@jzducol: “You are assuming full ride Bama is much more of a sure thing than Harvard.”
That’s because @bamamom2021’s assumption is correct.
They state on their website what you need to have to qualify for that automatic scholarship. Nothing competitive or holistic or uncertain about that process at all.
@jzducol It’s an automatic merit scholarship. You can look at the chart and know how much you get. Also UAHuntsville
https://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php
The well known (around here) Alabama (Tuscaloosa) scholarships are automatic for stats. However, technically they are not full ride – the Presidential Elite for out-of-state students is value of full tuition plus $1,000 per year, plus $500 per year for books, plus one year of housing.
https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/merit-tuition-scholarships
The Alabama (Huntsville) scholarships frequently mentioned are also automatic for stats, but the largest is full tuition plus housing. However, National Merit Finalists do get an automatic full ride.
Thanks people for correcting me about Bama scholarship. I should have known better, as I lived only two hour away from Bama for over fifteen years! Its just that among kids I knew back when I lived in deep south none of them opted for UAB full ride–and most of them did have NMF status. That’s probably why I thought it wasn’t readily available. If Bama full ride option is always going to be there then it doesn’t hurt to explore some others.
You’re getting a lot of bad advice here and I can’t read this entire thread …
What you’re saying sounds logical BUT:
However, there’s good news:
You’re going to make this work and if she ends up somewhere that’s a full ride spectacular. Just don’t make that decision now.
@imptime18: “It’s her life, you can help with what you can help. You can explain it to her and run loan calculators and expected salaries. But shouldn’t it be her call?”
Well, it’s the parent’s money. I mean unless you are volunteering to pay.
Undergrad students can only borrow a limited amount themselves.
Admission to a school that is too expensive is equivalent to a rejection.
Agree, what a lousy plan. That isn’t uplifting to a kid, it is crushing.
Funny you should mention bad advice
Absolutely horrible advice on so many levels.
@PurpleTitan I specifically said they should get more information to let her know what they can and can’t do. What an undergrad can borrow isn’t generic. Many schools guarantee access to cash. Your comment illustrates my point. They don’t have actual choices to decide between, how can it be a good idea to limit them?
@ucbalumnus Admission to a school that is too expensive is equivalent to a rejection.
That’s how you feel, that’s not a universal by any stretch of the imagination. The worst sentence ever uttered is,“I never tried”. Most seniors in HS are pretty reasonable, especially the achievers. Plus, there’s nothing like an admission letter from an Ivy to squeeze more aid from another school.
An undergrad can only borrow $5,500 themselves freshman year. Other loans generally require an adult co-signer and don’t have very good consumer protections like federal loans do. It is a bad idea to take out more than your federal loan amount. A school that “guarantees access to cash” doesn’t sound like a good idea – likely they have partnered with a lender who is NOT going to give you good terms or treat you kindly later if you have trouble paying the loan back.
The net price calculators show what kind of need based aid is likely to be offered. And most of the higher ranked schools either don’t give merit aid, or it is extremely competitive to get an award that is large enough to be helpful. The Common Data Set and school websites often give information on merit, and reading acceptance threads out here can also give a flavor for whether an applicant is going to be competitive for merit aid.
There is no reason to blindly apply these days because there is a lot of information available.
“Plus, there’s nothing like an admission letter from an Ivy to squeeze more aid from another school.”
What does that even mean? Are you going to say something like " I got into Harvard and can’t afford it so you should give me more money?
@intparent your post says it all. … likely to be offered. Not exactly what will be offered. Why shut it down because of likely and maybe? Run the #s, talk to the student, don’t create false expectations. I can’t speak as confidently on loans without knowing exactly what the school offers. The $5,500 is the federal loan that’s not really a federal loan and has no consumer protection (thank congress for that).
I’m not a fan of carpet bomb applications, it creates unreasonable expectations. 6-10 schools should be more than enough if you’re realistic. And there is no reason why a top student shouldn’t have a school or 2 that’s acceptable and likely to be close to free.
This thread has evoked a lot of emotion! It has all the ingredients.
The reality is that the OP has the circumstances they have and they have to work within them.
There should be nothing but pride for their daughters academic circumstances and the college opportunities that may afford her. she will be limited only by her own effort and desire.
Congratulations to the OP for providing the environment where her daughter could thrive academically.
@imptime18 Having an option that is close to free is not easy. You either have to do that through merit and have grew flexibility or/also have great need and be lucky enough to be accepted to a uni that meets need.
@FrozenMaineMom Do you know your EFC and if that is affordable?
Many will disagree with me, but you don’t shop for a Mercedes when you can only afford a Honda. In fact, you probably shouldn’t even go to a Mercedes dealership. Admittedly, a college education isn’t a car (it’s more expensive). But, the economics are often similar. The rational economic decision would be to follow the merit aid. That, of course, does not preclude chasing the dream, provided there is funding (wherever that may come from).
@imptime18 The NPCs are usually fairly close if your finances are uncomplicated — and if they are complex, the student almost always gets less aid, not more. The aid given isn’t random. So throwing a dart and applying to schools where the NPC shows it is unaffordable is silly.
Also, a lower ranked school isn’t usually going to “match” an offer from a school that gives great need based aid. I’ve played that game with a small amount of success, but the OP would need big numbers to make it work. Plus, why not just go to the higher ranked school in that case? And the OP said they ran the NPC at Middlebury and the cost was nowhere near what they could afford. Mid is a “meets need” school. So it is highly unlikely that any other school in that category will give them what the OP thinks they need.
When it comes to federal loans, there are delays on accruing interest on some portion if it is subsidized, no payments are die until after the student is out of school, if you end up low income you may get some loan relive, and if you are disabled or die there is loan relief as well. Private loans don’t give those protections. And I’m not sure why you even brough Congress into it. To the student, it looks and feels and acts like a loan.
How well did you read the OP? The OP has no money saved for college, struggles with debt, and states they will not qualify for FA.
Your suggestions definitely qualify as bad advice. If they have run NPCs for schools like Dartmouth, then they do have an idea of what they will qualify for. It isn’t as if the entire process is some mystery and poof a FA package reveals the mystery number. There are processes to go through that do give baseline information that get close enough to determine whether or not a family can try to make the numbers work. Numbers might be off by a few thousand, but they aren’t going to be off by 10s of the thousands. If a family’s EFC is $60,000 and they have no $$ saved and already can’t handle the debt they currently have, there is no point in pursuing those schools b/c acceptance is exactly what @ucbalumnus stated–equivalent to rejection. If their EFC is $10,000, that is a completely different scenario b/c between summer income, work study, and student loan, the student might be able to swing paying the bill. But that does not sound like the OP’s scenario b/c that scenario requires a family qualifying for institutional grant $$.
It may be the student’s life, but it is not the student’s $$. These parents are already dealing with more debt than they can easily manage. This student cannot take out loans beyond the $5500 by herself. Her parents are not in a position to take on more debt. Therefore, the student’s call is limited to choosing amg schools that she can afford based on parental contribution plus possible merit aid.
OP, I would not recommend taking this path. Outside scholarships are usually very small $$ values and are often non-renewable. Applying for them can take a lot of time for very small return. The best scholarships are offered by the universities themselves.
The likelihood of a school increasing aid to an affordable level if the difference is significant is very, very unlikely especially if the reason is parental consumer debt.
Applying ED is a horrible idea for families that cannot afford their EFC. ED is a good choice for students who know exactly what school they want to attend and can afford to make that commitment. Students who need to evaluate their offers and weigh the cost differentials should not apply ED.
None of this is a matter of “giving up.” Our university system is not designed around student achievement alone. Their expected contribution toward their education is not based on them but their parents. Kids who have parents who cannot afford to pay their EFC have limited options. It does not matter how stellar of a student the applicant is. It all comes down to paying the expected bill. (A far worse scenario is accepting, attending for a semester and then facing no way to pay future semesters’ bills.)
What these students can do is apply to schools offering competitive merit. Those are their best “reach” options. This student’s best application strategy will be to apply to a mix of guaranteed and competitive scholarship schools… Finding guaranteed scholarships is fairly straightforward and NMF scholarships generates a larger list. Finding competitive scholarships that are possibilities requires a lot more research and requires being brutally honest about strengths/weaknesses compared to national/international competition. Creating a reasonable list of schools to apply to for competitive merit should be the focus after building a list of guaranteed scholarship schools that the student would be happy to attend.