So for my FAFSA and CSS profile, my parents used whatever tax and financial information from last year as directed. The problem is, this upcoming year my parents expect to not make as much money and also spend more money (on my brothers). So according to the numbers from last year, we seem to be a little more well off, but in reality finances are going to be (and already) tight. Technically, I’m not a low income student or anything, but we have so many expenses (due to some siblings’ medical issues) and it’s only gonna get worse.
So my question: am I going to get less financial aid then I probably will need? If we were able to use this year’s information, I’d feel a lot more comfortable. I feel like I won’t get as much aid as I could.
After you have filed the FAFSA and any other financial aid paperwork that the college/university requires, contact the financial aid office directly, and ask about paperwork needed for “Special Conditions”. This will allow you to update your aid application due to changes in your family’s financial circumstances. Whether your aid is increased will depend entirely on the aid policies of that specific college/university.
Probably a substantial number of people get less financial aid than they feel they need.
How much do you need?
Really look at your lower instate offers. You’ll probably have BF, if you go to a private school in Florida you’d have a $3000 FRAG, some of the schools have additional scholarships for Florida residents.
What’s FRAG? Also, I guess I’m not too worried about in state costs (as long as I can get in). It’s more if the out of state private schools in worried about.
Florida Resident Asst. Grant. You get $3000 (I think it is 40% of the tuition cost at UF/FSU/UCF so if their tuition goes up, the amount goes up) if you go to a private school in Florida, like Miami, Rollins, Florida Southern. It goes a lot farther at Flagler with a tuition of $17k than at Miami at $47k.
There are a lot of little scholarships available in Florida, but you have to look for them. Ask your high school counselor. At FL Tech, there is one full ride scholarship available per year to a Florida resident. Private school, about 35% Florida Residents, but only a Florida resident can get that scholarship. There are several others for students living in Brevard county, for military families in the area, Women in STEM, etc.
Can your family afford these OOS private universities? If not, you might need to reconsider your application list.
What is the income difference?
How much extra medical for your siblings (that will not be reimbursed by insurance)?
What is your EFC?
How much will your parents pay each year? Ask them, please don’t guess. We see later posts from a lot of disappointed students who thought their parents would pay more.
@thumper1 Honestly, my parents have not outright rejected saying we wouldn’t be able to afford it off state colleges. They say they could find a way but I don’t really see it. Also, I know this may seem stupid, but I’m going to feel like I wasted all my high school years if I end up at any FL college that’s not UF or UM (best schools in FL). I worked so hard keeping up good grades and getting good test scores. Admittedly, may extracurriculars may not be good enough for some of my reaches (basically all the private colleges in applying to).
@mom2collegekids I’m not sure what the income difference will be.
I think it may be somewhere around $4000 for my siblings medical stuff, however, my parents also want to possibly help my siblings move out/live on their own while they are still in college. That would be a huge expense.
As for EFC, I tried running the Collegeboard EFC calculator and it spit out 2 numbers based on 2 different methods: one was $18,386 and the other $24,957. I definitely cannot see that happening.
So go to UF. I think you are wrong (it is never a waste to do your best in any level of education) and there are a lot of good schools in Florida, but if only UF and Miami are acceptable to you, go to one of those.
If you are worried about getting into a Florida school, do you have the stats to get into a private school? Would you qualify for any merit aid? You haven’t given any information on what schools you are thinking of, or how much income you’re talking about.
@twoinanddone Academically, I’m fairly sure I can get into both UF and UM. I have a 34 ACT and 3.88 UW GPA and a 4.29 weighted GPA (+.5 for honors, +1 for AP). But obviously that is not everything. I’m not too confident about my essay (I’ve never been a good writer) and my extracurriculars are not that impressive compared to what I see on this site, and that is my fault. I know UF has rejected well qualified students before, making admissions seem a bit more random. Basically, I’m saying there is no guarantee I will get into either of those schools.
I think I may qualify for merit aid based on my stats, but it probably would not be enough. The other schools I’m applying to are Northeastern, Boston University, Georgia Tech, RPI, and UCF (already accepted due to being in top 10%).
You can pretty much count on getting nothing from Georgia Tech. No one gets anything from Georgia Tech. I think you’ll get a lot from UCF.
Thanks, I did not know that about GA Tech. And about UCF, I’m glad I may get a lot from UCF but it’s definitely my safety/backup option.
What is your major and career goal?
Send an app to Bama. You’d get free tuition there.
Computer Engineering, not sure about career goal.
Then send an app to Bama…you’ll get free tuition PLUS 2500 per year for eng’g.
Unfortunately, they don’t have a computer engineering major.