<p>I am in a bit of a problem financially for these schools. My dad is a government employee and makes I think just a bit over $100,000 a year now. However, he and my mom both have a mortgage and a lot of loans to pay off so they have told me that they can only afford to support me with about $5,000 a year. This does not even come close to the cost of attending GW or AU. </p>
<p>So the problem is, I don't qualify for need based financial aid as I am not exactly paying for college on my own, but not exactly receiving a lot from my parents. I do have an excellent academic record, lots of extracurricular activities, volunteer service, and some very unique personal accomplishments including my own business at the age of 16 and being a columnist for my community newspaper. So I was wondering if I might get some kind of academic scholarship or something from either George Washington or American University? </p>
<p>My ultimate question is which school gives better scholarships or financial aid that could help me pay for the college if I were to be accepted?</p>
<p>JW</p>
<p>The first thing you and your parents need to do is calculate your EFC (Expected Financial Contribution). You can go to the FAFSA Forecaster website and get an estimate of what colleges will expect you to pay based on many variables of your parent’s financial status. </p>
<p>[FAFSA4caster</a> - Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf]FAFSA4caster”>http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf)</p>
<p>With the EFC in mind - you’ll have an idea of what you’ll “need” for COA (Cost of Attendance). Speaking personally for GW - they met 100% of my son’s “Need”. This was a financial aid package which included a Presidential Scholarship, Alumni Grant (Both Free Money), the rest were loans and work study. Some of this money depends on your GPA/SAT’s.</p>
<p>GW essentially costs 56-60K/year COA depending on the dorm you’re assigned. We ended up having to take parent PLUS loans for my “S” for about a 1/3. This made GW actually similar to other private universities my “S” was applying to - he chose GW. </p>
<p>As for AU - minimal financial aid offered. Don’t know why.</p>
<p>I’d recommend you apply to all the schools you like and wait til you see the FA offer and compare - you can do this since you’re applying RD. Each year the FA available differs form each college - so you never know til you apply.</p>
<p>All this being said - since it sounds like finances are an issue - plan for a good safety school (in-state) that’s lower cost as a good backup just in case.</p>
<p>CJ</p>
<p>Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my question. All that info helped me a lot. I am planning to apply to 2 safety schools just in case I don’t get accepted or things won’t seem to work out financially with GW or AU. GWU is my first choice though, so I’m hoping for things to work out!</p>