@itsgettingreal17 However, for a family knowing they will receive no financial aid or need based scholarships from any public (and most private) schools, the hurtle of affording freshman year is the hardest. Because their is a really limited amount of awards for freshmen everywhere that are need blind. (except for nmf) But at least at A&M people in such a position have a chance beyond freshman year to earn merit aid.
There are alternatives: find a school that will award enough scholarships to be affordable for all 4 years; start at a CC; find an affordable option that the student can commute to. Too many students start freshman year with no way to fund the last 3 years and end up having to drop out.
@itsgettingreal17
While it is nice to consider alternatives, they come with an equal amount of downsides.
Like, how many schools will give scholarships that cover more then tuition based on merit alone? Not many unless you are an NMF. For a family with an EFC that exceed the cost of attendance this would make most schools completely unaffordable.
As far as transfering goes, nearly every school gives significantly less to people who transfer from a CC then incoming freshman because their is no way to know if the classes taken at the cc will accurately prepare them for upper level classes at the university. So the scholarship problem will remain apparent (this is mainly because if you attend a cc, you (ideally) should have enough time and resources to work enough to cover the cost of your tuition for the remainder of college.) But as times and prices have change, this option becomes less and less probable. I’ve met alot of people who turned down 8k or 10 k per year scholarships freshman year for a cc, and transfer back to receive absolutely nothing.
A commutable school is always a good option but not many people have options to commute to schools with nearly as many options as A&M. Not to mention how if you are living at home your cost of attendance will decrease which isn’t too helpful for a family with a very high efc.
And while that is true to note, its also nice to note that A&M has a really high 4 year graduation rate (52% i believe ) and the average student graduates with 26k in debt . Which is much lower then the national average of $37,172 . At A&M they at least give you the opprotunities to finance your education. Very few people graduate without recieving some awards though out their four years . However this Idea wouldn’t work in places like UT - Arlington since their continuing student award are very limited and nearly all require a component of financial need while their freshman award are generous and about half need based hand half merit.
https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/texas-a-and-m-university-college-station/paying-for-college/student-loan-debt/
If you think most continuing students get scholarships, you have another think coming to you. Continuing student scholarships are few and far between at every college, including TAMU, and are extremely competitive. Average student debt isn’t a helpful measure since many, if not most, attending A&M aren’t taking out any loans (median income of $130k+, 38% with financial need, 43% took out any loans), and A&M isn’t that expensive. As far as the 2+2 option, students who work during the first 2 years and save and also take the student loans during those years will often be able to attend a 4 year. The best bet in that case would be to transfer to an in-state school that will accept the credits.
You don’t need to be NMF for merit scholarships. My D wasnt NMF but received lots of scholarships.
I hope you have a 4 year plan. You’re young and don’t understand what you don’t understand. Your recommendation often results in dropping out with student debt and no degree. That is a big piece of those 20% who don’t graduate in 6 years from A&M - money. Same is true at many other schools.
While I am not saying most students get a continuing student scholarship (after all, every school has a good chunk of students holding 2.0s with little extracurricular involvement) but for students that are high achieving earning awards is much easier. However at A&M, kids who study abroad receive automatic scholarships, or run an S. I. , or join certain clubs. A good chunk of their need blind aid goes to actual students. Other schools don’t offer as many as A&M since they give thousands to continuing students each year but only hundreds of president endowments for freshman . And a family with an efc that exceeds the coa will always have to deal with trying to be excessively competitive for merit aid.
I’m a little confused on your next part though.
You do know that means that most of the people attending would not have a component of financial need and thus wouldn’t be eligible for most scholarships on the scholarship page right? Since most require a component of financial need. That is where the continuing student awards come in handy and that is where A&M is more generous with disbursement for people with High EFCs. Your income doesn’t matter if you have a component of financial need. My parents make over 100k but I have a lot of siblings in school so my EFC is modest.
And I think the schools a little expensive with a COA of 30k . That means students with no awards should end up taking 120k ideally. But you only need to pay for tuition and housing for about 21.5 k so only about 86k in debt. However that number is still way higher then the 27k average.
If you work for $8 an hr for 20 hr a week (I know that’s a lot for a college student trying to make a great GPA and manage extracurriculars so they have a chance to get accepted, however, let’s pretend) they would make 16640 in savings over two years of saving. Which ends up being 14144 after taxes. Not only is this not enough for a year of tuition, but it removes the student from the possibility of earning more scholarships when they re apply. With student loans you can cover the second year but on average people who transfer end up taking 3.5 to 4 years to earn their degree because of how degree plans are structured (for example a telecommunications major needs to take Class A which is a needed class for class B, which is a needed class for class C and so forth for so that a student must take 8 semesters. And only 1 of those classes is offered over the summer . Not to mention if a student failed or what not. And when you remember the years of working income you lose from taking a total of 5 to 6 years to finish your degree, it won’t, economically, make the most sense. (if it can be prevented)
I personally used the ideas listed at the start of this discussion to fully fund my entire four years of education. I wasn’t an NMF. My standardized test scores sucked. I failed SO MANY APs / IBs. And my family was too rich for Aggie Assurance. I was a review applicant that was out of the top quarter and still found their way to money at A&M. But I would not have had these opportunities had I taken a different path which is why I advocate for students not being afraid to apply here with a high efc. And I think that if a student puts forth the work that I explained earlier they will get the same (if not a similar) result. However, for the sake of discussion, I also wanted to point out how the university directly can still give aid to students that aren’t expecting it with a high efc.
EDIT: And I’m an incoming freshman
Relying on upperclassman departmental scholarships in engineering when one doesn’t already have a history of academic excellence is risky business to me.
@NETarrantMom – I know of one female in engineering who got $$ but supposedly they were awarded the $$ in the summer which is late.
Also-- the female mentioned above who received scholarship $$ that we know of received it three years ago.
@lessonwitch2 – you failed “so many” APs and IBs? Maybe that’s the ticket then to Aggie merit? :))
But seriously, everyone reading this has to see that the standard path to merit $$ of being rewarded for academic success is NOT at play here. At ALL.
And how much extra work did you put forth other than the standard application essays??
@carachel2 FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT!! But yeah, the only extra effort I put in was just looking for outside scholarships as illustrated above! That and visiting for symposiums and finishing freakishly early is really all I did that I think could have remotely set me apart from others! It seems trivial but that’s really it. But my essays were pretty childish. My first one was kinda serious but my second one I wrote about Disney movies non stop and the third I wrote about Zootopia. They were extremely childish since I though I wouldn’t get it.
I’m calling shenanigans.
I’ll chime in here, because I walked ‘a mile in these shoes’. We had very high EFC ( there is a maximum, so I am referencing that for my rating) and your EFC declines based on the number of students in college in your household. My first child got the whole whack, and zero aid from TAMU her freshman year-junior year. She did get outside scholarships, however, MANY do require financial need (some just one dollar will do) so your options are a bit limited in outside scholarships as well. That being said, she did get a few along the way, just know it is tough to find them.
My piece of advice: parents if you are paying the tuition, HELP find the scholarships & fill out the basics for your kids so they only have to do the essays/questions. It does take time, I also tracked the outcomes for them as well. Make a file with all the info. to reference to include previously written essays… copy & paste is a wonderful tool!
When you compete for continuing student scholarships, they consider the whole package AND you compete against all students (not just others within your grade level or non-current scholarship recipients). Senior year she finally was recognized with a scholarship from her department, also won additional financial awards & was basically full ride. Meanwhile, my younger child got scholarships from TAMU all 4 years plus additional continuing scholarships all 3 he was eligible. The difference between them: one was in BHP the other was not in honors(she opted out of UH). Both were academic admits, but he had a stronger resume. Regarding TAMU performance: she had an outstanding resume with a decent GPA, he had a great resume with a 4.0 GPA.
The problem is that when you submit for continuing scholarships the following year, it is a January deadline for listing achievements – so only 1 semester for soph year, 3 for junior & 5 for senior. Also for business in particular, to be considered for departmental scholarships you have to be fully admitted to your major AT time of application. So for her, she got entry to major at the end of semester 4, one semester too late to be considered for junior year scholarships in her major. Thus, the first time she was eligible, she DID get a departmental scholarship. You can check to see requirements in your particular major for eligibility timetables. The competition is STIFF. There are some outstanding students that attend here and continuing student scholarships are open to everyone.
Another pathway is competitions. My oldest won competitions which resulted in scholarships. There are many opportunities - look into the ones that appeal to your student. These experiences also can be listed on your resume - so a win-win situation in the long term. Regarding funding - you can also look into home equity loans for financing college tuition. They often have better rates than student loans. Ask your financial consultant or tax attorney for your best options. Also do NOT put money into your child’s name - that is 100% added to your EFC versus partial allotment for parent funds.
BTW - A&M doesn’t look at AP scores until after your admitted. And since they aren’t in the scholarship application, no scholarship sees them either. (Maybe its the fact that I took the classes at all? ? ? ) and Idk how to prove it except for how you can search my name and you will see my monthly threads about my college questions about A&M that date back two+ years so I guess don’t believe me if you don’t wanna(after all, I’m a stranger over the internet)
But as @AGmomx2 and @NETarrantMom pointed out, there are some of the notable examples of how students actually can receive awards without being super poor. And as you pointed out with your facts about financial aid, people must be finding the money to afford A&M from someplace that isn’t loans. It is possible, it just requires a lot of work and as @carachel2 said a lot of guts sometimes because your work may not be noticed financially until the summer during re disbursement or spring or even until the next year. So I strongly recommend that the class of 2022 to remember to apply regardless of your EFC and see all of your options before ruling out A&M.
I can’t speak for anyone else since I received MANY need-based financial aid, BUT I do think working and taking loans would be the alternative if no merit financial aid was awarded. If the student has to take outside loans or anything in their name and if the parents can help take some loans, 20k should be manageable, per year. My family has always been low-income, and even the numbers added up for us. With all of the outside loans they offered and ones that I saw were available (I rejected all of them though) it added up to more than enough for each year. I was fully expected to take 100k in loans over 4 years (exaggeration) if I hadn’t received any financial aid at all. I can only speak for myself since I am in a STEM major, and I know my degree will pay in dividends later on. A&M was my first choice, and I didn’t care how much I had to sacrifice and be in debt to come here. Thank God I was fortunate enough to receive the assistance I did, and so far, I can say I made the right decision.
No student should let their parents cosign for $100k of loans based on the assumption they’ll graduate with an engineering degree and will be able to make a lot of money. If anything happens to derail the plan – the kid gets weeded out or changes majors, the parent(s) are denied the loan before the student graduates, someone becomes disabled or dies – then somebody is going to owe an enormous amount of money and have no way to pay.
@austinmshauri As I stated, that was an exaggeration, since that is assuming COA is really 25k (which it’s not), as someone that is a current student, I do not pay that, nor do any of my friends. And I have only been offered about 5k in parent loans, so for you to think that parents would need to cosign 100k in loans is pretty absurd.
And as far as the “assumption”, you would have to be a very poor student in the first place. I came to A&M knowing that I have a very strong set of skills, AND I have already gotten internships to prove it was the right decision. Maybe you aren’t very secure in your own set of skills, but that does not mean others are.
If someone was to take out 100k over the NEXT four years total, then that would assume they are in their fourth year, and if any of the cases you mentioned, were to in fact happen, nothing would stop the student from going back to finish their last year. I don’t know who gives out loans of 100k up front, but clearly that is not what was meant in my earlier reply. I knew what to expect at A&M, and I didn’t get “weeded out” as I am FAR from it.
@lessonwitch2 – yeah everyone here on CC puts that same freakish effort into it. I’m sure you wrote good essays and I’m sure you are a solid student. But info on CC is only helpful to others if we are all objective and acknowledge what played a role in our kids choices and $$ awards. For instance, I will freely acknowledge that geographical diversity no doubt helped up my daughters merit awards at her school of choice. See? I’m honest.
A&M pulled together a mostly need based aid package for you. With a 3.6 GPA and a 30 ACT it was not merit money. Perhaps it was partially based on your community work or your other ECs? Those sound pretty fantastic. It’s obvious you have a lot of grit anD initiative and those shone through in your application.
Everyone reading this who has no need and high stats needs to not count on a dime and that was my main intent. Outside of NMF, applicant characteristics are not typically rewarded at A&M. The purpose of this whole thread was for those with NO financial need and a high EFC to see if it was possible to get a lot of merit $$ to make A&M more affordable. It is highly unlikely to happen. @lessonwitch2 you can’t jump in on a thread like this and give your story-- it simply doesn’t apply.
As a former recipient of some scholarships and grants at A&M that I can truly admit were mostly need based and as a parent in a very socioeconomically diverse community, I am very thankful those awards exist and to hear they are still awarded.
Howdy! i’m aware of the money / success oriented students / parents on this website. And a year ago when I was reading threads I only saw a few people getting a decent amount of money from A&M. And A&M only has three types of awards for freshman: donors, need based, and merit based. My donor based awards came from outside scholarships and now that you point it out, my EC’s, leadership and volunteering were probably pretty helpful in finding awards. But when I looked on this website, if I only went off the info I found, I probably would have been too scared to apply knowing that I was destined to receive virtually nothing. I knew that the fafsa would use my parents income from last year which was huge because of things like the land they recently bought and sold to our family over seas that my efc would be too big for most need based aid for me. But I’m glad I applied.
Fun fact: Schools can only give you need-based aid up to your cost of attendance minus your EFC. From that point on, they will normally reduce your awards. My need was fully met, yet they didn’t reduce my awards because they were not need based. Despite foundation of excellence preferring those with financial need, the financial aid department awards as merit so it didn’t decrease when my EFC was met . The main downside was they removed my loans and work-study after my need was met but my scholarships remained. And I didn’t even mention how much I received in donor awards. So I think its safe to assume my awards were merit (or at least not need based) aid.
Was my story special? Probably. And you are right that people shouldn’t hope that they end up being that lucky dime a dozen when the odds are stacked against them. My efc was high (not like 30k high, but still kinda high.) which is what made me wanna look outside for money since I thought A&M would give me none. But I knew I could fight for more awards when I got there if I was diligent. I mean everyone else I’ve met (and everyone who tried the same thing though out college confidential) got similar results and I want to encourage people to not be scared off just because of a complication like a High EFC when it is possible. Truth is if you really wanna come here, attending symposiums and applying for local aggie scholarships shouldn’t seem like too much of a hassle for a high achieving student that got into the school in the first place. So it is worth considering. I don’t think a high efc should stop any applicant from applying to this school.
Edit : Sorry if it seems like I’m hijacking. My situation may just be a fluke but I hope my story reaches out to someone scrolling these threads! Applying for honors, the Corp, and local scholarships and everything else mentioned in my first post are simple, feasible solutions to any student with a high efc. At least for the first year so they can truly compete for merit beyond.
@lessonwitch2 yes your story is a fluke and not applicable to anyone who has no financial need and truly has a high EFC of say $50k ie the people who would be reading this thread.
And the fact that they removed your grants AND your loans after your scholarships were awarded is even mods proof that you were given scholarships which have a huge need based component. If you spend some time on the financial aid forum you will sss this is almost always how it is done with need based aid.
If you qualified for ANY grants then you clearly have a low EFC–
And those are NOT the people reading this thread.
If you were to re-apply and take the financial need component out of the equation I’m fairly confident the results would be very different.
I’m not trying to take anything away from you. You sound like a fantastic kid. But please don’t hop onto a thread that is specifically about a high EFC and act like it’s a possibility. It gives false hope to people who may be reading who don’t understand the difference.
I wasn’t implying that you’re a bad student. I was responding to your comment that $20k/year loans are “manageable.” In my opinion, they aren’t, for all of the reasons stated.
I didn’t say people could borrow the full four years of college costs up front. They can’t. Loans have to be applied for every year. If a family is turned down for a PLUS loan before the student gets their degree, the college would stop the student from finishing. We see that a lot here. People assume that they’re going to make a lot of money by enrolling in a particular major and that justifies them taking out 5-figure/year debt that will balloon into 6-figures by the time they graduate. It’s a risky plan and not one I’d recommend.
Thank you @carachel2 because I personally don’t belive that the dozens of scholarships that put their faith in me to get an education though I was a “fluke” . I’m guessing they all saw something. I’d understand if it was one or two, but their were too many for me, and many others to believe it was jsut complete luck. They did openly say that they stopped reviewing applications after mine since I turned mine in so early and they knew I had what they were looking for.
do loans count as grants? Doesn’t everyone recieve them ? vs
And um you should check out this link before you believe that. Since you may have misread my quote. But even if that were true, it means the scholarships were need blind.(remember, scholarships don’t see your EFC) http://financialaid.tamu.edu/undergraduate/apply-for-aid
Here are some reminders for anyone reviewing my responses
My info is relevant and on topic (afterall I do keep providing solutions and feedback applicable to people with a high efc.)
By the time I accepted my offer from A&M I had NO AWARDS! Besides my donors.
Again I’ve met a lot of other people who have tried and succeeded with the same idea. The kid third in my class has an efc of 41k (not 50k but still) So I guess he is a fluke as well since I didn’t ask most of my friends what their efc’s were . Same for everyone else who tried the whole “apply to scholarships and you will get enough money” ) . But hey maybe they were flukes too.
But honestly @carachel2 can you say that with a high efc you could not try ANY of the ideas suggested in the initial post? And I though I was hoping on with suitable alternatives . They worked for a good amount of people on this website so its is worth CONSIDERING for everyone else. I’ve never heard a failed story on this whole website after trying it and all I’m fighting for is how people should consider it when applying despite having a high efc.