<p>I've been worrying for a while about how I am going to afford college.. I have an EFC of 0 so I know i should be getting the Pell Grant and maybe some others but the college i want to attend is either Clemson or Auburn and they are both out of state (I live in GA), and I have estimated that even if i receive need based grants I will still probably only receive around 10,000 and I don't know if I will receive scholarships.. Clemson's tuition cost is 24,000 and Auburns is 18,000. Clemson is my first choice, but my mom is planning on moving to either alabama or south carolina (depending on the school i choose) this summer so that I can receive in state tuition after the first year. I think that if that happens it is reasonable to take out loans for my first year if I wont have to for years after that because my grants will cover those costs.. Does this make sense? Does anyone think I may get more than 10,000 in aid? Any opinions? lol I am just stressed and need to hear some other points of view. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>My advice is to select more realistic options. </p>
<p>I am virtually 100% sure that as is the case with virtually all public universities, neither Clemson nor Auburn guarantees being able to meet the documented full financial need of their students. I doubt if you’ll even be able to get $10 k a year from either of them. You can check websites to find out about their financial aid policies, the average need they meet, etc. I believe such info is on the College Board’s website, but check around.</p>
<p>You’d probably be far better off remaining in Georgia where your GC --who presumably has known you for a while – can help you get into a college that you can afford. You’ll also have a better chance to get locally-offered scholarships if you stay in the place where you’ve been living.</p>
<p>Also if you qualify for the HOPE scholarship, you’d be giving that up by moving.</p>
<p>Your mother also will incur costs if she moves, and that will add to your family’s financial burden.</p>
<p>yeah i agree but the only reason I don’t want to stay in GA for school is because I didnt apply to UGA because Ive visited and didnt like it but I want to go to a big division one school so my only option is out of state schools, however I do have one GA school that I got into as my back up once i find out about federal aid, so if i absolutely cant afford it i do have a ga school i can go to but its not my top choice at all and i feel i wont get the true experience</p>
<p>Honestly, people with a zero EFC are those who need to worry most. Very, very few schools meet full need and the Federal aid a zero EFC gets you is a drop in the bucket at most schools unfortunately.</p>
<p>ya very true! i mean the max. amount for the pell grant is about 5300 that would be almost a fourth of clemson tuition! and thats not even considering housing… but then the FSEOG is only available to those who qualify for the pell grant and the max is about 4800 i believe? so that would be about 10,000 but theres still 14000 for tuition… but i will probably get work study which will help and im willing to take out the rest in loans because i prob wont have to get loans any other year since my mom is moving to the state i go to college in so that i receive in state tuition the other 3 years, so if i have about a 15,000 loan im okay with that if i can get a very low (or no) interest rate</p>
<p>First, you’re unlikely to get the full amount of FSEOG. There’s no guarantee you’ll even get any since it’s entirely at the school’s discretion and they have a limited amount of funds to distribute. Probably better to plan for no more than $1,000. Are you eligible for the ACG? That would be another $750 freshman year, and $1300 as a sophmore. Don’t count on work study to pay your tuition - first you’d have to find the WS job and earn the money. Tuition will be due before that happens. Better to think of it as money for 2nd semester books, fees, personal expenses.
Your Stafford loans will only be $5500 the first year, $3500 is subsidized and $2000 is unsubsidized. The rate is 6.8%. You might get offered a Perkins loan, subsidized at 5%, but that’s also a limited availability program and offered at the school’s discretion. You’ll know when you get your FA offers. If your mom is turned down for a PLUS loan, you’re eligible for an additional $4,000 Stafford loan. So, unless you have a credit worthy cosigner, it’s going to be very tough to get $15K in loans in your own name.
Are you sure you could afford those schools even if you became a resident? It seems like you’re discounting fees, room, board, books, and tuition increases and looking only at tuition!</p>
<p>well i know my mom wont get the PLUS loan because she has really bad credit but my grandma has very good credit and said she would cosign a loan with me, i know it will be a reach but i want it bad enough that i believe it will be worth it in the end, and i would def be able to afford it if it was in state tuition so i just am worried about freshman year but i think i can handle it even though it will be a stretch, also my mom currently has a house that we own and are renting out for sale and if we sell it well make about 40,000 which could help alot (however im not counting on this, dont count your chickens before they hatch!) but i think it will be tough but i hopefully can manage it :/</p>
<p>Don’t bank on getting $4800 SEOG. For starters the federal maximum for the SEOG is only $4000. But the maximum at each school is between $100 and $4000. Funding is very limited and each school is given only a set amount of SEOG $xxx (unlike the Pell where you get what your EFC qualifies you for). As the funds are so limited each school sets their own criteria for who will be awarded it *and *they set their own maximum. At my daughter’s school it is $2000. At my son’s it is only $200.</p>
<p>oh okay thats very important info thanks for letting me know!</p>
<p>If your grades and SATs are high enough, you can get a very, very strong financial aid package. My daughter has a friend who is going to Colby who will graduate with zero loans and her parents paid zero – really – and they bought her a laptop. The young lady is also an RA and does work study.</p>
<p>Have you been offered any merit aid by Clemson or Auburn? I’m not sure how being instate is going to make your gap disappear. Won’t it will still be over $18K/year at Clemson, over $15K for Auburn? If you’re borrowing (or having grandma borrow - and grandma should probably not be borrowing any money she can’t afford to lose) - $15K for just the first year and still have at least a $10K/year gap, after Pell, every year after that, is that really manageable? You’d be taking the max Stafford + the $4K increased Stafford every year? Have you thought about how difficult that will be for you to pay back? Or, you take most/all Mom’s home equity to use for your education? Sounds like Mom needs that money and you might need to think about Mom and Grandma a little more. Sorry, but I have to agree with Northstarmom - please think about going to a financially safe school for at least the first 2 years. There is no shame in starting small and transferring up - many professionals and parents here on CC did this. The “true experience” can be had at many schools, and making that big monthly payment for 10 years afterward could really taint the whole memory.
If you want to test drive loan numbers, here’s a link to the FinAid calculator:
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>
<p>How do schools determine how much aid to give you? Is it completely based on your finaincial situation or are grades and SAT scores taken into account?</p>
<p>well when you become a resident not only do you have in state tuition but you also qualify for many instate scholarships, like in georgia we have the HOPE scholarship which covers tuition and fees and i know that south carolina also has a HOPE program, so the tuition would be covered i would pay housing and books and fees and the housing is about 4,000 a year and books are a couple hundred and fees are a couple hundred so i would say about 7,000. and our efc will still be 0 because my mom cant work because she receives disability so i should still receive some grants</p>
<p>"If your grades and SATs are high enough, you can get a very, very strong financial aid package. My daughter has a friend who is going to Colby who will graduate with zero loans and her parents paid zero "</p>
<p>This is true only for people with extremely strong stats who apply and are accepted to some of the relatively few colleges in the country that are not only need blind when it comes to admission, but also can afford to meet 100% of students’ financial need – and to do that without having the students take out loans. Most colleges can not afford to do that. This particularly is true of public universities.</p>
<p>Anyone who has a low EFC should be very worried about how to pay for college because their options are far more limited than are options of people with more money.</p>
<p>" i do have a ga school i can go to but its not my top choice at all and i feel i wont get the true experience"</p>
<p>The true college experience is whatever you make of it – wherever you are.</p>
<p>Since you’re a Georgia high school senior who has been accepted to Clemson for next fall, you would not qualify for their HOPE scholarship unless you graduate from a South Carolina high school of your mom is able to establish residency in S.C. before you graduate from high school. You would not qualify for their HOPE scholarship if your mom moved to SC after you graduate.</p>
<p>“You must be a South Carolina resident at the time of high school graduation and during the period of award.
You must have graduated from a South Carolina high school or graduated from a high school outside of South Carolina while a dependent of a parent or legal guardian who is a legal resident. If you graduated from a high school outside of South Carolina, you are expected to self-identify to the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships in order to be assured that you are not overlooked during the University’s review of LIFE eligible students.”
[LIFE</a> Scholarship Guidelines](<a href=“Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships | University of South Carolina”>Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships | University of South Carolina)</p>
<p>Christina, not trying to kill the dream but there just seems to be alot of “ifs” in this scenario. The fact that you’re worried tells me that your intuition is good and you don’t want to build a house of cards. If you’re serious about not counting chickens before they hatch, you have to step back and look at this logically from where you are NOW. If you remove your “wants” and “what ifs” and look at your “needs” and “what is”, is this a good decision? If so, fine. If not, start with a good plan/alternative that gives you what you need and some of what you want. You may find that you’re happier with it than you think you’ll be as financial stress can send the happy meter plummeting! This may be a Georgia school for a few years, a CC and transfer, a gap year of work, Americorps, or whatever.</p>
<p>This year R&B at Clemson was $6556; Auburn was at $8260. Add another $1,000 for books and supplies you’ll go through. And add at least another $1,000 for personal expenses - sometimes you’ll want to do something that costs money and you’ll need shampoo, clothes, etc. I’d be very surprised if there weren’t some “hidden” fees that will come up - labs, parking, technology - so add another $500 for that. And don’t forget that schools often increase tuition and other things! You’re quickly up to $9-11K/year in out of pocket costs before you even cover tuition! One alternative may be for Mom to move within commuting distance.</p>
<p>I truly hope that your FA offers come in high and it all works out, but I’d keep a plan B in play anyway. Establishing residency for tuition purposes isn’t as easy as you think. You should probably investigate this in great detail and run this scenario by the registrar at these schools.</p>
<p>people can say that your experience is what you make of it but thats just the way to avoid saying it sucks that you cant go to where you actually want to go, i want to go to a school with a big football team and big school spirit, some people want a big school and some want a small school and gcsu is a relatively small school, ive visited but its def not my first choice, although ill end up going there if i cant afford the other ones, i just hope i can because i love clemson!!</p>
<p>and thanks so much for the hope info for sc, thats really important. yeah i called the financial aid office this morning and they said i would also be eligible for some need based scholarships and they said if my mom moved this summer i would be eligible for instate tuition after and for more in state scholarships that i cant get right now so im trying to be hopeful and positive but it just depends on what my financial aid package turns out to be and i wont find out until april :/</p>
<p>ya im def keeping gcsu as my plan b, i already put my deposit in there so if i need to go there im set!</p>