How am I going to afford Bard College at Simon's Rock?

<p>That thread was more if the school was a fit, I wanted more info on outside scholarships for this thread. I wanted it to be a chance thread and I wanted this to be about fin. aid, nothing else. I didn’t mean to upset anybody and sound annoying. I was just concerned about fin. aid. I really would like to thank you for your post, before I thought you were attacking my image. </p>

<p>I have grown up in the suburbs of South Florida and Georgia. I have been to NY, but never to Mass. I really would like to visit once school starts, do you suggest the discovery days? </p>

<p>I will ask my parents about the EFC, I have no idea about anything like that. I will ask my counselor when I come back to school, I just thought some people may know some particular one’s. </p>

<p>I want to go to Simon’s Rock for other reasons too. I really am not happy where I live and would love a new experience. I have heard how great the profs. are and how down to earth some of them are. I always get stunk with some bad teachers, lol. I love an liberal arts education and love small class settings. I tend to do a lot better with less peers. I do need to go to campus, because socially I do not know if it’s a fit. I am not your typical prep nor your typical hippy. I am into film acting, screenwriting and print journalism. I really would like to work at a travel magazine and travel the world and write. I typically do not hang out with guys in skirts, but I’m open minded. </p>

<p>Will my EFC change since my mom is having another child? Thanks so much everyone!</p>

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<p>A little…but your EFC really doesn’t change that much due to an added sibling. It DOES change when the sibling is in college at the same time as you are.</p>

<p>Again…Owlice has said it all. Simons Rock is NOT going to offer you a huge amount of financial aid even IF you get the maximum grant. They GAP their students significantly. You need to discuss the finances of this with your family.</p>

<p>Thanks thumper I understand. I don’t understand the all the fin. aid stuff, but I’ll learn hopefully.</p>

<p>And early_college…it’s good that you are asking these questions NOW. Just do your research, know what your options are and aren’t and go from there.</p>

<p>Thanks thumper, I will def. let you guys know what happen. I always think everything is meant to be. Simon Rock may be for me or it may be a terrible fit. Owlice- Don’t worry, I won’t ask another million questions. I bet you are thinking that, lol. If Simon’s Rock does not work out, at least it gives me a chance to bring up my GPA and etc.</p>

<p>Just do not go. Going to college early will only make you miserable. If you couldn’t handle the work load in high school, what makes you think you can handle it there? I applied to Simon’s Rock once and I think they gave me 45-48k with AEP, but I never attended. I actually visited to Simon’s Rock and didn’t like the environment and it’s in the middle of nowhere. Enjoy high school…there’s nothing wrong with it. I am glad that I made the right decision. I think the reason you want to go to Simon’s Rock is to run away from your fears in high school or you probably want a fresh start, but colleges nowadays look for that improvement in candidates.</p>

<p>I can handle the work load, I just didn’t do good in math this year. But thanks for your feedback. I do want that fresh start and head start in life.</p>

<p>early_college, how do you know you can handle the workload?</p>

<p>I was talking about in high school, not SR.</p>

<p>If you’re in Georgia, you know that West Georgia has an early college program, don’t you? I think that it coordinates with the HOPE scholarship, but I don’t remember the details. I also don’t remember the entrance requirements, but it would be cheaper than SR.</p>

<p>Yes I have heard about West Georgia and its program. You need a 3.5 GPA but just academics and no electives. You also need a certain SAT/ACT score. I have a 3.198 (87.198) and would be lower when you take away the electives. I don’t know if I could get my GPA that high in a semester to apply.</p>

<p>So stay in high school another two years; that gives you more time to bring your GPA up and to take the SAT and ACT. The required standardized test scores are not very high – about average, it looks like – so that should help you, too. You have a GREAT option for early college in your state; I wish one existed in my state!</p>

<p>Are the criteria at West Georgia the same for “early college” admission? If the OP stays in high school another two years, he/she will graduate from high school…which I personally think would be a good enough idea.</p>

<p>Early_college…you really DO need to bring that GPA up a bit for many of the schools on your list…and that includes Simons Rock if you are in need of significant financial aid. If you plan to apply to Yale, you need to bring your GPA WAYYYY up…to be competitive for acceptance. Yale accepts about 9% of its applicants…translated to 91% or so do NOT get accepted. In that group are a lot of very well qualified applicants.</p>

<p>If you are looking at merit types of aid, you MUST be at the top of the applicant pool at the colleges to which you apply. Those are the students who get the merit aid. </p>

<p>If you are looking for a school that meets full need (Yale, for example, does so…awarding need based aid only), you would need to get that GPA up in order to be admitted. Their generous financial aid is only helpful IF you get admitted.</p>

<p>WHY do you want to go to college early? It seems to me that you could improve your GPA and tease out your college list better by staying in school another two years.</p>

<p>And…you may not believe this…BUT…many if not most students change their minds about their majors and career course during college (between ages 18-22)…add two years to that…and you have a lot of potential to change YOUR mind.</p>

<p>thumper, I think the OP is currently a freshman, or just finished his freshman year. He wants to go to Simon’s Rock after his sophomore year, so two more years of high school would have him finishing his junior year. He could still go to college early, but would have another year in which to bring his grades up, and would have a MUCH more affordable option open to him.</p>

<p>Early-college, I think you’re being a bit naive here. There are no real benefits in graduating two years early, especially from an Institution such as Simon’s Rock. Why not try your bets and try applying to Columbia or Emory and matriculate one year earlier. From what I am seeing here, you’re not willing to compromise, showing your lack of maturity, which is quite frankly the reason you’re not going to survive in an early college environment.</p>

<p>Sorry I didn’t post earlier, but I had surgery today real early and haven’t been feeling too well. It was for my divetive septum and boy was that and it still is painful. But I wanted to check the latest on here, lol. </p>

<p>I am also going to be a sophomore and I have would have three more years of high school, like owlice said. I would be 16 the time I go to Simon’s Rock, I’m 15 as of now. My father actually liked the idea of better of leaving after junior year, he thought 16 was too young. I know Sarah Lawrence has an Early Admission Program, which I like SLC a little better. I like that is closer to NYC and I could have a talent agent. Acting has been my passion since I was 6 years old. Is there any point in applying in Simon’s Rock and just see what happens? I could visit and see if I liked it and if I don’t get aid, I won’t go. I’m also not loving where I live and not really happy. I tend to be an independent person. West Georgia is actually harder to get into then Simon’s Rock. Also, here is my sch. for next year:</p>

<p>Accelerated Integrated Geometry
Honors 10th grade Language Arts
Honors Chemistry
Advanced Drama
French I
AP World History</p>

<p>Early_college, listen to thumper. Bard College at Simon’s Rock is a competitive school - it may not be “that hard to get into” but that’s not what he/she was talking about. He/she was talking about merit scholarships. Your GPA is on the low end of the pool and you cannot expect to win merit scholarships with it…even with a 3.4, you can’t expect substantial scholarships that are based primarily on GPA.</p>

<p>If you look at the AEP page, they say they select outstanding students based on academic excellence. Not that you aren’t a good student, but with a 3.18 GPA, I don’t think you can expect an AEP scholarship. You have said several times that Simon’s Rock looks at the whole person, but there are a LOT of schools that claim to look at “the whole person” but still require or recommend a minimum GPA for their merit scholarships. That’s why they are called “merit” scholarships.</p>

<p>Have you talked this over with your parents? What have they said about being able to afford this school? What are your reasons for wanting to go to college early? You said you’re “over” high school; every 15-year-old thinks they’re “over” high school at that point. You also said that you don’t like where you live; that’s not really a good excuse to go to early college, either, especially if your family cannot afford it. A lot of high schoolers are relatively miserable in high school and then do much better in college. Do you have any more concrete reasons? Are you intellectually bored by your high school? Are you exceptionally prepared to begin college? Why? These are the kinds of students Simon’s Rock looks for.</p>

<p>Middle Georgia College also offers options for early college. One of my friends from high school went to Middle Georgia and transferred to Georgia Tech; another did the West Georgia program.</p>

<p>I know I prob. won’t get all the AEP, but I have heard people get it with GPA lower than mine. That’s why I thought. Also, some SR students said I may get some AEP but not all. It depends on what they give me. </p>

<p>It depends on how much aid I get and then we’ll see if we can afford it. Also, most of friends love high school. My family cannot afford 50k a year, I don’t know anyone who can. I am bored of high school, I just do not see myself learning things I will need for my career later in life. I will do better in college because I’ll do things that interest me. My schedule now really doesn’t interest me much. </p>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

<p>FYI, I have never heard of a “partial” AEP scholarship. This may be something new that SR is offering, but in the past AEP’s were full scholarships to the college. There were always many other named partial scholarships offered to students, all with different criteria. Your best bet is to check with Simon’s Rock’s admission and financial aid departments to get more information and determine if you might qualify for any of them.</p>

<p>The scholarships are listed on the website.</p>

<p>I know several incoming and current Rockers (including my son), and none of them got full AEP scholarships. Those who applied for AEP got partial scholarships. My kid and a friend of his from the same competitive-entry high school program had stats significantly above the OPs; neither kid got more than $14K in AEP. </p>

<p>early_college, you don’t get to take just whatevern at SR; there ARE requirements that must be fulfilled, including math, science, and First Year Seminar. You’ll be required to learn many things, should you go to SR, that are unlikely to apply to your future career. </p>

<p>If you want to go to trade school to learn only what is directly applicable to what you want to do in life, a liberal arts college is NOT the place to go.</p>