How Am I Going To Pay For College? Updated Post

Paying for College
1

<p>Alright so I already had a post I made about two months ago and I thought I'd make another to see if I could get some more answers, opinions, and to collect my thoughts. </p>

<p>To start it off, I'm 17 years old, I turn 18 in September, I'm almost done with high school (a month before graduation!) and I'm living at home with my mom and my step-dad. Their annual earnings are around $53,000 and they haven't saved a dime
for me for college, which means I'm going to be entirely independent in paying for my college education (financial aid, scholarships if I can manage to get any, grants, and, more then likely, loans). So far I have one scholarship, the Lottery Scholarship. Over the summer I plan on working two jobs and saving up as much money as possible for college.
I feel like I'm trapped in a financial corner with only my drive and ambition carrying me forward.</p>

<p>I've done a decent amount of research and I've decided on either going to University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, or my least favorite, Central New Mexico University (a community college). I want to either live on campus or live in an apartment, with room mates either way. its going to cost an average of $6,500 / year if I live on campus at UNM (my first choice), this includes my meal plan. Because I live in New Mexico my tuition and fees for college are paid for (via the Lottery Scholarship), with the exception of the first semester which is going to run me $2,300. I haven't really done much research into grants but I am eligible for the Federal Pell Grant.</p>

<p>So If I attend UNM (I've already been accepted) I will need to find a way to come up with the first semester's tuition of $2,300, book fees of $200 - $800 / semester (will probably get most of these books online), and the $6,500 / semester to live on campus, my estimated 4-year cost at UNM is $20,000, now I know as well as the next person that unless you don't party at all and study 15 hours a day, you aren't graduating in 4 years, which means my total cost is going to be substantially higher. I have already applied for my FAFSA and am waiting to hear back from the FAFSA coordinator at UNM. *I am not eligible for the Bridge To Success Scholarship because my cumulative GPA will be too low. I currently have one scholarship, the Lottery Scholarship. I plan on working on campus when I start college (if I go to UNM) and getting around 10 - 15 hours a week.</p>

<p>Now, on to my academic information:
my cumulative GPA at the end of this year, my final year of high school, will be between 2.7 - 2.85 Max and so far my best ACT score is a 22, I plan on re-taking the ACT 1 more time. I don't plan on taking the SAT, A 22 is good enough for the colleges I'm interested in, although I didn't do well on the math portion and may have to take a 101 class for it, which I might just do because I really need to catch up on my math skills, I realize that 101 classes don't give a college credit.</p>

<p>I'm not the brightest student, I've never done any form of community service, I only have 1 academic achievement award which is for getting a 3.5 or higher GPA for my 1st semester of 12th grade. Because I don't have a 3.0+ GPA I'm disqualified from many scholarships, local and national.
I've been on these websites that display scholarships based on your profile (Fastweb, Scholarshipexpert, etc.) but, (please correct me if I'm wrong on this) I don't see the point in national scholarships because I know there are millions of students out there that can write a way better essay than me and even if I did write a good one the odds of getting the scholarship seem to be very, very low, especially on the national level scholarships. Not only that but many of the scholarships on there have already expired, and because my academic record isn't extremely high I am disqualified from many scholarships, so I pretty much see scholarships as a lost cause. I've also looked into many scholarships that are for New Mexico students only and I don't qualify for any except the Lottery. I've also looked into "Unusual Scholarships", I don't qualify for any of these either... never thought I'd hate being normal so much.</p>

<p>According to the FAFSA coordinator at UNM, the highest loan I'll be able to get is around $1,600 / semester, other than that, I haven't really done any research on loans.</p>

<p>So my questions are:</p>

<p>-Does anyone know what I should do scholarship wise?
-Which kind of scholarships are easiest to win? or should I just give up completely on scholarships?
-Is it easier to get scholarships once you're attending college? because I've seen scholarships that are only available to undergraduates.
-Can somebody better explain Grants to me?
-Are there any summer programs for college I should look into?
-In middle school I got some awards for the spelling bee, do these apply to my academic awards?</p>

<p>*My ultimate question is for anybody who wasn't the brightest kid in high school, didn't have any awards, wasn't an athlete, didn't do any community service, and whose parents didn't save anything for their college education... How did you get through it? What advice can you offer me?</p>

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<p>The state of NM offers two grant programs you may be eligible for:</p>

<p>College Affordability Grant-- no minimum GPA or ACT score, but does depend upon financial need. Pays up to $1000/semester; renewable for 8 semesters.</p>

<p>New Mexico Student Incentive Grants--again no minimum GPA or ACT score, but you must demonstrate financial need. Pays $200-$2500/year; renewable for up to 4 years.</p>

<p>Information can be found here:</p>

<p><a href="http://fin.hed.state.nm.us/content.asp?CustComKey=194785&CategoryKey=194786&pn=Page&DomName=fin.hed.state.nm.us%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://fin.hed.state.nm.us/content.asp?CustComKey=194785&CategoryKey=194786&pn=Page&DomName=fin.hed.state.nm.us&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You might ask your finaid officer at UNM or NMSU about whether you would qualify.</p>

<p>Grants are basically free money--they don't have to be repaid.</p>

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<p>Live at home and go to college. Even if your parents charge you rent, you'll probably come out ahead over living on campus or in an apartment.</p>

<p>Consider taking a year or 2 off before going to college and being an Americorps volunteer (Google it). You get a stipend to live on, plus at the end of each year, you'll get $4,700 that you can use for college. If you can do this while living at home rent free, you'll be able to save even more for college. Your experience also may help you qualify for community service-based and leadership-based scholarships.</p>

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<p>I think that on the previous thread he said that he only gets the lottery scholarship if he goes to school right away (otherwise I second the recommendation for volunteering for Americorps).</p>

<p>I really think that you need to wait and see what the FAFSA coordinator tells you about your financial aid. You also need to check on the grants that WayOutWestMom linked to.</p>

<p>If you want to get an idea of what your financial aid should be, input your numbers at this site: FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid use federal methodology and put in accurate numbers.</p>

<p>As far as what the school uses as a cost of attendance, I found this link (which is for the main campus). They show $15,548 as the cost for an undergraduate living on campus. Main</a> Campus Undergraduate - 06/07 Budgets</p>

<p>the tuition and fees are only $4570 for each year, so that means that you need about $10,500 each year (plus that first semester of tuition).</p>

<p>You are eligible to borrow a $3500 a year from the federal government via stafford loans -- plus you may get some additional money in your financial aid package in the form of grants or work-study.</p>

<p>Add in some money earned over the summer and I think you can do it. </p>

<p>Run your numbers through the FA calculator and let us know what your EFC is -- that gives us more info to work with.</p>

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<p>Well today I talked to the FAFSA coordinator and shes finalizing my paperwork and mailing it to me to sign and give back to her then I'll be done. But yes I am forced to go to college immediately after high school to receive the Lottery Scholarship. So once I get my FAFSA information that'll definitely be a big update. So pretty much I'm going to be paying for college via grants, the Lottery Scholarship, loans, and my own money?</p>

<p>The FAFSA coordinator also told me to consider attending CNM (community college) for a semester or 2 and then transfer over to UNM, the only reason I don't really like that idea is because I wanted to attend UNM 100% of the time I'm in college, you could call it stubbornness. Anyway I think the biggest step is getting my FAFSA results and then going from there.</p>

<p>So scholarships are pretty much a negative route to go at this point?</p>

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<p>"So scholarships are pretty much a negative route to go at this point?"</p>

<p>Scholarships are merit money. Students are selected based on their talents and accomplishments. Some are for sports, some for academics, some for music, some for community service, etc. If you haven't excelled in any area then you aren't competitive for any scholarships. Your best bet may be need based financial aid, which is what your FAFSA coordinator is helping you understand. Living expenses are high so you may have to compromise and save money by living at home and attending CNM and then transfering to UNM. Nobody is ever thrilled with this option but you can make it work.</p>

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<p>Did you complete FAFSA online? If so you should have been given an estimated EFC when you submitted it. The Pell grant requires an EFC of 4041 or below to receive any Pell. (The amount of Pell awarded is graduated according to EFC from a maximum Pell of $4731 for a zero EFC to a minimum Pell of $890 for an EFC of 4001 to 4041). With a parent income of $53k you may not have a low enough EFC to receive Pell funds. You will probably qualify for loans and work study in addition to the lottery scholarship.</p>

<p>I think the FAFSA coordinator is giving you good advice when she says to consider starting off at community college (assuming the lottery scholarship is still available). You will save a considerable amount of money by doing the first 2 years in CC which will make the total loans for school more reasonable. I do understand your preferance would be to spend the full 4 years at UNM but you may need to look at the big picture dollar wise.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Jason--
CNM isn't the end of the world. I personally know many kids who go that route. $31 per credit is a whole lot less than $2600/semester. And enrolling at CNM will keep your Lottery Scholarship active and available. CNM has special transfer advisors who help students choose only classes that are transferrable to UNM.</p>

<p>CNM now has 4 campuses: main (which is only 4 or 5 blocks from UNM's main campus--and be warned parking in the area is awful!); Montoya in the NE Heights (smaller campus, better parking); South Valley (on Rio Grande Blvd) and Westside (on Ventana Ranch Rd west of Coors Blvd-- near Petroglyph National Monument).</p>

<p>See: CNM</a> Locations</p>

<p>And CNM and UNM broke ground earlier this year on a joint campus in Rio Rancho. The two schools will share facilities and classes. The RR campus is intended to handle the overflow from UNM's main campus. </p>

<p>One more possibility, Jason--I'm not sure where in NM you live, but would one of UNM's extension campuses work for you? You could start there, then transfer to the main campus. The tuition at the extension campuses is a bit lower and you may be able to live at home--or at least in area less expensive than ABQ.</p>

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<p>Would your parents be willing to give you the money they will save by not having you eat/live at home? I figure we save $2100 a year in food and energy costs for each kids away from home (30 weeks times $70 per week food/shampoo,etc/energy usage,) It might be worth asking if they can give you that to help you with school.</p>

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<p>"my estimated 4-year cost at UNM is $20,000, now I know as well as the next person that unless you don't party at all and study 15 hours a day, you aren't graduating in 4 years, which means my total cost is going to be substantially higher"
Not necessarily true - there are many people who enjoy college and graduate in 4 years</p>

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<p>Alright, I talked to the UNM representative on wednesday when she was at my school, she pretty much had the same problems as me in college and after I told her what my FAFSA summary said she told me that I can definitely make it work at UNM. She also let me know that the Bridge Scholarship went down to 2.5 about a month ago so I'm now eligible for that, which is really good news that couldn't have come at a better time. She said FAFSA will not only help me out, theres a good chane it will also pay for my dorm expenses, plus I'm considering being a RA when I'm eligible, which would definitely make things a lot easier, money wise.
And to answer anxiousmom's question, I already know that my parents won't go for that idea (it would be nice if they did though, haha).</p>

<p>Back to my scholarship inquiry, Although I don't have high standings in my academics, I don't have any community service under my belt, and I'm not an athlete, aren't there still other scholarships out there? I see them all the time on Fastweb, most of the ones that are available to me don't even ask for any of that stuff (academics, sports etc.). We just had a guest speaker at school that said millions of dollars in scholarships don't get used because of the simple fact that nobody applies, I don't wanna be one of those people that just sits back and lets opportunities go by. She even said that this kid in one of the other schools she visited had applied for this women's only $10,000 scholarship and because of the simple fact that he was the only person that applied, he got it. All I'm saying is it couldn't hurt... right?</p>

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<p>What the speaker said is not really true. The scholarships that are not used have very specific weird requirements (3rd generation sheepherder with the last name Smith living in Virginia). Trust me, the scholarships that possibly can be qualified for are taken every year.</p>

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<p>Jason444,
I hope you can work it out for UNM. Best wishes!</p>

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<p>If thats true Iron then why would she tell us to apply? She has nothing to gain from lying to us.</p>

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<p>Well, yes and no. I served on a statewide scholarship committee that gives away 6-9 small scholarships a year and we sometimes had only 20-25 applicants - pretty good odds.</p>

<p>A lot of scholarships that go to waste are tied to competitions, for example, the Kiwanis sponsored a public speaking competition in our town last year that no one showed up for - the bonds went back in the kitty. An American Legion post often has no competitors in their public speaking contests.</p>

<p>It doesn't take a great grade point average to win a speaking contest when you are the only one there :-)</p>

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<p>jason, you'll be out of luck on most scholarships just because of your GPA and lack of community service.</p>

<p>If either your mom and stepdad are union members, members of Veterans of Foreign Wars or American Legion, you may want to check for locally administered (not the ones detailed on their national websites) scholarships from these organizations. </p>

<p>These are usually small dollar amounts, ranging from $100 - $1000, and may or may not be renewable. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, a lot of scholarship deadlines may have already passed, or are fast approaching.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Check with credit unions your parents belong to (if any), their workplace, local clubs (for example, the Tall Club -- yes, for tall people! -- here offers a small scholarship each year; whoda thunk it?!), too.</p>