<p>at a recent college interview i attended, I had told my interviewers about my difficult financial situation. I haven’t seen my biological father in almost 7 years (and my mother hasn’t seen a child support payment in about the same amount of time) and have no idea where he is living today (but I know for sure that it is out of state.) they then proceeded to tell me that I might need a parental absence letter from a guidance counselor or social worker for the financial aid process to show that I cannot attain any information from my second parent.</p>
<p>how should I go about doing this? should i ask my guidance counselor? should i send it to admissions or the financial aid office…?</p>
<p>ugh so confused! </p>
<p>(i also hope this doesn’t hurt my chances of admission… :()</p>
<p>I would ask the guidance counselor for the letter, since that was what the interviewers told you, according to your post. Then, I would call Financial Aid office and ask them if you should send it to them or Admissions. You should find out where to send it from the school, because sometimes the FA is separate from Admissions, and sometimes it’s the same. It varies depending on the school.</p>
<p>I just talked to my guidance counselor and she said she’s never written anything like that before! I do keep in contact with a social worker… Would that be a better option?</p>
<p>P.S. On my common app I put ‘Unknown’ under my father’s address, telephone number, and employer. Can I do the same on my fafsa?</p>
<p>Some schools have their own forms; you can have your GC or social worker complete. Also acceptable are letters/forms from an attorney; for example, if your mother has attempted to enforce the support obligation, the attorney who represented her could attest to his unknown whereabouts.</p>
<p>asking the social worker is a good idea. colleges have the option of looking only at your mother’s income if it is documented that your father is absent. some colleges have a waiver form that typically asks about last time you had contact with your father, and last child support paid. good luck…</p>
<p>If your parents never married, or are legally divorced, and you live with your mom, you may not need too much information on your dad. Putting “unknown” as long as it is true, on forms where this is called for, is appropriate. But sooner or later in the application and financial aid process, you will need at LEAST his name, birthdate, perhaps his SSN, how long your parents have been separated, and probably official or legal documentation of the situation, as suggested above. GOOD IDEA to do that now. Actually, better to finish your college applications, then attend to this stuff around the holidays, so that you can be ready to do the FAFSA, and produce the documentation for your situation, if called upon, in January and in the months ahead. Good luck! There are actually lots of other students in the same situation.</p>
<p>My parents are separated and the two schools I attended never asked anything about my father when I didn’t put him on my FAFSA. I guess it just depends on the school.</p>
<p>The OP must be applying to Profile schools that want the noncustodial parent info. Most schools want 2 supporting documents if they are going to waive a requirement. I would suggest getting a letter form both your gc and the social worker.</p>