<p>The only reason I wouldn't be able to attend Rose is because of the money. Should I let money be the ONE reason why I don't go to Rose. I know I won't receive much merit because many people scored higher than me on the SAT/ACT. And, while I'm on the subject, how does financial aid work....is it only by merit?</p>
<p>Rose tends to look very closely at FAFSA and tries to help out to the best they can from what I've haerd.</p>
<p>That's a very good thing to hear! lol</p>
<p>
My son is a sophmore at Rose and my experience was that they looked very much at your FAFSA filing. My son initially received a merit scholarship, but after I updated my original FAFSA, with my actual 4/15 tax return #'s (lower net taxable income than original estimate), they increased his merit aid package.
</p>
<p>That's where I read it from.</p>
<p>from what I am hearing most people get between 5,000 to 17,000
but that still leave quite a lot left! still leave at least 28,000!</p>
<p>FAFSA claims a lot of middle class families are expected to be able to pay that amount from what I've seen.</p>
<p>they are good at helping to get you loans...
but you need to look other places for scholarships from what I hear!</p>
<p>Also, don't be too distressed by loans. I know that a lot of Rose grads have 50k+ in loans when they graduate. It's depressing, but the opportunities and experience that you can get here I feel offsets that. But ultimately it's got to be a personal decision for you. Talk to your parents, talk to Rose students, and take your time. You've got several more months until you have to make the decision.</p>
<p>Financial aid is need and merit based.</p>
<p>For my son (good GPA, excellent SATs) RPI, WPI and Rose Hulman all ended up costing about the same. (RPI's had the best terms - no required GPA.) All gave similar merit scholarships and maybe a tiny bit of need based grant money (I can't quite recall). Rose upped their offer slightly when he requested more. It still wasn't enough to justify the travel expenses for us. Great school, but it's expensive. Apply to a financial safety or two also.</p>
<p>So, my acceptance letter said to retake the ACT, and got my scores last night-a 28. On collegeboard, it shows that a 27-31 is in the middle 50%. Should I still retake, or will I get a descent amount with a 28.</p>
<p>I got a 34 and I'm somewhat doubtful of getting any/much merit money. If you're trying to get lots of money from Rose, I'm absolutely positive that more than a 28 is needed to get any.</p>
<p>I lose....lol :(</p>
<p>Where did you get that number bperboy? I have not seen any information on statistics and financial aid rewards other then the average aid given to students, and how many full rides they gave out last year.</p>
<p>I don't have any solid numbers actually; its mostly from browsing here that I've noticed that not a whole lot of money gets given out. Hopefully I'm proven wrong though :)</p>
<p>A little bit OT, but is there any sort of blog or discussion board on the Rose-Hulman site?</p>
<p>Yes, if you go to Welcome</a> to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, then click on the prospective freshman link, then in the middle of the page, there is a laptop screen....click on it. I think the message board is answered by counselors and representatives, but there haven't been any recent posts.</p>
<p>In 2006-2007, 27% of the freshman class received an average of $8,609 in merit money, which is a little low, but so is their tuition relatively speaking. Some stats:</p>
<p>Rose Hulman -- Tuition $30723; Merit (27% of freshmen) $8609</p>
<p>Rensselaer -- Tuition $35878; Merit (33%) $15939</p>
<p>Worcester Polytech -- Tuition $34830; Merit (20%) 12273</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd -- Tuition $34891; Merit (21%) $10911</p>
<p>If you look at CollegeBoard.com you can see that Rose seems to give a large part of their financial aid to their need based students (I am unsure if they get both merit and need based aid, though I don't see why not). I believe this is divided into lump-sums of aid money and and also work study programs. There are quite a few cushy jobs on campus, but depending on what sort of person you are that may be less useful than something you can actually put on a resume.</p>
<p>I am currently a Sophomore at Rose and didn't bother to fill out the FASFA (required for need based aid) since I am not really eligible for the need based aid, but I might be able to give some insight on the merit based package.</p>
<p>I got a 1340 on the SAT, 30 ACT, and a 3.5/4.0 GPA (with 8 or so AP's I think) and I received $7,000 per year as an out of state applicant. I was surprised to see that the average merit based aid was $8,600 (based on CollegeBoard), but given PLANTREE's comment, maybe there is even MORE weight on need vs merit than I thought. Either way, I know that my ACT topped or equaled most people that I know. Most had 27-29 it seems. Even still, I know a girl with a 28 ACT, probably mid 3 GPA and she got the exact same award as I did ($7,000).</p>
<p>If you think you can do better on the ACT by taking it a second time (Was this your first standardized test? Maybe you forgot some math or didn't perform well on the essay, etc) then go ahead and take it a second time. Couldn't hurt. In addition to that, file the FASFA and get some need based aid, that's where the most money will come from.</p>
<p>Thats what I was afraid of, as I won't get anything from FAFSA; neither of my sister's filled it out and I won't either; it happens when your father is a doctor. I had 34 on ACT so hopefully that will get me a bit more money. More than 10k would be nice.</p>
<p>Just remember two things</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Education is expensive, but ignorance costs much more.</p></li>
<li><p>You can always take out loans for college, but you can't take out loans for retirement.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I'm by no means rich, nor is paying for Rose going to be easy, but I just keep these two things in mind : )</p>