<p>So here's my situation: I'm an independent student currently attending a community college and will apply to 4-year schools next year (to transfer as a junior.) My income for the 2010 - 2011 FAFSA will depend on how many hours my summer job turns out to be, but I estimate it will be around 10k, maaaybe a bit more. Currently I have about 4k of debt because even though I had need grants and a scholarship which took care of a lot of my tuition, my part-time/summer jobs were not enough to pay for rent/food/electric. Woe! (I am just praying that I don't get into any more debt my last year of CC. If I get the scholarship I got last year I think I can just about make everything work. The thought of having 8k of debt before even finishing community college . . . agitates me.)</p>
<p>I worry and worry about how much debt I'll accrue in my final two years of college. Can the mountain o' debt be minimized? Besides outside scholarships (which I have been applying for, but no luck yet), how can I find colleges that will give me good financial aid or, I can but dream, a full ride? My current GPA is 3.69 and I'm hoping to bring it higher before finishing my AA/AAS . . . If I apply to a school with an average GPA of, say, 3.3 then will they be more likely to give me a good financial aid package than a school with an average GPA of 3.7? Will public schools be better bets than private schools?</p>
<p>Are you sure you’re independent? That’s the first question you need to be sure of. </p>
<p>Anyways, financial aid will not depend on GPA. However, any grants that they give out for academics will. You will probably be more likely to receive nice academic scholarships at the school with the average GPA of 3.3, but you would have to check with the school specifically.</p>
<p>Naturally, you need to check on what the policies are for financial aid for transfers at colleges. Schools can have different policies for transfer students.</p>
<p>Well, I am still putting together a list. I know the “reach/match/safety” concept, but am not sure where to find the data to show which schools are reaches, matches, safeties for me. So far I’ve been using College Board’s site to look up my intended major, then focusing on schools that have a large-ish percentage of undergraduates majoring in that field, hoping that means they are respected for the major. (I’m interested in biology/environmental science/wildlife/fisheries . . . that sort of thing. There are a lot of variations in the name and some majors are more specific than others.) And I’ve also been asking my CC teachers for recommendations. </p>
<p>Specifically I’ve been looking at University of Washington, University of Minnesota, University of Portland, the California universities, and Oregon State University. I’m trying to stay west of the Mississippi River because I worry that eastern colleges will focus on deciduous forest ecology, whereas I want to work in the west which has conifer forests.</p>
<p>Because you are looking at state schools, there may be a big gap in your financial aid package. Unless you are a state resident (or have neighboring-state tuition break), you will probably not get much, if anything, in the way of university grant money. State schools exist for the benefit of state residents - that is who they help the most.</p>
<p>For example, let’s just say you have a 0 EFC. You will get a full Pell grant. Your major may or may not be classified as SMART grant-eligible ($4000/year, but only if you have enough credits transfer in to be considered a junior - if not, you have to wait). You might get SEOG (a couple hundred to maybe 2000). Other than that … work study, probably … and the usual Stafford loans ($12500/year for juniors, of which up to 5500 may be subsidized, depending on need). With OOS tuition, this money may not be enough.</p>
<p>Full ride is doubtful - most transfer scholarships are considerably lower. If you are OOS, you probably won’t be eligible for any scholarships (but it’s worth checking).</p>
<p>Go over to the FA office at your CC. You’re not the first student to face this situation, nor will you be the last. If they can’t help you, they’ll know who can, so you can make a reasonable list.</p>
<p>Pay attention to residency requirements, too, you may be able to finagle a better position financially if you can get to that state you ultimately target and establish residency. It might mean gapping a year, but the lower cost might outweigh the ouch of the mental gap. I have known several 24+ year olds that worked it that way after two years at a CC…by moving, then bartending or working a local job for the year before applying. States differ in how they evaluate that, so pay attention to the particular requirements. You have to make those decisions, but I wanted to plant the seed.</p>
<p>I hadn’t thought about other states tending to reserve their scholarships etc for their resident students, though that makes sense. </p>
<p>How long does it take to establish residency? About a year? It’s a thought . . . One fortunate thing is that public western universities will accept me at 150% of their resident tuition rate thanks to the Western Undergraduate Exchange, so at least I wouldn’t be paying the “full” out-of-state expense.</p>
<p>BTW, I am not opposed to private schools, I just am not as familiar with them, so if anyone knows of any with a strong science/environmental base feel free to make suggestions.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t overlook some private colleges. I don’t know the western schools as well as those in the east, but you may do better with need based aid at privates.</p>
<p>You can use w w w. collegeboard. com to locate public or privates with your major. Then take a look at the Cost and Financial Aid tab. Don’t panic yet:)…scroll down to check out their Average percent of need met, then scroll a little further to Financial Aid Distribution. this will inform you whether their aid is in the form of loans or grants. Do the math for each school of interest. I have found this information to be very accurate.</p>
<p>My daughter will be attending a rather expensive private school in the fall. With the need based FA we are receiving, it is less costly than attending our in-state school, where we were only offered loans.</p>
<p>Here are a couple of very small schools that may work for you. I have no idea if you would even entertain a small school. However, since you seem fairly concerned about the finances, they might help you.</p>
<p>I can speak to University of Portland, since we’ve been dealing with them as a probable for our daughter next year.</p>
<p>FAFSA-only private LAC. Meets about 89% need, on average, and does offer generous merit aid. Ended up costing us just a bit more than our in-state UC’s would have cost. Not sure if they have different policy for transfers, though. But worth a look.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice/suggestions! My updated (tentative) list now looks like this:</p>
<p>Beloit College
Carrol University
Northland College (I really like this one!)
Oregon State University
University of California: Davis
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
University of Oregon
University of Washington
Western Washington University
Winona State University</p>
<p>Question . . . I know what “Room and Board” means, but what about “Room only”? (This sometimes appeared under the figure for Room and Board.)</p>
<p>Some schools break out the room payment and have various options for board payment. So “room only” means just that - the cost of the room, not including food.</p>
My updated (tentative) list now looks like this:</p>