<p>I was not sure where to put this topic at, so I'll just post it here.</p>
<p>I am thinking about joining the Air Force to help pay for my college. Yet, I heard that the Air Force only pays if you go to a state or community college? I wanted to go to George Washington University and do AF-ROTC. Is this true? That I will only get half of my tuition paid if I do AF-ROTC because GWU is a private university? Also, can anybody give me any input on what I should do? My parents only make 70,000$ a year and GWU is 50,000$. Also, I am applying ED.. I really need help, anyone?</p>
<p>Do not apply ED to GWU if you can’t afford to pay the full cost. If accepted, you would be locked in and looking at heartache next year. We see that happen every year. Apply RD and compare. Or add EA/rolling schools.</p>
<p>You can fill out the FAFSA starting the January of the year you’re planning to start college. For example, if you will be a senior this year (high school year 2010 - 2011) and will be starting college in September 2011, you can start filling out the FAFSA after January the 1st, 2011.</p>
<p>You will have a chance to fill out the FAFSA. However, when you do ED you are signing a contract swearing that you will go to the school unless it’s a major hardship. The reason why going ED is discouraged if you need financial aid is that you might not get enough aid to actually make going to the ED school possible, making you have to go through the awkward process of withdrawing. At the same time, when you are accepted ED you have to withdraw all of your other college applications, meaning that if you have to break your contract you could end up scrambling to find some place to go for the fall.</p>
<p>That makes sense… Well my friend found out all her FAFSA information last September (but did not file until January). Is there a way for me to do that? See how much I can get and just file for FA in January so that I know if I can afford GWU. Plus, I heard GWU gives a lot of financial aid to their students.</p>
<p>You can plug in your information here: [FAFSA4caster</a> - Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf]FAFSA4caster”>http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf) to get an estimate on government aid you are eligible for. Note: the EFC (estimated family contribution) is usually the minimum a family pays, and a college is under no obligation to charge a family “only” the amount of the EFC. Since GW does not guarantee to meet full need, you may not know what institutional aid (money from GW) you will get until it’s too late to make other plans if GW’s financial aid package is infeasible for your family.</p>
<ol>
<li>Why is that? I really wanted to do ED because a lot of people said I would have a better chance of getting accepted to GWU.</li>
</ol>
<p>Quick stat:
3.8 and 4.25 GPA 8/376 rank
top 2% of class
7 AP, 5 honors (A’s in all of them)
ACT: expected of 27+
Captain of colorguard, Secretary of NHS, World-rank winterguard, volunteer at an elementary school, did cheer and track. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Yeah, if I did AF-ROTC I’d be going to Howard Uni for ROTC courses</p></li>
<li><p>I plan on majoring in International Relations, I like how it is in the heart of DC, it is a very good and nice school (I visited it), I just really really liked it. American Uni is my second choice.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Colleges don’t give merit aid out of “goodness of their hearts.” They give it to attract the best students. Students who have committed to the school (via ED) don’t need any money to “sweeten the pot” to be convinced to attend. </p>
<p>Many colleges that offer merit aid have priority deadlines that would conflict with early decision deadlines. </p>
<p>Catholic and UMD are other DC based options that have airforce ROTC.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, ED helps the wealthy which is why several colleges recently did away with it. You can not apply ED at most schools, including GWU, if you need aid. They can offer a package your family can’t afford.</p>
<p>Why do you want to go ROTC? Do you have a true interest in serving as a military officer or is this just because you need scholarships? It doesn’t appear that the AF has a big need for International Relations majors…it’s not a listed major on the ROTC site. </p>
<p>I don’t think anyone is going to be able to help you much with the FA/scholarship issue until you have some test scores…when are you taking your ACT? Are you taking the SAT and any subject tests?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, you need to estimate your EFC using both FAFSA and Profile calculators on collegeboard.com. Have a discussion with your folks about how much they are willing to contribute to your education each year (through savings, current income, parent loans). Learn as much as you can about how financial aid works - finaid.org is a very good site and, of course, you can search and read the posts here.</p>
<p>It’s so hard! GWU is my dream school and I want to make sure I get in! I heard GWU had one of the best merit aids and that is why a lot of people do end up going because it is actually cheaper…</p>