I have finally decided to attend FSU this fall. I went on a visit this past weekend and loved the campus, and I talked with the club lacrosse coach and kids on the team and they really made me feel at home. I received the 2400$ a year freshman scholarship but will not be applying for the presidential scholarship because I can’t make it into FSU’s honors college. Has anyone ever gotten a partial OOS tuition reduction? (I am from PA) I am really wondering if I could qualify for this because I am paying for college by myself and this would be a huge help to me. My GPA on my transcript is 3.8542 (not sure if this is weighted or unweighted), my new SAT score is 1230/1600. I have only ever taken honors/AP classes which in total I have 18 for my 4 years. This year I have very good grades (A’s in both of my AP classes) so I’m pretty sure my GPA will be going up. I am a member of NHS, and I have done tons of volunteer service and have great EC’s. Can anyone who knows about this please respond to me? I really need the partial reduction at the least. Thanks y’all!
I am not sure whether they still offer merit to OOS if not offered full waiver, but check with admissions and they should be able to tell you if it is possible. You can only borrow $5500 in federal loans in your name your freshman year. Are your parents planning to take out loans for the rest? If not, do you have more affordable options?
It says on FSU’s website that they still do offer partial OOS tuition reduction. And yes my parents are planning on taking out the loans for the rest. PA is a terrible state for colleges all of them other than state schools are so expensive. It costs me the same amount of money to go to FSU or PSU…
Another thing is that FAFSA put my EFC up to around $25,000 which is absolutely absurd considering I come from a family of 6 and for 2 years my parents will have 4 kids in college… so I don’t get help for anything
? How many kids will be in college next year?
Doesn’t really matter if your EFC were a bit lower. Even if it were $10,000 per year, FSU wouldn’t give you need based aid. You’re OOS.
If your parents have 4 kids to put thru college, then it’s a horrible idea for them to start borrowing a lot for college. Your FSU costs will likely be $35k+ per year
Are you saying that your parents are going to borrow $100k+ for FSU? And then borrow more for 4 kids???
Next year there will only be 2 kids in college. My older sister is on a full division 1 field hockey scholarship and my little sister will likely have the same opportunity. The only reason that this is costly is my parents recently separated so they now have to pay mortgage and extra money on a second house.
And my little brother will likely attend a PA state school such as shippensburg or west chester, so his costs will be lower. Also he has a great academic record so he will more than likely qualify for a strong amount of merit based aid
There’s very little merit-based aid in PA, so if your little brother has good stats, push him to take the ACt or SAT till he hits 32 or 1450, and have him apply to universities that DO offer merit. Those scores will warrant good merit at Temple, if he’s interested in something else than engineering he may have a shot at something at Penn State but they provide very little, and if those scores reach 33-34/1500+, he has a shot at merit at Pitt.
HOWEVER the private colleges, knowing that public universities are 32-35K instate, offer prices similar to that and can actually offer better merit, again, depending on test scores mostly.
“meet need” schools evaluate need and do count how many kids are in college. However once the number changes, your aid decreases.
FSU doesn’t meet need.
Are you being recruited by FSU? Or are you planning to be a walk-on?
There’s still time to apply to other universities that will be cheaper: FIU and its honors college would offer decent merit aid, for instance (if you can qualify for FSU, you probably have a shot at FIU honors). Other universities in Florida include USF and FAU.
Univ of Tampa would likely be cheaper than FSU. Probably 10K less/yr.
MYOS1634, my brother will more than likely hit that ACT score of 30-33 so if that happens and he gets decent money I’m sure my decision on FSU will be aided by my parents a little better. My problem is I just can’t stand all of the schools in PA except for PSU and that costs just as much as FSU per year. I want to go where I know I will be happy for my four years and that for me is Florida State. I’m hoping that I can call in tomorrow and ask about my possibility of getting an OOS patial tuition reduction. Playing lacrosse at FSU is just club so I wouldn’t get any money for that, I just provided that detail to show that I really felt at home and welcomed at the school.
dadof1, I actually visited University of Tampa and did not like it. The only schools I like are big schools.
This is all just so stressful, I really wish I was not from PA. I could easily go to West Chester U for 15k a year but I absolutely hate it and I know I wouldn’t be happy there.
There’s a huge difference between 30 (not that many scholarships), 32 (magic number that unlocks scholarships), and the 33-34 needed at Pitt. You can’t count on it.
Fingers crossed for FSU partial tuition reduction.
See if they still have the deal that, if you attend a campus abroad your first year, you can pay instate tuition for the next three.
BUT… don’t put all your eggs in the same basket.
Sure, you love FSU. But bankrupting your family and risking your little brother’s college because you want that college and no other isn’t the most reasonable idea.
So, look for alternatives in Florida if you don’t want to attend a PA school.
I suggested FIU and FAU, perhaps USF. There’s also Rollins, Eckerd, Stetson, NovaSoutheastern, UTampa. Run the NPC. See if they have a team where you could play.
I think the partial tuition reduction is possible. I am not comfortable studying abroad either. To be honest what do you suggest I do? There has to be a way to work this out, and its not like I am a slacker I work my butt off for everything. I won’t be bankrupting my family, my sisters both will more than likely have their entire college paid for (One already does). I really need some strong advice because I don’t have the money to take another trip to Florida to visit schools, and I want to go somewhere that I know I will be happy. Has anyone been in the same situation as me on this thread?
USF is $28,000 a year for me net price calculator
Your situation is VERY VERY common.
The advice I gave you above is based on thousands of kids in your situation.
Typically, if they don’t look for alternatives “just in case”, it doesn’t end well.
Very good students are smart. After the initial pang of disapointment or anger at
the situation, they realize that they may or may not be able to attend their dream college,
and look for more schools “just in case”.
So, what I suggest you do is call FSu and ask about the partial tuition reduction. But because it’s a public university, it’s dedicated to Florida residents. Since apparently huge budget cuts are coming, OOS applicants are likely to be used as ways to offset costs - in other ways, don’t hold your breath for the partial tuition reduction, even if I hope you will have it.
If you like FSU, there are lots of universities that are similar. Apply to those. I suggested a few (see upthread: FIU, USF, FAU…) There are more (UAlabama Tuscaloosa, Southern Mississippi, College of Charleston, USC Aiken, UNC Wilmington…); run the NPC, see if any is cheaper; you may get some merit money (for sure at Southern Mississippi.)
Apply to other schools “just in case”. You don’t need to go and visit yet: just apply to a few affordable universities, see where you’re admitted and what the financial aid package looks like.
This whole process is just frustrating and quite annoying. I just did the net price calculator for UCF and it gave me $15,000 per year ($22,000 in merit and grants)…
Excuse me I read the wrong number, its 22,000$ a year
Either way thats still 10k cheaper
Yes, each university decides how much they’ll make you pay, according to your test scores and curriculum rigor/GPA (and whether you bring geographical diversity for private universities - for you, it means all universities below Virginia, plus, probably, north of Massachusetts, and all the Midwest after Indiana).
That’s why you can try and find universities that are relatively similar to FSU, apply there, and if in the end your parents aren’t approved for a loan or decide not to take it on, you can still go to Florida rather than get stuck with Shippensburg or Mansfield.