Columbia Grad App issues

[InquilineKea]

What are the value and/or debt of your parent's assets?

How much assistance did you receive from your parents last year?

How much financial assistance are you expecting to receive from them this year?

...what should I say to the 1st and 2nd questions? They pretty much paid for almost everything I did last year. There's no straight-forward way to fully quantify the second question.

Edited January 3, 2012 by InquilineKea

[lotuspetal7]

I submitted a Columbia app recently and I think I remember the instructions saying these questions were optional and for the purpose of learning more about the demographics of their applicants. I think you can apply for financial aid without answering every question, and in any case I'm sure it's ok to estimate. Check the instructions for which questions are required and which are optional.

[popcandy]

I am currently doing a Columbia app.

What are the value and/or debt of your parent's assets?

I wrote what it was.

How much assistance did you receive from your parents last year?

Told them.

How much financial assistance are you expecting to receive from them this year?

Told them.

I wouldn't leave these sections blank, personally.. unless you feel comfortable doing so. They aren't asking how "needy" you are, because there are no scholarships avail in-school for need-based applicants, so you don't have to worry about saying "My parents paid for everything" because they aren't going to deny you scholarships based on need, they don't exist. They are asking to asses how qualified you are for loans/grants from the fed government and state. How are you planning on paying your tuition? If it's solely from your parents you don't have anything to worry about. If it's from outside scholarships, ditto. Unless you claimed "dependent" your parents aren't liable for your school costs like they were for undergrad. Columbia is asking to asses (more than likely) if you're going to be able to pay tuition (somehow). I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Personally I have an outside scholarship and my parents have given me nothing.. so I am assuming that Columbia is therefore assessing how much I will need for loan/grant purposes if my outside scholarship can't cover my entire tuition cost.