Hello, I make about $60K a year. My daughter is a sophomore so I know we have time but I’m getting nervous. She has a 90 average. Anyone have experience with colleges giving great financial aid for these types of grades. Any insight or feedback would be so helpful.
Isn’t a 90 about a 3.6 GPA?
Yes, there are colleges that might give merit for that GPA.
But most importantly the test score should be as high as possible.
She can start doing some SAT practice tests at hone, they might have done a PSAT in October of sophomore year?
I think the results will come out in December.
That will give them a starting point to see where to focus test prep.
And don’t get nervous. Start looking at some instate options that might be affordable.
Depending on household size and FAFSA EFC, there might be a chance to qualify for federal and/or state grants.
The net price calculator on the college website might give you an idea of how much aid you might qualify for.
You can try the net price calculators on the web sites of colleges of possible interest to see what they may offer for financial aid.
However, if the parents are divorced, you need to check if the college requires both parents’ information. If so, you need to include both parents’ finances in the net price calculator (but even then, some colleges’ net price calculators become less accurate, and there can also be inaccuracy because one divorced parent may not have accurate information about the other divorced parent’s finances).
What state? In some states there are college payment programs for lower income students.
Is there a non custodial parent in the picture? A family business? A high home equity value for primary residence?
Some schools, mostly private, do ask for these things as well as what FAFSA asks. Such schools tend to meet financial need as they define it , or close to it.
The vast majority of schools use FAFSA only and above info not used. But they also do not tend to meet full need
Fill out the net price calculators for your state schools, schools you might have in mind to get an idea what to expect
In many cases, the net price calculators are not accurate for divorced parents…and this isn’t just at schools that require custodial parent info. So, if this OP is a single parent, he or she needs to view the net price calculator results with caution.
Also, the net price calculators are currently set up for students starting college in fall 2020. This student is not starting college until 2022. Schools DO change their financial aid awarding policies, and do update their net price calculators. What is on the NPCs now might not reflect at all what the college will do two years from now.
This student is a sophomore in HS. This means really, she only has one year of high school grades in her GPA. She has NO standardized test results.
The best thing this student can do is get absolutely the very best grades she can get, and the very best standardized test scores. These will open up options she will not have with less glowing stats.
How much can you scrape together each year to pay for her education?
Have you spoken with the non-custodial parent, and determined how much that person is truly ready, willing, and able to pay?
Make certain that you do know what her budget will be, and make certain that your daughter knows. Being absolutely clear about this will save both of you a lot of grief. If she truly understands that the aid package will determine where she can attend, she can look for places that she likes well enough and can avoid the trap of feeling that she needs to “be in love” with any of them.
Thank you very much!
This is so helpful!
New York State
If you and your student are NY State residents…you are fortunate to have a number of aid initiatives there.
- TAP
- Excelsior
- STEM award
You can’t get all three at once, but likely your student would get enough to get instate tuition paid at one of the SUNY or CUNY schools.
There are some payback obligations with Excelsior and Stem.
Thank you so much
NY has the Excelsior program that will cover tuition costs after Federal and TAP aid lowers that cost.
The problem with SUNY schools is that getting room and board covered is a challenge and can be very expensive, more than the tuition Your DD is highly likely to get full tuition covered. But room, board, other necessary expenses can be between $12-18k. $5500 in loan to the student, maybe $3500 in working and savings in part of the student still will come to $3-9k a year.
Are there potentially suitable SUNY schools within reasonable commute range? Commuting from home is typically significantly less expensive than living on campus (although not $0).
The Excelsior doesn’t cover room and board. The student can take out the $5500 student loan and earn about $3000 over the summer, but the OP will still have to cover about $7000 a year. Hopefully there is a SUNY/CUNY within commuting distance.
Go through the SUNY/CUNY list and see if your child may possibly qualify for large merit. For example, SUNY Oswego has the Presidential award which covers $20,000 a year for all 4 years. This award requires a minimum gpa of 93 and a minimum ACT of 26. She’s a sophomore…study hard and try to get that gpa up! This award combined with summer earnings and part of a small student loan will cover room/board and other expenses.
@twogirls The SUNY Oswego Presidential award is $20,000 total ($5000 per year), not $20,000 per year. (See asterisked small print).
Oops… how did I miss that one? ?