<p>i really want to attend boston university. i love the town and i know it is the one university i really want to be at. but what bums me out is that i know i cant afford it because i am responsible for paying for my own education. i applied for the full-tuition trustee scholarship, but i know that my chances of receiving it are slim and that i shouldnt bank on it. but i believe that i have a decent chance at receiving the schools half-tuition scholarship, but it would still cost me 25,000 dollars (including room, board, and mandatory fees) to attend bu if i received it. i only want to borrow at max 5,000 dollars per year. thus, i will have to pony up 20,000 dollars per year. </p>
<p>my question is how can i do this? i understand that i can receive a substantial amount of money through need-based financial aid. but even if i get 10,000 dollars per year, which is a generous estimate, i still would need 10,000 dollars per year. should i start applying ubiquitously for external scholarships? or will receiving external scholarships affect the amount of aid i receive from bu? and what scholarship programs give great amounts of money? i have used fastweb.com to search for them but i cant not find many that give more than 4,000 dollars. </p>
<p>anyways, thank you for reading this. i appreciate it :).</p>
<p>apply for for many different scholarships as ot os going to be hard to find 1- $20,000 scholarship.</p>
<p>As a freshman, the max subsidized loan you will get is $2650</p>
<p>Since you said that your parent's are not paying (is it because they can't or won't) they will be offered a PLUS (parents loan)</p>
<p>The reality is that you have to also look at soe schools which are financially affordable (that may be coming down a notch or applying to honors programs at other schools)</p>
<p>yeah, i'm applying to ut austin and lake forest college as safeties because i know that they have cheap tuition or can give me full scholarships. i'm applying to the university of richmond and unc at chapel hill as well but again, it's statistically very hard to recieve full rides from them. i just didn't want to accept the reality that i can't go to bu unless i get the trustee scholarship. haha. just wondering. thanks.</p>
<p>Getting a "full ride" is very difficult. Even with top stats, as the system is holistic and does not just cream off the top profiles. There are often kids who get those special scholarships whose numbers are not necessarily the best.</p>
<p>What is your home state? I am assuming Texas, and that UT is a true safety for you. Though you may get some nice grants, they are not often in the big numbers you are hoping and many times they offset whatever financial aid you would get so that you cannot "double dip". Many kids get shocked when this happens. It is really pretty rare that a school will keep a financial aid award as is, when the student also gets a merit scholarship.</p>
<p>I suggest that you get a high paying job for a few hours a week during winter/spring breaks. Something like bussing tables or waitering or anything that gives a nice per hour yield. I also suggest you bust your tail during the summer with a double job, and expect to work 10 hours or so a week in college. That can greatly offset the cost of college. </p>
<p>US financial aid methodology expects parents to pay what they can. So you need to discuss what they are able to pay and borrow, as your EFC will be coming out with a number that basically tells what their responsibilty is, given their financial situation.</p>
<p>I suggest you check out a book from the library on financial aid, like The Princeton Review's Guide "Paying for College without Going Broke." That's what I'm doing.</p>
<p>If you expect to become a National Merit FINALIST, you can get a full ride at the Barrett (Intel's CEO) Honors College at Arizona State University.</p>
<p>Be careful with the outside scholarship thing. I know that some schools allow you to replace the amount you would have had to pay for work-study and loans, but not EFC. But it depends on each school.</p>