Rice<<
When my kid looked at Rice, the 25% ACT was 33 (2018 for 19, pre promise!). They don’t superscore. Heck, in my kids’ application rounds, super scoring was rare. Again, reaches are a problem with an ACT of 32 from a white middle classed applicant, and the credits will help least at reachier options. If credit leverage is vital, instate is the way to go.
Wouldn’t the meet need reaches base any need based aid on the CSS profile or their own forms, in addition to FAFSA, and consider the bio dad’s income assets as well as mom’s and stepdad’s?
I just want to specify that the reason I mentioned the credits is because someone mentioned doing community college for a year. I don’t expect the credit to transfer or knock off a year at any harder or even private colleges, but I think it might be advantageous at CCSU where I took many of my classes.
I also redid my FAFSA and fixed all errors (stepdad was done incorrectly) and the EFC dropped down to 5600 which alleviates some of the previous concerns. I’m kind of confused as to how it got this low though, but we double checked everything multiple times and everything was accurate. We added stepdad income, his savings but that also increased household size (they weren’t living together when we filed the FAFSA originally). I do want to thank everyone for their help though!! It really helped me fix the FAFSA because my mom and I did mess up multiple areas. Unfortunately, we didn’t have anyone to help us before and I can see where she got confused at points as well. She made a joke about being able to get a degree in law but not figuring out the FAFSA
You are totally not a CC candidate. The credit discussion as I see it is financial. Sit down and make a theoretical pathway and see how much time it takes to graduate with the credits in your state. What eng discipline? The more specific it is, the less classes there will be available as an upperclassmen. This might mean you are a PT student and able to work while studying but not finish any earlier, Have you clarified if you can commute at all?
@h8annah - A worst-case-scenario reason for attending a community college for a year would be if that CC has an articulation (guaranteed transfer) agreement for your specific major at a college/university that is affordable. Many public universities guarantee admission, and admission to a specific major, for CC graduates who have completed a set of required coursework with a given GPA.
I was the one who mentioned the CC…not knowing about all the dual credit courses when i wrote that.
@h8annah do all of your step siblings live with you?
I figured your EFC would go down a bit by deleting a $50,000 asset…which would.
But adding your stepdads income I thought might balance that out a little.
If those step siblings are living with you, are any also in college at the same time as you will be in fall 2020?
And did you list the equity in that second house as an asset?
I would not have thought your family EFC would have dropped that low. It’s confusing because though the EFC requires current family situation–your stepfather has to be included because he and your mother were married on the day you filed FAFSA… Assets are also reported as of the that date–a snapshot of what your mom, stepdad and you own as of the day you filed that initial FAFSA. IF your stepfather still owned that house of his that day, yes, it should have been an asset reported as your family is permitted to exempt one primary residence from the form. However INCOME used is from the 2018 calendar year.
However, if your stepfather is the custodial parent with whom his college attending children live with the most, the EFC would be divided among all of the students attending college during the 2020-21 school year. Any child support your step father payed in 2018 is subtracted from his income just as any child support your mother received is added.
UTDallas is also a good possibility for the OP. I see a Texas bent to the applicant.
Were they married when you first filed? THAT is the date (filing date) that determines most input into the FAFSA. If married, then you have to include all his assets, income (and deductions for child support paid), and any of his children who were in your household, including the second home.
Dropping to $5600 EFC is extreme, especially if you added income and assets of stepfather, even if dropping $50k 529 as a student asset ($50k x 20% = $10k lower EFC)
NPCs are notoriously inaccurate for divorced households, so I’d go have a chat with U of Hartford’s Financial Aid folks to double check your math and see what they can do for you. You’ve got credits there, in-state rates and your numbers are far enough above the mean that you’d likely score some sweet merit aid. Plus their dates aren’t until Feb so you can still apply.
University of Hartford is a private university…instate rates don’t exist…price is the same in and out of state.
This student does have instate at CCSU and should talk to them. The price to attend there is very modest tuition…under $10,000 a year. And yes, they have engineering.
She is waiting to hear from UConn. She could speak to their financial aid office as well.
Something seems “off” to me that stepdads income and assets were added to the moms, and even removing the 529…the EFC dropped to $5000 or so. That just doesn’t sound right.
@thumper1 Private, yes, but they have engineering and it appears they are pretty liberal with the merit for high achieving students. (That seems to be happening soon, BTW, so don’t dawdle.) But my main point was that OP needs to get on the phone with someone from some FA office to be certain all the numbers are correct.
EDIT: And yes, 50K to 5K feels like another mistake is in there somewhere.
University of Hartford also wants to retain instate residents. So yes, merit aid could be forthcoming. But I didn’t see that U Hart was even on her application list. Engineering is more competitive than the rest of the university.
But she won’t be graduating in two years from UHart in engineering.
So, we added my stepdad and the kids he’s supporting in college. It upped our number in household from 3 to 5. His income isn’t that high, and his finances are kind of bad.
We double checked everything and it is 100% correct and we reported everything. Unless there was an issue with making corrections?
We’re contacting schools to fix the CSS. My stepdad was included on there but we did report than 529 incorrectly as my savings on there too.
How many of your dad’s kids will be in college in Fall 2020…when you start?
If there are three of you at the same time, that’s probably the reason your EFC per FAFSA dropped.
Will your step siblings be completing their FAFSA forms like you did…with your mom and her husband (their dad)? If they live with you greater than 50% of the time, I believe that is what should happen.
I think 3 kids but he put 2 because one is too old. @thumper1
Well…that explains part of the drop in EFC. If there are two kids in undergrad at the same time…the total EFC would be split in half per FAFSA.
Without the 529, your EFC would drop about $10,000…taking it to $20,000 for one kid in college. With two, it would be $10,000 per kid.
But I will say, single parents (as your mom was before she corrected this form) do get hit harder on that EFC. @twoinanddone can explain.
It still seems low to me that the EFC would be in the $5000 range even with two in college.
Make sure you check all of you numbers.
You said the stepdad moved into your house. Does he still own the other house (did he own it when you first submitted FAFSA)?
So he earns less than your mom (with a family of 5 and two in college, they can’t be making more than $70,000-$80,000 together).
And he supports two of his children more than their mom does?
The mom isn’t in the picture. She has Huntington’s @mommdc
Having 3 kids in college at once really helps on the EFC. The other two kids might want to review their FAFSAs as well and maybe their EFCs will go down too.
If you can qualify for a Pell grant, even if it is very small, that might open you up for other financial aid too. There might be a state grant, or a private one that has a need requirement. You may also get an SEOG.