Bridging the Gap from Financial Aid to Contributions

Paying for College
1

Hello all! Kind of new to the community, so bear with me…

I am trying to bridge the gap with several schools both in my area and beyond. I have been looking into a few schools that claim to meet “full financial need” and have some questions about how to get the leftover money in order to lower my cost of attendance. My parents don’t have the financial situation at the moment to contribute much, if anything, to my college education. I have sufficient grades, scores, and plenty of clubs, volunteering, leadership experience, etc. to get into most of the schools that I am looking at. My top 5 schools that I want to attend and plan on applying to are: Boston College, U of Notre Dame, Tufts, Johns Hopkins, and Boston University. All of these schools have, after “meeting full financial need” if they offer it, a leftover cost of around 20-30k cost of attendance - according to their individual financial need calculators, running mine and my parents information. I plan on applying for lots of local scholarships and keeping my grades as high as possible (obviously) in order to possibly qualify for more of a merit scholarship if any. My parents most likely will not qualify for parent PLUS loans, which will not make my college experience even possible. Are there any other ways for me to help cover some of this? Any information or insight is greatly appreciated and warmly welcomed. Thank you!

2

Also! I am planning on pursuing an education in the biology/biochem fields in order to eventually be a physician if that is of any help or importance!

3

You need to find a less expensive college plan. You say your parents cannot contribute. Your annual balance will be $20k-$30k per year…$80,000 to $120,000 in loans for undergrad school.

Sorry, but that is too much.

And it’s WAYYYYY too much when you add medical school costs into the mix.

You need to look for schools where yoir SAT or ACT score and GPA will get you significant merit aid.

And you need to look at schools that cost less than $60,000 a year. You can’t afford those even with the need based aid you are anticipating.

What is your GPA? What is your SAT?

ETAI see your home state is Vermont. Would you qualify for merit aid at UVM?

4

Instate flagship is UVM, ACT is 29, waiting until the 11th for SAT scores

5

As you already know…you need to raise that ACT score to,above 32 for consideration for merit awards at places that award them.

And for acceptance…a 29 ACT isn’t going to make the schools on your current list a slam dunk for admissions.

And lastly Boston University does NOT guarantee to meet full need for all acceoted students…and they don’t.

6

Yes, i know this. That is why I included that part of my initial writing.

7

Outside scholarships may not help either, as they can - not always - reduce the aid given by the school. Every school has its own policy in this regard. Also, many are only for one year, not renewable though again, some are.

8

You would probably qualify for merit aid at UVM. Could you live at home?

9

Meet full need schools do NOT work for everyone . . . and with your family finances, they will not work for you. They only work for families that can actually afford the full amount of the family contribution. So you need to come up with a different plan . . .

If your family really can’t contribute anything, your only resource would be student loans and your own summer and school year earnings. If your parents don’t qualify for a PLUS loan, you’d be able to borrow up to $9,500 your first year (and $10,500 to $12,500 in subsequent years). If you’re able to earn $3,000 over the summer before you start, that gives you $12,500, plus whatever you can earn during the school year - perhaps another $3,000? So you could have as much as $15,500 to work with. That gives you three affordable options:

b A local community college for two years** - this would be your least expensive option, and you could significantly reduce your total debt for undergrad. If you’re serious about medical school, this is the most sensible choice - you really need to keep your undergrad loans to a minimum!

b A state university within commuting distance** - you have enough to pay tuition, but not room and board, so you’d need to stay close to home. If you qualify for a partial merit scholarship at your local state university, even better - you can reduce your loans!

b A private or public university where you would qualify for a full-tuition merit scholarship** - the $15,500 that you have available to you (including your earnings) should be enough to pay for room and board at most schools, so all you need is to get your tuition covered. You would need to get your ACT (or SAT) score way up and apply to schools that offer either automatic or competitive full tuition scholarships. Here’s where to look:

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/

For the automatic scholarships, all you need to do is meet the school’s minimum GPA/ACT requirements for the scholarship, and it’s yours. For the competitive schools, you need to identify those schools where your GPA and test scores are significantly above the average for that schools. If your GPA/test scores are pretty much comparable to every other student in the school, you won’t get the scholarship - you need to be the exceptional candidate! So set your sights accordingly - there’s no point in wasting application fees on schools where you can’t possibly qualify for a scholarship.

And keep in mind that you need a full tuition scholarship - half-tuition won’t work for you, unless the school is within commuting distance of your home.

10

You need a new list.


[QUOTE=""]
All of these schools have, after "meeting full financial need" if they offer it, a leftover cost of around 20-30k cost of attendance - according to their individual financial need calculators, running mine and my parents information <<<

[/QUOTE]

Your strategy has a serious flaw. You’re thinking that the school will give you aid, and then you can find other ways to help cover the “parent contribution.” Unfortunately, that won’t work The school will remove its aid if you get other aid. They expect your parents to pay their EFC. They’ll see that your parents have a strong income, and therefore any outside awards will just reduce what the school gives you.

Since you have an unaffordable EFC, then you need to find a school that will give a HUGE merit scholarship so that your REMAINING costs are affordable for your family.

Since your family can’t pay/can’t borrow, then you’ll need to be seeking free rides that cover all of your costs.

Your current list won’t work at all.

Since you want to become a doctor, then the good news is that med schools won’t care where you go. and you shouldn’t be aiming for top schools anyway because there will be too many stronger premeds in the classses and you could easily get weeded out.

11

From your March post:


[QUOTE=""]
Vermont is my home state but I don't plan on staying here, because of a lack of universities and a general distaste for New England as a whole. I plan on applying for lots of scholarships and financial aid. Money is tight within my family and I will be paying for a large majority of my own education.

[/QUOTE]

My main focus when looking at colleges is finding a school with a premed or biochemistry major that won’t put me over my head in debt after merely an undergrad.

I love the Washington/Oregon/California area of the country but my heart is not set on attending a university there. My father attended WSU and we have lots of family within the Washington state area, so that is a plus to attending a school there. I am interested in WSU because of the great reviews and my fathers insight but UW is also a high hope of mine because of their great premed program. However, I have heard and read things about the competition at UW that is extremely discouraging.
<<<

You have to accept some basic facts so that you don’t end up with a bunch of unaffordable acceptances. In your previous thread, people were mentioning that privates give great aid.

But, now you’ve learned that even those schools will still expect your parents to pay $30k-40k per year…which they can’t do. In fact, you’ve now say that they can’t pay really anything. It’s good that you know that now so that you can have a sensible application list.

Attending any WA state school won’t work because you’ll be OOS and they don’t give the huge merit. Your family may naively think that you can use your relatives address to get instate, but those tricks no longer work. Schools had to get tough and make stiff rules. They will see where you went to high school and know that’s where your parents live. They will also know from your FAFSA and other means. Plus, UWash will not accept you into their med school. They only accept instate and some students from about 5 other NW states that pay Washington to accept their students since their states don’t have a med school.

Here’s something to keep in mind… Unless you have family/relatives who will either pay for college or are really savvy about the merit/FA process, don’t let their opinions steer you onto a wrong path. We see too many threads from kids who’ve been misled by family into thinking some naive plan will work.

The entire west coast won’t work for an OOS premed who needs massive merit, so direct your attention to the schools that will work, regardless of location.