<p>He can’t afford to pay for my college because of sister’s past debts (she dropped out) so he’s hoping I’ll get a merit scholarship so that’s why I’m looking into LAC’s with good merit @Sweetbeet </p>
<p>The EFC estimate I put down is just that…an estimate. Typically the EFC is between. 25% and 33% of your gross income…but it depends on what that gross income is. The lower it is, the smaller the %age it would be (and less than 25%).</p>
<p>You can run the net price calculators in EACH of the college websites you are considering. You will likely see some variation, and many do not include potential merit awards.</p>
<p>Does anyone think that colleges like St. Lawrence University and Willamette college are good financial matches for me?</p>
<p>BOWDOIN.</p>
<p>Bowdon is too selective and my scores compared to theirs is in the lower upper percentile so I wouldn’t get much merit aid @collegebound752 </p>
<p>Bowdoin does NOT give merit aid.</p>
<p>That too. Can someone answer my last question?</p>
<p>Shockwave. You say your parents can only pay $1000 a year for you to attend college. Is that correct? That being the case, NONE of the schools you are listing are a slam dunk. The schools WILL expect your family to pay their family contribution. The only exception would be if you were to receive a full ride merit award someplace. </p>
<p>have you looked at the schools again on Bob Wallace’s link? There are some guaranteed awards for which you might be eligible. THOSE would be your sure things.</p>
<p>All of the other schools you are listing are maybes. You might get sufficient aid to attend. You probably won’t. Even if you got a $25,000 a year merit award, you would STILL have greater than $15,000 a year to fund…at least.</p>
<p>So…what other schools in FL can you consider? Is there ANY school to which you can commute? Your Bright Futures and the Direct loan could likely cover tuition and fees.</p>
<p>If you are looking for an LAC, look in Florida. Flagler is a pretty good deal with tuition at ~$16000. You can use your Bright Futures ($3100), you’ll get a Florida Resident grant ($2500), you might qualify for a state need grant ($1000). Flagler also offers merit aid and I think you’d be a good candidate with your stats. It is likely your family will qualify for the tax credit ($2500) and you’d have that to apply to 2nd semester costs if your parents file their taxes quickly in Jan. (you could get a short term loan and pay it back with the tax refund)</p>
<p>Look at Florida Southern. They have a lot of merit awards.</p>
<p>If you want small but public, look at New College of Florida, U of West Florida, or U of North Florida. Kids from my daughter’s high school got some pretty good money from FAU, and they were not top students.</p>
<p>To get the most merit, you have to pick schools that want YOU. You need to be the big fish in the small pond. Fill out the NPC and see how your situation comes out for a few different schools.</p>
<p>You will pay as much in transportation to Willamette or St. Lawrence as you’ll save in a merit award. These schools aren’t going to give you $50k of the $65k tuition/fees/costs/travel.</p>
<p>Do you think I could make it work with minimal student loans and work study? </p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>You will probably need at least the direct loan amounts…$5500 freshman year, $6500 soph, $7500 junior and $7500 senior. Work Study would best be counted on for things like your spending money and books. You have to actually get a job and earn that money. It’s not given to you up front.</p>
<p>Can this all work for you with just those loans…and NO contribution from your parents? It’s possible I suppose…but you are looking for about $40,000 in scholarship aid. That is a very high amount of merit aid. </p>
<p>How about the following situation:
I take the chance and apply to schools in which the acceptance rates are moderate, my scores are well above their CDS upper percentile to get merit aid, hopefully get merit aid (while still applying to safety schools in case it doesn’t work out), hopefully get a good amount of aid and the rest hope for financial aid and work study and minimal loans.
Do you think that is an appropriate plan?</p>
<p>P.S. I’m sorry for the long thread but I’m really worried for college and I want every facet of my plan to be good.</p>
<p>Yes, that will work. However, it is expensive to apply to a lot of schools because you may have to pay an application fee plus you have to send scores and essays and transcripts. If you are willing to do the extra work and pay the costs of the applications, can do it.</p>
<p>I’d narrow the list on the front end. Do your research run the NPCs.</p>
<p>Thanks. Also my counselor said I qualify for a couple of fee waivers so that will hopefully reduce the application price by a bit.</p>
<p>??</p>
<p>Your dad’s income is too high for fee waivers. Does your gc know how much your dad earns. Btw…why isn’t your sis paying on her loans instead of your dad?? That doesn’t seem fair</p>
<p>Yea but something about qualifying for reduced lunch my counselor said I qualify apparently…and I’m sorry I didn’t understand the second question</p>
<p>Maybe the sister doesn’t have a job. Maybe the loans are HELOC or Parent Plus, which are in the PARENT name. Maybe they are private loans. The sister may have no loan obligation to pay these loans.</p>
<p>People earning $79k per year qualify for reduced lunch??? How many in your household??</p>