<p>I would like to know what type of aid is granted to people in my type of situation. I currently live w/ my mother & brother (10 years old). I would like to attend a California college, University of Hawaii ( I am from Hawaii), or UT-Austin. My mom is running on a salary of roughly $29 Gs a year. I would get a job, but I am not allowed to due to the fact that I live in a low-income housing complex which will not allow my family to exceed a certain montly income (combined). I have a father (somewhere) who refuses to pay child support & my mom is also attending college part-time. Any ideas?</p>
<p>When I put in the numbers -- I come up with an EFC (what your family is supposed to contribute) of $693. That is using the Federal Methodology (FAFSA) which doesn't count non-custodial parents. You need to check and see what the schools you are looking for use.</p>
<p>Also -- just because your EFC is 693, doesn't mean that you will get a full ride and only have to pay $693. Most schools gap (don't meet all your demonstrated need) and they will also meet your need with a combination of grants, loans and work-study. You need to read about how financial aid is done at these schools. </p>
<p>You might want to pick some schools where you might qualify for merit aid along with financial aid -- or some schools that meet close to 100% need and give more grants and loans.</p>
<p>go to the fafsa calculator and play with the numbers -- </p>
<p>Mind explaning the whole EFC thing? A bit new to this. My mom is wanting me to start researching colleges now & really buckle down academically (currently at 3.5, but A LOT of room for improvement). I want to major in journalism.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that it is going to be very expensive for you to attend UT-Austin or the California public university system as an out of state student. You will not get the aid that you need to attend UT-Austin or the UC California. While you will be eligible for Pell grants and federal loans in the amount of 3500, it will not make a dent in the almost 30 to 40,000 a year you will need to meet the cost of attendance. You will probably have to take a massive amount of loans to make this happen,</p>
<p>Guess that pretty much limits me to UH. Thanks for putting things into perspective for me. I appreciate the honesty.</p>
<p>Sybbie was saying you'll have trouble getting aid from other state schools, but there's a whole world of private colleges with great aid. With your income, schools that promise to meet 100% of need should offer you good packages. Rule out the ones known for giving large loans and you'll still have many good schools to consider, especially if you have good stats.</p>
<p>suze is correct. If you want to leave Hawaii, only consider private schools. Farther the school from Hawaii, better would be the aid and better admission chances. Consider Rice, SMU, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern etc.</p>
<p>Thanks Suze and Simba for clarifying my statements.</p>
<p>Bak,</p>
<p>It is not in your best interest to apply to state univerisities in other states because their first mission is to provide an afrrodable education for their state residents. </p>
<p>The exception would be the University of Virginia which does promise to meet 100 % demonstrated need and does have inititatives in place for low income students.</p>
<p>Do a search for Dean J (who works for UVA) read some of his statements, perhaps send him a PM (private message) where you can ask some of your more pressing questions offline.</p>
<p>Are you male?</p>
<p>If yes, also consider Kenyon, which has a great writing program, is looking to add males to their program and probably will give you the financial aid that you need.</p>
<p>Just some advice
I would really suggest that you look into applying to private schools. I applied to all top liberal arts colleges with a family income of just a little bit more than yours. I received full rides to 5 schools and the most any school expected me to pay was 2000 dollars(a huge stretch for my family but the school I ended up matriculating into will cost us nothing)
What year are you in high school? If you are going to be a junior then you really have time to bring up your GPA. If you can get your GPA up and achieve high scores on tests, you have a good chance at many of the schools I applied to. Furthermore, have you looked into Questbridge? That m might be a fantastic opportunity for you although many of the schools are outside of CA. They still provide some helpful counseling and great advice.
<a href="http://www.questbridge.org%5B/url%5D">www.questbridge.org</a>
I suggest you check it out.
Oh and I second Kenyon, I applied there this year and they gave me a complete scholarship.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. So squiggle22, which other colleges did you apply to?</p>
<p>my income was about like yours, and I got an amazing grant from USC</p>
<p>I applied and got into Kenyon, Oberlin, Pomona, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Wellesley and Williams. I did not get into both Amherst and Yale.
If you are lookiing for CA colleges, you might want to look into the Claremont consortium and USC.</p>
<p>OK. Thanks! I'm really looking to stay on the western side of the USA. Any other college suggestions?</p>
<p>We need class rank and SAT (or ACT) scores to be able to give you more assistance with finding schools to apply to...</p>
<p>You might want to look into the University of Oregon Clark's Honor college. Coming from Hawaii you would be eligible to apply through the Western Undergraduate Exchange program <a href="http://www.wiche.edu/sep/wue/%5B/url%5D">http://www.wiche.edu/sep/wue/</a>. If you get the scholarship through the Honors College, you can use it towards any major (if you just apply to U of O the scholarship has a list of majors you can use it for). Oregon has a great journalism program.</p>
<p>Right now my stats are 3.5 uw, 106/440, and haven't taken the SAT/ACT.</p>
<p>To be honest, BakTalk, with your grades and class rank, I don't think you can count on much financial aid from a private college either. Unless you score very well on SAT's/ACTs', your stats aren't strong enough to put you in line for significant merit aid (like a full tuition scholarship). You will qualify for a lot of need based aid, but only the very most selective private colleges have endowments large enough to promise to meet the full need of all their students -- the others prioritize and only meet full need of their strongest applicants. </p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with your class rank & grades, by the way. You are a good student who earns grades well above average -- it's just you probably need to be an exceptionally strong student to qualify for the kind of aid that will allow you to go to college out of state-- and you aren't at that level. Given the financial situation, it really may be best to attend the U of Hawaii-- keeping in mind that if you have strong grades there, your prospects might be better as a transfer or if/when you apply to graduate school.</p>
<p>Yeah. It really sucks for me, because I attend a really competitive school with probably the most rigorous schedule in the state. The teachers at my school have really high standards & if you are from Hawaii, you know which school I am talking about. </p>
<p>I will, although, only be a junior this coming semester meaning there is room for improvement, but I'm not sure how much I need to improve to be granted merit aid w/ my particular situation.</p>
<p>Also, which scholarships should I be looking at? I love writing, so preparing essays are no problem for me. Suggestions?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help so far. It is much APPRECIATED!</p>
<p>I will adjust my comments then -- if your school is really well known to selective colleges, your situation might be different. In that case, I would say that you need to get feedback from your guidance counselor as to what your prospects would be -- the gc should have information about the types of schools that other kids with your approximate GPA and rank have applied to, been accepted at, or attended. This is one of those situations where your own gc really may know a lot more than anonymous strangers on an internet bulletin board. ;)</p>
<p>Depauw University in Indiana has an excellent journalism program and is a very good LAC. They are also pretty generous with the fin aid. With SATS of 1200 or above you may be a candidate. Check it out.</p>