<p>FG, you’re also coming up with a list of super-strong merit schools, right? The above schools all offer great FA, but they’re all admission reaches, even for someone with high stats.</p>
<p>Okay, the definition of a safety school: A school you will get into and can afford, no matter what.</p>
<p>You have a good list of what we call “lottery schools,” schools which say things like, “We could have filled our class five times with the number of qualified applications we recieved.”</p>
<p>So, now, you need to get a list of a few schools you can definitely afford and will definitely be accepted to.</p>
<p>Good luck. I hope you get one of the golden tickets.</p>
<p>poetgrl and SlitheyTove, I believe that list is on page 7. The way I read it, she was adjusting her 3rd category of this original list (the ‘financial aid’ category, not the merit category): </p>
<p>I am considering the following:
Ohio University
University of Alabama
Alfred State
Hampden-Sydney College
Norwich University
Wilkes University
Winthrop University</p>
<p>Other Options with Possible Scholarships:
University of Southern California
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
Ohio State University
University of Rochester
University of Wisconsin–Madison
George Washington University
Boston University
Northeastern University</p>
<p>Schools with Good Financial Aid:
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
UPenn
Stanford</p>
<p>You can apply SCEA to a college AND also apply early to those colleges that require an early application for scholarship consideration- such as USC. Be SURE to not miss those applicarton deadlines. Do NOT apply ED as it will severely limit your ability to compare FA awards and total packages come April.</p>
<p>@menloparkmom</p>
<p>I am really excited about considering USC. If I got, say, a half-tuition scholarship, for $21,000, could I combine that with financial aid from the school? Or can you only get one or the other?</p>
<p>“If I got, say, a half-tuition scholarship, for $21,000, could I combine that with financial aid from the school?”<br>
Yes of course, IF THEY determine you NEED more FA than $21000/ YR.
You should run your numbers through their FA calculator to see what their projected EFC is.</p>
<p>After doing the calculator for USC, it says that, even with Stafford loans and work-study, the price would be $30,000. So I guess I wouldn’t receive any aid? Or could I reduce the work-study and loans?</p>
<p>Reduce the work study and loans with what? Earnings from a summer job? What did the calculator say? It sounds like you’d get the 1/2 tuition scholarship which gets applied to need, so then your need was met. USC isn’t going to give you the NMF scholarship AND need based aid, since you don’t have much need. The NMF scholarship covered your need.</p>
<p>If you want merit to reduce what you have to pay, then the merit has to be HUGE…so it covers your need AND THEN cuts into EFC.</p>
<p>You asked where my kids went to undergrad. One graduated from Alabama and the other one is a rising senior at Bama. Both were awarded large scholarships…one got the huge NMF scholarship, the other Presidential and Engineering scholarships. The older one is now in a PhD program at an elite school and the younger one is now applying to medical schools.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying, mom2collegekids.</p>
<p>I have a bit of a new problem: my mom talked with me and told me: “I don’t know who you think you are, but you are not going to a top-ranked school. We are not applying to $50,000 schools. You think you can choose where you want to go, and it’s not your choice.”</p>
<p>What to do?</p>
<p>I even told my her about the guaranteed scholarships and the potential for other scholarships or great aid, and she is totally denying it and thinks it is made up.</p>
<p>I am really stuck between a rock and a hard place. I will probably apply despite my mom trying to really put me down.</p>
<p>Your parents may not want you to go so far away for school. They may not be comfortable with you being across the country if there is an emergency. In which state do you live? Posters may be able to suggest more local options </p>
<p>Since your parents have offered to assist with college up to $7000, you can take out $5500 in loans in your name, and you can earn anywhere from $2000-$10,000 (maybe estimate $5000) through summer earnings and a job during the year. You will be looking for academic opportunities that cost approximately $12500 - $15000 in direct billable costs. This will leave you some money for books, travel, and other expenses. </p>
<p>Choose a few schools that offer “super aid” or high aid for your EFC/ Stats… maybe 4 or 5 schools? … show those to your family and see what they think.</p>
<p>You will need to be very strategic with your applications. Try to find at least one (preferably two schools) you can afford to attend with your families parameters… close to home, and affordable with $7000 from family plus $5500 loan, and up to $4000-ish in student contribution (this will give you some money for books, travel and other costs)… these may be schools you can commute to from home Also add schools that would come in at that range due to guaranteed merit. Then look at a few “golden ticket” schools that would come in at that level because of super need based aid or competitive aid (for which you are competitive). </p>
<p>You are bright, motivated, and have had the benefit of a strong HS education. You will be able to thrive academically in a number of undergraduate educational environments. They may not all be your ideal, but you will have the skills to do it! Hang in:)</p>
<p>Show your family the GUARANTEED merit school amounts and a few of the NPC for the most generous schools. Explain that you will ALSO apply to local schools that will be affordable. Come up with a plan that has a range of schools. ALL potentially affordable. They may be trying to save you the disappointment of being accepted schools they cannot afford.</p>
<p>FlowerGirl - You’ve been doing this on your own, and you’ve educated yourself. Now it’s time to educate your family.</p>
<p>Start by LISTENING. Find out how much, exactly, your parents are willing and able to contribute to your education. Find out also how much (in dollars) they expect YOU to contribute.</p>
<p>Then, once those numbers are written down, and you’ve both agreed as to what your financial obligations will be, take them on a tour through the colleges on Princeton Review. Have them pick a dozen schools that they think are “prestigious” and beyond your means . . . and look at the actual costs of attending those schools. Then ask them to name a dozen schools that they think ARE reasonable and an appropriate match for you . . . and go and look at the actual cost of attendance for those schools. </p>
<p>I think you’ll find that your parents will be surprised to discover that the costs just aren’t all that different. They may even find that the “attainable” schools are actually more expensive than the “fancy” schools!</p>
<p>They can’t know any of this until you show them. Start by listening. Then show them the facts. They’ll come 'round.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone…I will definitely sit down with my parents and have a chat.</p>
<p>Another problem is that my parents don’t seem to think that I am smart enough to actually go to a very competitive school. I have worked INSANELY hard, getting only a few hours of sleep a night trying to balance everything that I pack into my life, and my parents are “concerned that this will continue if I go to a good school.” Plus, my parents think that everyone who goes to the Ivies is comes from a family with old money, drives a BMW, has a snobby attitude, and thinks that they’re superior. My parents don’t think I’d like the environment for that reason. I understand that those schools may have been like that decades ago, but within recent years, they have become so much more diverse. My parents only know the stereotypes!</p>
<p>I also find it ironic that I did the financial aid calculator for Harvard and then for an unranked local school, and it would cost MORE (boarding and travel included) to go to a local, unranked public school in which 90% of people are accepted compared to Harvard.</p>
<p>FlowerGirl, about half of the kids at most of those schools <em>don’t</em> get financial aid-- so there are plenty of rich kids at top schools. While many might be old money, some are kids whose parents are heads of state of countries and some kids have the last names of people in history books. So your parents aren’t making that up BUT because people with $ and connections have been sending their kids to those schools for years, there is enough $ in the endowment to give generous aid. And for every stinking rich kid, there are plenty of middle class kids-- not to mention, I believe your parents income puts them in the top 10% of U.S. families. </p>
<p>Based on what you wrote, I would NOT recommend telling your parents that you want the challenge, like-minded peers, intellectual atmosphere etc. I would tell them that you are applying to schools based on COST (which you are). Get your guidance counselor involved, if you can. Tell them your entire list is made up of cheap schools, rich schools and schools that have really generous scholarships in case you luck out. Explain to them that you will HAPPILY go to a cheap school and are only applying to the others because it looks like they may actually turn out CHEAPER than the cheap schools because of their endowments. If you’ve already explained it, don’t argue-- explain your situation to your guidance counselor and ask him/ her to intervene. And, again, be careful choosing your safety because you might end up there! </p>
<p>Now, my next piece of advice is important. Applying costs a lot of $. I really suspect your parents may restrict the $ they give you to apply. Please consider getting a job this summer to pay your own application fees. Each school can cost $100 to apply to between your application fee, testing and cost to send scores and transcripts (if your school charges). And don’t believe people who tell you that schools waive fees because they do so for poor kids (like kids on free lunch), not a kid whose parents won’t pay (because they know if the parent won’t pay the application fee, they’re unlikely to pay the tuition).</p>
<p>I will try to get a summer job on the weekends, but every week I have a science lab for 7 hours/day, 5 days/week. My parents might contribute a little (a couple hundred) to the process, but I can probably make up the difference with my (limited) savings and getting a job.</p>
<p>*I even told my her about the guaranteed scholarships and the potential for other scholarships or great aid, and she is totally denying it and thinks it is made up.</p>
<p>I am really stuck between a rock and a hard place. I will probably apply despite my mom trying to really put me down.*</p>
<p>First of all, reasure your mom that you’re not going to expect them to pay more than they’ve agreed to. Your mom is probably worried that you’re going to get into some top school and then you’re going to be mad at them for not paying more than they can. So, she wants to avoid that situation by saying that you can’t apply to those schools. </p>
<p>Are your parents foreign? Your mom’s response seems to suggest (to me) that she wasn’t raised in the US. I could be reading too much into this, but that was my gut response when I read your post #149.</p>
<p>Anyway, maybe your mom will believe that there are schools out there that award lots of aid or merit money if you get such an award very early on in the app season. After your mom sees that, she may believe that there are other schools.</p>
<p>My mom actually isn’t foreign. She’s US-born and raised, but she is always worrying and she is very controlling. </p>
<p>I think that if I also mention some in-state options she might be a bit more happy. She thinks the college counselor at my school is stupid for saying that you shouldn’t only apply to inexpensive schools if you can’t afford to pay a lot of money toward college.</p>
<p>On another note, I see that the University of Rochester has merit scholarships (competitive, though). Does anyone know anything about these?</p>
<p>Also, about the University of Alabama, the more I read about the Honors College, the more I like it. Just one question…I see that there are several campuses, but which one houses the Honors College? </p>
<p>Also, I am fairly politically liberal, and keeping in mind that Alabama is one of the reddest states, would that be a problem for me? I definitely do not want to limit myself to others who are exactly like me, but I also want there to be a decent percentage of the student population who share the same views and values that I do.</p>
<p>IME most college towns and college campuses are liberal. Now, in Alabama it might not be as liberal as in Massachusetts, but I think that’s a matter of degrees.</p>
<p>Also, you might be surprised, from what I understand, Alabama has become increasingly OOS. I could be wrong.</p>
<p>Alabama has a board on this site. You can go there and respectfully ask this question. Be respectful, though. I think southerners are a little sick up and fed by the bubba stereotypes, these days.</p>
<p>I know that both Tuscaloosa and Huntsville have honors colleges. I assume that Birmingham does also.</p>
<p>And, since Alabama is actively courting OOS students, you’re going to find a ever-increasing variety of different students there.</p>
<p>U Rochester has merit scholarships. Here’s a link:</p>
<p>[University</a> of Rochester : High School Awards Program](<a href=“http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/apply/hsawards/]University”>http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/apply/hsawards/)</p>
<p>The Bausch and Lomb (top science student) and the George Eastman Kodak Young Leaders awards are given at my D’s high school. I think one of them might be a huge merit amt. These awards are given at our school at the end of the month. The teachers and guidance counselors meet to decide which students in the JUNIOR class will be awarded for these 2 as well as the book awards. </p>
<p>** Please go talk to your guidance counselor if you are interested in Rochester.</p>
<p>I don’t recall what your intended major or academic interests are. However, Rochester is known for their science depts as well as music. </p>
<p>I hope this helps…</p>