<p>Can anyone share a positive experience re: informing financial aid office of special circumstances–I have a couple of situations — serious health condition, upcoming surgery, single parent, ex husband is convicted felon unreliable with child support/son estranged – want to present the facts w/o seeming pathetic–</p>
<p>lindz, all I can say is good luck. Nothing positive to report. Sorry. ;)</p>
<p>IMO you might as well not bring up future problems even if they are reasonably imminent. They are a very optimistic bunch. For example, if you have condition certified by a doctor that within its normal course will result in more disabling problems before ultimately killing you- these folks just don’t thnk that’s anything to worry about. Maybe a cure is right around the corner.</p>
<p>Hang in there and document, document, document.</p>
<p>Oh my gosh, I have a very similar situation (single, med issues for both myself and D, and child support defaults). I’ve also found this a difficult issue. What I’ve done is prepare a list, or points, stated very factually without going into too much detail. I thought that if the fin aid office would need more info, they’d ask.</p>
<p>One of the colleges my D is applying to has their own non custodial that I needed to prepare, for which one of the questions related to whether child support has been current, and if not, details on that. I had to go through years of detailed figures for that one.
As for CSS non custodial, I prepared a letter stating I informed ex of the instructions and requirements (tax returns etc), apologizing that it most likely won’t be done by the deadline, or perhaps not at all. I was advised to keep a record of all emails regarding this, in case those colleges need proof. If you also have the non custodial CSS to deal with for privates, I was also advised that colleges are understanding on this issue, but at the same time it can depend on how desirable the applicant is. A problem however can be that a college’s decision whether to base their fin aid package on only the one parent may be made at the 11th hour during that period just before May 1, adding to the stress.</p>
<p>Sorry I can’t offer any further input, would also welcome others’ experiences or advice.</p>
<p>thanks for the comments…have surgery in few weeks–right around college decision time—may require disabillity leave from work as well as medical expenses—the same surgery 4 yrs ago cost 46K—would they consider this a this point?</p>
<p>as far as child support/paying for college–he is submitting profile claiming he will pay certain amont–however pattern is he will not come thru. then I am stuck with bill based on two incomes. guess I will take suggestion and indicate this—Sequoia–are you sending colleges emails of your conversations or just saving them–my ex stated in email he wouldn’t pay.</p>
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<p>Perhaps…but only the amount you paid out of pocket. If any of this was covered by insurance, that part would not be considered.</p>
<p>Can you get an estimated out of pocket cost estimate from the doctors? If so, you could include that in your letter. BUT keep in mind that the college will likely not consider any expenses other than ones you already have had. Simply put…the surgery could be canceled…thus no bill for it. In any event, I would send a letter outlining the upcoming medical issues and costs. This would at least give the college a “heads up” that you will be asking them to reconsider any financial aid package they award your child once you have expended this money.</p>
<p>Re: the child support…is this for your college age student? Will this continue when he/she is in college? Usually child support ends at age 18. And related…if he isn’t paying, I would suggest dealing with THAT issue, especially if this is a substantial amount.</p>
<p>For single parent with a non-custodial unreliable parent, FAFSA only schools are a better bet. Did your child apply to any of those?</p>
<p>P.S. you may want to post this query in the Financial Aid and Scholarship area on this forum. There are some very knowledgeable folks about financial aid situations who post there…and not all of them read here.</p>
<p>Lindz: Regarding the emails, no I am not sending them. Was advised to save them in the event that they become necessary as a proof that on my side I made every attempt to get the non custodial parent Profile completed. I was also told by a college funding consultant that privates (in our case, a couple of Ivys), in approx 75% of cases like this, will accept the data from only the one parent (provided ofcourse the student is desirable). He has seen a lot of cases like this and said that because this is usually handled during an appeal at a late date towards May 1, that it’s advisable to inform the colleges in advance rather than after any acceptance, but to wait with further details such as forwarding the correspondence.</p>
<p>Sequoia—thanks for the info from consultant–very helpful–my son also applied to couple ivies, several privates–called one so far–they suggested letter–his father completed profile–may not send tax info–which may be worse–they may consider file incomplete-</p>
<p>our div decree states he pays child support thru end of college-also says he pays portion of college–but more likely that he won’t pay it. if they use his income will reduce fin aid but he won’t pay his portion. thanks for your help!</p>
<p>lindz: Another thing re the letter/info on special circumstances. Are your colleges also using IDOC? I know some Ivys/privates do. I sent the letter and list of sp. circs. through that as well, with all my tax returns and other stuff on that IDOC list. Last item on the list is “college specific docs”, so I marked that off. I figured since those IDOC colleges get all that info in one batch, it would be safer to send the letter with that rather than separately. I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do though, and am presently considering to ALSO send the letter separately.</p>