<p>I am a college applicant whose options are severely limited due to financial restrictions.</p>
<p>I have already applied to Georgetown, Tufts, Brandeis, Cornell, Boston College, GWU, UVA, UMich, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Binghamton and American University...</p>
<p>But recently it hit me that I cannot afford to go to any of these schools, because I have a limited budget of .. not a lot. I also do not want to take out more than 5-10K/year [15K at the most] out in loans. So that makes nearly all of these schools a financial improbability. </p>
<p>The burden is squarely on my shoulders, not my parents, so I am paying careful attention to how much I take out in loans.</p>
<p>So my question is- are there any schools out there, of decent reputation, that would offer a lot of money to a student with a 101.1 GPA, 1400 SAT, and very good ECs/community service... American University is a good example of a school whose caliber I would consider. It's a decent school that I feel will offer me a lot of money...</p>
<p>What other schools fit that category for me!??</p>
<p>Don’t Cornell, Georgetown, BC and Tufts meet full need? Do you have financial need per the financial aid calculators…or do you have a limited budget because your family can not pay over a certain amount? Have you run your numbers through one of the EFC calculators using the institutional methodology? This would at least give you a guestimate of what the schools will expect your family to contribute. </p>
<p>Now…if your family has the money but it is allocated to other expenses, that is another story.</p>
<p>Are you instate for SUNY? And if not…have you applied to a public university IN your home state?</p>
<p>Yes- I have applied to SUNY Binghamton/Geneseo… I am still weary of the 15K/year price, even more so because I fear that they are less likely to give scholarsihps bc tuitions already cheap for in-state students… is this true?</p>
<p>You should try Cornell since as thumper1 said I believe they do meet full need and try to not make people with low EFCs take out loans. However I believe you take out a “loan” directly from the school and pay them back after doing work during the summer or something. Don’t exactly remember the specifics…</p>
<p>Birdybrains, What thumper told you is key. Money for college falls into two camps-- financial aid for needy students and merit aid for bright students. Schools that are generous in one category are often not generous in the other. So it’s important to figure out in which category you fall. </p>
<p>If you go to a financial aid calculator (google them-- College Board has one), you can estimate how much your family and you will be expected to contribute based on the federal methodology and based on the institutional methodology. If your parents can come up with one of those amounts, then you need to look at schools that meet full need. (Note that few schools meet full need with just the federal methodology.) In general, these are the most competitive schools in the country.</p>
<p>If your family cannot meet the figures listed as their estimated contribution on the calculators, you need to go for merit aid (scholarships). There are schools that are generous (giving anywhere from $10K to half-tuition) but that still leaves you a big chunk to pay. If you need full tuition or full tuition+room+board, you need to know that right away because you will need to apply to schools that are academic safeties. You would also be wise to apply to a school where you could commute and/or your state school, just in case.</p>
<p>You might apply to Univ at Buffalo as a backup SUNY. They do provide merit scholarships to both instate and oos students and have an honors program. Also, they have a full tuition scholarship, the Acker, if you are first gen, URM, or low income. It is awarded in addition to other scholarships.</p>
<p>I would concentrate on applying to schools at a “lower level” . with your stats there are many that you would be in competition for full merit scholarship or needs based grants.</p>
<p>Is your SAT for Math + CR? or is that your entire SAT? </p>
<p>If your family’s EFC is too high (but can’t/won’t) pay, then your best option may be merit money (if your 1400 SAT is Math + CR). With a 1400 M+CR SAT there are schools that will give you free tuition.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your responses- I want you to know that I am incredibly stressed-out and this website and its generous contributors are the only thing that helps me =[</p>
<p>2collegewego- I did the FinAid calculator and my family’s EFC is 8169… which means I’d need 45 G for Gtown/Tufts/Brandeis, and around 10 for Binghamton/Geneseo… I think I’m more of a merit-based applicant, so my question was- what would my academic safeties be, where I’d get a lot of money? </p>
<p>holliesue- what schools are academic safeties?? One example was American…</p>
<p>mom2collegekids- yes, that’s out of 1600, and my home state is NY. My EFC is low, so does that mean the government will offer me a lot of financial aid, or just loans? And as a side-question, in what circumstances does the government offer grants?</p>
<p>I’ll let Swimcats verify this…but with an EFC of over $8000 you will not be eligible for the Pell grant (which really is the only “free” federal money). You might get work study, and you WILL get a Stafford loan. I don’t know about aid that NY State provides, but I know there is some.</p>
<p>*family’s EFC is 8169… which means I’d need 45 G for Gtown/Tufts/Brandeis, and around 10 for Binghamton/Geneseo… I think I’m more of a merit-based applicant, so my question was- what would my academic safeties be, where I’d get a lot of money? </p>
<p>mom2collegekids- yes, that’s [1400] out of 1600, and my home state is NY. My EFC is low, so does that mean the government will offer me a lot of financial aid, or just loans? And as a side-question, in what circumstances does the government offer grants? *</p>
<p>I’m not sure if Pell is based on family income or EFC or both. </p>
<p>With your 1400 SAT, you should be able to get some good strong merit (even free tuition) at some schools.</p>
<p>What will your likely major be? </p>
<p>What kind of schools do you like? small, big, quiet, rah rah sports, with Greeks, rural, city, big city, warm weather, cold/snow weather? Do you like a religious preference? Christian, Catholic, Jewish, etc?</p>
<p>Likely major is Psychology/Political Science. I’m open with the type of school, but generally, I prefer schools with secluded campuses, 4000-6000 kids [like I said though, I’m open to the big schools, too]. I’m more for a school that’s academic-centric, rather than sports. And as for location, I know I want to stay on the East Coast, and I do prefer suburbs or towns on the outskirts of cities, just not in the heart of a giant city – no religious preference.</p>
<p>Pell grant eligibility is based on the FAFSA EFC (which is based on income and assets). For the 2009-2010 school year the maximum EFC for any Pell eligibility was 4617. With a 8000+ EFC you will not be eligible for any pell. Some other federal grant money such as SMART ad ACG requires Pell eligibility. Criteria for SEOG is set by each school but the most common criteria I have heard of is 0 EFC. You will likely not be eligible for any federal grant money.</p>
<p>These schools you listed are all state schools at which you’d be an out of state student. State schools tend to give out-of-staters little financial aid.</p>
<p>You might want to look at some private colleges where your stats would be on the high end. Have you looked at Union College in Schenectady?</p>