High School class of 2011

[agnes!]

We filed our FAFSA this morning - yay! Wellllll, we filed as much of it as we can anyway. Our taxes are really complicated - we don't get all the forms until rather late in the Spring (and always file extensions). So we had to fill it out using our 2009 tax info. 2010 will be better (in terms of money because our income is somewhat less) but I think *maybe* the earliest we can file is sometime in April or May.

The EFC is laughable, I guess someone wants us to live on bread and water to afford college for our DD.

My joy at completing the FAFSA is tempered somewhat by the fact that we found out yesterday that we have to file a CSS for just *ONE* of the schools DD applied to...gack, not sure I want to deal with that. All the others just have the FAFSA (thank God).

agnes!

 

[ctinct]

Today has not been a real good day.

First, dd had a delay and I had off again. I think we are both at 9 days. She called me around 12:45 to say they were being dismissed early because of structural concerns. We saw an older building that had had its roof collapse as I drove her to school. The library has been closed along with Walmart. There has been a spate of roof collapses in the state. Not sure if she will have school tomorrow or if she's going to be bussed elsewhere. The poor thing just wants to graduate.

Then, we got two college letters today. One was an acceptance to a school she is no longer really interested in, but we were kind of disappointed that she only got the next to their best scholarship. Her stats are very good, especially for this particular school, and on another board I am seeing kids with the same stats get the bigger scholarship. I have to wonder if her idiot guidance dept. also sent them her transcript with her SAT scores on them. (SAT scores were decent, but ACT score was in the 99% nationally. In fact, thinking about it, I bet they did, as we had asked them to remove those scores and they had not last time dd got her transcript, although they had told her they would. I'm sure ALL the schools saw them. I wonder if their screw-up is affecting her scholarship chances everywhere?)

The other letter was her financial aid award for her #2 choice school. She will not be going there. I fully understood that I would need to come up with my EFC, and that daughter would be taking out loans, and that I might even have loans, as they are considered "aid." I did not expect the big gap they left. Counting the gap, my efc, and all loans, we would have to cover $29145. Sorry, but I can't do that. Luckily, she has kind of accepted that she will probably be going to our state university, although she has not heard from her #1 choice yet. I think I feel worse than she does. We both really liked this school. Sorry for being such a Debbie Downer. I'll feel better in the morning.

 

[golfgal]

Today has not been a real good day.

First, dd had a delay and I had off again. I think we are both at 9 days. She called me around 12:45 to say they were being dismissed early because of structural concerns. We saw an older building that had had its roof collapse as I drove her to school. The library has been closed along with Walmart. There has been a spate of roof collapses in the state. Not sure if she will have school tomorrow or if she's going to be bussed elsewhere. The poor thing just wants to graduate.

Then, we got two college letters today. One was an acceptance to a school she is no longer really interested in, but we were kind of disappointed that she only got the next to their best scholarship. Her stats are very good, especially for this particular school, and on another board I am seeing kids with the same stats get the bigger scholarship. I have to wonder if her idiot guidance dept. also sent them her transcript with her SAT scores on them. (SAT scores were decent, but ACT score was in the 99% nationally. In fact, thinking about it, I bet they did, as we had asked them to remove those scores and they had not last time dd got her transcript, although they had told her they would. I'm sure ALL the schools saw them. I wonder if their screw-up is affecting her scholarship chances everywhere?)

The other letter was her financial aid award for her #2 choice school. She will not be going there. I fully understood that I would need to come up with my EFC, and that daughter would be taking out loans, and that I might even have loans, as they are considered "aid." I did not expect the big gap they left. Counting the gap, my efc, and all loans, we would have to cover $29145. Sorry, but I can't do that. Luckily, she has kind of accepted that she will probably be going to our state university, although she has not heard from her #1 choice yet. I think I feel worse than she does. We both really liked this school. Sorry for being such a Debbie Downer. I'll feel better in the morning.

How can they have their official financial aid awards out yet? Do they have your FAFSA stuff yet? Keep in mind that the EFC from the FAFSA isn't always what the school uses.

 

[ctinct]

How can they have their official financial aid awards out yet? Do they have your FAFSA stuff yet? Keep in mind that the EFC from the FAFSA isn't always what the school uses.

This was an early action school. Applications were due by Nov. 1, and the CSS had to be filed using estimates and 2009 figures by December 1. The FAFSA was due by Feb. 1, also using estimates, and I filed on Jan. 1 or 2. It could be the CSS Profile that made them think I could afford so much. The Fafsa doesn't count your home and had an asset allowance, I think, while the Profile is the opposite. Not that I have a ton of assets or a McMansion. Oh, well. I told her I will start a 529 for her unborn children as soon as she gets out of school so she can afford to send her kids.
I wasn't able to save anything for her education because her dad left when she was just over a year old and we had a rough go of of it for a while. On the bright side, things are much better now, and I was able to pay for my first dd's college. (She was a senior in high school when I bacame a single mom.) Son opted for the Marines and has a good job now. I'm sure daughter will get a good college education wherever she lands. And we're all happy and healthy.

 

[ctinct]

So, I'm bored tonight and was checking over my Fafsa to make sure I didn't goof. I will update it in a few days once I have my taxes all together.
However, I did discover something interesting. I didn't understand why my EFC was almost double what the Fafsa4caster had estimated it would be, even though I know the forecaster is just an estimate. I noticed that the forecaster does not include child support anywhere, unless I am missing something. I entered my income on the actual Fafsa and the forecaster just the same. But, the actual Fafsa has a line to enter child support. Aha! Yes, I get that it is income available to me, even though it is not taxable income. It must have pushed me over some threshold, though, because it drastically increased the amount of my efc. I just want to let any single parents out there know that if you are using the forecaster for planning purposes, and you receive child support, the figure you get may not be accurate. It would probably be best to add your chiild support to your total adjusted gross income, even though it is not included on your tax return. Otherwise, you might be in for a shock when your efc comes back higher than you were expecting.

 

[agnes!]

Please tell me that someone else on this thread has had to do the CSS...this thing is freakin' unbelievable. They want to know EVERYTHING, and I do mean everything...
*all* accounts,
*all* investments,
how much your mortgage is,
when your parents bought the house you live in,
what is the current market value of your home,
what is the current market value of your parents' real estate other than their home,
if your parents own a farm,
if they own any businesses,
estimates of your parents' income for 2010,
how much each parent has in any and all retirement plans...*all* IRA's, 401k's, 403b's and so on,
And I haven't found it yet but I think there's something on here about how old are your cars,
There's more but it's just too much and I hate to say it but I think this thing is WORSE than all the forms that our taxes generate every year(about 1/2 inch thick).

DD is thinking anyway that maybe she's not that interested in this school and I'm thinking that the CSS might just push me over the edge.

agnes!

 

[ctinct]

I did do the CSS, but since I have a very simple tax situation and don't own a business or have a ton of investments, it was only slightly more aggravating for me. I do own a home, however, and the CSS does take your equity into account. I don't know if it is true for all schools, but I've heard that many schools that use the CSS offer less aid and expect families to liquidate much more of their assets, tap home equity, etc. to pay for college. I can say that one school that used the CSS has sent us their financial aid award already. There is no way in heck I could afford what they are expecting me to pay. I think we are waiting on one, possibly two more schools that required the CSS, so it will be interesting to see what their financial aid pks. look like.

I forget---did they also ask about pension values, Roth accounts, etc? I seem to remember looking that info up recently, so maybe it was for that.

ETA: just reread your post and see that they did ask about retirement funds.

 

[disykat]

I did do the CSS and didn't find it too horrible, the car thing really did surprise me though. It popped up after we plugged in the college codes we were sending it to. One of our schools required it.

We were trying to decided is our old, paid off cars will help us or hurt us! Less holdings, but less expenses.

 

[kbeverina]

I'm trying to figure out if there's a reason I should fill out fafsa. I know our efc is too high to get need-based aid the school doesn't require fafsa for his merit scholarship. Is there a reason I should fill it out anyway?

 

[disykat]

My parents didn't fill one out. No work study made it difficult to find on-campus employment. I had several opportunities I had to turn down because they had to offer them to work study students first.

With our EFC we won't get aide for state schools, but we filled out the FAFSA in hopes our child will get work study.

 

[kbeverina]

Good reason. I guess I will be filling it out.

 

[agnes!]

I did do the CSS, but since I have a very simple tax situation and don't own a business or have a ton of investments, it was only slightly more aggravating for me. I do own a home, however, and the CSS does take your equity into account. I don't know if it is true for all schools, but I've heard that many schools that use the CSS offer less aid and expect families to liquidate much more of their assets, tap home equity, etc. to pay for college. I can say that one school that used the CSS has sent us their financial aid award already. There is no way in heck I could afford what they are expecting me to pay. I think we are waiting on one, possibly two more schools that required the CSS, so it will be interesting to see what their financial aid pks. look like.

I forget---did they also ask about pension values, Roth accounts, etc? I seem to remember looking that info up recently, so maybe it was for that.

ETA: just reread your post and see that they did ask about retirement funds.

Our taxes are horribly complicated, DH has a CPA and we pay someone else to do our taxes for us...worth every penny and then some.
Oh, and another thing the CSS wants to know? "How much assistance is the student going to receive from relatives?" Really? REALLY?!? I HAVE NO IDEA!
DH & DD are all for ditching it, I'm not completely convinced yet though....I hate for DD to not get accepted to a school because I wasn't willing to sit down for hours and hours and get frustrated over all these intrusive questions...hey, wait a minute, hmmm...let me think about this ...
Yeah,
*all* retirement funds,
*all* pensions,
*all* stocks,
*present market value of home* (oh that will be fun to spend time resarching...yeah sure lots of equity that we really want to tap to fund college....*not*)
*all* investments including commodities and precious metals

HEY!!! Thinking of precious metals... Maybe I'm also supposed to count up the PAWN-VALUE of my jewelry?!?, y'know, go on Pawn Stars and ask Rick or The Old Man or Big Hoss or Chumley

agnes!

 

[Nancy]

Oh that CSS...we had to do that this year for the first time. I was wondering when they were going to ask me to sign over my first born child to them.

We have 2 schools that require it to even consider financial aid and it had to be in by Feb.1st. We had to fill the darn thing out and we don't even have acceptance letters yet! They don't send them out for another few weeks.

 

[ctinct]

Our taxes are horribly complicated, DH has a CPA and we pay someone else to do our taxes for us...worth every penny and then some.
Oh, and another thing the CSS wants to know? "How much assistance is the student going to receive from relatives?" Really? REALLY?!? I HAVE NO IDEA!
DH & DD are all for ditching it, I'm not completely convinced yet though....I hate for DD to not get accepted to a school because I wasn't willing to sit down for hours and hours and get frustrated over all these intrusive questions...hey, wait a minute, hmmm...let me think about this ...
Yeah,
*all* retirement funds,
*all* pensions,
*all* stocks,
*present market value of home* (oh that will be fun to spend time resarching...yeah sure lots of equity that we really want to tap to fund college....*not*)
*all* investments including commodities and precious metals

HEY!!! Thinking of precious metals... Maybe I'm also supposed to count up the PAWN-VALUE of my jewelry?!?, y'know, go on Pawn Stars and ask Rick or The Old Man or Big Hoss or Chumley

agnes!

See, I kind of had a bad feeling about the school where we got the very meager pkg. from when we got a glossy brochure from this particular college a few weeks ago that gave "real life examples" of how some families financed this college for their kids. One family had a paid off house and re-mortgaged it. Ummmmmm.......not real smart, imo. Honestly, I don't know what is going to become of this whole college thing. How many colleges other than the extremely prestigious ones are going to be able to continue to attract students who are able to afford to pay for their education? And on another note, another consequence of such high prices is that more and more students are applying to state schools. I know our university is rejecting students who would have gotten in just a few years ago, because so many high caliber students are applying to them now. We also have four other universities that are considered a step down from the flagship, and they have had so many applications the past few years that they have actually had to move their application date up. They just couldn't handle any more applications.

 

[agnes!]

Our taxes are horribly complicated, DH has a CPA and we pay someone else to do our taxes for us...worth every penny and then some.
Oh, and another thing the CSS wants to know? "How much assistance is the student going to receive from relatives?" Really? REALLY?!? I HAVE NO IDEA!
DH & DD are all for ditching it, I'm not completely convinced yet though....I hate for DD to not get accepted to a school because I wasn't willing to sit down for hours and hours and get frustrated over all these intrusive questions...hey, wait a minute, hmmm...let me think about this ...
Yeah,
*all* retirement funds,
*all* pensions,
*all* stocks,
*present market value of home* (oh that will be fun to spend time resarching...yeah sure lots of equity that we really want to tap to fund college....*not*)
*all* investments including commodities and precious metals

HEY!!! Thinking of precious metals... Maybe I'm also supposed to count up the PAWN-VALUE of my jewelry?!?, y'know, go on Pawn Stars and ask Rick or The Old Man or Big Hoss or Chumley

agnes!

See, I kind of had a bad feeling about the school where we got the very meager pkg. from when we got a glossy brochure from this particular college a few weeks ago that gave "real life examples" of how some families financed this college for their kids. One family had a paid off house and re-mortgaged it. Ummmmmm.......not real smart, imo. Honestly, I don't know what is going to become of this whole college thing. How many colleges other than the extremely prestigious ones are going to be able to continue to attract students who are able to afford to pay for their education? And on another note, another consequence of such high prices is that more and more students are applying to state schools. I know our university is rejecting students who would have gotten in just a few years ago, because so many high caliber students are applying to them now. We also have four other universities that are considered a step down from the flagship, and they have had so many applications the past few years that they have actually had to move their application date up. They just couldn't handle any more applications.

Yeah, who will be able to afford it? And I have to say it but your description of the glossy brochure had me .

We've decided just this afternoon to take some time off on Tuesday and tour the CSS-school, DD has already made reservations. Then afterwards, we'll make the decision on whether or not to complete the CSS...meanwhile I'll start chipping away at the page-after-page-afterpageafterpage#@$^%_&" application (now that I made it through the oh-so-fun registration late last night).

agnes!

 

[DisneyNutMary]

New York parents (are there any besides me on this thread?): Did you apply for TAP yet? Do you happen to know the income cut off, and if it goes by the number from the NYS tax return?

 

[agnes!]

... We've decided just this afternoon to take some time off on Tuesday and tour the CSS-school, DD has already made reservations. Then afterwards, we'll make the decision on whether or not to complete the CSS...meanwhile I'll start chipping away at the page-after-page-afterpageafterpage#@$^%_&" application (now that I made it through the oh-so-fun registration late last night).

agnes!

Well, *that* didn't go well. Got there, listened to one of the admission muckety-mucks give an uninspiring talk, sat in a room with no ventilation, felt like I was going to pass out, the muckety-muck (they were in charge of Admissions for a certain segment of the student population) was done after about 15 minutes, tour-guides started showing up about ten minutes later AND YET for some stupid reason all of us were supposed to wait around for over 30 minutes doing *nothing* so we could take a one-hour+ walking tour...

I don't think so.

Oh, and was finally able to find out the total cost is...had to dig for the info on the website too, wasn't divulged (of COURSE) at the muckety-muck's 'informational session' .


Ready?


$50,000+

The CSS is such a joke, we will not qualify for any need-based aid and I refuse to mortgage my & DH's so-called "golden years" just so DD can get an outrageously-expensive education.

Oh, and this is another laugher... The Muckety-Muck said their school had the only (certain type of program) in the country... Ummm, not so Sherlock. DD has already applied to and been accepted at the #1 school in that field, *and* she's already applied-to and been accepted at another school with that major/field of study *PLUS* there were several other similar programs that we know about that DD did NOT apply to. Revealing your ignorance about the competition to a new program (that your school just rolled out within the past two years) is not the way to grab my heart and pocketbook.

agnes!

 

[cruisnfamily]

The Muckety-Muck said their school had the only (certain type of program) in the country... Ummm, not so Sherlock. DD has already applied to and been accepted at the #1 school in that field, *and* she's already applied-to and been accepted at another school with that major/field of study *PLUS* there were several other similar programs that we know about that DD did NOT apply to.

How does one find out which schools are good/well known/tops in a particular program? Not so much for DD18 but for DS15(a current freshman), he'll be wanting a FL state school that offers something with computers. Not sure what computer specialty exactly he will narrow down to but it will be computer something~or~another for sure. How would I go about finding out which schools are the best ones in that arena? Or even which ones offer it without going to each individual university website?

Thanks for any help on this subject!

Sorry your visit didn't go well but I guess now at least you can cross that one off the list completely!

 

[SydSim]

How would I go about finding out which schools are the best ones in that arena? Or even which ones offer it without going to each individual university website?

Thanks for any help on this subject!

Not sure about how to find the best ones, but by going to the College Board website, or collegedata site, you can input what major you're looking at, along with many other criteria, and it will give you lists of the colleges that have what you want.

 

[ctinct]

Guidance in my daughter's school has struck again. The college that is her #1 choice normally requires mid-year grades by a certain date. Because of all the snow days she has had, the second quarter closed after the deadline. When she realized her grades would be late, she contacted the college and they said it would not be a problem, and that a lot of applicants were in the same situation.

So grades closed last week. I can see her grades already posted on PowerSchool. Monday she went into guidance to request a transcript. She has gone back every day since to see if her transcript is ready, and every day they tell her they are behind and to come back tomorrow. Really? It takes an entire week to get a transcript? She has told them she is already late, so I don't understand why it should take so long to print something up when I know the grades are already in. AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!