<p>I'm extremely concerned for my best friend, she is an exceptional student and we've got almost the same grades over the years.</p>
<p>She has what it takes to get into any college she applies to, including the Ivies.
However her parents make more money than the cutoff point for financial aid, both parents are High school math teachers, so if she were to go to a private school she'd have to pay the complete tuition and housing costs.
Her parents are unwilling to supply the money to apply to more than a few colleges and are unwilling to pay more than what a community college would cost.
As of late they are even considering forcing her to go to a 2 year community college, because quote "We'd rather make sure that we have money for our next vacation."</p>
<p>I'm so worried because I know she has the potential to get into anywhere she applies to, but her parents just won't fund her schooling.</p>
<p>Is there any way that schools would consider her situation financially?
Are there anyways to waive applications fees in a case like this?
Can she receive financial aid?</p>
<p>I doubt she’ll receive FA since you said that her parents make too much money.</p>
<p>She can apply to some schools that don’t charge for online apps (there are some). </p>
<p>If her stats are high enough for ivies, then they’re high enough for good merit scholarships - some full tuition scholarships, why hasn’t she applied for those?</p>
<p>Her parents sound like people who are afraid of a multi-year commitment (college) that large amounts of money must go towards.</p>
<p>What are her stats? GPA, ACT, SAT including SAT breakdown.</p>
<p>It sounds like her parents have established a budget that your friend will need to live with. That is their perogative. Your friend needs to make sure she has a balanced list of options that take finances into consideration. As far as apps go, I’ve seen literally dozens and dozens of “free apps” come into our house and into our e-mail. Hopefully your friend has established some sort of “contact” with the schools she is interested in. If so, no doubt the “free app” fairy will land if it hasn’t already. The fairy seems to be getting around this year. In all seriousness, many, many parents establish budgets and each family has different attitudes regarding what is a reasonable amount to spend on college that is entirely separate from how exceptional their child is. Many parents would say if the kid is an exceptional student then he/she will do well wherever he/she goes. You can do your friend much good by being supportive and helping put a good plan into place. If you feel comfortable posting some data, there are many who can help point her in a good direction. As mom2college says, if your friend has the app to get serious consideration from the Ivies then there are many, many colleges that would love to have your friend and some that might offer enough scholarship to take care of the gap between your friend’s parents budget and a chosen college or uni and meet with the parents approval. It is entirely possible that the CC conversation is coming up if your friend is yanking her parents’ chain…I could envision a scenario where the parents might be yanking back to punctuate their point regarding the college budget. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Her ACT is a 33
Her SAT I is only a 1780 but she chooses not to retake it.
She has 3 SAT II’s at 680-730</p>
<p>She is the middle child, her older sister already graduated college over 5 years ago.
She hasn’t applied to any merit scholarships because she has no idea on how to go about it. College applications have been the first thing she’s had any real trouble with, she just can’t seem to understand the procedure, scholarship applications even less so.
I’ve tried to help her as much as I can but her father doesn’t want “That boy in our house every week” so I’m stuck trying to guide her through texts and IMs.</p>
<p>I’ve come to the end of my rope of college know-how, which is why I’ve come here seeking help for her.</p>
<p>Hmmm, The procedure is pretty easy. Is there a possibility she doesn’t want to leave home next fall and is simply dragging her feet or using her parents budget as an excuse not to pull her apps together? Has she finished and/or submitted any?</p>
<p>I used Yale as an example because I knew it had good need-based aid. I am not knowledgable enough about admissions to know if your friend is a good candidate for Yale or not.</p>
<p>but maybe these parents need money to set aside for their health insurance, home repairs, AND a vacation, not to mention food and clothing, and your friend’s reluctance might be that she has decided to go where her parents will foot the bill!</p>
<p>For most financial aid applications, your friend will need her parents to sign the paper, provide information, and send in copies of their tax returns. Maybe they do not want to disclose this info to the government and would prefer to pay for a community college.</p>
<p>I would tread lightly here as you do not have all of the facts re the family’s income and preferences.</p>
<p>If she posted on CC the types of schools she is interested in, what her interests are, she would get several helpful posts on schools with merit aid by the end of the day. My D has similar stats, we don’t qualify for financial aid but can’t pull full freight, so the focus has been on good schools with merit aid, and they are out there.</p>
<p>Since no one knows the facts behind these parents’ situation, no one should judge their budget.</p>
<p>HOWEVER…they may not know that their D would qualify for some great merit aid from various schools with her ACT 33 (as long as her GPA is also good). They also may not know that she’ll lose ALL of those opportunities for free money IF she goes to a community college first (many people are shocked to find out that their good cc grades won’t get them big scholarships. Nearly all big scholarships GO TO incoming freshmen! :)</p>
<p>Schools like Tulane, Texas A&M, St Louis U, UMiami, etc would give her big scholarships. </p>
<p>It’s no mystery how to apply, just have her go to these schools websites and put in “scholarships” in their seach box. The info will come up. Many times no separate application is needed. You just apply to the school and they give you the award.</p>
<p>IF you started a thread that says…**Need FULL Tuition merit schools for ACT 33 & GPA X.X **…then you’ll get people giving you exact schools with details about specific scholarships. Also ask for links if possible. (Obviously, you need to put in what her GPA is)</p>
<p>Your friend would need full tuition scholarships because she’d need her parents money and small loans to pay for the rest.</p>