Parents of the HS Class of 2020 - 3.0 to 3.4 GPA

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
721

@ITBgirl and @Momofmanytoo I’m in the same boat…according to FAFSA our EFC is high even with twins so I didn’t expect too much in the form of financial aid, but remember…not all Merit Aid is need-based and even with less than stellar stats D20’s offer of admission letters already promised at least $1-3K merit awards (not much, but enough to cover cost of books).

D20 received a generous financial aid package (with majority being scholarship/grant money which would not need to be paid back) from an in-state private (Roanoke) which brought cost (with 5K loan) down to 25K/year…about (if not less than) cost of in-state public. Original cost was $60K/year.

S20 with slightly above-average stats actually received merit award of nearly $10K from ODU in his offer of admission letter. With S20 now being a soccer recruit at a D1 school we expect some scholarship/merit aid as well.

After receiving the financial aid package from Roanoke, although from a private, as well as the ODU merit award we thought well…hmmmm…we’d like to see all financial aid packages as they come in. Plus, we were told that financial aid packages would be coming mid-February/early March and regardless of financial aid packages D20 plans to attend “admit days” to revisit her top 2-3 schools and those dates are in March/April so presumably she will have received all financial aid packages prior to her admit day visits so that she can make a well-rounded decision.

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@ITBgirl he might. There should be some information on each school’s website about how to apply for financial aid and scholarships. It will likely vary by school.

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In our experience (one D16 about to graduate from college and one S20), at almost all schools, applicants are automatically considered for merit aid with application. ALSO, just because FAFSA says you are full pay doesn’t mean that the college/university will not offer institutional grants based on need. For most of my daughter’s acceptances the $5K loan was offered with the award package, plus merit award, plus, in two cases, an institutional grant.

Unfortunately she lost that grant in her third year because we didn’t complete the FAFSA.

724

Isn’t that what the NPC tells you? I’ve seen NPC’s tell me I’ll get XX in need based grants even though FAFSA tells me I’m full pay.

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Theoretically, yes. That didn’t happen with us in two cases, though.

726

@1stTimeThruMom and all others who thought I fell off the face of the earth.

It was quite the fall and I am SO happy it is behind us. D20 did a rolling application over the summer to a school that was a likely and that came in as a yes in early October so we were off to a good start. Meanwhile she had her eyes set on a certain school that she (and I met) with the AO in September. This was it as far as she was concerned. HAD to do her application that weekend and he said she would hear back in 6 weeks…she circled the calendar and was planning her dorm room. Meanwhile she did agree to get all her applications except one that would be better (we thought) RD done right away (she did not want to be like her sister D18 stressed until December getting apps done). So October was applications galore and she was done by mid-October minus the RD. We went to a special on the road event the RD school had in our area one Saturday in October and it was incredible! She already loved the school from visiting last winter but it was a reach. She (and I) walked away from the event thinking it might be an almost doable reach. We also were convinced by the school to do the application EA. Sunday morning she was up early and poured her heart into that application. It was really good! The one thing not on it was her scores which were not really good (took them May, June and August) and the best was June which was just below 1100.

Meanwhile all around her friends were getting into schools left and right that were rolling…many she applied to and not heard back including her number one obsession. At the last minute she threw in 3 schools we had not visited. 1st Q grades came and were really good! A B in math, B+ in science and all else were A’s. We sent those out.

Right at that time in came responses …a VERY surprising deferral, then a denial at one of those last minute schools, then an acceptance at another last minute school. But still no word from #1. Quick break for Thanksgiving and then they came fast and furious…deferral at a reach ( that I am thrilled and surprised was a deferral), then deferral at another school, pause to take SATs for 4th time for dream school. Then crickets for two weeks. Scores came back and she went down. Tensions were high, she was trying to love the school she got in sight unseen but was crushed as all her friends heard back from the same group she applied to with acceptances and she was no, deferred or had not heard. It was a very ugly time in our house…way worse than what we went through with D18.

D18 came home for Christmas break the weekend of 12/13 and I told her to prepare herself as it was a war zone. Then Monday 12/16 rolled around and she was in at our state school…not one she was interested in but she now had 3 acceptances to balance the 3 deferrals and the denial. Later that day I found out the reach she opened her heart to had posted and my heart sank as I wanted her to at least be on the positive side of the stats for one day. She pulled out the iPad with a defeated look and began to read then she stopped and was in complete shock saying “Am I seeing this right?” She could not go on and I did not have my reading glasses so D18 took it from her and read to the room that she was ACCEPTED!! We were in a state of shock and joy. This was the school when we left campus last year she said “Good bye beautiful school I will never get in to”. And here she was, in.

Next day she got in to another of those last minute schools then the following another deferral at another reach. And two days after that a deferral at her #1.

None of this mattered though because she was in at the school she barely dared to dream about getting in. At this point she has little or no interest in any of the 5 that deferred her, has forgotten about the denial of the school she never saw, and has two decisions pending that she no longer thinks about. Of her five acceptances one is a clear winner of her heart and it is one I believed from the minute we set foot on campus it would be a fit. Financially we are not sure what the final number will be but the CoA is $6k less than her sister’s school so that is a good start. We are going in February to visit and bringing my husband to see it. This has been quite the rollercoaster so you are never sure where the ride will end but unless we have a dramatic twist I think we have a college.

I have been following along this thread and now that our house is back in order and my crazy work season is behind I hope to be contributing more.

Very excited for all the good news I have read here and am cheering everyone on to the best possible outcome. One thing I learned with D18 and am relearning this year…everyone ends up exactly where they should be.

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@MinnieFan Congrats on a big win! Now I’m curious, can u share the name of the wining school? Sounds like your D is very happy.

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@MinnieFan Reading this I feel the emotional rollercoaster you have been on. What a ride! Congrats to both you and your daughter.

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Some schools have mostly automatic scholarship matching and scholarship/grant applications, where the applicant need do nothing besides apply for admission. Others have scholarships that require the applicant to do something in addition to only applying for admission.

A couple of days ago, UNC Charlotte sent us an email telling my son he was “matched” with another scholarship/grant opportunity at the school and that he needed to apply by XX to have a chance at it. Other schools have also emailed in the last week or two, reminding us to apply for specific scholarships.

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@MAmom111 will share when we have a finalized decision!

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@MinnieFan What an exciting update! Congratulations to your D on getting into the big reach!

732

DD20 received acceptances to both IU and Purdue, Purdue has officially moved up to her second choice behind Alabama.

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S has heard from all his EA schools. He is in at Central CT State, University of Hartford, UMaine (honors college), Manhattan College, UMass Dartmouth, Quinnipiac, and Wentworth Institute. Pleasantly surprised by the amount of merit, which I didn’t expect at all. He was denied at Catholic U and UNH (that hurt; it was one of this top choices). Waiting to hear from two RD schools and two scholarships he applied for.

Anyone with inside info on any of these colleges, please share, especially related to the engineering program.

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Quinipiac is a real up and coming institution. Lots of building and spaces for students. The law school and the new pa program adding to its growing reputation Great ncaa hockey for fun. Access to things to do off campus as well.

I’ve heard some mixed reviews on the split campus but don’t know much about it personally.

735

Hi all. Need some help re two schools my D applied and got accepted at.

D was accepted at U of AZ and NAU. Certainly great news! However, she did not get any type of scholarship funding. This is especially hard with U of A, as we’re OOS and they don’t offer the WUE.

My daughter had a strong first sememster senior year which bumped up her academic GPA into a range where they advertise an automatic scholarships. So, we wrote to both schools (to the recruitment counselors) and after two weeks we’ve yet to receive any acknowledgement of the e-mails with the updated grades, etc.

Recognize that they’re probably extremely busy, but we don’t want to leave this amount of $$$ on the table.

I also read in the fine print that they might not even take her first semester sr year grades into consideration for a scholarship, which makes NO sense to me.

My questions:

  1. Do I just need to be more patient?
  2. Am I contacting the right people @ the universities?
  3. Do most schools ignore first semester sr grades when it comes to scholarships?

Thoughts are appreciated. It seems as if schools make this confusing on purpose!

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@Damon389 did you try https://nau.edu/office-of-scholarships-and-financial-aid/contact-osfa/
at NAU?

U of A seems strict with their scholarship criteria being for end of junior year.
https://financialaid.arizona.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/freshman-transfer

Perhaps your guidance counselor could inquire.

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@Damon389 We ran into something similar with my older ones. Unless your school is on a schedule where they’ve completed classes after the first semester, the GPA most likely doesn’t count. Only completed courses counted where my kids applied.

I would highly recommend asking your guidance counselor to help you out by reaching out and see what the deal is.

738

Heard from school #12 this week and it is a yes!! This was one of her top schools when initially touring. We have added it to our February travel plans which now are to fly down to school #1 for the accepted students event, drive 3-4 hours to D18’s school and stay there Saturday/Sunday for a visit. Head out Monday for the 5 hour drive to school #2 and she reluctantly signed up for a freshman tour at the only school we have yet to hear back from which is between sister’s school and school #2. If she does not get in we will obviously cancel, if she does get in it will break up the drive and while it is #3 on her list of these schools right now you never know. It just makes sense to stop since we are going right by it and will not be doing another trip in this area.

Still think she will be all about the school she is all about now but want her to be confident in her decision and to take the time explore curriculum requirements and other details that get overlooked when first choosing schools to apply to. Plus school #3 is in a fun city so it will be a great way to celebrate the end of what has been 3 1/2 years of college tours between the 2 girls.

No need to visit her four other acceptances as it would only be one of these she is most interested in. As far as her 5 deferrals she has the attitude that if they were not crazy about her why should she be crazy about them, this includes one that was her number one at one time. There is one deferral that our family has a personal connection to that if it comes through I can see her hesitating but other than that I think this will be wrapped up over February break…except for of course the finances so no deposits going in until that piece is done. Which is also why I have us going to all three.

@Damon389 I would go to the financial aid office ( which is the only office I deal directly with at the colleges, the kids do all the college communications but FA is in the parents wheel house in my opinion as the kids do not fully understand everything in this area). I agree with those who posted that usually the grades used for consideration are through the end of junior year but always good to explore, there might be something else the FAO can recommend.

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Yes, good suggestion. I am going to stay on it and go the the financial aid offices vs. the college admissions recruiters. Could very well be that I’m simply asking the wrong person.

I must admit that I’m a bit at a loss why first semester senior year isn’t part of the scholarship consideration for some some schools, but I’m sure there’s a reason that I’m just not thinking about.

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@Damon389 My son is going to U of A next year, also OOS. I would keep trying to talk to someone in financial aid, given the amount of money involved, it is definitley worth your time. Good luck!