I knew it would be @itsgettingreal17 for the win! 38 - Brava! =D>
D just got two more scholarship apps in today.
DD has submitted 2 EA (accepted at both with merit/scholarships), 2 UCs (same app), 2 RD but submitted early (one due to deadline for merit consideration). Still has 5 to submit this week and next. Not sure how many essays total. No outside scholarships yet. There is one through our city/district that is automatic $1000-$1200/yr no essay required so sheāll be submitting that soon. I think there are some other local ones she may submit and two outside ones sheās considering that require essays/videos but I donāt know the due dates.
QOTD: 16 applications in total. We perhaps should have eliminated 3 of those. 3 were not from Common App. Around 9 separate scholarship applications (2 still to be completed)
QOTD: 6 Applications plus one scholarship. 4 applications started with stuff sent, but never truly finished the essays
He was accepted 4, two safeties and one match. He had to withdraw all because he got into his ED choice.
We ended up with 12 applications. Many supplementals and separate scholarships apps, Iād have to check how many and only 1 was a quick and simple Common App one. We really are searching for some big merit money as well as doing the ROTC scholarship process as well. With no instate options for DSā major we needed to cast a wide net with some schools where we are hoping for merit money and some where ROTC could make it a possibility. There is some overlap between the 2 paths as well. Iām exhausted from the process.
QOTD: D is applying to 15 schools.
2 safeties
5 matches
2 low-reach
3 reach
3 high-reach
Definitely a few too many schools IMO, but we want her to be able to choose among at least a few schools in April that are affordable to us. Without being able to get a truly accurate financial picture with NPCs due to our business and not knowing how schools will view business expenses, she had to cast a very wide net. Of course all the reach and high-reach schools are the most generous and have verbally told us they will accept our expenses as is. If only it was that easy to get her accepted at one of those schools!
QOTD: Apps are nowhere near finished, so no point in guessing how many will be submitted.
of long, mid-range, and short essays---FAR too many. Five for one school, seven for another....completely crazy. A great school is one that only has one 'Why xyz' 500 word essay in addition to the CA essay. I think all but three schools will be CA schools, so there is that, but the # of supplemental essays is ridiculous. So much less cutting & pasting than I visualized.
QOTD: 9 apps submitted, all EA. Probably 2 RD apps to come, maybe 3. Admitted to all EA schoolsā1 reach, 5 targets, and 3 safeties.
@Aida The FAFSA needing to be applied for all 4 years would apply to federal money I think not sure but each school uses the data differently so I doubt it matters to them. But once your taxes are done it doesnāt take long to do and itās nice to get confirmation of your EFC so you know the ballpark. I will have 2 in college starting next year and for the FAFSA it basically cut our EFC in half for each kid so same total number. My son attends a meets all need school but they donāt go by that number I think they ask that you pay closer 60% of the EFC approximately for each child. Some schools seem to care how much the siblingsā school cost and others just wanted to know if there were more than 1 child in college so I guess they calculate it a bit differently.
8 apps.
1 real lottery scholarship application
Sh
D17 got into Earlham! This was the first one that she really, really wanted. She got good merit, too, with a $30k/year scholarship. Of course, theyāre an expensive school, so that doesnāt quite bring them down to Alabama affordability (read: low $20s), but it does bring it to Kansas level (high $20s).
Interesting: Earlham says in their scholarship letter that theyāre all about intrinsic love of learning, so the only GPA requirement to keep a scholarship is what youād need to make satisfactory academic progress anyway (that is, a 2.0).
@dfbdfb Congrats! How exciting for your D!
@dcplanner Thanks, we did file the FAFSA and have no problem doing that every year, but I was wondering for the schools that require CSS Profile to receive aid, can you apply for second year in college if you didnāt apply the first year? One schoolās website said you should file every year because what you are awarded the first year is likely what you will receive every year. That seems strange, because we will eventually have 3 in college at the same time; shouldnāt I expect my aid to increase then?
Congratulations @dfbdfb ! Iāve heard wonderful things about Earlham.
QOTD- 4 applications, 2 honors apps and 1 scholarship app. She could have only been 1 and done, but I wanted her to have options in case she changes her mind in the Spring. She is 4 for 4 with nice merit at each school, so we are thrilled.
Congrats @dfbdfb ā thatās great news! Sheāll have some good choices.
Hi and Congratulations to all of the families who are already receiving college acceptances and scholarships!
My son has been accepted to four college so far, each with generous merit aid. We cast a wide net to schools known for providing generous aid. So far: University of Alabama: $4000/year +$1500/year engineering (but out of state tuition)ā¦ Allegheny College: $28,000/year (Trusteeās Scholarship)ā¦ Trinity University (San Antonio, TX): $21,000/year (Trusteeās Scholarship)ā¦ and U Maine: $4,000/year (in state tuition).
Iām confused about how the EFC (in our case, $21,700) is applied. Are merit scholarships generally applied after the EFC? That will make a huge difference in the overall costs. Does anyone have any specific information on any of these four colleges?
My son also applied to Bates, Brandeis, Vanderbilt, UConn (New England Tuition Break), Texas A&M, and Gettysburg College.
@sbhyde Welcome. Unfortunately your assumption is incorrect. Your parental contribution almost never gets covered by merit or grants. The only time you will see your parental contribution reduced is if the child receives merit awards greater than the parental contribution. At many schools, if a student brings in outside merit, institutional grants are reduced meaning $0 net reduction in cost. Some schools will reduce the student contribution by the outside awards, but not the parental contribution.
Hth
@sbhyde Typically merit scholarships do not bring your total costs below your EFC. Instead, your need-based aid is reduced by the amount of the merit scholarship. However, every college is different in how it makes its calculations so you will likely have to wait until you get the complete package to know for sure.
@dfbdfb Congrats on Earlham!!! My D loved the look of it and would have applied if there had been a dance program there. We know a young woman who went there and had an amazing experience.
Donāt forget those spam folders!
@dfbdfb Congratulations to your Dd!! :D/ Does that mean she is closer to making a final choice?