<p>try admissions and ask to get transferred…?</p>
<p>Skylark,</p>
<p>I feel your pain.</p>
<p>Skylark, my heart goes out to you- you are trying so hard to get the best education for your son. If your son is smart enough to get into GaTech he might be able to pick up some local scholarships. Try calling HS guidance office, check online sources, PTA (PTSO), rotary club, NHS, science clubs, Pi Beta Kappa, local engineering groups, etc all have small $500-$1500 scholarships, many which are old fashioned merit scholarships. Most are due SOON though. What is your state? What are your sons EC’s? Maybe we can help you?</p>
<p>^^NB thanks GPB32 I will try convoluted phone logic tomorrow</p>
<p>Thanks all for the kind words and encouragement. Our family is much like many others - not rich, but not poor and thus we are falling into the great financial pit. </p>
<p>One of the things we are really trying to take into account is the cost over 4-5 years at GT. GT freezes the price of attendance for four years and you can graduate with a B.S degree in engineering but it may take 5 years to do so vs going to a school such as Case Western Reserve which does not freeze tuition and the cost increases each year, but you can graduate in five years with an Masters in Engineering. </p>
<p>So, here is another question - considering what I just wrote above, any comments about getting a B.S from GT in 4-5 years or a Masters in 5 at Case Western Reserve. Price for both will be just about the same over the 4-5 years.</p>
<p>Plenty of people graduate from GT with engineering degrees in 4 years. It helps to bring in some AP credit, stay focused, and not drop classes. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.irp.gatech.edu/Grad_Analysis.pdf[/url]”>http://www.irp.gatech.edu/Grad_Analysis.pdf</a>
shows graduation rates by college. </p>
<p>Now you have to realize that the retention and graduation rates have been on the upswing over time, so things should be better now than those numbers.</p>
<p>Also, note that just staying one extra football season, that’s just one more fall term, counts as 5 years. There is no ‘4.5 years category’.</p>
<p>Also, these rates don’t separate out the co-op students, and about 1/3 or so (or more?) of the engineering students co-op, or at least <em>start</em> the program, delaying graduation by a semester, <em>but not incurring additional semesters of tuition costs</em>.</p>
<p>You hear lots of stories about the people who take awhile to graduate. The ones graduating on-time and early are too busy getting the work done to sit around and tell people about it.</p>
<p>GP this is very true about the year being extended because of coops which of course is one of the big draws of GT as well as the price being guaranteed for four years. The confusion though is over coops within the four years and causing an extension into five.</p>
<p>If my son is guaranteed tuition for four years and decides to do two coops say one his soph. and one his junior year, this will add a fifth year since a year was taken up doing two semester long coops. </p>
<p>Will this fifth year be the same cost as the previous four - or will he have to pay tuition based on the extra fifth year required to complete his studies?</p>
<p>Call the co-op office and ask. Or call the bursar’s office and ask.</p>
<p>May also be on their websites.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard back from the FA office?</p>
<p>I have e-mailed twice, on Monday and yesterday with no response.</p>
<p>I asked one simple question and have gotten no reply. I don’t think its worth calling as I suspect I’ll be treated to a recording.</p>
<p>Also tried e-mailing FinAid Counselor Monday-Still waiting to hear back.
They’re probably swamped right about now.</p>
<p>Did e-mail housing yesterday w/question. Heard back in <2 hrs- issue resolved.They were great.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If your son co-ops/interns in the summers, they will not impact his course progression. The problem comes in if he co-ops / interns in a Fall or Spring, since the Summer is shorter and allows for fewer credits (you usually take 4 classes in the Summer and 5-6 in the Fall/Spring).</p>
<p>I received an email response this afternoon from the counselor.</p>
<p>Amusingly, (or not,) when I returned the email, I got an automated “out of the office until April 13” response.</p>
<p>Sigh.</p>
<p>I got an e-mail response from the counselor today as well. It said she is re-reviewing her file.</p>
<p>I got my award letter about a week ago(dont have it with me right now). I’m out of state. The cost of Attendance is 37,600. They met 100% of my need (37600) I got ~11,000 for out of state grant, ~2000 work study, and the rest, about ~24,600, in loans. Its not way too bad considering that my state university is giving me ~22,000 in loans and it is also ranked lower than georgia tech.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I’d consider loans meeting need, nor “aid.” Yes, they are necessary for attending a college you can’t afford to pay for in full instantly, but they do not help your financial situation.</p>
<p>I keep hearing about “out of state grants” does everyone who is OSS get one? Do you have to have financial need to get one? Seems like they are trying to bring down the huge in-state vs. out-of-state tuition discrepancy. Friends have received this grant plus hefty merit scholarships. Please post if you did/did not get one thanks!</p>
<p>“Hefty merit scholarships?” Who, how, how much, OOS, stats?</p>
<p>I am OOS and got a “nonGA resident” grant of 7K, which I appreciate, but the rest of my FA package was all Federal money. I am a Pell recipient so I get Pell, ACG, SEOG, etc.</p>
<p>I’d love to have one of those hefty merit awards. As it stands, I have a 20K gap in my FA package.</p>
<p>My stats are good, over 4.0, good scores, EC’s, and recs, including participating in a 4 yr pre-engineering program and two time science fair winner. I had hoped for a bit more money.</p>
<p>Anyone appeal successfully?</p>
<p>I agree with the above post. 20k in student loans is not a good was of meeting need. It is creating a huge debt that must be repaid. As a parent of a prospective college student, I wont allow my children to obtain 20k a year in loans to attend a out of state school. I encourage all parents and children to carefully consider getting an unreasonable amount of student loans to attend any school.</p>
<p>^^ Of course, thats true. That is why I may not be able to attend.</p>
<p>The conversation is actually more of how much and why. It appears that the awarding of FA is very random in that students with similar stats and EFC’s still get packages that vary widely.</p>
<p>I wish I knew the magic formula. Why does one OOS student get 11k, one 7k, and another gets nothing? While I know stats vary, anyone who got into GT this year probably had pretty decent stats, so how do they make the call?</p>
<p>Among applicants who have been admitted and submit their financial aid application on time GT ranks you by your need and awards money until it is gone. They also award a smaller number of merit scholarships not based on need. The reason that their are disparities between OOS applicants grants is because those applicants have differing levels of need after their EFC and other awards are taken into account.</p>
<p>My application was submitted by February 2. My EFC is 4065. I got a HUGE gap. I did not expect them to completely meet need, but I did expect more than I received.</p>