<p>Libro, I feel for you and your DD. She doesn’t need any more problems after her diagnosis!</p>
<p>However, I feel that if you’re counting on extra money from a school to swing this, it’s probably more of a financial stretch than you want to take on. Most schools what give you much unless you have tens of thousands in bills.</p>
<p>We do have a safety in place, instate, only a few hours away that we can afford. She doesn’t hate the idea of going there, but it’s at the bottom of her list. I do realize it may be where she ends up.</p>
<p>If this school is last on her list, then maybe another school needs to be identified.</p>
<p>If we could do things differently, I would definatly have had her apply to a few of the schools we ruled out that we knew we could get some money from. At the time, a few thousand dollars wasn’t going to make a difference, now it will.</p>
<p>The good news is that it isn’t spring, it’s only December. There’s still time to identify and apply to a couple more schools. 
I know that it may seem rather haphazard after all the careful planning done over the last few years, but life throws curve balls, and sudden adjustments must be made. :/</p>
<p>*schools with good Education and Foreign Languages programs in the southeast *</p>
<p>What state are you in? That major and FL emphasis aren’t rare. There are probably other schools that could be suggested.</p>
<p>What is your budget? how much do you feel that you can afford to spend each year on college? </p>
<p>We had also planned on her working, and now I’m not sure if that will be possible or not.</p>
<p>If her illness saps her strength and/or if her meds suppress her immunity, then working may not be possible. My sister has a compromised immunity system because of her illness/meds, so although she works, she doesn’t do any stenuous activities. </p>
<p>Will your D’s hospital stays be unplanned and sudden and with little warning? </p>
<p>*As the parent of a child with a chronic disease, I know it takes some time to adjust to the idea that illness might interfere with the trajectory your child has been on all this time, but consider this mantra: “It’s not a race. She will get there. Wherever she gets, when she gets there, it will be fine.” *</p>
<p>This is very true. My sister’s first transplant was while she was in college. She had to miss a school year because of it. In the end, she graduated, when on to grad school, and has a professional job. There was another transplant during that time. It wasn’t all done on the normal schedule…but she sure got there. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the comments and concern. </p>
<p>We just found out this week that she’s been offered two academic scolarships (about 20,000/year) from two different schools that fell in the middle of her list, so at the least, she won’t have to go to the instate safety. And one of the schools is not too far away.</p>
<p>She currently attends a private school and that runs about $10,000/year. We can afford to contribute about what we are now to her education, maybe a little more, but how much will depend on how her medical expenses go. We just found out she has another health issue also, not as severe as the first but still serious. When it rains; it pours. The poor kid feels like she’s falling apart, and she’s just 16. </p>
<p>While researching her illness, I came across refernces to lots of things that we needed to do or consider that I had no idea about before all this happened. One of those was to request the judgement. I started this post because I just wanted to make sure we cover all our bases. That we get everything filed that needs to be filed at the right time with the right people. </p>
<p>Like I said before, we are not looking for huge amounts of money. I just want to make sure we maximize everything available to us. </p>
<p>Anyone with any advice about actually filing the judgement or contacting the financial aid department regarding the situation, I would very much appreciate the advice.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>It’s very encouraging that she has these options in hand, but again, were this my daughter, I believe I would have her defer matriculation a year to get her health sorted out. This would mean picking a school from those that have accepted her, accepting the offer of admission, and then requesting a deferral. Most schools defer merit scholarships although some do not, so of course, she would have to pick one that does.</p>
<p>She could re-apply to other schools during her year off as well, if she likes, and then you’d be working with more updated and realistic financial figures.</p>
<p>(I have one child with a chronic illness that is profoundly affecting her educational trajectory, and another child on a gap year program that is turning out to be a great experience, so for both of these reasons, I embrace the “it’s not a race” philosophy.)</p>
<p>Especially since she is so young- 16 or even 17 is young to be attending college. Taking a year off to get a better handle on her medical issues will still see her in the same age group as many students coming straight out of high school.</p>
<p>Totally agree. Depending on what the chronic illnesses are and what that will entail over the next twelve months if she is only 16 or 17 when she graduates high school it might be worth deferring one of her acceptances if that is an option. There really is a big difference between 16-17 year olds and 19-20 year olds especially with boys, but even with girls. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.</p>