Estimated Contribution: I got $0

Paying for College
1

<p>Does that mean that I would have to get a ton of financial aid? How much are schools willing to help? Would I have to cash out on student loans from the Big Brother? I am eligible for the fee waivers for SAT and AP Tests, and probably the applications too.</p>

<p>If there needs to be more info: my family makes around only 40K per year. I might have to consider getting a part time job, or do the work study program during college.</p>

<p>Also: what if I am going to pursue doctorates right out of undergrad and be a professor while doing research?</p>

2

<p>Few schools meet need. Are you an international applicant or a domestic applicant?</p>

3

<p>Domestic, California to be exact, but only 3 schools I am applying to are California schools, so I would only get the Cal Grant benefit if I go to those schools</p>

<p>Most schools have about 6000 students or less and are engineering focused schools. e.g. Institute of Technologies and Polytechnics.</p>

4

<p>Look at this list: [Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet the Full Financial Needs of Students - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students)</p>

<p>I got into one school that meets full need and it was a world of difference from the financial packages at other schools.</p>

5

<p>I think you already know that your parents are going to be hard put to pay for your college. That means you need to start looking for a variety of ways to pay for your college. First of all, find options that you know are doable. Look at the local state schools. With a zero EFC, you will be entitled to PELL monies up to $5500. I do not know how the Cal Grants work, so a visit with your guidance counselor who would, is in order, along with a session of reading up on it. Find out what else you are eligible to get. There are also $5500 in Stafford loans, some of them with interest subsidized. I am assuming that you are a citizen or permanent resident. </p>

<p>That is it in terms of what you are guaranteed to get. Anything else is entirely determined by the school. Once you have some sure things on your list, start branching out on your options that also have some element of chance. As Billy Mc says, there are schools that guarantee to meet full need. They give nice financial aid packages. What he does not say, is that it is usually difficult to get into these schools. They also use another calculator to further determine need and if you have a divorced/separated family situation, they may not come up with the same need numbers as FAFSA did. Same if you have home equity in your house. They look much more closely at the financials. But if you qualify for need, those schools will meet it. Also if you are a top drawer student, even some schools that do not guarantee to meet need, might give you one of their top packages and merit award are also in the picture. But none of this is guaranteed, so you need to pick a choose a bit of each sort of school so you can see which areas you will come up with affordable options. </p>

<p>I don’t know how CA does their packages, so you have to determine what the possibilities are for you to get a “sleep away” experience at your state schools. From what I have seen those room and board costs are up there. But if there is a possibility for you to get those costs covered, add them to your list. </p>

<p>Look at MomfromTexas’s thread on full ride scholarships. Lot’s of good advice there on getting some less known schools on your list with a good possibility of paying your way. </p>

<p>I’ve known kids who have applied to a dozen schools of all sorts and only get a few choices where the need is fully met. If they have some sure things on their list, they knew they were covered because the lottery tickets are just that. I just listened to a mom have a good cry as her talented son is going to a school far away, and not one she had in mind, as it was the only one that came through with what they need in terms of aid. And he was a top drawer student, so up there that they did not bother with any sure things. They were lucky to get the one school to come up with a package that is doable as they had no financial safeties on their list. So cover your base, and then you can go for it all, knowing you are covered.</p>

6

<p>Most engineering schools do not meet your need. </p>

<p>First thing I strongly recommend is you find an in-state school that is ABET accredited (or two would be better) and make sure you apply there.</p>

<p>If your stats are very strong, apply to one or more of the full-need schools that have ABET engineering programs. But don’t depend on that. If you get in, great! The full-need schools are reaches for every kid.</p>

<p>Cooper Union doesn’t have tuition, but you would still have to pay room & board (in Manhattan). Your federal loans and pell could cover some of that expense, but it won’t cover it all. And CU is very competitive.</p>

<p>Also take a look at Questbridge.</p>

<p>The 0 EFC should not be good news, but sobering news that you are going to have to work very hard to get the degree you desire. I hate to see kids come here with 0 EFC, and only be directed to full-need privates. </p>

<p>We are in NY, and my younger S just applied to these schools:</p>

<p>Olin
Cornell
Lehigh
Rose-Hulman
RPI
Alfred
SUNY Univ. @ Buffalo</p>

<p>His stats are strong - strong enough that UB offered him close to a full ride in merit scholarships beyond his loans, Pell, and NYSTap.</p>

<p>He was rejected by Olin and Cornell. He was awarded the RPI medal - which is $15K a year every year. But RPI was still unaffordable for us, as was Rose-Hulman. The other schools, Lehigh, UB and Alfred, all offered packages we felt we could handle.</p>

<p>So include a couple full-need reachy schools, and a couple matches that have a reputation for good financial aid. And know that it is going to be a challenge for you in your situation to get an education.</p>

7

<p>The above posts are right.</p>

<p>You need to apply to the UCs that are strong in your eng’g interest. The UCs are good at meeting need for FAFSA EFC 0 for instate students. You’d get a Pell Grant, a Cal Grant, and likely a UC grant. However, they will also put federal student loans in your FA package (about $6-7k per year), work-study (about $2k), and maybe a student contribution from a summer job. </p>

<p>USC is also good at meeting need.</p>

<p>Your Cal Grant is only good in Calif, and isn’t for a very large amount, so you can’t rely on that.</p>

<p>You will get student loans in your FA packages from MOST schools. Only a few top schools (like Harvard) don’t put loans in FA packages.</p>

<p>Being an EFC 0 doesn’t mean that you’ll get great aid from MOST schools. EFC 0 is really about federal aid…which isn’t much. </p>

<p>As others have recommended, you also need to look at schools that will give you HUGE merit for your stats. If you could get free tuition plus maybe another scholarship, then Pell and a student loan would cover the rest. </p>

<p>What are your stats?</p>

<p>As for your last question…If you want to pursue a PhD, then that might get paid for by the college that awards your PhD. My son is starting his PhD in August and the univ is paying for everything.</p>

8

<p>OP, colleges that meet full need are highly selective. You’ll need much better grades/scores to make it into those.

You may have to look at a CCC to start which a matriculation agreement to a college you’d like.</p>

9

<p>[Alfred</a> University : Financial Aid : Alumni Loans](<a href=“http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/loans/alumni.cfm]Alfred”>http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/loans/alumni.cfm)</p>

<p>Alfred University (NY) is one of very few schools who do make loans to their students, with good repayment options. </p>

<p>In “Paying for College Without Going Broke” by Kalman Chany, Princeton Review, he notes that this type of loan can have attractive rates & repayment options.</p>

10

<p>With your stats, you will be more limited to which schools will financially work out for you. Like Erin’s Dad said, you’d need better stats to get into the schools that give the best aid. </p>

<p>Even with a 700 in the math SAT, your overall SAT is not high enough for “engineering focused schools. e.g. Institute of Technologies and Polytechnics” that would be affordable for you. You probably could get accepted to a few OOS public “techie” schools, but they wouldn’t be affordable since they don’t give great aid. </p>

<p>Your GPA suggests a low ranking at your school. that will certainly hurt you.</p>

<p>Your chances at most UCs and both Cal Polys are lowish because of your GPA. Calif schools are LARGELY GPA driven…while test scores matter, too.</p>

<p>What is your UC GPA and your Cal State GPA?</p>

<p>As a back up, be sure to apply to whatever Cal State you can commute to as well as a few others. Or, you may need to do the TAG route of going to a CC first and then transferring to a UC.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that YOU are limited to borrowing the following amounts…</p>

<p>frosh 5500
soph 6500
jr 7500
sr 7500</p>

<p>to borrow more than that would require that you have qualified co-signers EACH year. Your family is low income. It’s unlikley that they will co-sign or qualify to co-sign. Either way, borrowing more than that is not a good idea.</p>

<p>You may need to really rethink your goal of getting a PhD to become a prof in a STEM major. After having gone thru the app process with my son, I can tell you that it is FAR more competitive than we thought. Even the “safety schools” (ha ha) had a 5-10% admit rate (we didnt’ know that at the time of application). You will need a perfect/near-perfect GPA and very high GRE scores.</p>

11

<p>Now, personally, numbers have been so obsolete to me. I never cared for class rank, GPA, money or anything. Sometimes, I feel that I was not meant for this society. They are just so obsolete in the end of it all. I never understood why I should get good grades. Just because to keep my parents happy? Why I am pursuing doctorates is out of my own desire to understand the world and the whole essence of it. Then use that knowledge and putting into practical uses. Why I wanted to stay in the Academia over the private sector was because I did not want others to profit off of my knowledge, but profit in learning what I have learned for myself. So to be a professor, I need a doctorate or two; that is why I am pursuing it. Why do I do this to myself? I have been an advocate for learning for the sake of learning. I would never study for tests and stuff because I found it to be very unnecessary; I never cared if the system thought I was smart or not because I did not really care what others thought of me. Sure, as time went by, school just started sucking all the fun out of learning anything. I am a different breed of human. I mean there are times when I am just talking to adults and they ask “what is your iq?”. Apparently, adults can see the intelligence and insight I have when just talking to me. Well, that is not going to help me at all when it comes to the system. I hate the system. It awards students who are able to memorize info and regurgitate it. I sound very arrogant, narcissistic and dogmatic, but that is how my mind works.</p>

12

<p>^^actually I agree with you.</p>

<p>But it is the world we live in and we have to sometimes just do what we have to do in order to succeed in the world around us.</p>

<p>That’s what I tell my kids when they face a school assignment that feels useless - just give the teacher what he/she wants. It might seem frivolous, but one day your boss will give you an assignment that makes no sense. You just have to do it.</p>

<p>But back to your academic career… previous posters are just pointing out the realities of the college application process. Colleges are going to look at your scores and make assumptions about your abilities, whether those assumptions are accurate or not. That doesn’t make you less intelligent, but that really is all the schools have to go by.</p>

<p><em>hugs</em></p>

13

<p>If you want to be a professor, you must get to the point where those who hire professors (other professors!) have a reason to pick you instead of the other applicants. Same thing for PhD grad school. Same thing for undergrad at selective schools.</p>

14

<p>Perhaps New Mexico Tech? Perfect size, not too far from home, relatively cheap and fairly generous with the financial stuff:
Average percent of need met: 94%
Average financial aid package: $9,072
Average need-based loan: $3,819
Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $4,567
Average non-need based aid: $4,028
Average indebtedness at graduation: Not reported</p>

<p>I am at or above the SAT range. My GPA is still fairly lower than the average students’ enrolled there. But if I do get in, I get to skip like 3 Math classes because of my SAT Math score.</p>

<p>Only issue with this school is that it is middle of nowhere… I assume it gets hotter than Southern California, no beaches, its in a rural area…</p>

<p>And also that all the research seems to revolve around petroleum and other energy sources… None really about computers…</p>

15

<p>The catch is it’s a state school and you’re out-of-state. It may very well give most of its grants and scholarships to instate students. (Also realize that even though the % of need met is high, the actual dollar amount is low which means there are a lot of kids without tremendous need-- maybe because most kids are instate and get by with loans.)</p>

<p>So you may be admitted and get no financial aid other than student loan and Pell Grant.</p>

16

<p>I suggest you visit, and ask admissions your questions. It has potential.</p>

17

<p>Re: NM Tech</p>

<p>I live in NM and have known a number of kids who have attended Tech.</p>

<p>Indeed, most of the grants go to instate kids. NM has a state program (Lottery Success Scholarship) that pays 4 years of tuition to any state university if a high school students meets certain ACT and GPA standards. That is why the percentages of kids with grants is so high. </p>

<p>Tech is a high performing school and attracts some of the highest academic achievers in the state. Although your stats may make you eligible for the Presidential, Copper etc freshman scholarships, please do not delude yourself that you will automatically get one. Tech has LOTS of very high academic achievers.</p>

<p>NM Tech OOS scholarships and tuition waivers:</p>

<p>[Scholarships</a> & Tuition Reduction Programs for Non-Residents](<a href=“http://www.nmt.edu/scholarships/183-scholarships-a-tuition-reduction-programs-for-non-residents]Scholarships”>http://www.nmt.edu/scholarships/183-scholarships-a-tuition-reduction-programs-for-non-residents)</p>

<p>The OOS scholarship is competitive and about 4-12 are awarded each year. (Depends on state funding.) NMT also participates in WUE. Under WUE, you will pay more than instate rates, but less than OOS rates</p>

<p>Tech has a very strong computer science dept with a national reputation for excellence. </p>

<p>And I’ll mention this since you’re interested in pursuing a PhD–percentage-wise, Tech sends more kids on to STEM graduate schools than almost anywhere else in the US. More than 47% of its graduates matriculate into grad programs.</p>

<p>Tech is small school and Socorro is a small town out in the middle of nowhere. No beaches, for sure, but lots of mountains nearby and White Sands and the VLA. Weather in Socorro is no worse than the weather in SoCal. (And, in fact, may actually be cooler in the summer due to the altitude and lack of humidity.) Transportation to Socorro–fly in to ABQ, and Socorro is about 75 minutes south on I-25.</p>

18

<p>I could be totally wrong here, but I applied to New Mexico Tech from California. In the financial aid letter - since you get the WUE tuition rate, that counts as one of the ‘scholarships’ and you can’t get that and additional school scholarships. It dd
sound like an excellent school, though. I was somewhat concerned about the low
4 yr graduation rate (just looked and couldn’t find the numbers again, but I think
it was something like 25%). Maybe there are a lot of local commuter students
who go part time.</p>

19

<p>personally, numbers have been so obsolete to me.* I never cared for class rank, GPA, money or anything. Sometimes, I feel that I was not meant for this society. They are just so obsolete in the end of it all. I never understood why I should get good grades.** Just because to keep my parents happy? Why I am pursuing doctorates is out of my own desire to understand the world and the whole essence of it. Then use that knowledge and putting into practical uses. Why I wanted to stay in the Academia over the private sector was because I did not want others to profit off of my knowledge, but profit in learning what I have learned for myself. So to be a professor, I need a doctorate or two; that is why I am pursuing it. Why do I do this to myself? I have been an advocate for learning for the sake of learning. I would never study for tests and stuff because I found it to be very unnecessary; *</p>

<p>Your attitude would be fine if you’re going to be self-employed and not have to rely on acceptance to schools, PhD programs, financial awards, etc. However, since you’ve chosen a profession that will require others to look over your body of work to determine whether you’re acceptable, then you have to play by THEIR rules…which means top grades, top GRE scores, research, etc.</p>

<p>And…since your GPA is lowish, I would say that your conclusion that studying for tests is unnecessary to be factually incorrect. The proof is in the pudding.</p>

20

<p>jbourne is correct–WUE is considered a scholarship and students may only receive ONE scholarship.</p>

<p>There are NO commuter students at Tech. It’s graduation rate is 51%. Attrition is high due to 4 factors:</p>

<p>1) it’s an academically demanding school and students who lack adequate preparation struggle</p>

<p>2) because of the academic rigor, some students lose their Lottery Scholarship and can’t afford to stay (NM, on the whole, has a lot of low income students who need the money the Lottery Scholarship provides)</p>

<p>3) Tech has a very lopsided male-female ratio (some women like this; others find it oppressive and transfer. Ditto for the men)</p>

<p>4) Socorro is fairly isolated. Most Tech students are from the ABQ-Los Alamos corridor–much bigger cities and have trouble coping with the small town environment.</p>