I am definitely kicking myself these days for not being more prepared to help my kids figure out their path to college. We did open 529 accounts so each kid has about $10K to get started so that’s something. However, the requirements and recommendations for universities seemed so intense (the few times I went to school informational meetings), I just went into hands-off mode and let them “be kids”. And, they were/are not exactly cooperative when it comes to parent involvement. I would still be happy to let them navigate all of this on their own (since they really don’t want our help) but I can see down the road - they take out massive student loans and then can’t pay them back or will be in the hole for most of their life. So, now I’m signing up for FastWeb and the like trying to help with scholarships. I’m not even sure where to start. I have one kid in community college (thank goodness for the 2-years of cost savings there!) who is aiming for University of Maryland for a BA in Journalism (of course we live in California) and the other high school junior aiming for OHSU in Oregon or maybe University of Washington for a 4-year degree in Microbiology. OHSU is cheap but the degree from UW would position her for a better career (and UW is pricey!)
FastWeb feels a bit like signing up for Publisher’s Clearning house or similar. I have a lot of work to do to tease out anything worth while. Most of the university tuition scholarships are for in-state students or we don’t meet the requirements. We are middle-class and do not belong to any underprivileged groups, although we are far from “privileged”, just a family of four with two working adults trying to make ends meet like most people.
If anyone can point me in the right direction, have any advice about FastWeb or other sites, I’d love to get a little push in the right direction.
Undergraduate students are limited in the amount of student loans they can take out personally (about $7,500 first year and $5,500 each year after). Any loans over that would be loans to the PARENTS – so it would not be your kids who “take out massive student loans and…be in the hole for most of their life” but you, if they choose universities requiring big loans. The best advice is to choose the most affordable universities in California with in-state tuition, or programs in states that give reciprocity for in-state tuition rates – see http://www.wiche.edu/states). Another option is to attend a university in Europe or some other country where tuition is free or nominal, and you just pay for room and board (and flights). You can search for EU programs here: https://www.bachelorsportal.com/. Some of the biggest academic scholarships are offered by universities themselves, but you have to research which universities offer them. Some offer guaranteed scholarships for a certain combination of SAT score and GPA. To see how that works, look at the scholarship grid at the University of Alabama-Huntsville: https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/merit-tuition-scholarships
The best scholarships come from schools. Students can only borrow $5500 as a freshman, $6500 as a soph, and $7500/year as a junior and senior. If they work summers they can probably raise ~$3k.
It looks like the kiddo in cc has a ~$15k/year budget for the last 2 years ($5k/year from your college savings, plus the $7500/year federal student loan and ~$3k from work). If you can add some out-of-pocket and/or they get a transfer scholarship, they can afford a more expensive school. Otherwise, their options may be CA public colleges.
The younger child can shoot for merit scholarships. They’re not easy to get, but easier than transfer scholarships. Outside scholarships aren’t usually much help – they’re generally small and not renewable. And some colleges will lower their grants by the amount of outside scholarships.
Do you know your EFC? What are the stats of the younger child? If you won’t get need based aid and they don’t qualify for merit aid, they may have to look at in state schools.
Outside scholarships that provide a significant amount of aid are rare.
Also attending an out of state school for a program that is mostly likely available in your home state is not a great idea if you are looking to minimize costs.
Some private colleges actually end up being less expensive than public schools if your child has high stats for the school.
Most people here on CC are helpful, but we’d need more info about your kids stats (gpa, test scores, ECs, etc) to give you the best advice on possible merit aid opportunities for your kids. Would you be willing to share those here?
Looks like you need to carefully run your numbers, and see what it is that you can afford to pay. Then you have to be straight with the kids. Transferring OOS to U of MD makes no sense when there are in-state options that are going to be much more likely to be affordable.
Also, what, exactly is sooooooo very much better about a degree in Microbio from UW instead of OHSU? You need clarity on that.
I wouldn’t waste much time on fastweb (I started out there too )
It’s a lot of small scholarships that won’t help much, and a few huge ones that 50,000 others are applying for.
The thing to know about outside scholarships is that they will not stack at most schools. So say your kid works his/her tail off, applying, filling out forms, writing endless essays and jumping through whatever other unique hoops each fastweb-based scholarship has, and you come up with – hurrah! $5,000.
So say your EFC is $20k:
When you get accepted at a school that costs $50k, maybe they would have offered you $30k in need-based aid, because they expect you to pay $20k. But when they see you’ve got $5k in outside aid, they lower the aid they give you to $25k. So it’s a wash, usually.
OMG, thank you all for such quick responses. I’m learning so much already. OK, I’ll ditch Fastweb, gladly, it felt like a huge waste of time. I don’t even know what EFC is so I’m going to be contacting the colleges in question directly. I’m going to guess - Estimated Financial Contribution? I take it that many colleges will look at what we earn and my kids grades then give us a number, hopefully, lower than full tuition?
OK, one major issue with the oldest in CC - she never took the ACT or SAT. Without going into a long story, it was a miracle she agreed to attend HS long enough to graduate (she went to 3 different schools). The thing is she’s scary smart, just really difficult emotionally. She probably missed the memo about signing up for ACT or SAT and the schools never flagged it so she never took it - ugh. She’s getting a 4.0 in CC now and just got accepted into their honors program so college obviously agrees with her. I hear that as a transfer student you don’t need the SAT/ACT scores anymore - hope that’s true.
My youngest wants to “work in a research lab using a microscope to discover new diseases” - well obviously that’s like Master’s or PhD stuff but OHSU does have a BS degree in medical lab science but that’s more about working in a hospital running tests. She’ll have to decide if she wants to start with that or go down the path of studying straight microbiology and getting more involved with universities that take part in CDC type research projects.
What she describes requires a PhD in bioscience - she can decide on the specific branch/angle a long time from now. Just your every day bio major will be good enough as an undergrad. She will need top grades and some research experience during the school year or in the summer. Again, she can get those just about anywhere.
A couple of things I’ve picked up here on CC that might be helpful. Forgive me if it’s too basic. Google the name of each school you’re looking at and the phrase “common data set.” Ex: “Pepperdine common data set” That will get you to a document that gives you the real facts about the stats of kids who go to a school, instead of a lot of rumors. EFC is expected family contribution, and if you’re managing a middle-class life in an urban area in CA, then chances are good your EFC is about five times what you can actually afford to pay. They don’t seem to accurate account for the cost of living in California on that calculator. You can run a basic calculator at FAFSA, I think, but you can also run a separate one on each college’s website to see approximately how much they will expect out of you. Also, personal opinion: I agree with others that there’s no need to go out of state if you live in CA. Have the younger one really study for the SAT and ACT so they get good scores and can get into the best UC or CalState possible. She can go out of state for grad school, when she has a better sense of things and the cost is usually irrelevant. Good luck! I’m just starting out too, but I think it’s good to gain as much knowledge as possible. People here are super nice!
EFC is expected family contribution. You get the federal EFC by filing the FAFSA. Did your daughter currently in CC not need any financial aid? You fill out the application with your income and assets, and the computer generates the EFC. From that you can figure out if you are entitled to federal grants and subsidized loans. Some schools also use the information to calculate if they will give you some of their own financial aid.
There is a second application for financial aid used by mostly private colleges, the CSS. It is much more involved and the schools decide if you qualify for aid. Just to complicate things, some schools also generate their own number and call it an EFC.
Going to public schools OOS usually doesn’t yield great financial aid. Oregon, Washington and Maryland are not schools that meet full financial need. You have great options in California. The first thing you should do is steer your kids away from OOS public schools.
Out of state public schools seem off the table financially for undergraduate degrees for your kids. Transfer aid often isn’t good even at private schools as well. Your oldest in CC should stick to CA publics. Probably best deal for your younger one as well.
Note that if your younger kid gets into a PhD program after undergrad, it should be funded (she will be paid a stipend to TA or research, and her tuition will be waived). So she just needs to worry about finishing her undergrad degree with good grades, minimal debt, hopefully some research experience, and solid GRE test scores when that time comes. She can get that at CA publics.
I’d be taking out of state public U’s off the table pretty quickly. Every minute your kids spend fantasizing about them is a minute not spent focused on colleges (in state) which you will be able to afford.
Start by drawing a circle around your house and figuring out which colleges are commutable. That’s going to be the value option- you are already paying for a place for them to sleep- every dime you spend on a dorm is a dime you don’t have to pay for tuition or books. I’m not telling you that they can’t go further away- but develop your “if all else fails” plan first- i.e. tuition, living at home-- before getting ahead of yourself with the more exotic/more expensive/requiring lots of aid options.
There are EFC calculators. Remember, that is NOT the maximum you will be expected to pay, just a rough idea of what you’ll be expected to pay.
Did anyone mention NPC yet? Net Price Caculator. Available at each school’s web site, some more accurate than others. That will give you a good idea of what each school will expect you to pay.
We had one kid do community college, then transfer to our state flagship, where we agreed to pay tuition, and she was responsible for R&B + expenses. We had to borrow due to cash flow problems. She worked her butt off in the summers and also took out student loans. She was responsible for working with the counselors at the community college and communicating with the transfer people at the university re: requirements, ducks in order, etc.
For the second kid, hoo boy, she felt she was entitled to choose where she went to college and she wanted to shoot for prestigious and elite and those were unaffordable. With grades plus test scores, she landed some excellent merit scholarships to OOS public flagships that were not good enough for her. She is currently a sophomore at one of those OOS public flagships that offered her a full ride. She’s doing well. We have lived to tell the tale, but it was not fun.
Also, with both kids, we saw some major course corrections re: majors. Both changed.
Good luck! Focus on what you can afford and go from there!
With 32 public universities in California of all levels of selectivity, wide coverage of majors, course articulation with California CCs, and financial aid (that is typically unavailable at out of state publics), wouldn’t it be a good idea for them to consider in state public options?
California public universities do not require SAT or ACT scores (or anything high school based) for junior level transfers. Some high school items may be optionally used for some requirements.
First, tell your eldest s/he’s not going to Maryland due to lack of funds. Based on what you said you’ll need a specific approach, but better let her know now.
Transfers get lousy aid - merit aid is for freshmen. (So, going to cc if one has high test scores means forfeiting all the possible merit scholarships. Look for a thread titled “did I cost myself tens of thousands dollars?” By a kid eligible for full tuition and full ride scholarships who went to a CC and lost those opportunities).
So, your eldest won’t be able to afford UMaryland.
Anyway, the best school for journalism is Mizzou and they are looking for students (due to a drop in other schools, not journalism) so they might offer a scholarship AND best of all after the first year the student can apply for instate residency and pay instate tuition.
Hopefully your eldest applied to transfer to a UC.
U New Mexico has a decent school of journalism too - check if it is open to WUE transfers. Generally speaking look at WUE (transfer column, not all WUE are open to transfers). Also, nor sure WUE is within budget.
But all in all, CA schools are your best bet. If your second child doesn’t want to go to California colleges, you need to work together to find affordable options.
If you are a CA resident…are you Calgrant eligible? If so…just make sure that all of the necessary documentation is provided before March 1.
There are a TON of good colleges in CA. You can’t afford OOS schools. Why is Maryland even on the table?
Your CC kid needs to talk to the transfer advisor at her community college…now…about transfer options. And the SAT or ACT will not be required of her for CA public universities.
Have your oldest look into Phi Theta Kappa. It is a cc honor society. My nephew is in it and the college he is transferring to has an automatic $3500/year scholarship for PTK. That plus other automatic merit means he is paying almost no tuition. I will admit I haven’t found another college that offers that much for PTK but I haven’t looked many places.
I’ve been looking around at small public schools in the Midwest and there are some with good auto merit for good test scores. I go to Wikipedia and search for example “Colleges in Nebraska” and for most states there is a list which charts them out by size, etc. I then go to each school’s website and check out the cost and auto merit my daughter will likely get (can’t wait for the February ACT, then we will know more what is in range). I’ve found 3 so far with full tuition scholarships at achievable ACTs of 27-30. And many OOS that will give in-state rates for students with decent stats. California and surrounding states may or may not have any deals like that but I would say just start hunting.
My oldest did win a national scholarship that I think we found on Sallie Mae, for $1500 renewable. At community college that covers a large portion! It was related to her major of graphic design. So it is possible to get something out of those sites, but not very likely. And it depends on your situation, whether you have need based aid that would be taken away. She did not have any of that. She also got local scholarships.
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