Who to include in FASFA and other financial aid materials

[Cidermill]

Sorry for the somewhat long post, any advice is greatly appreciated!

Here's my situation: My parents are divorced and my father remarried. My biological father and my stepmother are both very wealthy physicians. My biological mother is probably in the middle class. Not sure if this is relevant, but my younger step-brother (son of my wealthy step-mother), will be starting his first year of undergrad this fall. None of my family will be contributing a dime to my medical education or costs of living.

Again, not sure if this is relevant, but the schools I'm considering attending are: USC, Northwestern, Yale (if accepted), Columbia (if accepted), and WashU (if accepted). Considering my circumstances, is it to my complete benefit to exclude all information about my parents from my FASFA?

I know for some schools, you MUST put your parental info on a form separate from FASFA (ex: Yale makes you fill out a CSS profile app). Who should I include on the CSS profile thing? Can I just put my biological mother? If not, can I at least exclude my wealthy step-mother? If I exclude her, does my step-brother's undergrad status become irrelevant?

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[chaim123]

Sorry for the somewhat long post, any advice is greatly appreciated!

Here's my situation: My parents are divorced and my father remarried. My biological father and my stepmother are both very wealthy physicians. My biological mother is probably in the middle class. Not sure if this is relevant, but my younger step-brother (son of my wealthy step-mother), will be starting his first year of undergrad this fall. None of my family will be contributing a dime to my medical education or costs of living.

Again, not sure if this is relevant, but the schools I'm considering attending are: USC, Northwestern, Yale (if accepted), Columbia (if accepted), and WashU (if accepted). Considering my circumstances, is it to my complete benefit to exclude all information about my parents from my FASFA?

I know for some schools, you MUST put your parental info on a form separate from FASFA (ex: Yale makes you fill out a CSS profile app). Who should I include on the CSS profile thing? Can I just put my biological mother? If not, can I at least exclude my wealthy step-mother? If I exclude her, does my step-brother's undergrad status become irrelevant?

In order to be eligible for need based scholarships, you'll need to supply parental info, usually on the CSS profile. If you fail to provide your father's info, you'll need to show proof that he is dead, so that's probably not an option.

As for your step-mother, I'm not sure. I assume you only need to put your mother and father's income. However, if you want your step-brother to count, then they'll need to consider your step-mom as your father isn't paying for all of that.

 

[Cidermill]

In order to be eligible for need based scholarships, you'll need to supply parental info, usually on the CSS profile. If you fail to provide your father's info, you'll need to show proof that he is dead, so that's probably not an option.

As for your step-mother, I'm not sure. I assume you only need to put your mother and father's income. However, if you want your step-brother to count, then they'll need to consider your step-mom as your father isn't paying for all of that.

Thank you so much! So if I understand correctly from what you're saying, I should definitely put my biological father & biological mother on my CSS profile. I guess I wouldn't know if my step-brother's undergrad status would reduce my EFC enough to justify including my step-mother—but my assumption is that it wouldn't considering that my step-mother's income is even greater than my father's.

If a school doesn't ask for a CSS profile (or something similar requiring parental info) and are only asking for our FASFA, would my parental info need to be on my FASFA in order to be eligible? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to supplying/withholding parental info my my FASFA specifically?

 

[chaim123]

Thank you so much! So if I understand correctly from what you're saying, I should definitely put my biological father & biological mother on my CSS profile. I guess I wouldn't know if my step-brother's undergrad status would reduce my EFC enough to justify including my step-mother—but my assumption is that it wouldn't considering that my step-mother's income is even greater than my father's.

If a school doesn't ask for a CSS profile (or something similar requiring parental info) and are only asking for our FASFA, would my parental info need to be on my FASFA in order to be eligible? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to supplying/withholding parental info my my FASFA specifically?

It depends on the school. MOST schools (not all) simply use the FAFSA as a well to determine your eligibility for loans. No matter what you say - you could be broke, you could be a millionaire, you will be eligible for loans. All students can take out the Direct Unsubsidized to the max of $40,500, and then apply for the GradPLUS loan up to the cost of attendance.

However, need based scholarships are decided based on yours and your parents income. If a school requires parental income on the FAFSA, and you omit it, you will not be considered for any scholarship, and will need to pay the full cost of attendance yourself in loans.

Since you mentioned WashU specifically, they are an exception, and require parental info on the FAFSA:
Prospective Students | Office of Student Financial Planning