<p>Hey guys, vast sea of ignorance here. Would very much appreciate any enlightenment to be had.</p>
<p>My current situation: I am from a very low income background, and my high school situation wasn't pretty. I had a very unmotivated period and high school just didn't agree with me, wound up leaving the public school I was attending and going to an alternative homestudy school. I finally decided to get things in order and started local CC classes full time. Luckily I work much better in a college environment for various reasons. I'm now 21, about to start my second year with a 4.0, working on finishing the second half of IGETC classes as a history major.</p>
<p>With the application date coming up in November I am full of questions. Of course I'm planning to talk to academic/transfer counselors but I would love some input from you guys.</p>
<p>Assuming I can maintain my 4.0 or very close to it, what advantages does that give me? My impression on transferring is that I could be accepted with a lower/much lower gpa. Do a 4.0 and financial need alone qualify me for any significant scholarships or bonus financial aid? I do not have any community service/personal achievements/extracurriculars to speak of. My family cannot really afford to assist me so I am pretty much looking at how I am going to pay for my education post cc.</p>
<p>When will I definitively find out important things like "this is how much of your expenses will be covered, and this is how much you will need to pay"?</p>
<p>Also, any input on history programs at UC campuses? Right now in my head they are all intimidating, far away places.</p>
<p>Thanks to anyone who works their way through this wall of text.</p>
<p>One thing you may want to look into if you are a CA resident is whether or not you would qualify for CalGrant programs, which would cover the tuition for your junior and senior year. Get to a CCC transfer counselor <em>immediately</em> to see if you qualify and to stay qualified. CalGrant has a lot of restrictions and after 4 years of college (ANY college, even if you never tap into FA of any sort) your eligibility expires, so stay on track with that as well.</p>
<p>If you are getting As at CCC you can do just fine at the UCs. You will get snobby UC students who started as freshmen claim otherwise, but the reality is that the top-cut students at CCCs almost always thrive and do well at UCs and other privates upon transfer and many are more than capable of wiping the floor with those students who started out at the UCs as freshmen.</p>
<p>If you are from a very low income background then you have it made in the shade. </p>
<p>The Blue and Gold Opportunity plan basically will cover(you won’t have to pay it back) all of your expenses(tuition+fees) except for housing and food at a UC. If your family earns less than $80,000/year and you are a CA resident then you qualify. [University</a> of California - Blue + Gold Opportunity Plan](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/paying-for-uc/financial-aid/grants/blue-gold/index.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/paying-for-uc/financial-aid/grants/blue-gold/index.html)</p>
<p>On top of that you may get a pell grant (up to approximately $5000 I think) and federally subsidized loans to pay for housing and other expenses you may have. </p>
<p>Just make sure you fill out the FAFSA by the deadline to qualify for financial aid.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. AFAIK I qualify for CalGrant and should be recieving one this semester once my school processes my financial aid. Prior to this I did not have enough credits to have a college gpa to be submitted, and the high school I went to was unaccredited, so I couldn’t get one. I have been getting a Pell Grant though.</p>
<p>Coolaid, from what I read the B&G plan kind of combined all your basic financial aid into one towards your costs and then covered the difference, right? So Pell Grants and Cal Grants would count towards that?</p>
<p>I am mostly wondering about things beyond those that would come with my high grades (if I can maintain them). For example the Regents scholarship, would my gpa + 0 efc have any hope of qualifying me for that, or does it also require extracurriculars, community service, personal achievements, etc?</p>
<p>B&G will not factor in the pell grant. They will, however, factor in the cal grant. Since you qualify for the pell grant and loans you will get that on top of B&G. So you will have at most about $5500 from the pell grant to pay for housing and food and the rest will be from federal loans most likely. If you get scholarships I am pretty sure those will replace the loans and not the B&G.</p>
<p>are their scholarships you can get and not even apply for based off of certain criterias</p>
<p>maybe a dead question.</p>
<p>All I can say is, work your @ss off to maintain your 4.0 and you will be golden. I had about 9200.00 left in student loans to cover at UCLA when I got (and several others) were given another UCLA scholarship that covered that as well, which came out to a full ride. I called and they said that it was basically just a very competitive scholarship that went off of GPA. </p>
<p>Also, having a 4.0 gives you a shot at the regents which can cover all of your FINANCIAL NEED. So if your efc=0 that pretty much means a full ride.</p>
<p>There are other scholarships too. If you do TAP, I know a few people on here applied for that scholarship (I didn’t do TAP) but it’s an idea. The Alumni scholarship is another but this one is based off of extra curriculars. Which brings me to my next point, why have you not done any?! That will aid you in your overall application (arguably you may not need it with your 4.0) and the other scholarship considerations. The Alumni is strictly merit based and focuses on EC’s as well as GPA. I believe as a transfer you can apply with a GPA above 3.75. </p>
<p>Lastly, look into your community college for other scholarships. My community college has this group called the “Hancock Foundation” where you submit one general application and 2 letters of recommendation and a panel decides which scholarships you are eligible for. I don’t know if you have this kind of thing but I got an amazing award amount for my next year at UCLA.</p>
<p>There is a lot of help if you can show that you really care about your education and work hard. I would really try to do some EC’s this summer. I know it may be hard with schoolwork and work and etc. but it is so worth it in the end. For many more reasons than this. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>@kittychen: I’m sorry if my questions came off the wrong way, of course I know I would have to apply for them, I meant to ask more along the lines of whether my grades/situation would qualify me for them.</p>
<p>@IndieRockNRoll: Thank for you for the info. ECs are just not my interest or skill compared to learning and studying. I realize it makes me a less attractive prospect for many opportunities I could have.</p>
<p>Some scholarships are given to you even if you did not apply for them.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. Is it normal to have to do more than IGETC to meet the 60 enrollment units? </p>
<p>I think I’ll use it to do extra history classes to meet the major transfer requirements for various options.</p>