My parents got divorced in 2013. Me and my father are US citizens, and my mother is an Indian citizen. I have only lived with my mother my entire life, in India. I am currently in India too. Exception was when I went to the US to live with my father for 7 months, 3 years ago, during which he also transferred his citizenship to me. My father pays my mother $7,100 alimony, and $0 child support. This makes my mom my custodial parent, even though legally my parents have 50-50 custody of me. I went to live with my father 3 years ago, and since then have had minimal contact with him. He has clearly stated that he refuses to pay for my education, but I know that is not a valid reason. He also gave us $1,400 in the bank account out of nowhere in 2023. He also pays very, very less alimony than he is legally supposed to.
QUESTION: Will colleges accept my CSS non-custodial parent waiver form? Thank you!!
Only the colleges themselves can answer this.
will they answer it before CSS opens? Like if I email them the waiver and ask them today?
I doubt it but you should contact each to ask this questions- the best way to handle. Ask them directly the process for what you are trying to accomplish.
You should also ensure you have schools you can afford on the list, regardless of CSS so you have a place to land in case.
If you provide your gpa, test score, and budget, we can possibly provide you with suggestions.
Good luck.
thanks so much! My GPA is 95 out of a 100. My SAT is 1530 (740RW, 790M) and I’m retaking this August for a better English score (already started studying). My family earns $7,100 per year and we have no investments or anything. We can afford to pay maximum $12k a year for college.
just to be clear, our preferred budget is actually $7k, but we can stretch it to $12k.
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If your parents have 50/50 custody, your FATHER will be your custodial parent, not your mother. Those are the FAFSA rules.
@kelsmom addressed this in another of your threads.
Bio dad would be custodial parent per fafsa even if OP lives with mom 100%, because it sounds like bio dad provides most of the family’s/student’s financial support.
Even though your father will not contribute to your college expenses, would he be willing to provide financial information for the FAFSA and CSS Profile? He can complete these on his own without sharing his personal financial information with you.
Some private schools offer guaranteed need-based aid to families under a certain income level. For example, a minimum of free tuition for all families under $125k and full ride for families under $75k. Your dad’s information will be required to receive need-based aid and will make many more schools reasonable applications.
There may also be options at public schools in your dad’s state of residence. That would need to be researched.
Without your dad’s FAFSA/CSS, you will be much more limited, but there are options. Schools offering auto-merit and/or competitive full tuition/full ride scholarships. I have to step away but I’ll post a list of suggestions later. Hopefully you or your mom can contact your dad to explain the situation and he’ll be willing to share information even if he won’t provide financial support. 
How? Your income is $7100 a year according to your posts.
You have nothing to prove here. A 740 is in the 99th percentile - that means you are crushing everyone, including American students.
Your issue will be finances, not SAT.
Good luck to you.
but he only provides alimony that too only about 5% of his actual income I think, and 0 child support
Which parent provides most of your/your household’s financial support? That will be your FAFSA custodial parent. It sounds like on your other thread that the alimony is the primary source of your family’s income…is that correct?
Your father is providing support to you and your family, so he must report his financials in CSS Profile.
See @kelsmom’s post on your other thread. Kelsmom is a financial aid expert.
It sounds that you have 2 options in the US:
- Try to get full ride merit based (not need based) at one of not the top schools.
- Go to Community College in state where your dad lives, work and study and then transfer to state flagship.
Some schools have coop programs: study one semester, work one semester.
Your situation is not unique. Many students cannot afford college and have to pay for themselves.
You can also move to US and start to work, wait until you are 23 and then get to college. Your parents’ income does not count after 23.
Can you run the NPC and calculate SAI with your father’s income?
Does he pay the exact same amount of alimony (7k) every year or has there been variations? Your SAI and CSS would be based on 2023 family income.
Will je continue paying this alimony throughout his life?
If 7k is 5% of his income, does it mean he makes 140k? Bc 140k would mean large scholarships at the top meet need colleges though perhaps not the full ride you’d need. At colleges that don’t package loans it may work if you take the federal loans on top of their institutional package.
Does your mother work?
If she financially contributes more than him to your family then she’s your custodial parent. But her income needs to be counted, too.
A third option is what many internationals do, which is go to college in their home country, do well, and get funding for graduate school in the US (or elsewhere).
^ this kid may have wanted to attend college in their country of citizenship and not be blocked by an absent father.
I know many fathers do that but this is a different case from a typical US kid: reconnecting to your country, language,& culture is something best done in HS or college, not as an adult. Graduate school doesn’t carry the same social and cultural import, the same attachment, the same lifetime change - and doesn’t mold generationally in the same way. (That’s why graduating from X College and getting a Master’s at X College don’t carry the same legacy weight for instance.)
That being said, if OPs father lives in a State where she’d be recognized as an instate applicant, there may be hope depending on what state that is (hopefully, GA or CA, not PA or NH…)
oh he makes 180k i think. then the alimony is less than 5% I guess.
I get that, but there may be a need for a plan B. I’m not sure if coming to the US to work a (likely) minimum wage job till age 23 is a better alternative. Hopefully plan A that will work out. It’s not clear to me how much support the student will get for Fafsa/CSS or even proving parent residency from what they’ve said.