IPFW shows tuition at $8,000 Room at about $6,000 and meals about $3,000.
You would qualify for Chancellor’s scholarship which covers tuition and fees.
So remaining costs would be $9,000. That doesn’t figure in any aid yet. Pell grant can be applied to room and board.
You said you might get $3-4k Pell, most likely something from the state. It would not be too expensive.
I’m just saying identify schools that would be affordable and apply, some instate and OOS, file your FAFSA asap after Jan 1 and update it with actual tax numbers as soon as the taxes are done to get maximum aid. And see what they offer, then make your decision next spring.
You don’t want to be like a lot of kids here next spring which didn’t get into Uchicago, Rice, etc. and have only one affordable choice. Unless that one choice is your first choice, then you only need to apply to that school.
State schools are fine for premed, can save a lot of money because there is usually more aid for their own students in addition to merit aid for great stats. Or pick OOS school with generous merit so it is affordable. But I doubt Rice and Uchicago would be as affordable.
@mommdc To go to IPFW, I’d have to rely on my parents to give me money and that’s not guaranteed at all. My parents are not at all responisble when it comes to finances, so I’d rather not take the risk. They say they’ll give me ~5k a year but that’s not guaranteed money. I’d hate having to take out loans and then still not being able to afford IPFW if my parents mess up or decide I have to live on my own while I have other schools of equal caliber that have full rides and no loans.
And you think you could go to Rice and Uchicago for free?
They will have their own interpretation of what you can afford and their own forms in addition to FAFSA. And even if no loans they will have a parent and student contribution.
What did the net price calculator say for Uchicago? How are going to pay that if no money from parents?
@mommdc The NPC for Chicago showed around $4,000 remaining after Chicago Grant, Odyssey Scholarship and Pell Grant.
Rice is similar for net price. At that cost, I can afford it with loans and I’ll be secure. The only problem is that I’ll have to spread my applications and hope to get into a high meet full meet. If that doesn’t work I’ll probably go to an automatic full ride. When it comes to finances I’m very frugal and I just want to my dollar to go as far as possible.
@mom2collegekids I’ve been looking at UA a lot, but I’d have to go full out money spending to get in there and if my parents decide to cut my funding, I’m out of luck.
Yes and then you have travel costs and books and personal expenses. That will all be covered with $5,500 loan? After the $4,000 there would only be $1,500 left.
If you rely on need based aid alone and your parents’ income goes up the loan might not cover all costs.
If you go to a school where you get lots of merit, that would be independent of parent income.
@mommdc The risk at Uchicago compared to IPFW is a lot smaller. For UChi I could potentially get by if they cut me off while at IPFW I would have no chance.
You need to find out how early you can apply to Howard, for the best chance to get that full ride, it is not guaranteed. So you have at least one safety (as long as you get that scholarship).
If you apply to UChicago EA (Nov 1) and get admission decision by mid December, you might not know yet if you get the Howard scholarship.
Well, you need to talk to your parents. There is a payment plan that many parents use where they pay a monthly amount for 10 months. In your case, you could see if your parents will pay 500 a month for 10 months each year.
So now I have UChic, Hamilton, Howard, Rice, Reed. I’ve also added LA Technology as a safety. Are there anymore full meet/full ride schools that I would enjoy?
Is that budget due to parents having other costs/priorities (debt, ill family member, etc) or because your parents don’t earn much (less than 65K?)
Another good school for lower income students is Berea.
At Stanford, up to 125K you get full tuition… So if your family makes 45K you’d get a very good deal.
I agree you need to include as many 100% need schools as possible if you are lower income - and if you qualify for Pell, it means you are lower income.
You know you have fee waivers for applications, right?
Have you considered Questbridge, are you a QB applicant?
I think you can get a full ride at Pitt, too.
… are included by schools such as Yale, UChicago, Pomona, etc. They may even count that you’ll need to buy clothes and factor that into your costs so that you can have financial aid that covers that cost.
Okay, if your family makes 70k and there are 3 kids with one in college, definitely run the NPC on all “100% need” colleges and apply to a lot of those where the costs are within budget for you. Don’t forget to show “interest” by filling out the “request info” form for each of those.
Here’s a pretty comprehensive list: http://www.thecollegesolution.com/schools-that-meet-100-of-financial-need-2/
This would be in addition to looking for full rides.
We have a similar income and family size and the net price calculator for U Chicago gave me a net price of $8,000.
That is more than $5,500 loan amount and what you said you could afford.