FA for very low income families?

Paying for College
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<p>Hello! I just wanted to ask about how much FA i will get based on my income.
Basically my parents are starting to get old and on top of that they work jobs that don't pay very good wages. I live in a household of 3 and our income is in the low $20,000's. Lets say i apply to an out of state college like Penn State (which is one of the colleges i want to go to). How much FA would i receive? I don't mind working on the side and getting some student loans. I just don't want to go to somewhere and get loads of student loans for no reason.
Thanks!</p>

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<p>You will get a Pell Grant, probably. Maximum is. $5600. And you will get a Direct Loan of $5500. Those are the only guarantees.</p>

<p>Penn State has some of the most expensive costs for IN state students…their out of state costs are very high as well. It is highly unlikely you will get need based aid to meet the costs of attending Penn Stare.</p>

<p>You need to look ver carefully when considering out of state public universities. They don’t meet full need (with the exception of UVA and UNC-CH) for all accepted students. Their need based aid is usually reserved for students from their state. </p>

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<p>Check this link: <a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>A couple of questions…did your SAT score improve? What is your CR/math now? </p>

<p>On other threads you say you are interested in UMD and Penn State. Are you a resident of. Maryland?</p>

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<p>Yea, UMD is actually my first choice. I also live in Maryland. Right now my CR/M combines around 1250. I’m planning on retaking the test again in October one last time. I’m hoping to shoot for at least a 1300 CR/M combo.
My unweighted GPA is around 3.4 and my weighted is around 4.2 (cumulatively). I took pretty much all IB and AP classes junior year
IB English
IB Biology
IB History
Honors Precalc
IB Spanish
AP Psychology
IB TOK
IB Physics
First Semester my GPA was 4.44, second semester not so good 4.31</p>

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<p>Oh i also got a 4 on the AP psych test if that matters.</p>

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<p>you need to focus on privates that will give you good aid and instate publics.</p>

<p>PSU and similar arent going to be affordable…not even close. You couldnt earn enough to get close…not at all.</p>

<p>PSU costs over 40k per year. You would get about 11k in aid. you cant earn the other 30k.</p>

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<p>I agree with above post. Focus on instate public schools as well as anywhere private schools that meet full-need. Those out-of-state public fees can be really hard to maneuver around. There are some exceptions but honestly, I’m more knowledgeable about West coast options and programs. I WOULD check out special programs at private schools in your state. Some private schools offer free rides to very low-income families in their own state but you wouldn’t know that unless you go look at the schools financial aid page.</p>

<p>Does the East coast have a WUE sort of program? Where a selection of schools agree to charge only instate fees to out-of-state students within certain neighboring states? Maybe someone here knows if that is an option on the east coast like it is on the west? That’s the only way I could see an OOS school happening to be honest.</p>

<p>In general though, your public commuter school will be your strongest option. Make sure to add them to the list!</p>

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<p>You should look for schools that match 100% need which is not likely an oos public school. If your credential is good, you may consider some top privates.</p>

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<p>Academic Common Market for MD. <a href=“Southern Regional Education Board”>http://home.sreb.org/acm/states.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Also check out Albright College in PA. They meet FAFSA EFC except for discretionary costs. They might be a good option to add. Also Washington and Lee.</p>

<p>But the most important school on your list is going to be a local public school to which you can commute. There is no guarantee you will even get into some of these other school, much less get sufficient aid to go to them.</p>