Our son is planning to transfer to a 4 year Art school in January. We had planned to wait until next Fall, but it is now very obvious he is not getting anything close to what he needs at the local community college where he is attending.
He is staying there for this semester because he got a paid internship to work for a game company and has to be enrolled, but otherwise, he is pretty “done” with going there.
What I am wondering is…scholarships for mid year transfer students. Is this typically less than you would get if you were apply in the Fall? Do I need to have filled out a FAFSA already? We did not because it was community college and we knew we wouldn’t get anything.
I know I can wait and find out from the school directly, but I wondered if any of you have had experience with scholarships and mid-year transfers.
Any kind of scholarships at an art school will be based on the strength of your son’s portfolio. Most of these schools really don’t HAVE other money to give.
Transfer students typically get less scholarship money than incoming freshmen. January transfers often get even less…as scholarship money is doled out to fall admits…and not much, if anything, is left.
If your son knows where he is applying…do the 2017-2018 FAFSA as soon as possible and submit it to the school. This will use your income from the 2015 tax return…so get that out.
We are told there is some money, but yeah, I imagine it won’t be as much as if he had come in the Fall. I hope there will be something better offered next Fall…but we aren’t going to hold out based on that.
He is a transfer but probably still is classified as a Freshman since they won’t take much of his coursework anyway.
But we are not counting on the money, it will be an added bonus if we can get some…we will have two kids in college in the Fall, so anything would help.
There is a net price calculator on the college site. They are set up for incomong freshmen…but plug your numbers in…and it will give you a ball park of what you might get in aid.
Remember, those arts schools don’t guarantee to meet full need for all…and some are very expensive.
Thanks. Yeah, I guess we will just wait and see. We are anticipating a 20-25% scholarship overall, which may not come mid-year…but we are also prepared to pay full price if necessary.
We have already priced them out and know what we are in for…but lessening the blow would certainly be helpful!
Many merit scholarships are awarded for all 4 years, and there aren’t nearly as many awarded to transfers. There also aren’t as many that go up the following year. If you have two students in school next year, that may increase need based aid but is unlikely to increase merit aid.
I have run into a lot of schools that consider anyone transferring in with only one semester of classes or less than 25 credits to be a freshman and eligible for freshmen awards. You really have to read the fine details of each school to know what they do. Often the NPC are not set with that level of detail so if you select ‘freshman’ the NPC is going to assume ‘right from high school’ and not a situation where the student did take a few courses.
If it is a completely different school, then funding is completely different. You may not receive a thing. FAFSA forms are for student loans as well, not just for need based aid.
Yes, I do know FAFSA is for loans as well. He had fully intended on finishing out this year at the community college, but we have some strong reasons for changing our minds mid year, which we had no idea would happen. There was no reason to fill out the FAFSA this year for community college so we didn’t bother. Thankfully, we can swing his full tuition next semester, but next year, with two in college, we will probably have to take out a loan or get some aid.
Thank you! I will keep you posted on what we find out, although it may be a while before we know if they will offer anything.
This IS the 2017-2018 school year just starting. The FAFSA for THIS academic year can be completed any time during THIS academic year…and you would be eligible for the Direct Loan at least.
Since you are planning to transfer in January…yes…complete the 2017-2018 FAFSA NOW and submit it to the new school.
Some schools require the FAFSA to be complete to qualify for any aid from the school, even merit aid. Don’t know if the ‘new school’ is one of those, but you’ll be one step ahead if you file now.
You are wise to realize that there may be little to no scholarship money for a mid-year transfer. Be sure to look into scholarships for continuing students at the school he wants to go to. My DD was a January transfer from a community college to a state school and got $0 from the state school her first semester. The scholarship application for continuing students at that school was due just a few weeks after she started taking classes there. She had to scramble to get it done and get the recommendations, etc. submitted in time. It paid off and she got a generous scholarship for the following school year. Good luck.