<p>Interested in Sport Administration. I can't afford the school (i'd have to get a scholarship or aid package). Anyways, here's my credentials</p>
<p>GPA: 3.53 uw academics</p>
<p>Curriculum: 7 AC courses, 2 AP courses (taking 2 more AP courses senior year)</p>
<p>ACT: 29</p>
<p>Location: Michigan</p>
<p>ECs: Ice Hockey (captain, state finalists), Orchestra (two-time competition winner, president, 1st chair, awards within), Helped found a premier sports website on the web, write for the site currently (won an award with the site), Helped build and maintain Disc Golf course while a part of Frisbee Club, member of National Honors Society, Volunteer at local thrift shop, worked with local newspaper for 5 years (won awards during service). Candidate for class president (didn't win :-( )</p>
<p>Let me know! I'm thinking it's a match/reach right now...</p>
<p>Applied EA (non-binding) already! My parents refuse to fill out the FASFA, so I guess i'm going after scholarships.</p>
<p>BTW - The Miami FL recruiters did a terrific job on selling the university to me. I got tons of letters in the mail, they did a good job with e-mail too. Their application was very easy, too.</p>
<p>I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but UM requires the FAFSA be submitted to release scholarship funds. I would talk to a financial advisor about your situation therefore. That way you don't have any surprises. Best wishes.....</p>
<p>Geez, looks like I have to talk to them more.</p>
<p>They don't want to fill it out, because they have money stored in accounts for their retirement, and don't want to release that information. That money wasn't for my college, rather for their own use.</p>
<p>A couple of things.....And someone can correct me if I'm wrong, I think that money invested in an IRA/Keough is not reported on the FAFSA. Or may be reported but not used as a deterimining factor? Money invested for retirement elsewhere is. There is also a dollar cutoff for savings that is not taking into consideration. Our pension and IRA's didn't hurt us one bit on the FAFSA, because these are funds that are not accessable anyway. </p>
<p>My suggestion is to have your parents and you sit down and have a very serious dicussion about financial aid. If necessary see if you can get one of them to use one of the financial aid calculators to estimate your families EFC. They (the calculators) can be pretty acurate if you put in the figures correctly. I think we were within a few hundred dollars of estimating correctly. I know this may be hard for you as a son/daughter to do, but believe me when I say, it will be much harder for you, and them alike, if you get into your #1 choice and then have to turn them down for financial considerations. Here's a brief formula for figuring your true costs......</p>
<p>Tuition + Fees + Room and Board + Books + Travel + Personal expenses = Total Dollars Amount needed for school. (We found it easier to do this as a yearly cost, not as a semester cost since EFC is based on a school year)</p>
<p>Now, add these up: Scholarships & Grants (you can find any grants you might qualify for on UM's site). This is basically your "free money." Because you have to remember that if your families EFC is more than the total of these Scholarships and Grants you have to consider it as money out of pocket. Granted, you won't feel it right away, but any differences will be made up as loans. And while not due and payable now, it will eventually have to be paid out of your or your parents pocket. So even a loan, in my mind anyway, needs to be considered as money you will spend. </p>
<p>I don't mean to be a downer here, and don't want to discourage you....I've just seen so many kids who have been disappointed when reality sets in. And I think an adult conversation about a families financial ability to afford college will go along way in securing your happiness, as well as proving to your parents that you are thinking about the welfare of the whole family. Maybe they in turn will realize that in order to help you succeed they may "need" to share this info. Once again, best of luck! It sounds as if you really want UM and I hope you attain it!</p>
<p>So the FASFA won't take into consideration a certain amount of money my parents have saved for retirement? That helps. I'm a single income house and my parents are sending two children to college in the same year. </p>
<p>Scholarships and grants - we are supposed to wait until January when we are committed to a school to look these up, right? I've heard that you can pick up a bunch of small scholarships that help.</p>
<p>Two kids in college in the same year will help A LOT - because the EFA will apply to one kid or two - in other words, if your family's EFA is, let's say, $16,000, it would mean that $8,000 goes to each kid. Then the colleges, if they meet need, make up the rest in finaid - a combo of scholarships, work-study and loans, usually. </p>
<p>UM also gives merit money - while you may need to complete the FAFSA before the U applies your merit money to your account, it is based solely on merit when it is given out by Admissions.</p>
<p>My S got his scholarship offer with his EA acceptance. Later we submitted a FAFSA, since it was required by his schools, even though we knew we wouldn't qualify for finaid. (There was a thread about whether people who know they won't get finaid should do a FAFSA and/or Profile, and we learned that often the colleges require a FAFSA to be considered for merit money, so it is a good idea to submit it. A number of folks didn't want to for reasons similar to your folks, or due to privacy concerns, but decided to anyway, as they wanted their young'uns considered for merit money.)</p>
<p>S later got more money from the Bus School, which gives out some freshman scholarships. He applied for those in March, I think. They required a FAFSA because some of their money is need based and other grants are merit based, and they want the FAFSA to see what you may or may not qualify for. </p>
<p>While many people find they do not qualify for finaid, having more than one kid in school at the same time often changes that picture dramatically, so by all means apply, and get your folks to do the FAFSA. Good luck!</p>
<p>Picking up additional scholarships not through UM is a good idea. But something you'll want to check is how those particular scholarships are used. Case in point; son won 3 additional scholarships, from organizations not associated at all with UM. All 3 of these were one time only, and all had to be used freshman year. They were paid directly to the U, and upon receipt of these it changed the previously agreeded upon financial aid package. While they did help that freshman year, it also changed his loans from subsidized to un-subsidized. </p>
<p>I would also take a look at the grants now on UM's financial aid website. And while yes, if they have special forms etc to fill out you don't need to do them yet, see if they have any you qualify for just to get an idea. (I know for the FRAG grant you must be a FL resident and I think they also have some for disadvantaged students, some based on need alone, etc.) Each different grant has different rules which apply, so a little familiarity with each won't hurt. </p>
<p>It's confusing isn't it? I know I still don't know everything there is when it comes to understanding FA, and I've been trying to learn for over 5 years now. LOL. Just keep learning and asking questions, and you'll be fine! :)</p>
<p>Wanted to BUMP to see if you think i'll get in or not, since i'm like the only applicant who is applying this year from these forums! BTW - I applied EA and everything is in to the university.</p>
<p>I think it's great that you have everything in already. You should have a very good shot. Keep your senior grades up and have your school send first term grades. Good luck.</p>