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Well, I’m an international student so the costs are double. I can pay a fair bit, but I will need *some* financial aid. Anyhow, my parents are divorced. I live with my mom and she’s paying what she can to fund my education. My dad, I haven’t seen him for a few years, and he won’t pay anything. We haven’t really spoken since the divorce. I was ten. Unfortunately, Dad has a relatively high salary, and he owns property and shares – plus he hasn’t remarried. So what will the colleges do when they see that? They’ll be like, “We won’t give Hunter financial aid even though her mom is poor - because her dad isn't. Her dad could afford to pay for some of the fee. It’s just too bad that he won’t. Hahah.” So should I lie a little on the sheet that describes each of your parents’ financial state, to make my dad sound poorer? I know they do check out what you say – they need to for your visa – but it’s not like they’ll be able to conduct *too* thorough a search – I live on an entirely different continent. Do you think lying a little bit about my dad will work? I *really* need financial aid as my dad won’t pay anything, and my mom and I definitely can’t afford the insanely high university fees.

By Bitz (Bitz) on Sunday, July 27, 2003 - 01:53 am: Edit

Well, one question I would ask you would be "How willing are you to go to prison if your plan backfires?" Given the cost of a college education, the fraud would easily be a felony. If you were caught during the initial application process you probably just would be rejected. However, if you manage to get in, get a couple of years of financial aid, but are caught later (since financial aid forms are refiled each year) you would be facing serious jail time (Note that I don't think that your country would make too much of an effort to pull diplomatic strings to get you off easy - It's just not a really questionable crime). Now, I'm not a lawyer, but my advise would be to avoid the lie in the first place.