I am willing to bet they have significant home equity. They are small business owners.
There you go. Your fafsa doesn’t count primary home equity at all. And if your parent business is below a certain number of employees, the business isn’t there either. SO. Forget that fafsa EFC…it is meaningless in the context of University of Richmond financial aid.
It is possible that primary home equity is adding some to your family contribution. But I would bet that the real issue is the business, there are deductions allowed by the IRS for tax purposes that are not allowed for financial aid purposes…and those deductions get added back in as income. This could aignificantly raise your family contribution.
Unless you have a firm way to fund the cost to attend Richmond, I don’t see how this is possible.
And again I ask…why wasn’t your matriculation decision made by May 1? Or did you deposit at both schools?
And lastly, could you please provide a link that states that you would NOT be eligible for a first time freshman scholarship just because you took a gap year? I can’t seem to find that.
Or was it that you didn’t get your application done by December 1?
I have already deposited at the University of Richmond. I can still apply to UNM though as I left an incomplete application, and through Dual Enrollment at UNM, I know that I have already been accepted.
http://www.hed.state.nm.us/students/lotteryscholarship.aspx Here is the link to the main scholarship nearly every resident of NM receives. I did not enroll immediately after graduation so I am not eligible.
In any case, if the net price at Richmond is $23,000 per year, then it comes down to:
$23,000 net price
- 5,500 federal direct loan
- 4,500 student work earnings
- 2,000 1/4 of $8,000 savings
<h2>- 6,000 parent contribution</h2>
$ 5,000 gap
That means that $5,000 must be bridged with frugal living at school, parent loans, parent cosigned student loans, or additional parent or other family contribution. Otherwise, Richmond is unaffordable (and parent loans or parent cosigned student loans are usually a bad idea anyway, even if the parents are willing to do that).
And none of these would have applied to you? But then, the application was due on December 1, 2014…so you missed the boat on these.
http://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/
Did you apply anywhere else beside University of Richmond?
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In fact, I actually qualified to go to UNM entirely for free last year with merit scholarships. Because I chose to take a gap year I am no longer eligible for any merit funds. My stats are 30 ACT and 4.0 GPA.
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oh my.
Ok, so you’re not eligible for the lottery scholarships…BUT…what about the UNM scholarships FROM THE SCHOOL???
Mom2…I just checked and a good portion of the University of New Mexico scholarships have the tuition portion covered by the Legislatove Lottery Scholarship Program. There are some listed that don’t have this requirement.the Legislative Lottery Scholarship program requires that student enroll immediately after graduating from high school.
BUT all required a completed application by December 1, 2014 for students for the upcoming year. This student has not completed their university of New Mexico application…yet.
But then, he really doesn’t want to go to NM…he wants to go to Richmond.
So…will the parents cosign a loan for this student to attend University of Richmond?
One possibility to consider if you want to go away to college would be Alabama-Huntsville. You would qualify for full tuition there and they have a late deadline of June 1. Your budget would be able to cover the rest of the expenses, possibly with a small loan.
I am willing to bet that my parents will not cosign…
So do I jump ship and attend UNM?
I feel if I don’t attend Richmond it will be a choice I will always wonder about the rest of my life. There simply is not a lot going on in New Mexico. My gut is telling me to just go for it. I can pay for the first year… Am I just being young and stupid?
I’m willing to sleep on park benches at this point.
That will only be postponing the letdown by a year, when you will have to drop out of Richmond because you will run out of money.
If you cannot afford it, it is no longer a choice you can choose.
Yes, I think it is true that you miss out on very generous Lottery Scholarship if you wait a year. Otherwise typical in-state student would only be paying about $1K to $2K T&F per year (living at home). But with 30 ACT you would still likely to be eligible for things like the Woodward (sp?) scholarship at UNM.
UNM is great option. But like any big school you have to navigate your way through. Have you thought about UNM Honors College, which has several good paths to choose from??
From another thread, someone mentioned becoming an RA in the 2nd year to pay for room and board. Might help you since the 2-4 years are the ones you have a gap on financially!
But do remember applying for RA is highly competitive! I always cringe at people acting like it’s a sure bet on CC.
Going into debt for a (possible) sociology or ‘international studies’ degree?! Look at starting salaries and think about loan repayment. Then think about the cost of living in DC. Line up the possible salaries, your loan payment and living expenses. Not to mention that both majors will require grad school to get you much of a job.
DC should be a 2 hour drive- if it weren’t for Fredericksburg and NoVa traffic.
Alabama was a good suggestion, esp w/ the June 1 deadline.
^ That’s Alabama Huntsville.
Being an RA isn’t a given, but if the student goes in knowing that’s what he/she wants, it increases the odds. Get involved in the dorm activities, talk to the other RA’s, find out how the RA’s got their jobs.
No one is acting like it is a “given”. It is a job, like any other, that is competitive. (Please take a step back and stop assuming that everyone one else is clueless. It turns off other posters).
It’s an option. A possibility. What this OP is looking for.
Re: post 36. Just because you go into your freshman year “knowing” you want to be an RA will NOT increase your odds of getting selected. My kid was an EMT, was very involved I floor activities, etc, went in wanting to be an RA, interviewed twice…and got to the final interview both times…but was not selected either time.
It was fine because she worked in undergrad admissions for 3 1/2 years (yep…she even had references from admissions when she applied for the RA jobs).
But being an RA is a maybe in the best of situations.
Being selected for an RA position is NOT something you can bank on. It is a possibility.