<p>You have three options:
- Go to a CC and transfer after 2 years
- Go to SUNY or CUNY
- Choose a school where you may get merit aid. </p>
<p>You will not get financial aid with that income unless you are at HYP. </p>
<p>@scsiguru You don’t have to agree, but that is the reality. Financial aids for oos students at public is really rare. Even if the school give you $10k-$20k scholarship, it is still hard to swallow the remaining $30k-$40k. There are 25% students with scores at or above the 75%. Look up the table for the percentage of oos students received aids and the average amount of merit aid. You will see how difficult it is. Most oos public would not meet the need. For private schools, most of them offer need based aid (little or no merit aid). So either you are very poor or need to be very rich to afford the $60k/year CoA.
Of course, there are cases the one got aid for certain oos public. There are like a handful at UMich every year (out of 2500). There are also some schools that guarantee scholarships based on scores/GPA. But for most oos students at most public colleges, it is hard to afford.</p>
<p>@billcsho I totally agree with you on the public OOS…just not a lot of merit there unless you have top notch stats. But in some cases the OOS privates do offer nice merit packages to those with good stats. I’m just recalling a situation where someone got a merit package of $30K for a private OOS with a COA of $50K. Albiet, $20K is still a lot to cover OOP but that can be met with savings and Stafford loans. </p>
<p>@scsiguru Most top privates do not have merit aid, but just need based aids. And those that offer $30k merit aid would need stat much higher than the 75%.</p>
<p>I would be realistic, but go ahead and submit a few apps to OOS and privates. There was a nearby highly ranked (top 10) LAC that claims to offer no merit (or very few merit) schollys. The non-athlete son of a family friend with an income similar to your family was offered a “need-based” package that made the school cheaper than the state flagship. He did have great stats—but it was clearly couched as need-based, not merit, aid. After readings these boards, I thought no one with that type of income got need-based aid—but somehow this kid did. Maybe it’s unlikely, but it is possible.</p>
<p>There is absolutely nothing wrong with attending CUNY or SUNY. I am a SUNY graduate from many moons ago and when I went to college with the exception of those at the very top academically, those with athletic ability for scholarships and those very wealthy, every single person I knew attended either SUNY or CUNY, mostly CUNY. I’ve known several students that went to college in our neighborhood, one attending University of Rochester with my d, all of whom transferred at some point for various reasons to one of the CUNY schools. My own nephew currently doing a gap year in Israel will be attending Queens College in September. </p>
<p>Another option of course is to join the military as you will have tuition benefits when your enlistment term is up. I had a friend whose family situation was very dire, she and her sisters were orphans and taken in by relatives who had two of their own children so five in all to put through college. So one academically talented went to Princeton, one went to SUNY, one went to a community college, and one enlisted, served her country and got a great deal on her education besides. </p>
<p>You can go to SUNY or CUNY and have a perfectly fine education. You can also work part-time and during summers to save as much money as you can to put towards your education. You can also look for outside scholarships however bear in mind that a zillion other people are also looking for scholarships and just as every high school has a valedictorian, every high school has students with strong credentials who are also in need.</p>
<p>I am still in HS but hopefully I can complete college in 3 years from my AP credits and receive a merit/athletic scholarshp! </p>
<p>SCSIguru - Private schools normally do not distinguish between OOS and in-state, so the comparison does not exactly hold true. I would agree there are some, Baylor, for example has some specific amounts based upon a grade and test score matrix. Many of the more sought after private schools ONLY give need-based aid and many of the few that give some merit aid, either have very limited (a handful of scholarships) or the merit-based aid is also need-based in that they use the EFC as part of the merit equation making it just another form of need-based aid, but for smart kids?</p>
<p>As someone mentioned earlier, some smaller private schools know they are competing with the local public schools and manage to get enough funds together to get the COA to approximately the same number as the publics. Schools like U-Dallas do try to bring the COA down, but there are not a lot of kids across the country growning up hoping to one day to go to U-Dallas…unless they want to learn Latin. </p>
<p>@scsiguru
“In many cases” is an overstatement… yes, there are exceptions, but very few.</p>
<p>We were not “really rich” and still were able to pay for private universities for our kids. It took careful planning on our parts, and our willingness as parents to do so.</p>
<p>OP, some things to make clear - even if you had a low EFC, you would probably NOT get any more FA from an OOS public U. Public Us generally reserve their FA for in-state students since some of the money comes from state taxes. If you are still hot to get out of NY then you can look at some of the colder midwest states - South Dakota State U, Bemidji State, etc. They tend to be lower cost.</p>
<p>One last question. Will I have to fill out the FAFSA every year or will they just use my current financial standings to dictate everything for the next 4 years?</p>
<p>You have to reapply every yr and if your financial situation changes, so does your package. </p>
<p>Also, check your financial aid package carefully and see if there is any item for freshman year only (non-renewable).</p>
<p>Your repeated questions sound like you are looking for some tricks to hide income. If that is what you are getting at, there is a word for that - fraud. If that is not what you are intending, my apologies in advance, but the other posters here have given you the answer. All schools use particular formulas to determine EFC, and there are people like yourself who may find themselves having to face an unpleasant reality: you can’t always get what you want.</p>
<p>Read up about finaid from the resources out there. And then see the specific info on your colleges’ web sites. That’s how many of us learned the basics, when we got started. Some suggest Financial Aid for Dummies or you can Google. You can even sit in a big bookstore and browse many books. Some schools also require the CSS Profile, which asks for far more info than the Fafsa. </p>
<p>@blprof I was asking for legal ways. I’m certainly not going to go on the internet broadcasting a desire to break the law</p>
<p>And if you receive a merit award, make sure you read the provisions for continuation of that reward and plan to ah meet them. Most merit awards have a minimum GPA requirement.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that OP and the girl from the other thread (Kiara something) are the same person. XD</p>
<p>OP, you seem very determined, and I hope everything works out for you. Let us know where you end up applying/attending.</p>
<p>^ And the schools are actually much better than most people realize.</p>