<p>In general, what is the income threshold where scholarship committees that consider financial need would deny a scholarship to a qualified student?</p>
<p>My family's financial situation puts me in a tough place as far as scholarship apps/financial aid goes. </p>
<p>lol…there is NO WAY we can answer that question for the hundreds of different colleges out there. There probably isn’t a set rule anyway…maybe a guideline is that the person should have some need or some sob story. </p>
<p>What school is this?</p>
<p>BTW…if you need merit money, then also apply to some schools that do not care whether you have need or not to get merit.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Haha I figured this question might be a little too broad. It’s not a school–I’m just asking about scholarships in general. My top choice school doesn’t offer merit scholarships, but according to the financial aid calculator, my family is expected to pay full price. I’ll definitely be applying to schools that offer merit aid, though. I’m just hoping that I can get enough scholarships and an acceptance letter from the school of my choice to make my dream a reality.</p>
<p>I’m in a tough situation. My parents refuse to pay any money towards my college education because I could go to school in state for free. I’m all on my own if I go out of state! </p>
<p>It can vary widely. There are awards that do not consider need at all, and those where it is a factor and those where you hae to have need to get an award. </p>
<p>Just trust me when I say it is not worth the debt you will inevitably be in to go to school out of state. If you can get enough money to pay for the OOS school for 4 years - great. If not, borrowing in excess could really hurt you in the long run. I would definitely consider the in-state school if you can. </p>
<p>So what do you want to study, what is your in-state option(s), and where do you want to go?</p>
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<p>From WHERE do you think you could get enough outside scholarships to pay for four years of college? There really aren’t outside scholarships that do that for students w/o need.</p>
<p>What are your stats? What school can you go to for free? Will it give you a scholarship that will pay for tuition, room, board, books, etc? </p>
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<p>You have impressive stats and ECs, and it looks like you want Harvard or Wharton. Are you sure that you won’t qualify for any aid from H? H gives super aid. Have you run the NPC?</p>
<p>Are you from Ohio? </p>
<p>Can you get a free ride there or “full tuition”? If the award is full tuition, will your parents pay the rest of the costs?</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Harvard is my number one choice right now. I’ve had my parents do the NPC a few times and even with our minimum estimate for household income for this year, I’d get around $5k. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) my mom’s business has really taken off in the past few years. There are some special circumstances that we’ll probably appeal for, but I don’t see the appeal pushing me above $10k in aid. </p>
<p>I’m not from Ohio. I’m from Florida and my parents did Florida Pre-Paid which is basically like a way to save for college, but the money only works at Florida institutions. I guess my parents didn’t really expect me to go out of state, haha. I’d also get Bright Futures (a program from Florida’s government) and a few other things that would make my education basically free.if I went to UF. My brother (who has similar stats and ECs to me) goes to UF and makes money back each year.</p>
<p>I found at least 10 scholarships today that I think I’d have a good shot at. They all give out $10k+ and don’t seem to weight financial need very heavily. Many of them are local ones from Kiwanis Clubs, etc that I’m affiliated with. I’m hoping that if I blanket apply to a bunch of scholarships, I’ll be able to at least cover enough of my costs to come out of an Ivy League or similar school with less than $100k in debt. Wishful thinking, right?</p>
<p>@SOSConcern I want to study business, economics, or something similar. My OOS choices right now are Wharton and Harvard and my instate choice is the University of Florida.</p>
<p>Just FYI: To borrow 100K would require your parents signature.</p>
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<p>Interesting… the Florida Pre-Paid website says that “Plans are designed to be used at a Florida College or State University but the amount covered by the plan can also be applied to other schools nationwide.”</p>
<p><a href=“Florida Prepaid College Plans vs. Florida 529 Savings Plan | Florida Prepaid”>http://www.myfloridaprepaid.com/what-we-offer/savings-vs-prepaid-plans/</a></p>
<p>I would recommend looking at the other top schools that give aid - hedge your bets with Harvard. </p>
<p>In addition to your in state safety, U of F, maybe consider UA because you would get great OOS scholarship.U of F may be the ‘best deal’ for you - as you say, your brother has money coming back.</p>
<p>If you take advantage of everything at UG, maybe you can shoot for Wharton, Harvard, etc for graduate school (with a graduate assistantship).</p>
<p>You have some good opportunities, and what you do in UG will determine where you go from there career-wise or with advanced degree and career. </p>
<p>Good luck with the process.</p>
<p>There are some merit scholarships with a need component in it. If you don’t have need, you won’t get those.</p>
<p>Those schools that don’t give merit don’t give merit…and your family will be expected to pay the full price.</p>
<p>With your stats, you should be looking for merit awards, or using Bright Futures at one of your state schools. You are fortunate to have that option.</p>
<p>If you are full pay at a place like Harvard, your family income exceeds $200,000 a year and/or you have huge assets. What WILL your parents pay per year?</p>
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<p>I would recommend looking at other top schools that give <em>merit</em>. Duke, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, maybe UVA, etc.</p>
<p>It sounds like your parents would be able to pay room and board with their Florida prepaid account, so what you need is full tuition (or close to it). </p>
<p>And 100k in debt to come out of Harvard - not worth it. Not in any economy, but especially not in this economy. You can probably go to Northeastern - near enough to Cambridge - for free tuition. Think about it. No debt versus 100k. </p>
<p>Your Florida pre-paid does ‘work’ for out of state, it just doesn’t pay the full tuition or r&b. You can apply for the money and use it at the other school. It will depend on what package your family bought (4 years at a university, 1 year r&b, 2+2 ). If they only bought tuition, for example, you might get about $6000 to use at a private or OOS school.</p>
<p>If you go in Florida, you’d also get $3000 in Bright Futures money. Several of the local scholarships we looked at also had to be used in Florida.</p>
<p>You really should consider schools in Florida.</p>
<p>Anyone who would have to pay $55K at Harvard will be full pay everywhere else. </p>
<p>^ If not counting merit aids.</p>
<p>thank you to everyone who clarified the Florida Prepaid situation. At least that’s some money I’ll have!</p>
<p>@thumper1 my parents have sat me down several times to explain that they literally won’t pay for any of my tuition if I go out of state. I have a feeling that in reality, they would be willing to pay somewhere around $5k per year in addition to the prepaid money. It sucks, but I totally understand that they aren’t obligated to pay for any of my tuition.</p>