<p>Had our family appointment with the GC and rising senior daughter yesterday. The GC suggested adding Michigan State and Missouri-Columbia to our list. She said both can offer OOS students significant need-based aid. True?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1161064-dont-use-avg-need-met-oos-publics-guideline.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1161064-dont-use-avg-need-met-oos-publics-guideline.html</a></p>
<p>Don’t Use Average Need Met OOS Publics</p>
<p>Yes, I know the general advice in that thread. What I’m asking is whether anyone has specific information or experience about whether either or both of these two colleges is an exception.</p>
<p>No they don’t. Why would they? they can’t even meet need for their own instate students.</p>
<p>What is your EFC?</p>
<p>MSU
Out-of-state tuition and fees: $29,108<br>
Room and board: $7,770
Books and supplies: $980<br>
Estimated personal expenses: $1,252<br>
Transportation expense: $486 </p>
<p>COA for an OOS student is over $40k</p>
<p>You’d likely be given a 5500 loan, maybe 2000 in workstudy…and if stats are high…maybe $10k in merit. </p>
<p>And…if she has high stats, then she could get a LOT more elsewhere!</p>
<p>MSU Financial Aid Statistics</p>
<pre><code>* Full-time freshman enrollment: 7,227
- Number who applied for need-based aid: 5,351
- Number who were judged to have need: 3,797
- Number who were offered aid: 3,709
- Number who had full need met: 784
- Average percent of need met: 41% <<---- and that would be mostly instate kids
- Average financial aid package: $7,882 <<—wouldn’t make a dent in OOS costs.
- Average need-based loan: $3,406
- Average indebtedness at graduation: $21,818
</code></pre>
<p>Frankly…many GCs have no idea of what they’re talking about when it comes to money and schools. And…unless she knows the details of your income and assets, how the heck would she know if a student would get FA anywhere???</p>
<p>If you want money…apply to the schools that give money…either need-based or merit-based.</p>
<p>What are your child’s stats?</p>
<p>What is your EFC?</p>
<p>However, if you don’t mind wasting the app money, apply and then show the FA results to the GC next spring.</p>
<p>Seriously, only UNC-Ch and UVA are known to give a lot of need based aid to OOS students…and they don’t accept many…so it could be argued that those are almost like merit scholarships for high stats kids.</p>
<p>For many people who can’t pay full-freight, getting money from an OOS public means merit aid…not need based aid.</p>
<p>I doubt either school will offer much need based aid. However, Mizzou does have agreements with some states through the Midwest Student Exchange Program to lower the tuition to 150% of instate rates. It depends on where you live and if the program your daughter is interested in is covered</p>
<p>@m2ck: I’m aware of all that. I know my approximate EFC. I’ve already looked up the basic COA information, and I know that if these schools do not offer OOS FA, then they are not affordable for us. But there are state schools that do offer need based aid to OOS students. </p>
<p>DD’s high school has had 38 kids apply to Michigan State (37 admitted) and 16 to Missouri-Columbia (all 16 admitted) in the the last three years (according to Naviance), so I’m going to assume that the GC is not talking completely through her hat. OTOH, she’s the least savvy of the four GCs at the school, so neither am I going to accept what she says at face value. </p>
<p>I also know that Michigan State tends to like kids from our school and gives very generous merit packages. (A friend of my D’s is starting there in the fall with a full merit ride, tuition + room + board, plus a $4,000 lab assistantship on top of the full ride.) My daughter’s stats probably aren’t good enough for a big merit award (anywhere), so I need to know about need-based aid before we invest the time and effort into checking out these schools. </p>
<p>We already had a list of schools that include two solid financial safeties, and the question is simply do we want to add these to the list.</p>
<p>So I’ll repeat my question: does anyone have EXPERIENCE with EITHER OF THESE TWO SPECIFIC SCHOOLS , either getting or being denied OOS need-based aid.</p>
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<p>Not, unfortunately, with Illinois.</p>
<p>*DD’s high school has had 38 kids apply to Michigan State (37 admitted) and 16 to Missouri-Columbia (all 16 admitted) in the the last three years (according to Naviance), so I’m going to assume that the GC is not talking completely through her hat. OTOH, she’s the least savvy of the four GCs at the school, so neither am I going to accept what she says at face value. *</p>
<p>I’m confused. The GC told you about ADMITTED students. How many actually attend? Being admitted says nothing about what the FA packages were…and GCs rarely see FA packages anyway. Does she know what kind of NEED (not merit) BASED aid they got that was NOT federal aid. The stats suggest that most/all of their need-based aid is going to be federal or state aid (for resident students). </p>
<p>*I also know that Michigan State … (A friend of my D’s is starting there in the fall with a full merit ride, tuition + room + board, plus a $4,000 lab assistantship on top of the full ride.) *</p>
<p>That doesn’t surprise me. MSU probably does offer some really big merit scholarships for stellar stats in order to attract kids away from UMich and other schools. </p>
<p>If your D needs a lot of FA, she should look at DePauw…great aid for those with need.</p>
<p><sigh></sigh></p>
<p>As someone who prides himself on being a communicator, I’m clearly failing here. I can’t ask my specific question any more clearly. If there’s anyone who can answer it, I would be most grateful.</p>
<p>Post in the MSU Forum, Post in the the Missouri-Columbia Forum, maybe someone will answer your question.</p>
<p>Good answer to post in the school specific forums. In Michigan there are very few (per capita) large tuition discounting merit scholarships. As far as “need based aid” need is not met 100%. Most scholarships are listed on the websites (both for Michigan and Michigan State). Great stats and geographic diversity will get a student considered for these. For every one kid that gets a great deal there are at least twenty or more who get very little or nothing. I can’t imagine in this economy in the state of Michigan that any family will pay less than their EFC for any reason so your EFC would be a starting point and then knowing need is rarely met except for a small percentage of students who are highly desireable. I can’t imagine what more you want to hear OP regarding Michigan State, but you could certainly post on the Michigan State board, it’s fairly active.</p>
<p>I believe Mizzou has an automatic OOS scholarship for those who have the numbers. Outside of that, their aid is not that great is what I have been told by in staters, much less OOS kids. </p>
<p>Since your school does have a lot of experience with OOS admissions to those schools, ask the more experienced counselors what kind of financial aid packages they have tended to see as well as merit for someone of your D’s stats. </p>
<p>The averages don’t tend to matter at all when you are dealing with your own, so you need to see what specifically these schools have that could go your daughter’s way. Look up the % of average need met, and the dollar amounts of aid. Then look at the merit money available and the dollar amounts and the % of kids getting that. </p>
<p>My son is going to an OOS public which has a great full ride program for those with very high stats. The program is not as impossibly selective as many other such programs and there are a decent number of kids who qualify. The school does not care if candidates are OOS or in state for their Honors College and scholarships. However, the financial aid at said school is abysmal for out of staters. It does not meet need for the in state kids, so it doesn’t even really try for the OOS ones. If your kid can get the merit money, s/he could be set there, but forget the need based aid.</p>
<p>Also find out who the families are who did apply to these schools and if they know how the kids did in terms of monies awarded that were accepted. Our high school lists awards, but they do not differentiate between fin aid and merit awards. They will list any awards for which a student will bring the verifying letter. All they check for is if the money is grant money from the college itself–not PELL or other government funds.</p>
<p>Good luck annasdad. I hope you find someone who can answer your specific question. There was another posted from Illinois who started a thread but I think he was focused on merit rather than need based aid and I don’t believe he had either MSU or Mizzou on the list.</p>
<p>I have friends from IL and know how difficult it can be to find financial safeties so I’m glad to hear you have found a couple of them. Both of my friend’s kids are going out of state for school because they could find a better deal.</p>
<p>Seems like a number of us are doing that.</p>
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<p>Yeah, especially when one of DD’s non-negotiable demands (one of the few, actually) is continuing with her Russian studies.</p>
<p>Actually, one of our safeties is a Missouri public, Truman State, OOS COA $21,000 (which makes it $5-8K less than Illinois IS). With a $5,500 Stafford (for which we’d qualify, according to the EFC calculators), that’s just barely affordable for us. D likes what she sees on the Truman State website, and we’re visiting it next month. Based on the GC’s suggestion, we may try and hit Mizzou on the same trip.</p>
<p>D also has a good chance of qualifying for the Illinois Children of Veterans 4-year tuition waiver, good at any of the three U of I campuses; and if that comes through, then both UIUC and UIC become financial safeties. She’d be very happy at either one.</p>
<p>If your daughter’s Math + Critical Reading section are high (I forget exactly how high, I almost want to say 1350) she’ll be invited into the Honors College, which gives you a grant that reduces your tuition to that of a Michigan resident…and also makes you eligible for other scholarships. If her sum is 1500 or more, she’ll get a Proffesorial Assistantship, which means she’ll be working with a professor and getting paid.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>The scholarship may have changed…it now is only for $8k per year. OOS tuition is $29k per year…so tuition would be about $21k</p>
<p>Honors College National Scholarships
The Honors College National Scholarship (HCNS) is a four-year scholarship of $8000 per year awarded to nonresident students who join the Honors College as incoming freshmen. The HCNS is not related to financial need. </p>
<p>Admittance:</p>
<p>Invitations are extended within four to six weeks of the MSU admission to high school students who:</p>
<pre><code>* Rank in the top 5 percent of their high school graduating class.
- Have an ACT composite score of at least 30 or an SAT score of at least 1360 (Critical Reading plus Math sections only). MSU requires an ACT or SAT with a writing component.
</code></pre>
<p>I hope your daughter receives the Veterans tuition waiver and/or likes Truman. </p>
<p>I’m sure you’re probably on top of everything so I am hesitant to mention other schools. However, my son will be applying this fall also and money is a concern so I’ve tried to find schools that are affordable. Two that made the intial list do offer Russian though the quality of the program is not something I’m familiar with. </p>
<p>The two schools would be the U of Wyoming and U of North Dakota. Both have COA that isn’t sky high for OOS students and both offer sholarships to students who may not be tip top. I think both schools have an estimator on their websites.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip on North Dakota and Wyoming. I’ll mention them to her, although I doubt she wants to go that far from home.</p>
<p>In addition to the publics I’ve mentioned, we’ve got a list of 7 privates (2 reaches and 5 safeties - no matches), some of which may offer some merit, based on past experience with kids with similar stats from her school. Going to be a busy eight months or so.</p>
<p>You’re welcome. I know when I was trying to come up with a list I used the below website quite a bit. I like that you can input up to 3 majors (for you Russian Studies and Russian language/literature) and then sort the list it provides by OOS COA.</p>
<p>I know it’s not perfect because it doesn’t pick up all the schools that it should but it’s a starting point.</p>
<p>[CollegeData:</a> College Search, Financial Aid, College Application, College Scholarship, Student Loan, FAFSA Info, Common Application](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/]CollegeData:”>http://www.collegedata.com/)</p>