hi! this has probably been asked a million times but ive applied to a ton of scholarships and havent gotten any.
i got around 5500 from fafsa, and that’s it.
i have a 2.5 gpa and an 1160 for my sats, so im obviously not a very strong student. i havent volunteered a ton or done cool projects or anything like that, so im not a cool student. i have an efc of 614, though, so i have been mostly relying on that to get me scholarships, but its not working.
i really don’t know what to do about this and i really don’t want to take out a million loans because my mom is poor and didn’t bother to save for me. my family won’t be supporting me or paying for just about anything, and i don’t know what to do about it.
please help me, im kind of panicking. what can i do?
Since you’re eligible for nearly a full Pell Grant your mom is low income and likely couldn’t save for college.
The best aid comes from the schools. It’s difficult to get outside scholarships and most take GPA and test scores into account, so most students can’t count on those to pay for school.
Where have you been accepted? What’s the net cost at each (cost of attendance minus any grants)?
You can only borrow the ~$5500/year federal student loan. Did you get a Pell Grant? If your EFC is $614 then you should get a ~$5k/year federal Pell grant. If you work this summer and can save ~$3k that will give you ~$13k. What state are you in? Are there any schools within commuting distance of your home? If so, how much do those cost?
It’s tough to be in this situation and it’s completely normal to really feel worried. One question I’d have for you: Why do you want to go to college? That is, are there alternative paths that would equally appeal to you? If you happen to live in a large city, there are lots of trades who would love a motivated kid…and check out apprenticeships here > https://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/
Tell us more about yourself and where you hope to be in 3 or 4 years and the group hive here will find you a future!
Go to community college, get good grades, work part time to save money so you can go to a better university as a junior
First…the FAFSA is a form. The data on it determined you were eligible for a Pell Grant and Direct Loan…right?
With your EFC of $600 or so…you should have seen about $5500 in Pell Grant money AND $5500 in Direct Loan money. Is that there?
So you have $11,000 for the year. As noted, this will pay for community college. In what state do you reside?
@SouthernHope, If OP wants to go to college why would you push trade school? The question is how to pay for college, not how to have a bunch of strangers find an alternate path instead of college.
Maybe you should consider a trade. Are you good with your hands? I can tell you there is a lot of demand for plumbers and welders at the moment.
@austinmshauri - because OPs grades aren’t so great. Perhaps he or she doesn’t realize that there are a number of good-paying jobs out there that don’t require a college degree.
Absolutely agree with community college first. In our area, community college is basically free. In OPs case, it will also give OP time to work on grades and study habits. OPs GPA doesn’t seem truly college ready yet. There is also the option of getting an associates degree at cc in an employable field, working for a while and then going back to finish if the full degree is really necessary.
Can you give us your home state?
Go to Community College. Get a lot of help from them to get your grades up. Work part time as you can. I was horrible in high school and really didn’t know how to study, seriously. My single mother of 4 was poor (food stamps and medicaid anyone?). I worked at a hospital working transport, carting patients to xray and what not. It paid well. I did this part time. They were great knowing I was a student since in the summers I worked double shifts and made a ton of money) 
Got my grades way up, went to the local 4 year college (still working at the hospital), the following year and like 35 years later a doctor /surgeon. Don’t let your high school years define you. I am paying for 2 kids in college now, both out of state.
You can do anything you want if you want it bad enough. You can’t change your high school years. Don’t look back but look forward. If after a year of community college you decide it’s not for you then maybe a trade is to be considered.
Hope this makes sense.
OP says he won’t have any support financially, period, not just college $$. Are you going to be living at home? Getting a job would be a priority, look at workplaces that have tuition reimbursement programs. Some of them are just for online and I doubt that helps you, so try UPS or others that give reimbursement for real college. Look at your community college options, if you go to CC, keep a great GPA and transfer to a 4 yrs school later. Do not flake around at community college. You don’t need to go to college straight from school, consider a full time job while you rethink how you approached high school. Look at community college as rewriting your academic profile. Understand the limitations of financial aid if you look at taking a long game approach to college.
OP shouldn’t discard high paying trade certification suggestion without a second thought. First you become financially secure than go to college after a couple of years with more maturity and determination and less worry about paying bills.
In meanwhile do take some courses from community college in areas you are weak and develop better study skills. You can get credit for those courses in most state universities. Another route is to join military and coming back to study for free.There are good incentives at most schools even elite ones for non-traditional applicants and acceptance standards are not too high.
However, only consider detours if you can stay focused and not get side tracked by bad company, boyfriends, children, debt or drugs etc.
The aid you did get would cover a year at most in-state community colleges, so it would be a good idea to apply to at least one of them.
Whether or not you’ll get aid beyond what you already have depends on the colleges you applied to. Have you applied to any, and gotten in, and received their financial aid offers?
@Trixy34, OP wouldn’t be the first student with a 2.5 GPA to go to college. We shouldn’t be giving students the message that college isn’t for them.
@austinmshauri - I hear you, and I should have been more gentle in my previous post. It just seems like everyone these days thinks they need to go to college when there are very lucrative occupations out there in high demand that don’t require a 4-year college degree. Meanwhile, college is no guarantee of a good paying job. There are also money issues currently, so maybe some time to work and save up is in order. I just don’t want OP to “panic” It’s by no means the end of the world. There’s trade school, there’s community college, lots of people take gap years, or start college, drop out, work for a little while and then change directions, go back to school, etc. College will always be there.
Most financial aid comes from the government and the colleges themselves. As others have said, all that is guaranteed is the PELL grant and the $5500 Direct Loan from the government that first year. That gives you about $11K which could pay for your tuition at many, if not most instate colleges, including community colleges.
You should set up an appointment with the financial aid office of the college you have in mind and see what they can set up for you in terms of payment options.
Where have you been admitted?
For each, list:
Name (tuition, fees, room, board) - (grants, scholarships) = …
OR
Name (tuition, fees) - (grants, scholarships) = [if you can commue]
Do you know how your GPA ended up a 2.5?