I am a parent who needs to get her student to college and this is the first time I have been involved with the process (my older student had funding his first year and the remaining years did all of it on his own).
My student has been accepted at UCs and a Poly. She was awarded a CalGrant A that covers tuition at a UC and about 70% tuition at the Poly. She qualifies for the Blue and Gold plan. So the remaining amount - room and board will need to be covered by us.
But my question is - while she received acceptances, there was nothing about affording college in her emails and letters. What is the next step? How do I find out if she is eligible for any scholarships through UCs? Or about her working to help pay for her schooling through the school?
Finally, our income was higher because she was awarded disability though social security because her father is disabled. However, that goes away in in May when she graduated in high school. How should I let the college know?
Sorry for so many questions. I have worked really hard at not having debt and the cost of living here in So Cal is very high, but I want her to have every opportunity to go to school.
If she selected UCI, she would be in a program that she is very capable but I’m not sure she deeply loves the program. UCI did not offer the majors she was most interested in. It would be the most affordable option though because she could live at home.
When was she acccepted by the UC‘s? When was she accepted by the Cal states?
Sometimes the financial aid award letter doesn’t come until March.
Sometimes the financial aid award letter comes with your acceptance letter.
The universities have separate financial aid departments that are busy working on financial aid packages as applications come in.
They don’t know who will or won’t be accepted, so they have to take their combined dollars and make estimates, within their budgets, to provide the aid packages. In addition to dispersing the Cal grant funds (A, B, C), Blue and Gold fund availability and private scholarship/endowment monies, the FA staff are making FA packages for current students.
Each individual University will award the financial aid dollars it has. Then their money “runs out”. It doesn’t matter that they’re all UC’s or CSU’s; they each have different funding sources. Did you receive any supplemental State University grants in any of the paperwork? You should see a mention of federal work study and or loans. That may not be out yet from some of the Cal states and UCs…
She received UCSC last week, and UCI about 3 weeks ago. Cal Poly was the first part of Feb. She did not do any kind of early decision.
All I received was a letter with the CalGrant award for academics.
Wait until she gets all of her FA award letters from all of her sites.
Acceptances and FA awards are coming to the majority of student applicants in March.
You mentioned that your income will decrease when your daughter graduates from high school due to her Social Security payments ceasing. I hope you didn’t include untaxed Social Security payments as either her or her father’s income on the FAFSA.
“” She was awarded a CalGrant A that covers tuition at a UC and about 70% tuition at the Poly.””
?
the Cal Grant A should cover all of tuition at a Cal Poly. why are you thinking that it doesn’t?
“” Finally, our income was higher because she was awarded disability though social security because her father is disabled. However, that goes away in in May when she graduated in high school. How should I let the college know?””
Contact schools and ask for Professional Judgement to have her disability payments removed since they’ll go away in June.
“”” If she selected UCI, she would be in a program that she is very capable but I’m not sure she deeply loves the program. UCI did not offer the majors she was most interested in. It would be the most affordable option though because she could live at home. “””
Where are you seeing that Cal Poly’s tuition is $10k. on the Cal Poly website it says that tuition is about $2k per quarter…3 quarters is $6-7k per year.
Cal Grant A pays for tuition regardless if it’s UC, Cal Poly, or CSU.
Frankly, since you live in Southern Calif and you have a modest income, why would you consider taking on debt for SLO? how much debt would you be taking on for all four years?
Also, there’s travel expenses to also consider.
I saw that you were asking about summer aid for your dd to take two courses…take those at a local CC…just make sure that they’re the right Chem and Physics classes.
She really wants Architectural Landscaping - with Plant Science as her second choice. When talking to Cal Poly they suggested with her math interest to do Landscaping with a minor in Arch Engineering. She liked this major because it involves stem interests plus creativity. These are at Cal Poly Pomona, SLO, Berkeley and Davis.
the Cal Grant A should cover all of tuition at a Cal Poly. why are you thinking that it doesn’t?
9,942 is the Total Tuition and Fees from the Cal Poly site - the grant has a dollar amount and that is not it.
Frankly, since you live in Southern Calif and you have a modest income, why would you consider taking on debt for SLO? how much debt would you be taking on for all four years? I have considered her taking out her maximum each year and then taking about 8000 a year on myself. If we keep at one car (paid off) and really cut back on spending and she gets a part time job, we may be able to pay this off each year. But yes, anything can happen, I’d like to not have more than 20,000 by the time she is done.
She is one of those girls who has a wide variety of interests - until this summer she wanted to major in math (but did not want to teach). Then she worked with plants this summer. She is very stem oriented, but also art (but after AP Art Drawing did not want art as her career). She took some python courses and decided she did not like programming/being in an office on the computer all day. She really loved being outside for part of the day. She does not care for biology. She just tried to find a major that combined those interests.
At UCI, env engineering was the most interesting of the majors she reviewed. It is close to where she has volunteered and she feels like it is familiar. She does best with a challenging curriculum and thinks this is the most challenging of what she has applied for - I see some doubt in herself - that impostor syndrome many girls entering a program that is more male dominate can feel.
Cal Poly Pomona Tuition and Fees for 2019-2020= $7396
Cal Poly SLO Tuition and Fees for 2019-2020=$9942
SLO fees are higher (the Campus Academic Fee ($1,169.70 per year) that was increased campus-wide in 2002, and the Student Success Fee ($832.77) that was created in 2012
Cal Poly Pomona has released decisions but SLO has not as of 5pm today.
“” 9,942 is the Total Tuition and Fees from the Cal Poly site - the grant has a dollar amount and that is not it.””
you’re including fees in that. Cal Grant doesn’t cover fees. it only covers tuition.
then you say that the Cal Grant covers all of the UC tuition…yes it does…but it doesn’t cover UC fees either. at both schools you’d have to pay the couple thousand of fees.
“” She is one of those girls who has a wide variety of interests - until this summer she wanted to major in math (but did not want to teach). Then she worked with plants this summer. She is very stem oriented, but also art (but after AP Art Drawing did not want art as her career). She took some python courses and decided she did not like programming/being in an office on the computer all day. She really loved being outside for part of the day. She does not care for biology. She just tried to find a major that combined those interests.””
it sounds like she had a summer experience working with plants …what exactly did she do last summer. as someone who has 3 close relatives with Cal Poly Landscape Arch degrees, I have to say that typically people with that goal have a long prior history and it’s in their blood.
Are you sure that she’d want that as a career?
what about civil engineering or ArchE? Both of those afford a person to be outdoors for some of their days.
RE Plants - she has had a nature passion her entire life - her main focus has been ornithology and she has spent her free time being a naturalist, giving talks, presentations, working with the public, peers and mentors. She decided that she wants to keep that as a personal passion, not academic.
After her summer internship (where the did basic work (and loved it - watering, grooming, digging, pretty physical labor with time set aside to problem solve, do research, create a public document with her knowledge) but also had field trips with horticulturists to different gardens, scientists, and businesses who work with plants), she feels like that is something she’d like to pursue.
Arch Landscaping combined the creative part with plants more than plant science alone. Personally, I think she liked the people - all creative, brilliant, passionate, calm and interesting. It “fit her” personality well and colors her decision.
Have her read through some of these and other job descriptions to see what she would like to do and then maybe figure out what kind of education she would need.
