Gates Millennium Scholarship Worth all that work?

Paying for College
21

<p>I don't agree that you would never qualify for need based aid.
If your income is less than $75,000- many schools will offer you aid- if admitted.
Use the calculator either on CC or at finaid.org to estimate your EFC.
If EFC is well over $40,000 then I would agree that you probably won't get much-while S won't be eligible to apply for Gates scholarship without a lot of need, school based awards may still apply. the general rule of thumb seems to be 1/3 to 1/4 of income is expected to be available for tuition.</p>

<p>If you make say $160,000 then you probably won't get much need based aid if any, but if you make less, at a school that meets 100% of need, if accepted, they will have a package for you. It may be any combination of grants,workstudy and loans, but they will meet your EFC.</p>

<p>Our daughter attends a school that meets our EFC- mostly with grants but also with subsidized Stafford and Perkins loans as well as a small amount of workstudy.
FYI however- schools will probably expect son to contribute money from summer jobs- our daughter contributes $3,000- $4,000, and since summer jobs can be hard to find, he may want to start getting ideas/recommendations now.</p>

22

<p>Thanks Em, I am learning more and more w/the help of kind people like you! S is going to Boston College, tuition is $42,000 a year. Lets just say we're filling out lots of scholarship apps:) Happy New Year to All!!! And if anyone has $42,000 laying around.........</p>

23

<p>i was just wondering how long some of your essays were...mine are more like short answer things...</p>

24

<p>mine was about 300-500 words for each essay..</p>

25

<p>According to college financial consultant we spoke to, unless you have lots of assets (savings, real estate, other property) you should be able to qualify for need based aid. It is my experience that your family is precisely the profile that financial aid offices can best help, and not so much me, whose income level exceeds that qualifying for FA but can't quite stomach $40K per year, either. Also, a couple of schools have now done away with loans to students and now make any shortfall a "grant." Something to look for in the future. Best wishes.</p>

26

<p>When do Gates decisions come about?</p>

27

<p>if i'm middle class (around 90,000/yr) should i still apply for this? my college tuition will probably be around 40,000. i dont want to go through all this hassle if theyre going to throw out my app based on my parents' income.</p>

28

<p>stupidestofthesmart, I applied and my family's income is much lower than your family's, and mine is out the window</p>

<p>Of course, other variables may factor in to determine whether you're eligible for the Pell Grant so...</p>

29

<p>ok im not applying, 8 essays during the week of midterms isnt very appealing anyway.</p>