<p>Where is she going to get a full tuition scholarship if her dad makes 6 figures? </p>
<p>==========</p>
<p>EK4…you’ve been around CC long enough to know that there are full tuition scholarships that are based on merit and don’t look at income AT ALL. </p>
<p>As Erin’s Dad says…she’d get full tuition at UAB…she’d also get full tuition at Alabama…and other schools as well .(EK4…she needs to look at some of those schools that pay their football coaches more than their president. 
jk)</p>
<p>She has the GPA and the SAT needed to get ASSURED full tuition from Bama.</p>
<p>When you have an unaffordable EFC, look for huge merit…income not looked at.</p>
<p>I admit I have not frequented the merit aid no need threads, because my kids had need, albeit our EFC is higher now than when I had a 10yr old.
I also still think about how students are going to pay for room & board, even when tuition is covered, when their parents aren’t contributing.</p>
<p>Is a student who doesn’t seem to be seriously considering her own states flagship. (rated #14 in best value colleges by Kiplinger)going to be happy at Univ of Alabama?</p>
<p>The student may not have been seriously considering her state flagship because she had stars in her eyes for schools like MIT and Wellesley. However, reality is setting in.</p>
<p>Right now, she can’t even afford her state flagship.</p>
<p>She said that her family can contribute a few thousand…not nothing. I’ve gotten the feeling that her parents can contribute about $3k or so…The OP can correct me.</p>
<p>As for Alabama…sure beats the heck out of attending a CC…gorgeous campus, kids from all 50 states, nice city, many majors, etc, etc. This year’s frosh class had more than 50% OOS students…kids are flocking from everywhere.</p>
<p>There was a time when my older son (with higher stats than the OP) never considered attending Bama…wouldn’t think of it…never…nada…not happening. He visited, loved it, attended, graduated, and is now in a PhD program at an elite university.</p>
<p>And, yes, if she takes a gap year…works/saves her money…grabs a full tuition scholarship (maybe more), borrows 5500, gets $3k from parents, can contribute a bit of her own funds, she could do it.</p>
<p>if OP lives in Seattle she can attend U of W for about 11K per year and live at home. WSU is a 5 hour drive and WWU is a 2 hour drive so commuting there is not an option. AP credits might shorted time to degree, but there can be a backlog in getting in to upper division classes for majors so they might just shorted graduation to 4 yrs from 5. I know if my D had to pick she would stay at home in greater Seattle area and pay full UW tuition above paying the same amount in room and board to go to Alabama.</p>
<p>Also, WSU may offer more merit aid. Did you fill out the additional scholarship app? Western also offers some scholarships that won’t be known until aid packages arrive.</p>
<p>Yes, it appears that the EFC must be somewhere between $15,000 - $20,000 or so seeing how tightly grouped the costs came out from the NPC. OP, have you and your parents filled out your FAFSA? Have your parents confirmed they will not contribute to your education? One other possibility after attending a CC for two years is to work for a year and retinker your college application list and be careful of the Profile colleges (there’s only 300 or them or so in the country) as those might require your mother’s financial info. Did you also fill out the Profile for the couple colleges on your list that require those?</p>
<p>I know if my D had to pick she would stay at home in greater Seattle area and pay full UW tuition above paying the same amount in room and board to go to Alabama.</p>
<p>===========</p>
<p>You’re assuming that this kid lives within commuting distance to UW. She may, and she may not. If she doesn’t live within commuting distance than your premise doesn’t apply.</p>
<p>And…some kids would rather (for the same price) go away to school…rather than commute and feel “less connected” to their campus. But, to each his own.</p>
<p>I really appreciate everyone’s advice! I think worst comes the worst I may have to attend University of Washington and commute from home (about 30-45 minutes). That way I’d only have to pay for tuition. Also, given that I do well on my AP exams this year, I will be entering with about 65 credits, making me a sophomore. </p>
<p>Also, in case it matters…
My father makes about $60,000 (he’s a social worker)
My step mom makes around $50,000 (she’s a high school teacher)
And my mother makes around $47,000 (she’s a loan processor and single mother)
I have two younger siblings on my dads side and three younger siblings on my moms side.
As you can see, my parents make a decent living. I read something mentioned earlier saying my dad makes six figures… he doesn’t. Six figures is combing my entire household income.</p>
<p>*I am not a NMF. Although I have a 2170, I started off with a fairly low PSAT score so I didnt qualify.</p>
<p>**I did complete the FAFSA, CSS Profile, and the NonCustodial Parent Profile. </p>
<p>***I did complete the additional WSU Scholarship Application. However, I have not heard back yet!</p>
<p>****I wish I would have applied to Western… I heard that they gave a lot of merit aid. I was planning to but I didnt want to dish out another $75 to pay for another college application when I already did so for WSU. I am paying for my own college applications as well.</p>
<p>Oops I meant to say that if commuting or CC didn’t appeal you could take a gap year and retinker your application list. Perhaps after commuting awhile you might find a friend to live with near campus which would give you the “complete sleep away” experience.</p>
<p>mom2college kids - I assumed that it would be possible to commute to UW based on profile listed at “Seattle” We are greater Seattle area as well and people commute from all over the area to UW. I’ve brought this up on other threads, but it can be pretty tough culturally for a kids from the NW to want to look at heading to Alabama or Texas. Some may find that option attractive, but for many it would be like going to school on another planet.</p>
<p>OP - Western applications close 1/31 so it’s too late for that. They do have cheaper tuition as well - in the 8k+ range rather than 10K+ and they do provide merit aid. We know many very accomplished students who went that route after FA packages came back from fancy eastern LACs and are very happy.</p>
<p>D also applied to WSU and Western, but just before the deadline (contrary to all advice from school counselors) and hasn’t heard back yet either. Like you, she will be automatic admit, but it’s waiting to see about the aid, honors college, etc.</p>
<p>Willamett does do “preferential packaging” so you will likely see more scholarship money in addition to institutional grants in your final package. Did you apply for the Mark O. Hatfield Scholarship there? If not, it’s too late, but just asking.</p>
<p>Like you, D has same SAT and high HS stats, but missed NMF (commended)</p>
<p>On a side note - are your parents unable to contribute because of obligations to younger siblings and household bills, or are they unwilling to contribute based on principle or family dynamics? Knowing that would help give better input.</p>
<p>My parents have a very small amount in their bank account after all bills are taken care of. They give a lot of their money to the church and relatives. Childcare for both my younger siblings cost a lot. They barely have enough money to put into retirement. Therefore, they aren’t able to give a lot, or any, money to my college education. </p>
<p>To top it off, they believe that it’s my education and therefore I should find a way to pay for it. Both my parents were immigrants and started off with nothing, so they’re kind of tough in that aspect.</p>
<p>OK - I was wondering about if they can pitch in for books and/or incidentals that are not part of the tuition outlay. Wow, it might just be a wait and see thing, then. Did you check “live at home” for the FAFSA for UW? I am not a FA expert AT ALL so I’m wondering if you live at home can you still get loans if your EFC is larger than tuition. I don’t know, anyone . . .? If not it would be back to trying to cover that on your own which would be tough. I don’t know how generous WSU will be with scholarship money and if it would make up the difference in cost with R & B added in. It would also be tougher to keep your current job or find a different on in Pullman, I would imagine.</p>
<p>It does sound like it could be a case for a gap year or deferred admissions if you don’t get the package that you need, but think you might be able to save enough with a year of work. Darn! Again, though, I don’t know how much FA and admissions at each accepted school will work with you. Now I really wish I had an answer for you. Sorry 
I am hoping that D is not in a similar boat.</p>
<p>I was recently accepted to Wellesley and I REALLY want to go… However financial aid (posted earlier in this thread) is not looking too hot right now. I am willing to do ANYTHING to be able to attend this fall… any suggestions? I plan on appealing to the FA office and comparing other packages once I get them.</p>
<p>Have you actually been accepted or just gotten a likely for Early Eval? If so you won’t get your actual FA notice until April. You can ASK for further consideration but unless you get a better offer from a school they consider a peer I doubt they will change it.</p>
<p>Starbucks…can you check to see if WWU will still offer you merit?</p>
<h1>Saint quote: can be pretty tough culturally for a kids from the NW to want to look at heading to Alabama or Texas. Some may find that option attractive, but for many it would be like going to school on another planet.</h1>
<p>oh brother…and this is coming from a Southern Calif native. If you strolled over to the Bama forum, you’d see that kids from every state in the union attend and they aren’t experiencing any odd culture shock at all.</p>
<p>:rolleyes:</p>
<p>you need to get out more…Alabama isn’t some other planet…big cities are pretty much homogenous now.</p>
<p>^^ D also refused to look at SoCal schools because that seems like another planet to her . . . that and it’s “too sunny.” lol</p>
<p>I might suggest that you look harder at the true cost of attendance at some of these schools. It has been my experience that the schools calculate these things out on the high side. 1. They use more than the minimum full-time schedule when calculating tuition. 2. They DO use the most generous meal-plan when they advertise room and board costs. 3. Books can be obtained for less than they generally allow. 4. Travel and “Misc” expenses don’t have to be as high as their figures. Sure, you need money for unexpected expenses, but if you’re frugal, you can get by for less than the advertised “cost of attendance”. It might not be a lot, but every thousand dollars helps. If you’re parents won’t help, you will have to find a job to pay your way. How much are you willing to give up in order to be able to attend your dream school? If you don’t mind living “poor” and working hard, you don’t necessarily have to write off all these schools.</p>
<p>At this point is looks like the least expensive option you will have is UW and live at home to start out. I would advise really costing that out to see if it’s workable with your earnings, small parent contribution and reasonable loan. After that, as packages come in you will have a benchmark to compare. You will need to look at the value proposition for each school at which you are accepted. i.e. is MIT work x$ more to me than UW. If you get several private offers that might work you would have to compare there as well. You might decide that MIT or Wellesley are worth more to you than Portland or Whitworth. That would depend on a package that is remotely “do-able” though.</p>
<p>You won’t be able to do this until the actual numbers come in the mail, so now would be the time to get your baseline numbers ready and really research the schools even more to determine value and potential return on investment with your prospective major or career direction. </p>
<p>There is a possibility that WSU comes in with enough merit aid to bring the price down to the UW/home range. You might also research that more. If it’s within a couple thousand would you pick the “full college experience” on campus at WSU over the UW/home start? Ask around at school or amongst last year’s grads on facebook if you have friends at both places. You could also crash a few classes at UW if you haven’t already. Just go to Kane hall at the appointed time and sit in on several to get the vibe. It’s big enough that there should be no need to try to officially arrange this with anyone.</p>
<p>UPDATE: Commuting is no longer an option. My dad is kicking me out the day I turn 18 (July 4th thankfully). I’m on my own for college… is this something I can explain to the Financial Aid office to improve my package? Now I REALLY need the money…</p>
<p>The FA office will not change your package for this. You are still a dependent student and since this is a Profile school they will consider both you dad’s and your mother’s income and assets. They both will need to provide this information all 4 years.</p>
<p>If getting “kicked” out made a difference in FA then every parent would do it. It makes NO difference at age 18.</p>
<p>You either need to get back in your parents good graces, or go to a school you can afford. And by afford I mean can pay for with your savings, income, and a $5,500 Stafford loan. Or take a gap year. But note you won’t be declared independent for FA until you are 24, regardless of the amount of support you do or don’t get from your parents.</p>
<p>The mods should consolidate these threads.</p>