I am currently doing my UCs applications and I have several questions about the financial aid and scholarships at UCs.
Side note: I am applying to Santa Barbara, Riverside, Davis, and Irvine (reach schools)
Are you applying as a Freshman or Transfer?
Are you a California Resident?
Have you completed the FASFA and are you Pell grant eligible?
What is your FASFA EFC? Have you run the Net Price Calculators for the UC’s? What is your college budget?
UC GPA, test scores, SAT subject tests, EC’s and HS course rigor?
https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/tuition-financial-aid/how-aid-works.html
According to this thread, the student is a CA resident.
@et2020 do you know if you are Calgrant eligible? That is the CA grant given to students with lower incomes. If you answer the questions @Gumbymom posed, someone might be able to tell you if you are eligible.
Are there any CSU or UC campuses within commuting distance of your home?
Cal Grant info: https://www.csac.ca.gov/cal-grants
https://www.csac.ca.gov/post/cal-grant-high-school-entitlement-award
@Gumbymom I am a California resident applying as a freshman.
I completed the FASFA last number. Oh the FASFA website, it said that I can get up to $6,200 in Pell Grant and that my EFC was 0. (not sure if this is good or not) I have tried using the Net Price Calculators but I am not sure how to answer the question “Number of your family members who will be in college your first year” because none of my family members will be at college next year and the website would not let me put 0.
My UC gpa is at 3.75 (on the low side), but my gpa for senior year will boost my gpa. I did not take any SAT subject tests and got a 1220 on my SAT (retaking). I am also currently taking 4 APs this year.
If you will be in college in fall 2020, you put ONE as the number in college. If no one (including you) was going to be in college, you wouldn’t need to do financial aid applications for the 2020-2021 academic year…right?
So…when you do the net price calculators, you will enter ONE…because you will be in college.
When did you complete the FAFSA…there is a typo In your post above. The 2020-2021 FAFSA became available for completion on October 1. Did you do that one…and did you enter one person in college?
It would seem with a EFC of $0, that you would be Calgrant eligible. Someone with more knowledge of that can tell you what sort of aid you would receive via Calgrant funds, and how that interfaces with the Pell Grant.
It’s good that your senior year grades will be good…but IIRC, the UCs use grades 10 and 11 only for GPA admission purposes…@gumbymom is this correct?
You would answer 1 family member in college (which is you).
If your EFC is $0, then in addition to Federal Pell Grant which is the maximum amount for the year, you would be eligible for a Cal grant that should cover UC tuition.
There is also the MIddle Class Scholarship:
Here is an example of a UC Financial package with an EFC of $0 but please run the Net Price Calculators for all the UC’s since the packages can vary.
Cost of Attendance: $35,178
Expected Family Contribution: $0
Need: $35,178
Financial Aid Package
Cal Grant A: $12,570
Federal Pell Grant: $6,200
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan$3,500
University Student Loan: $2,000
Student’s Self-Help $2,500 (Work Study)
University Grant: $6,122
Waived Health Insurance: $2,286
Total Financial Aid Package=$35,178
Realize that you will probably need to take out the Federal Student loans and contribute to your college expenses by doing work study.
Just a note: UC’s do not consider Senior year grades in their GPA calculation so you will be admitted based on your 10-11th grades (UC GPA). Doing well Senior year, meaning no D’s or F’s will keep your provisional admission.
You need to apply to the UC’s based on your current stats. For the best chances, UC Merced, Riverside and Santa Cruz should be your targets.
2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 1%
UCLA: 2%
UCSD: 7%
UCSB: 8%
UCI: 7%
UCD: 14%
UCSC: 33%
UCR: 49%
UCM: 82%
2019 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range:
UCB: 4.23 (4.15-4.30)
UCLA: 4.25 (4.18-4.32)
UCSD: 4.16 (4.03-4.28)
UCSB: 4.16 (4.04-4.28)
UCI: 4.13 (4.00-4.25)
UCD: 4.13 (4.00-4.26)
UCSC: 3.96 (3.76-4.16)
UCR: 3.90 (3.69-4.11)
UCM: 3.73 (3.45-4.00)
2019 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT totals:
UCB: 1340-1540
UCLA: 1330-1550
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1280-1520
UCD: 1230-1490
UCI: 1250-1510
UCSC: 1200-1450
UCR: 1130-1400
UCM: 1020-1290
Hopefully you have applied to some Cal States including your local Cal state which is within commuting distance??
@thumper1 I completed the FAFSA before November.
Are there other programs that I can apply to or do I not need to apply?
The UC’s and Cal States only require the FASFA for Federal student aid and for the Cal Grant and Middle Class scholarship eligibility. Your HS should automatically send in your GPA verification for the Cal Grant program.
Are there any local community scholarships that you can apply? I would ask your counselor.
Everything needs to be in before March 2nd of each year. You have to apply for this every year.
submit the FAFSA or CADAA application and your verified Cal Grant GPA by the deadline
be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen or meet AB540 eligibility criteria
be a California resident for 1 year
attend a qualifying California college
not have a bachelor’s or professional degree
have financial need at the college of your choice
have family income and assets below the minimum levels
be enrolled or plan to enroll in a program leading to an undergraduate degree or certificate
be enrolled or plan to enroll at least half time
have registered with the U.S. Selective Service, if required to do so
not owe a refund on any state or federal grant or be in default on a student loan
not be incarcerated
maintain the Satisfactory Academic Progress standards as established by the school. Recipients who do not meet the standards are ineligible for Cal Grant payment and will not use eligibility during the terms they are ineligible for payment. *
I’m attaching a fact sheet that may answer some of your questions.
https://www.csac.ca.gov/sites/main/files/file-attachments/understanding_my_cal_grant_-_updated_11.21.17.pdf?1523981665
I am applying to some Cal States as safeties and as target schools. I am local to CSULA and am applying there as a kineisology major.
Read post #6 from Gumbymom…but then do the net price calculators for the UCs you are applying to yourself.
You ask about applying for other forms of aid. This IS the aid that would cover a huge amount of your college costs. You could get full costs covered at a UC…but do check that.
Once full costs are covered, what else would you need beside a job to earn spending money?
@et2020: Did you run the Net Price calculators for the CSU’s that you applied? Compare those costs with the NPC’s for the UC’s. Your chances are much greater at the CSU’s than the UC’s so please have a backup plan (I think you mentioned PCC?)
You really need to get a handle on costs so you can make some informed decisions once the acceptances start posting. If you can commute to your local CSU, then between the Pell Grant and Cal Grant, all costs should be covered including books and personal expenses. If you plan to live on-campus at the CSU’s, then there will be a gap since the Cal Grant for CSU’s assumes you will commute so you would need to come up with the difference to pay for room/board with work study/student loans/summer earnings and parent contributions.
The UC’s tend to be more generous with financial aid so with the example I posted, your costs could be covered if living on-campus but you are expected to earn money through work study and take out the Federal Student loans.
If you are looking at Physical Therapy school, you will want to keep costs/loans at a minimum since PT school is expensive.