Can someone help me out; how does FA actually work

Paying for College
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<p>@BobWallace Fordham and macauly are schools i am looking at! Temple is a maybe as well. know anything about aid/merit at syracuse, UNC, Georgetown? What schools would be most generous to someone with my basic stats 91.2 (UW) rigorous courseload and 2200 (1470 basic) SAT </p>

<p>As for NPC, I will find the full number but i think i am somewhere around 100k, we have very very few assets, (we lost our home and are renting, have cars only on lease, little to no savings, and my father is in a management partnership for retail chains so he does not own the majority percentage). Also i am a family of 4, i have one brother(9 years old) as well which makes it even harder. I intend on running NPC’s later today for some schools i am interested in!</p>

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<p>That your father is a part owner of his business definitely will impact the accuracy of the Net Price Calculators. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t own the majority share…what he DOES own will be what affects your eventual need based financial aid award if you actually end up qualifying for one…which is doubtful with an income in the $100,000 range at the schools you have listed.</p>

<p>There are some business expenses that are allowed by the IRS for tax purposes for business owners, but are added back in as income by SOME colleges when calculating need based financial aid. Just an FYI.</p>

<p>You have listed public universities in several different states. Where are you a resident? The OOS publics typically are not generous to OOS students.</p>

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<p>@Thumper i am a NYS resident, i am applying to SUNY Bing, Stony Brook In-State as well as Cuny-Baruch/Hunter(for Macauly Honors). These are 3 definites, the only other 2 definites i have are UCONN and Fordham. </p>

<p>OOS Publics that i am most likely applying to are UCONN, Ohio State because they have extensive merit scholarships. i am considering UNC and Michigan strongly as well but am unsure if i will get enough aid to afford it. Some other OOS that i am looking at but unsure about merit are Maryland CP, Delaware, and Rutgers</p>

<p>Privates that i am considering but am unsure of merit and aid are Rochester, Quinnipac, American, GWU, syracuse, northeastern, NYU, Georgetown, Boston College, and Cornell</p>

<p>As for NPC and my fathers business, i want to estimate most likely between 90-110k total income for my family. My parents are also in extensive debt and i have one sibling that needs to be taken care of as well. My parents also do send money to my uncle periodically who is a drunk so that he can stay on his feet. How do all these things affect Financial Aid? I have looked at the FAQ but i am still unsure of how my situation will work…i am essentially a middle class income but my parents are basically living paycheck to paycheck right now…so i really don’t know what to expect :/</p>

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<p>to add onto my last post regarding my Fathers business. He is part-owner but it is a retail chain(Deli type store/retail chain) not sure if that affects anything</p>

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<p>FA (need) cares about past income (assets) and current income…FA doesn’t care about debt.</p>

<p>As for merit, just remember that only/mainly comes if you are the big fish in a small pond (IE at the TOP of who is going there).</p>

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<p>@tempemom i understand merit, several of the schools i am applying to i am above the average applicant. and as for FA, why don’t they take debt into consideration?</p>

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<p>

Because debt is a choice. Other people are able to live on the same income without debt. Why reward going into debt by offering FA?</p>

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<p>@Erin’s Dad thank you for the input. </p>

<p>For anyone who knows, how do private university grants work? and where can i find some private scholarships?</p>

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<p>bump…</p>

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<p>I’m a Suny advocate…mostly because both of my kids received Presidential merit awards at numerous campuses. Even very generous privates could not match the deals since our EFC exceeded 30k, and they all packaged max loans we didn’t want.<br>
They both had Stats equal to yours. These awards were full or close to full tuition. Now, having said that COA at SUNY for In state is 18-20k. Full tuition is 5500. That leaves you with less than 15 k to pay thru loans work study, your parents 12k, etc. Note Binghamton offers zero merit. They have enough applicants without it. Both of mine turned them down for this reason, actually. I would recommend you not rule SUNY out, with so many options and campuses, it is hard to not find a match.</p>

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<p>@penzly i have not ruled out suny! it just so happens that my the two schools i found to be “matches” through SUNY that i would be happy attending were Stony and Bing. I was considering Buffalo as well but i did not like the campus</p>

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<p>If anyone has insight about Merit and Financial Aid at the following schools i would appreciate it greatly!</p>

<p>American University
Boston University
Boston College
Cornell
Georgetown University
George Washington University
Syracuse University
Northeastern University
Ohio State University
Rutgers University
Tulane University
University of Delaware
University of Maryland College Park
University of Miami
University of Rochester</p>

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<p>bump…</p>

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<p>Most of the private schools on your list are extremely expensive. They will only meet your need as defined by FAFSA and/or Profile definitions, and you will be responsible for the rest. As others have advised, you must run the Net Price Calculator for each and see what they estimate your family contribution to be. Since you’re looking at $60+ for some of these schools, if your share is $20K and your parents can only afford $12K, even applying is most likely a waste of money.</p>

<p>Your best bets are in-state public schools, not these pricey privates. Out of state public schools tend to be miserly in financial aid, too. </p>

<p>I can tell you that it’s hard to get merit money at U MD CP. Your stats aren’t high enough for the highest level scholarships there. You’re not likely to get enough aid to bring the cost down to $12K. Same for Rutgers. Don’t know about Delaware, I’ve heard they gave some nice awards to some of my D’s friends this year from MD.</p>

<p>U Rochester is said to be generous with aid, but our experience was they would only meet need, which wasn’t enough for us. Most of the schools on your list, you are going to hit the same situation. </p>

<p>GWU’s largest merit award I believe was $20K last year. The cost per year is around $60K. If your EFC is $20K, they will give you a grant of $20K if your stats are high enough. Then they will give you work study, loans, and possibly some other grant. They will not give you more than $40K in your FA package, and will probably give you less. </p>

<p>So that’s some feedback for you, but I have to add that every situation is different, and if any of these colleges are really what you want, you can always apply and hope for the best. You really have to do your research. Our experience may or may not apply to you. Look at the Common Data Sets for these schools, just google the school name and that phrase, and see how many students apply for and receive FA, what the average award is, how much need is met, etc. That, along with the knowledge of your EFC, will tell you which schools might be worth a try.</p>

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<p>@LizzieT thanks for the input and yes i’ve crossed off some of the schools because of poor merit/FA. What i have gathered are schools that may become affordable for me are:
American University
Georgetown University
Syracuse University
Northeastern University
Ohio State University
Rutgers University
University of Delaware
University of Maryland College Park
UNC - Chapel Hill</p>

<p>after all merit and FA are applicable…my mother’s 12k…and there is a possiblity my grandparents could help out with costs which they said could be about another 10-12k so looking at 20-24k per year available…opens up possibilities</p>

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<p>I’m hoping Georgetown is your reach! It has been rumored that they add back in many deductions allowed for business owners…therefore increasing income and reducing need based aid.</p>

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<p>@Thumper1 Yes my “reach schools” that i am looking at are NYU stern, UNC Kenan flagler, Georgetown mcdonough, and Boston College Carrol. I’m going to probably narrow it down to 2-3 on my final list. i’m looking for best aid i can get</p>

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<p>The problem is that your EFC is generally the LEAST you will be paying to any college unless you get merit money that exceeds the COA-EFC. A lot of people don’t get that. on top of that, most schools do not meet FAFSA EFC, even those that guarantee to meet full need. The chances of getting your cost down to $12K is going to very slim. Some of the Catholic schools like Iona or such, some of the SUNYs, CUNYs if you commute might get you there. Basically, you need a full tuition award and that’s tough to get unless you are at the top of applicant pool.</p>

<p>Check out UPittsburgh and how your stats are for a chance at a Chancellor’s award which could be full costs.</p>

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<p>how many chancellor awards are given out per year?</p>

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<p>it varies by campus. Some give numerous, some give none. Some call Chancellor, some call Pres. You need to visit each campus site to determine. generally, the lower the avg applicant stats…the more likely you will be to get the award. Suny is no different than others…find the campus where your stats improve theirs. Research Closetohome1</p>