You’re in range. So are many, many other applicants. So, you have a shot, but your odds aren’t great, because they’re not great for anyone. That being said, just being in range is great - thousands are, but hundreds of thousands aren’t.
Strategically, my guess is that your status as under-represented state/first-gen would matter more outside the South.
You’ll need to declare that income for 2022. 20% of it will be considered as available for college and will reduce any FA you might have been eligible for by that amount.
(Basically consider your priority in how to spend your money must be your education. I realize you may have spent it helping your parents. Keep receipts/proof of every “extenuating”/necessary expense, especially health related.)
This is in addition to your parents’income& assets, which are assessed differently.
Benz has co ops, not internships at the Vance plant. You also have Hyundai in Montgomery and Honda in Lincoln and Toyota/Mazda coming to Huntsville. Not sure if OP has interest in auto. I asked bcuz if his EC. The south is the new home of auto. Even ford going deep in TN and KY.
If his family looks down at Bama then WVU will be seen a notch below. But it’s not !!
We don’t know the monetary situation. OP has gone from any school to $25-30k to the money should not be considered now.
It’s a gut feel there is an issue but for OP it’s not our place.
As for chasing merit - if OP lived in say PA, they’d be all over Bama. But being from in state, like so many kids, it’s looked down upon.
He should go physically check out all three.
@kelsmom @Mwfan1921 is this correct? Isn’t there a little amount of student income that is not counted on the FAFSA? And after that what %age is counted. Isn’t the 20% number for assets?
@An_D speaking of assets…any money you still have is reported as of the day of filing your financial aid forms…and student assets are assessed at 20% of their value towards your family contribution. So…are any of your earnings not yet spent…because those count too.
I’ll defer to @kelsmom on that account (I was thinking of CSS Profile schools because that’s where OP’s situation is likely to be more complex and yield different results according to the specific way each college calculates need.)
I also think there’s a 6k “protection” (?).
Absolutely. Hopefully OP can go visit each relatively easily.
As mentioned upthread I looked into the 1st gen Fly-in type of programs. Here are some results
For 2024-25 FAFSA, student total income has an income protection allowance of $9,410. Total student income less the IPA is the available income. 50% of available income is the student contribution from income expectation. The formula can be found here: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/202425DraftStudentAidIndexSAIandPellGrantEligibilityGuide.pdf (page 9 for student income section). It’s a little more complicated than that for low income students, but the OP isn’t in that category based on information in this thread.
I don’t know how CSS Profile schools assess student income and assets. FAFSA SAI (formerly EFC) won’t be relevant at many of OP’s CSS Profile schools.
With that said, the draft SAI formula has a student income protection allowance of $9,410, with an assessment rate of 50% on the balance after the allowance. There is no asset protection allowance, and assets are assessed at 20%. Again, that’s not final, and Profile schools can do whatever they want. https://fsapartners.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/202425DraftStudentAidIndexSAIandPellGrantEligibilityGuide.pdf
It’s not clear to me how large in terms of revenue OP’s business is, if they are filing Schedule C, etc. If so, that could complicate things as well.
ETA: I didn’t see that kelsmom had already posted this!
Thank you @kelsmom and @Mwfan1921 .
Well, I don’t spend the money on myself, I just reinvest it into buying more shoes to sell. Also I just realized that the taxes for my business are under my parents name. Does this make a difference?
Case Western doesn’t have the football that you were hoping for, but I’d take a good look at it because it has a lot of other stuff that I think you’d like. I believe that @AmyIzzy’s son received excellent merit aid from them as they are trying to increase the diversity of their student body.
OP could save up for a Browns game here and there. There is football in Cleveland, just not really college football.
Alabama football!
Auburn football!
I really enjoyed the football games at my kids’ ACC schools.
Football is not a big priority but thank you for the info.
You’re probably treading back into the area that your parents don’t want you to discuss in an online forum.
What do you think I am lacking
Agreed.
OP, you should do some research on how student income and assets are assessed. Both are assessed much more heavily than parent income and assets. kelsmom’s post above has a good overview. Make sure you understand the prior-prior year concept for income reporting as well as the income protection allowance. Assets (not income) are reported as of the day you submit the FAFSA and/or profile.
OP, I don’t think it’s anything that you are lacking personally. It’s that those schools only admit a small amount of applicants, so they are reaches for virtually everyone.
Case Western does have football (my son is thinking about Marching Band) but not D1. My son received merit of $43,500 from CWRU which is their top merit I believe. He was invited to a diversity dinner which was like a 5 star event! We received decent financial aid but it was still over budget so my son wrote an appeal letter and they gave us another $5k in FA plus $2500 work study (our goal was $7k so met our goal.) After accepting, my son was invited to envision weekend, a diversity leadership weekend so he moves in a few days before other students. He was invited to a diversity overnight like the one referenced here but he was unable to attend due to gymnastics meets (he’s a Level 10 gymnast.) Message me with any questions. The diversity outreach was VERY impressive and he felt wanted and valued as a minority student (Hispanic.) For background, his stats:
97% unweighted GPA (honors, AP, dual enrollment)
1450 SAT
National Hispanic Merit Scholar
National Hispanic Scholatship Fund recipient
Lots of volunteer work including working with refugees/immigrants
Strong recommendation letters
5’s on all AP’s except AP Gov (4)
80/85 on Spanish CLEP exam (with writing)
Advanced to nationals for Level 10 gymnastics (not continuing in college)
Fluent in Spanish (spent 2 summers in Mexico doing advanced gymnastics fully in Spanish)
Majors will be: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Music (drums)
Goal: PhD in clinical psych, work with Spanish-speaking populations
Nothing. When colleges have sub 25% acceptance rates, almost all their applicants are stellar. So, it’s out if your hands: do they need a basoon player? Someone with volunteering experience in Tagalog? Do they have someone from all 50 state and not just from a 300-mile radius ?
All you can do is be within range so the college is within reach and then be yourself since, as Oscar Wilde said, everyone else is already taken. No one else can be you and your application, essays, LORs, should all reflect that. Then, you keep your fingers crossed.
Almost done finalizing my school list. Will post it soon.