<p>Does the College of General Studies follow the same rules as the CC/SEAS?</p>
<p>In other words - is money an issue?</p>
<p>Sadly, no. Therefore, yes, for the most part, I think money is an issue.</p>
<p>Aid at GS is based solely on merit. Regardless of what you may read anywhere else, I can assure you that there is <em>no</em> need-based financial aid in GS. The FAFSA is submitted only for loans, not grants.</p>
<p>To meet the highest tier of aid, I believe you need to maintain a 3.3 GPA. The aid increases with time spent in the program. You'll more than likely be offered $2,500 per semester for your first semester as a spring transfer, or $5,000 for the year, collectively. After that, you should see moderate increases. By your senior year, it's possible to be awarded $10,000 for the year.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that each credit is $1,030. GS students pay by the credit for their first 17 credits each semester. Additional credits are free of charge, though anything above 17 (or about five classes) will be a lot of work.</p>
<p>I'm applying to gs and I'm rather concerned about financial aid.</p>
<p>I was just wondering if there are any gs students that receive a large financial aid package(as freshmen). By large, I mean a lot more than $5,000. And if gs scholarships are merit-based, what kind of merit are they looking for?</p>
<p>I'd really appreciate any response.</p>
<p>Another point, Boston College is offering me a substantial financial aid package(which is need-based) which includes a $20,200 scholarship. At GS is there any way to bargain to receive more aid?</p>
<p>Unless you have exceptional academic credentials with exceptional financial need (they do bend the rules in some very rare cases = probably not your case). You will not get anything close to a 20k scholarship. What WindowShopping said is right, although, I think they raised the starting scholarship to 6k or so.</p>
<p>I believe it goes something like 6k->8k->11k. 11k being the award for your last year. If you want more, you have to get excellent grades. If you get a 4.0 GPA I believe they give you like 2k more per year than let's say if you had a 3.0 GPA while at CU. I can't remember the specific figure that the Financial Aid officer mentioned, I just remember the 'bonus' being ridiculously low.</p>
<p>So, count on taking out loans. Yeah, it sucks.</p>
<p>As far as bargaining, call, you never know. Give them the old 'GS is my dream school but this other place is making it much more affordable for me to attend college.'</p>
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<p>I'd take the BC offer.</p>
<p>I was just awarded a $5800 "New Student Incentive" for '07-'08, so GS_Banding is right on the mark for first-year aid.</p>
<p>My high school GPA was 3.8 unweighted, 4.4 weighted, my SAT score is 1440 (I took the old test), I had a whole bunch of quality ecs and I spent the last three years since I graduated high school doing missionary/volunteer work all across the united states and in korea. Am I exceptional for a gs applicant?</p>
<p>I know I'll still probably receive a crummy financial aid package but I'm just wondering if there's some way to hope for a miracle.</p>
<p>Do you know certain people they bent the rules for and what their stats were?</p>
<p>I know of only one person who received a sizable scholarship. She was a transfer. She started and ran her own non-profit organization with programs in the US and the Caribbean.</p>
<p>As a freshman, I would not expect more than the first year/semester 'incentive' in terms of GS scholarships. Doesn't hurt to ask.</p>
<p>Financial Aid for GS is a big issue at the moment. To tell you how crazy it is, a CC kid I know has a full ride yet his grades are nowhere near many students in GS who must take out tens of thousands of dollars in loans each year.</p>
<p>To tell you the truth, I think GS is great but if I were in your shoes, I'd pick BC and save loans for grad school. Since you already got in and have the stats to do so, you can always go to BC and transfer to GS later on.</p>