<p>Just wondering if anyone has any experience with UConn and OOS finaid. The NPC says our estimated price is $32k. They don't ask for a lot of info so I feel like that estimate isn't based on much.</p>
<p>UConn is my son's 1st choice (we instate for MA and have applied to both UMass amherst-still waiting to hear and UMass Lowell - accepted) for Mech Engineering.</p>
<p>Have other people found that their NPC is correct or will other factors be taken into account when they actually see our FAFSA and my son's stats, etc.?</p>
<p>You mean the net price calculator? Those are by no means official, only estimates based upon what kind of aid previous students have received. Basically it just gives you an idea of whether or not you can afford the college. I believe OOS cost of attendance is around 45K/year now, so 32K is fairly generous. Unless you’re in serious need of financial aid, I wouldn’t expect much more than that from the official report.</p>
<p>The NPC has no bearing on merit based aid as I remember. Scholarships are evaluated separately from aid in most cases. For OOS I think there’s a 1/4 tuition scholarship for strong academic performance, and 1/2 for 1st or 2nd in the class. That’s just off the top of me head, though.</p>
<p>Thanks. Yes, I did the net price calculator and it said the COA was around 39k and our cost would be around 32k. I did write to the financial aid office yesterday to get more details about merit scholarships as the info on the website is rather vague.</p>
<p>Hi confused!! I just started researching UConn today! I noticed the same thing about the finaid seeming vague… This is my second college kid we are looking for and since son 1’s school doesn’t do merit scholarships (well, not really) I am so unfamiliar with that course. Do you just end up applying to a bunch of schools with hopes of possible merit and then see what happens in the spring? I like it better when a certain GPA or SAT score=x merit. Cut and dried. That’s what I like. And this whole college thing is exactly NOT that… I would love to hear what the office tells you! Both UConn and UMass Lowell have racquetball teams, so will likely be on my son’s lists!</p>
<p>Are you sure that UConn’s NPC does not include merit aid averages? Some of them do. The way most NPC calculators work is that they take the averages of aid given to students with the info that is given. The more information, the more accurate the result. You can do the same thing by looking at the financial aid profile of the school and finding out what percent of the students are getting what percent of their aid met, and what the average amount of the grants are. Then doing the same with merit. Then look at what percent of the student pool, your student is in, up it a little and you can get some idea where he is in that crowd, because most of the time, the top applicants will get most in aid and merit money. If not in 1/2 of the percent of the money, given, the chances for sizeable aid is very small, unless the student has a hook. Make sure you are using OOS numbers too.</p>
<p>In general, the majority of kids in the honors program get merit aid, and also some who didn’t quite get in. I believe the combined CR and M SAT scores for getting into Honors average a bit over 1400. Also you need to be in the top 2-3% of your HS class. There are alot of great students that don’t meet these requirements, so there are also a half tuition “leadership” merit scholarship. I have no idea what the requirements for that are. Because the cut offs for these scholarships vary year to year, I would not count on the accuracy of a net price calculator even if it said it included merit money.</p>
<p>Well, I discovered that I really messed up getting scholarships anyway! Was so focused on the RD deadline of 1/15 that somehow I missed that the deadline for scholarships was 12/1!! Not sure he would’ve gotten one anyway (maybe that leadership scholarship) but no chance now. He did get his app in on 12/10 but the cutoff is the cutoff. :(</p>
<p>My3gr8boyz - yes the gpa + SAT = merit aid formula is much better!</p>
<p>To a large extent they still do use the GPA and SAT formula, especially for invitations to the honors program. I know it seems like an attractive idea, especially for large public institutions, but you have to see it from the point of view from the student to under why it’s unfair.</p>
<p>The SAT is by no means the most accurate prediction of your academic abilities, and even less so a representation of how well you will fare in college. Ten 25 minute sections that you have to cram material from 2-3 years past is in all honesty a pretty ridiculous way of determining your fate for the next 4 years, so you can see why they’re hesitant to throw around too many numbers.</p>
<p>GPA is also rather subjective as there’s no solid standard in HS. Class rank is a better measure, but that still doesn’t account for the relative rigor of the school’s students (top 10% at one HS might not be equal to top 10% at another) or for the increasing number of schools that no longer rank students.</p>
<p>I would be interested in reading the page where you got the December 1st date from. I remember that date from last year, but the point of the 1/15 deadline was to ensure no applicant priority in honors or scholarships because they applied earlier. They just changed the deadlines this year, so some of those links might be out of date. It would be strange if they suggested that deadline when there are no rolling admissions, but I wouldn’t be surprised as I can atone to the haphazard randomness of UConn administration.</p>
<p>Available to in-state and out-of-state applicants</p>
<p>Merit-based Scholarship (renewable for 4 years; valued at a fixed amount determined on a yearly basis)</p>
<p>Students who rank in the top of their graduating class and/or have achieved a competitive high school grade point average with a minimum combined critical reading and math SAT and/or ACT Composite score determined by the Undergraduate Admissions Office will be considered for an Academic Excellence Scholarship. Priority consideration will be given to those who complete the application by December 1.</p>
<p>Leadership Scholarship</p>
<p>Available to in-state and out-of-state applicants</p>
<p>Merit-based Scholarship (renewable for 4 years; valued at a fixed amount determined on a yearly basis)</p>
<p>Students who rank in the top of their graduating class and/or have achieved a competitive high school grade point average with a minimum combined critical reading and math SAT and/or ACT Composite score determined by the Undergraduate Admissions Office. In addition, students must have demonstrated a commitment to multicultural diversity programs and initiatives through their leadership, special talents, and achievements in school and/or community to be considered for a Leadership Scholarship. Priority consideration will be given to those who complete the application by December 1.</p>
<p>All scholarships are applicable only to U.S. permanent residents and citizens.</p>
<p>Also, I wrote to the FinAid office to ask about the Dec 1st deadline and this is the response I got back:</p>
<p>At this time, we are still reviewing incoming applications for scholarships. When our scholarship funds become more limited, we will have to give priority to the students that completed all the components of their application by December 1st. Given the volume of applications we receive, it is the best way to fairly distribute scholarships to such competitive applicants. Please let us know if you need any additional assistance and thank you for your continued interest in the University of Connecticut.</p>
<p>Yeah I recognize that text. My guess is that it’s the same page. That’s pretty ridiculous that they’re still giving priority to those who applied by December 1st, even though they said</p>
<p>Our experience with FA at UCONN was they give you a financial aid package and that is it! What you may consider “special cirumstances” will not be special circumstances to UCONN. For example, a parent’s job loss was not special circumstances, my H lost his job but we did not receive any more FA due to his job loss. (Somehow we managed!) As I recall I think UCONN does state that somewhere on their FA pages that a job loss does not mean more aid to the student if it happens during the school year. When we had a child at UCONN, for OOS it was only $28,000/year.</p>
<p>SLUMOM - Thanks for that info. We will just have to wait and see if my DS even gets in and then see what happens with FA. 28K sounds heavenly! :)</p>
<p>Taciturn Type - Unfortunately I just found this statement on the Admissions page. Am so mad at myself for missing this before.</p>
<p>Students are encouraged to apply early and priority consideration for merit scholarships is December 1.</p>