I’ll be majoring in bio with a minor in something political science or legal studies related (depends on the school). Still waiting on college decisions. I’ve gotten accepted to the University of Notre Dame, the Ohio State University (trying for biomedical science), University of Rochester, and others, but I’m still waiting on Williams (they told me if I kept my grades up I’ll most likely be accepted), Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Vanderbilt, Bowdoin, Case Western, and WashU, though. (Very unlikely for Harvard, Stanford, Brown, etc, but might as well try xD)
My D is a state finalist for Florida. She is planning on majoring in molecular biology or possibility a dual major with linguistics or computer science. She has been accepted to University of Florida and Emory. Waiting on Pomona, University of Chicago, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, WashU, Bowdoin, Vanderbilt, and Carleton. Good Luck to everyone in the next round!
@caspiancat How did your daughter figure out?
@univbound101 - I am so sorry for my poor wording! I should not have used the word finalist. I meant to say that she made it to the state part of the competition. She has not found out about nationals yet, found out about state several weeks ago via email. We are still waiting on any news like everyone else.
Ok. I was just asking in case portals had updated for those who were chosen to move forward. Best of luck to your daugther and everyone.
When people say portal, do they mean the ISTS page where the applications are?
@dangkat5 yes
Should we assume that the day finalists are being released, if they dont email us, we aren’t moving on? Or do they email everyone to say whether they’re in or not?
My son is planning on majoring in electrical and computer engineering. He wants to have the opportunity to take more philosophy, history, and literature classs also. He is accepted into his safeties. Our state engineering school is the most affordable but prefers to go to a college with more liberal arts. Accepted into 3 safety schools but the one he prefers is Purdue and did not receive any scholarships. He was accepted into their honors program which is pretty difficult to get in, he really likes their honors program (this is an OOS school) the others are reaches. Case Western and Wash U maybe the closest reach schools. The others are Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Harvard, Yale, Columbia (NY) and Johns Hopkins.
@ToIvyornottoivy everyone gets an email whether or not you move on.
One more day. Hang in there, everyone!
Just learned this! Did you know that outside scholarships cannot be used to cover your EFC / expected family contribution? Nope. Federal law states that outside scholarships Can only be used for ‘need’ - defined as amounts over and above EFC. I’ve been working on outside scholarships for an entire year! Anyone else surprised by this?
Hmm, can you post a source, please?
My understanding is that it works like this.
The college determines you have $10,000 of need. They offer you $5,000 in work study and $5,000 in loans.
You’re then awarded an outside scholarship for $1,000. This reduces your need by $1,000, so now your need is only $9,000. The college, therefore, reduces either your loan or your work study by $1,000.
If you’re awarded a $10,000 outside scholarship, your need is reduced to zero, so you’re no longer eligible for need-based aid.
If you’re awarded a $15,000 scholarship, your need is zero and you have $5,000 that helps reduce your EFC.
Is this what you meant?
Full ride scholarships such as Stamps and National Merit are still full ride, regardless of the recipient’s EFC. I know this because we have one and we do not have to pay our EFC.
Outside scholarships CAN be used to replace work study and federal loans… but not the ‘family contribution’ portion.
I had an EFC of $1000 on FAFSA. Private college that uses CSS profile estimates that the Family contribution is a bit higher… they say it’s at $1500. But they also estimate my “Student Contribution” (which is not a number used on FAFSA) at $7500. So I would owe $9000 total. They offer $2000 in Work Study and $5500 in Federal loans (the fed loan cap for Freshmen) to cover my ‘student contribution’ . But that still leaves my Family Contribution at $1500. If I get a $10,000 scholarship, $7500 of it will replace my loans and work study. The other $2500 can’t be used to offset the family cotribution; rather, the school will reduce the other need-based aid they’re giving me by $2500 and put it there. Family Contribution will remain at $1500.
I’m pretty sure you’re misreading that. I mean, on paper, your EFC will still be whatever number it was, so our EFC is $9624 both before and after my son’s National Merit full ride. The difference is that the scholarship covers all of his expenses, so we don’t have to pay our EFC out of our own pockets.
I suppose one could quibble about whether the NMF scholarship qualifies as an outside scholarship, so let me use a different example.
If you’re awarded the Elks MVS top award for $20k/year, and your need is less than that, the amount in excess of your need will reduce what comes out of your pocket. Your EFC on paper, however, will not change.
@DiotimaDM I think the difference in our examples is whether the student is getting merit aid or need-based aid for the majority of the COA. If you win enough scholarships to cover the total of what the school is awarding you in NEED-based aid, THEN they will apply it to the EFC. It sounds like your son’s COA is mostly covered by MERIT aid, not need-based aid.
In my own situation, I’m attending a school that is $70,000 /year. They’re giving me $61,000 in NEED-based aid (not merit), $2000 Work Study, and $5500 Federal loans. I will owe $1500 family contribution. If I win a $10,000 scholarship, it will take away the work study and loan but the remaining scholarship amount of $2500 must go to replace the need-based aid the school is giving me ($61,000) and only when my outside scholarships have replaced all of that $61,000 need-based aid can scholarships then be used to cover my EFC. If your son has most of his college covered by a MERIT scholarship, that would be different. I am speaking just about how schools use scholarship money when they are giving you need-based aid.
Yes, if your need is very high, then outside scholarships reduce need and need-based aid first. Some schools will also reduce your merit aid by whatever you get in outside scholarships, but that varies from school to school.
So outside scholarships CAN be used to pay your EFC, but ONLY if your need has been reduced to zero first.
Agreed. So in your son’s case, his COA is being covered by Merit aid (not need-based), so more scholarships means it can reduce what the family pays. My COA of $70,000 is mostly being covered by need-based aid from the school. So once my scholarships cover my work study and federal loan (total $7500) - any scholarships I win would be used to offset what the school is giving me in need-based aid. I just didn’t realize I couldn’t use scholarship $ to replace my Family Contribution until affter I had replaced all the need-based aid they’re giving me. Don’t get me wrong - I am still extremely grateful for the generous need-based aid they’re giving me… I just didn’t realize that, after $7500 in scholarships replaces the loan / work study, any other scholarships go back to the school.
The only exception is for schools like Stanford, Harvard, and Princeton who don’t require a parent contribution if you make under a certain threshold; then the scholarship covers student contribution and work study before taking away from the grant.
EG: https://financialaid.stanford.edu/aid/outside/