While Georgetown or Princeton are my number one schools, I would love to attend college in DC and thus have been interested in George Washington University & American University as safe schools. However, neither seem to have financial aid options for non-DC residents that include room and board. I am a low income student but would quality for both merit and need based aid. I’ve also looked at CUA despite not being Catholic as they offer room & board to ROTC students (which I intend to pursue) and are also in DC, but, of course, AU & GW are more politically focused.
Would it be worth even taking the time (and perhaps money depending on the fee waiver situation) to apply to either GW or AU considering my financial need?
yes! i applied to GW this year and received 22k per year as a presidential merit based scholarship. they give out other levels of merit but I would def shoot my shot with GW!!
At, GW Tuition and fees are covered for ROTC and some majors qualify for grants to be used for room & board. I don’t think the regular merit would be given to a ROTC student as it is only for tuition. Navy ROTC is on-campus and Air Force and Army are through a consortium:
American participates in the ROTC consortium for Army & Air Force, so you would need to check with them to see what funds are available. I would assume that tuition and fees are covered.
American covers 93% of need on average. They fully cover about 70% of the people that get FA. Without applying, it is hard to know exactly what you financially aid package would look like. The concerning part of American is that the numbers seem to decrease for sophomores-seniors.
The US Naval Academy in Annapolis may be worth considering if you are looking at ROTC for the schools you mentioned. Annapolis is just east of DC, a suburb really.
I have, but I feel like my chances of acceptance are higher via normal Early Decision than Questbridge match, especially as my interest is specifically in Princeton. Of the schools I have an interest in applying to, only three (Princeton, Amherst, & Notre Dame) are Questbridge participants.
I should have specified, my apologies, but I am interested in the Army in particular for ROTC, though I have also talked to folks on the Marine side of NROTC.
Georgetown is also a Catholic school and you want to attend there, so CUA should have the same (or no) limitations as far as not being Catholic yourself. (both schools have many students who are not catholics)
These schools are going to determine what their meeting your need entails, so make sure you are using good numbers for your parents’ income and assets in the NPC, what any merit scholarships require, any additional costs for you like travel which might be averaged in the COA but which may be more for you (if you live in a remote place).
IMO, GW and American are worth the applications as long as you have plenty of financial safeties on your list and you accept that if the financial aid packages don’t come through as you need them to, you will walk away and go to a school you can afford. Know that getting accepted is only part of the challenge as you have to make them affordable whether you can do that with ROTC, other scholarships, or financial need.
If you are low income, have you considered Questbridge or Posse?
The Jesuits run schools rather significantly differently from the more definitively religious approach taken at places such as Notre Dame, and CUA would probably be the most “conservative” as its directly under the Vatican, I believe (as in, it is their official university in the United States).
Honestly, I do not think any financial safeties exist for me. The only schools I’d want to attend that could be guaranteed to afford financially would be the very selective schools that meet 100% of aid under a threshold (e.g., Princeton, which is probably the farthest thing in the world from a safety).
Questbridge has been used by people I know in my situation, though I admit that I’m not really interested in any Questbridge schools aside from Princeton and, maybe, Notre Dame. I do find it somewhat amusing that, for financial reasons, I might apply to Ivies, etc., when I’d much rather attend the “safeties” of GW or AU.
I am not familiar with Posse and shall look into it.
Is there a non-custodial parent in the picture? If so, their income and assets will also be taken into account at the CSS Profile schools (most private schools). Net price calculators won’t be accurate unless you include the NCP’s financial info (assuming the school requires it). Some CSS Profile schools don’t require NCP financial info, see here: CSS Profile Participating Institutions and Programs
Many Posse schools meet full need, but not all (and the ones that do, calculate things differently just like for non-Posse students). Posse scholarship is full tuition/fees, not a full ride (tuition/fees plus room and board).
Some of these schools will also want the income and assets of your non-custodial parent (and spouse if they have remarried). Just FYI.
I would definitely reconsider Questbridge. There are a lot of colleges you could consider. Please look again and keep an open mind.
Also, unless I missed it, you don’t mention your home state. Some have college assistance programs specifically for low income students. Your public universities might end up being affordable…depending on where you live.
It sounds like your parents don’t plan to contribute anything towards your college costs…is that correct?
You have financial limitations, a low income single parent, so you need to get realistic really, really quickly. It doesn’t take much effort to get interested in Princeton- so great, keep it on the list- and now you get to flex those research muscles and find a few more schools which you can afford and which will have SOMETHING of interest to you.
Did I miss your GPA and your SAT or ACT scores? And class rank?
Folks here can give you good suggestions…if you give them all the information they need. Right now…all we know is you are low income from a single parent family, and you have targeted a few very high reach schools for all applicants for affordability. And a couple that likely won’t be affordable (GWU and American).
There are 3000 colleges in this country. With the info provided…folks here can give you some ideas.
Of course there are…give us some info and we will help you find some.
CUA is not run by the vatican. It is run by the Catholic Bishops of America and always has been. The Vatican, in fact, is currently run by a Jesuit. Kind of ironic, right?
Go to any school you want, but don’t expect Jesuit schools to be ‘non-Catholic.’