Am I applying for too many Merit Scholarships?

Paying for College
21

<p>*From what I can tell, you aren’t assured of merit aid at any of those schools. *</p>

<p>I agree. That’s why I think the student needs to apply to some schools with assured merit.</p>

<p>I’m also not confident about his family contribution. The family has a lot of cash/investment assets and probably other assets. Who knows what his schools will expect his family to pay. CSS schools use their own formulas.</p>

<p>I also don’t know why he’s lowered his family income. I think he mentioned on another thread that they have an income of $120k. And, if the family has a lot of cash/investment assets, it’s likely they will have income from that as well.</p>

<p>You do NOT subtract taxes. You need to use untaxed income from wages PLUS any income from assets. And, you need to include the wages.</p>

22

<p>okay then…I got it.</p>

<p>Total Estimated FM Contribution = $ 38,971
Total Estimated IM Contribution = $ 43,515</p>

<p>but when my younger brother goes to college</p>

<p>Total Estimated FM Contribution = $ 20,139
Total Estimated IM Contribution = $ 27,686</p>

23

<p>So, are your parents ok with paying at least $44k per year for you.</p>

<p>And…$56k per year for your bro and you when both are going.</p>

<p>these are minimum numbers. </p>

<p>did you include income from assets?</p>

24

<p>We have no assets that produce income, I put in the 120,000 income, and our whole savings/equity.</p>

<p>Minimum numbers? Not with full-need schools, right? In fact, it could be lower.</p>

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<p>Also, I emailed RPI asking them “What does “any federal funding we can offer” mean? Is that financial aid from Rensselaer, or federal loans in the form of PELL grants, stafford loans, etc?”. Hopefully I get a straight answer. The 15k a year could be outdone by financial aid from a better university, same with a lot of these scholarships.</p>

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<p>

That was their response, can anyone tell me what that actually means?</p>

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<p>Exactly what cpt & mathmom said in posts #10 and #12. Any financial aid, besides the Rensselaer Medal Scholarship, is likely to be LOANS.</p>

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<p>Ok thanks. Why can’t they give me a straight answer?! I’m a 17 year old kid, they should be light on those big words like federal funding.</p>

29

<p>*We have no assets that produce income, I put in the 120,000 income, and our whole savings/equity.</p>

<p>Minimum numbers? Not with full-need schools, right? In fact, it could be lower.*</p>

<p>Yes…minimum numbers. Even full-need schools can widely vary on what THEY each say your “need” is. They each take the CSS info and do what they want with it.</p>

<p>Your parents have a lot in savings, right? That generates interest (earnings). Or, did your parents do something else with that $800k -900k they were given? If they bought stocks with it, that also generates earnings/dividends.</p>

<p>And…does your brother have your stats? If not, then he might not get into a “full need” school. Therefore, the amount your parents might have to pay for him could be a lot more.</p>

30

<p>

They bought a house. I don’t know what else I can do until I see my parents, I filled it out as best I could so I’ll let you know if that changes after filling it with my parents + our forms.</p>

31

<p>Is that the house you LIVE in? Or is that another home…in this country or another?</p>

<p>If this is another home, this will affect your EFC.</p>

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<p>Yes, I live in it.</p>

33

<p>What I need to figure out is if Purdue and UIUC are worth it to apply, I can’t seem to find much info about those scholarships.</p>

34

<p>For Purdue, at most you can likely get is $16k per year. Scroll down… [Purdue</a> University - Merit_Scholarships](<a href=“Learn about Purdue University - Undergraduate Admissions - Purdue University”>Learn about Purdue University - Undergraduate Admissions - Purdue University)</p>

<p>You do have to a FAFSA, so I don’t know if “need” is a strong component.</p>

<p>there are deadines and scholarships are not assured.</p>

<p>UIUC is very vague. I’ve never heard that they give many scholarships. </p>

<p>So, which schools will be your financial safeties.</p>

35

<p>Well I found Case Western Reserve University today, and they have full tuition scholarships. [url=&lt;a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Case Western Reserve University”&gt;Undergraduate Admission | Case Western Reserve University]Scholarships[/url</a>]
I could maybe get the “Alexander A. Treuhaft Memorial Scholarship”, but then again I wouldn’t know my chances of getting it.</p>

<p>The problem I have with assured merit universities is that I don’t like any of the ones I’ve heard about, and there’s no point in applying if you can’t see yourself having a good time there.</p>

<p>So I guess UIUC and Purdue are out of the question, because even though it would be easier, they aren’t known to give out much…poor or good decision?</p>

36

<p>Ripemango, </p>

<p>I don’t know if I missed it but how much are your parents willing to pay?</p>

37

<p>Yes, you missed it.</p>

<p>

</p>

38

<p>If that’s your family’s budget, I think I would advise you to go ahead and apply to RPI. If you take a summer job for your pocket money and a stafford loan, your family will probably come close to paying $35K/year after the medal money. It sounds like they could afford that amount-- but would rather spend it on a more prestigious school. </p>

<p>I can almost hear you telling me that it’s not MIT… I know that but it is assured money and it is an excellent school that your family could swing. Keep building the list but realize that with almost a million in assets and $90K/year income, you will have a hard time bringing a top private school’s costs down by tens of thousands of dollars.</p>

39

<p>Why would I pay 35k/year for a school I don’t like very much, when I could go to school I love for 45k the first year but then 25k/year for the next three? I think now I’m just going to apply to reach/match schools I love and a few of these scholarships, and chances are I’ll end up with at least one place to look forward to going to.</p>

40

<p>"think now I’m just going to apply to reach/match schools I love and a few of these scholarships, and chances are I’ll end up with at least one place to look forward to going to. "</p>

<p>Bad idea. It is possible to not get into any reach/match schools. There are thousands of wonderful colleges in this country. Surely, there’s at least one safety that you can find that you’d love and could afford.</p>

<p>Do not assume you’ll get merit aid unless the merit aid is guaranteed for students with certain stats and you have those stats.</p>

<p>Some of the merit aid that you’re hoping to get is a long shot for virtually anyone without the kind of stats that would make the student competitive for the very top colleges in the country. It’s a mistake to assume that you’ll get it. </p>

<p>Are you assuming that you and your parents would pay the $45 k or $25 k a year out of pocket or would you or your parents take out loans?</p>