Long story short, I want to apply to a 4 year school as a freshman, rather than as a transfer student. Right now I am enrolled in community college, but realized for a variety of reasons I’d end up paying less as a freshman than as a transfer (scholarships, financial aid). Now, the college I want to go to, Rowan University, has as their policy that “Any applicant who has completed 12 or more college credits at another institution is considered a transfer student.”
So if I am understanding this correctly, as long as I have under 12 college credits at my CC, I can apply as a freshman for Fall 2016, correct? Also, it says scholarships are for “first time, full time” freshman. If I end up taking 9 community college credits this year, and, assuming I am understanding this correctly, apply as a freshman, do I count as a “first time full time” freshman? Does having under 12 credits when applying mean I would be first time full time?
Thank you guys and gals in advance.
I think the sentence you quote explains it well. If you have less than 12 credits, you may apply as freshmen. There are exceptions though like taking DE before you graduated from HS. And yes, institutional scholarships opportunities are much much better for freshmen.
So, I am a freshman…Does that mean I count as a “first time full time” freshman? Which means I’m eligible for said freshman scholarships?
Yes, that is what it says. 9 credits and you will be allowed to apply as a first time full time freshman at Rowan. 12 credits and ‘poof’ you are a transfer. So do not take or complete 12 credits.
Each school has their own policy. And freshman pretty much always are eligible for better packages.
Okay, thank you very much. This helped me immensely.
Full time means you will take >12 credits per semester. So you will be freshmen and it is up to you to be full time or not.
You’re sure Rowan will be less expensive than a CC? Costs are about $20K in-state and the average aid is $8K.
http://www.rowan.edu/president/ierp/cds/pdf/CDS_2014-2015.pdf
I’d get $8k in NJTAG aid, and the max in Pell Grant. I’d also be eligible for a $9k to $16k scholarship based on mySAT scores and GPA.
Call them to see if the scholarship will stack with the NJ TAG.