<p>What are the chances of me getting a full ride to a UC, if I live w/ my grandma, mom, and brother. My grandma, ever since her being disabled, lives entirely on support from the government such as SSI, and checks for me and my brother, because my grandma is my guardian. My mom is incapable of working due to her state of mind, so she also lives on SSI. Ultimately, my family lives in a two bedroom, two bath apartment, however, we live on ends meat, barely surviving. Therefore, are my chances of getting a full ride to a UC entirely possible or impossible.</p>
<p>Possible, but can you give us dollar information.</p>
<p>I’d suggest you expand your choices beyond the UC’s. There are many, many more colleges in California and other parts of the country where you would have a higher likelihood of full rides than the UC’s.</p>
<p>Son #2 was offered a “free ride” to UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD and UCD. What it entails is an EFC of $0 (which you probably have) and being offered the Regents Scholarship.</p>
<p>Otherwise, with just an EFC of $0, I think a typical package is $5K in loans and approx $4K in work study which is a good package. Son #1 works approx 10 hours per week during the school year and fulltime during the summer, and he will graduate next year debtfree.</p>
<p>Since my grandma lives off the government, such as SSI and child care money, I think our income is around 20K. Plus my mom helps to pay rent, about half of the apartment rent.</p>
<p>What is a “full ride” to you? I’ve noticed that on here, a “full ride” is defined a bit differently than me and my friends defined it when we were high school seniors. When I was a senior, a “full ride” was a single scholarship, or a combination of merit-based scholarships or grants, that covered the entire cost of attendance at a school (tuition, fees, room, and board). Here, sometimes students mean it to say that all of their tuition and fees are covered (but not necessarily room and board) or they mean it to say that no one has to take out any PLUS loans or private loans to finance their education, even if they have a small Stafford loan in their own name. (When I was in school, repayable aid went against the very point of a “full ride”.)</p>
<p>If you just want straight nonrepayable aid, that will probably depend on your grades just as much as your need. As FresnoMom said, at most public universities an EFC of $0 will mean that your mom won’t be expected to take out any PLUS loans, nor will you have to take private loans, but you will probably be expected to take out some Stafford loans and do some work-study (which, like she says, isn’t a bad deal).</p>
<p>You didn’t really provide enough information for us to assess this – the kind of house you live in doesn’t really affect FAFSA. You could live in a palatial mansion or a tiny hovel; they don’t care and they don’t ask you how much you spend in rent/mortgage per month. They also don’t ask you how much money it costs to feed your family and how much you have left over to spend. If your grandmother is your legal guardian and you only have to report her income, and she only makes $20,000 a year, chances are great that your EFC will be very low. Use FinAid.org’s EFC. I used the quick not-so-accurate one; assuming that your grandmother is your legal guardian and that of your mom and brother; that she’s about 60 years old; that she makes around $20,000 a year and she has no assets; and that you make nothing, your EFC should be $0.</p>
<p>If I want to be free of costs when it comes to tuition, room and board, fees, and other costs, would I classify if I have a 4.4 weighted GPA, and a 3.6 unweighted GPA, plus my grandma’s low income. And what are the different ways I can get a full ride, because you mentioned Stafford loans and work study; how do they work?</p>