I am the single mother of 2 girls (14 & 17). In 2015 (FAFSA app), I made $31,900. My EFC is $1600. In November last year, my second job as a server was cut to 1 night per week instead of 2 nights. So basically I am going to be making about $27,000 this year. My daughter has a 31 ACT and 3.6 GPA with probably 5 AP classes. She wants to go to University of Louisville (IN STATE) and after financial aid and $2000 a year for Merit aid, she would still owe $10,000 a year! What the hell??? That’s more than 1/3 of my salary! We are also waiting on Vassar and WUSTL (both reaches) and if she gets into those, we are going to be alright financially. What am I supposed to do if she doesn’t get into Vassar or WUSTL??? Scholarships are probably not going to be a lot, because she doesn’t do a lot of community service. She has had to watch her sister every weekend since she was about 13 so I could work 2 jobs. Does anyone have any ideas??
Public schools like Louisville do not meet 100% of need, so you probably received the most they award. Even if she gets into meets full needs schools like Vassar, there are always some costs not covered. Not everyone gets to go to a sleep away college. Many students go to community colleges and live at home as the r&b can be half the price of school.
EFC means very little except for federal aid. Most schools do not have enough money to give to those with low/modest EFCs.
EFC is a federal number, and as you know from UL, fed aid isn’t much.
What did UL’s NPC show??
Did your DD only apply to 3 schools? Edit…I see she also applied to Vandy ED. Did she only apply to high reach schools and UL? Who advised her with her list??
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My daughter has a 31 ACT and 3.6 GPA
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Her ACT is good, but not really WUSTL or Vandy likely…and her GPA is likely an issue.
If she doesn’t get into Vassar or WUSTL, and it appears that UL isn’t affordable, then she’ll need to take a gap year and apply to MORE schools and to schools that she knows for sure will give y’all a bunch more aid.
Did you submit CSS Profile for those other schools? Did they require NCP info?
Otherwise she may have to go to a CC.
Did she not apply to ANY schools that FOR SURE would accept her AND give her enough aid/merit to be affordable??
(cough) Huntsville (cough)
Also Northern Kentucky.
@50N40W what could she get from Northern Kentucky at this point?
Huntsville might still leave her with too much to cover, PLUS it sounds like mom has little time to get a child to and from a school that’s any distance away.
She applied and got into UofL, University of Kentucky, Bellarmine, and Western Kentucky. Rejected from Vandy. We knew that was a big stretch, but tried because it’s pretty close and we have lots of family in Nashville.
UofL based on 2015 net price calculator was about $4000 less. She could have qualified for a Cardinal Covenant Scholarship that keeps low income families from being in debt when they graduate and she/we counted on that. BUT I made about $500 too much (if only I would have taken 5nts off from serving). They said that they could only go by 2015 income and I thought that they would go by what I’m actually making.
At least Bellarmine has sent me a form to use for 2017 income and right now they are really close to the UofL price before I fill it out. So here’s hoping that they pull through. 
$5000 a year in student loans is do-able. I just wish UofL would do the same.
I sent in forms for a NCP waiver.
I honestly thought we were poor enough and she was smart enough that I wouldn’t have to really worry about this. Lesson learned too late. At least my youngest is watching now and taking notes. She has a 4.0 and when she took the ACT in 7th grade made a 19.
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5000 a year in student loans is do-able. I just wish UofL would do the same.
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You can get the same $5000 (actually $5500) from UofL
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I honestly thought we were poor enough and she was smart enough that I wouldn't have to really worry about this. <<<
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Being poor or smart does not cause a school to have more money to give away than it does.
It’s very difficult, if not impossible, for most schools to give a lot of aid to needy students.
I meant if UofL would lower it to where we only had to get the $5500 in loans.
"Being poor or smart does not cause a school to have more money to give away than it does.
It’s very difficult, if not impossible, for most schools to give a lot of aid to needy students."
Yep…I know that now. 
Why do you need an NCP waiver? Most of the public schools only use FAFSA and not CSS.
Was your 2016 income lower than 2015? If so, it might be a good idea to take a gap year, have daughter earn some money, and reapply if you’ll qualify for that Cardinal grant at a lower income.
Wash U and Vassar would require that NCP waiver. She didn’t get accepted to Vandy…
The rest of your colleges are FAFSA only colleges…and the non-custodial parent info is NOT required.
I do have to ask…is BEllarmine really going to be affordable? It’s a pretty expensive private university…and they don’t guarantee to meet full need.
You’re correct, Northern Kentucky had a 15 February deadline. As I recall they had some strong merit aid, like 7500 per year for stats like these (tuition @9k, leaving r&b, books, and 1500 uncovered tuition)
This poster says $10,000 a year is a lot for her to pay. Getting a full tuition award would still leave room and board to pay…and that easily will be $10,000 or so a year.
And to the OP…remember, a scholarship for room and board will be taxable income for your student next year.
Fingers crossed for Vassar or WU. But if neither one works out and there aren’t any other scholarships forthcoming, I’d strongly consider a gap year to get the finances in order and maybe get that Cardinal, and to apply to some more meet-full-need schools.
Or, consider the community college thing and look to transfer to state U for the final two years (or live at home and commute to U - is that possible? Or can costs be lower than $10K with cheaper housing or something?). I’d do some research about how that might affect the scholarships though, sometimes they are only for entering first year students.
If the gap year is in order, retake the ACT to get the magic 32. That would help at Alabama and other similar schools.
Unfortunately Alabama only awards full tuition, plus a little for engineering, so that would still leave more than $10K in R&B.
Can you give us a breakdown of her Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid. I’m not trying to be nosy but I’d like to know that I’m talking apples to apples here. Depending on what they include and what you have included there may some ways to whittle down the cost. What will her major be?
It may help at other schools, but Alabama is not one.
From their website:
It is good that Bellarmine is working with you on the change in income. Keeping my fingers crossed for you for one of the full need schools.
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She has had to watch her sister every weekend since she was about 13 so I could work 2 jobs.
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Make sure to mention this in your email to both schools, maybe in the context that she does not have money saved from a high school job because of the need to babysit her younger sibling (extenuating circumstance).
Wouldn’t hold breath on Vassar. I’ve had much higher stats friends get rejected.
@CourtneyThurston She’s right in the middle for stats for Vassar. Vassar has been reaching out to high achievers from low income families. And they do not have many students from Kentucky, which helps OP’s daughter.
Our opinions don’t matter anyway. She’ll know in a week.