and any shortfall can be covered with summer earnings. She might even find some merit at some schools.
That’s why OP must not listen to the dad’s occasional promises. It’s just a trick to manipulate her and hurt her. OP has to find a way to finance college without her dad. She applied to unaffordable schools (listed upthread:mostly UC’s) for environmental engineering. Hence, restraining order, override, AND gap year.
(Montclair no longer has full rides or full tuition scholarships and doesn’t offer engineering.)
Posted by the OP. No instate colleges in NJ. Only OOS public universities…and mostly UC schools. Unaffordable.
^^^No one can fault you for trying to get far away! I agree that a gap year might be best. There will be a list of colleges with openings for Fall 2016 posted in May at this site:
http://www.nacacnet.org/research/research-data/College-Openings/Pages/College-Openings-Results.aspx
But a year of work and savings might be a better idea. Also NJ National Guard will pay for tuition to any NJ public if you join. Most states don’t have this deal. I would absolutely cut ties with your dad if what you say is true.
@thumper1 that must have been on another thread. Rowan and Rutgers both have Engineering. Rutgers offers the max EOF money you can get and is a large school. Rowan has excellent merit scholarships, on top of which you would be able to layer Pell and NJ Tag money, and if eligible, EOF (all grants/scholarships). COA at Rowan for this year is 32,000. Rowan is becoming known for its excellence in engineering after spending 100 million $ gift from Henry Rowan in 1990 very wisely. about 16,000 students, so not huge. A solid choice.
Ramapo (which I don’t know much about) also offers good merit scholarships, is public NJ, similar grants (Pell/NJTag/EOF) programs. Not sure if they offer engineering or not.
The College of NJ is more selective and also more expensive and offers little merit aid.
I am not sure if any offer admissions at this point, so the gap year may be needed. I’d be interested to hear from the OP.
@NJRoadie it was posted on another thread but was copied here in post 3.
Sorry you are going through this. Does anyone communicate with your dad? Do you have siblings? Some men are both emotionally and physically abusive, and the money dance can be part of this abuse. In the remote chance that he will contribute to your college expenses this first semester, the dance will continue for 7 more semesters. That is a heavy load for you. Sadly, I concur that you should explore alternative educational options.
Is the dad living in the home or does OP just live with mom?
If mom is a the custodial parent, there is no need for a dependency override (and one would not be granted because dad is abuser and not in the home).
At 18 Op can file her own order of protection, but she would need grounds to do so. If nothing has happened to her since the last one, then she will not get one.
Even if she is successful at getting one, the most that a dependency override is going to do is make her in independent for federal aid; pell, increased direct loans.
Even if mom is still married, if they are in separate homes due to the dissolution of the marriage, only mom’s income (child support) support would go on the FAFSA.
If op was applying to a school that used the CSS profile/non-custodial profile, she old have been eligible for a waiver because of the abuse.
As others have already stated, her plan will still not get her the 50k she needs to attend UC OOS.
To start, for the last 4 years I was placed under the care of CPS due to physical abuse from my father. He was court ordered to leave our home, and there was a protective order in place to keep him from entering the home of my mom, my brother, and I.
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My mother has yet to file for divorce. She states she never wishes to live with him again…but has not taken any measures to protect us herself. It’s been 2 years since my dad was court-ordered to leave (due to a domestic violence incident involving a golf club and me…anyways.), but she has been balking at filing. She makes excuses that “her financial state” or “that she’s in the process and is finding a lawyer”, but there still has been no progress made. She receives therapy at a women’s shelter, but she does not take advantage of the services they offer to help women in her state. Flash forward to current time, the protective order in place for me has expired due to my turning 18, and she has yet to file/ensure that I am protected.
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it sounds like the dad is still living elsewhere.