<p>Its almost that time... well 2-4 months away I guess, but I already have a good picture of where I'm going to end up.</p>
<p>I think I'll get into Holy Cross, Bucknell, Colgate and Fordham.
Out of the 4 I think Holy Cross and Fordham are the only two I'll consider attending.</p>
<p>So there's my dilemma. Holy Cross offers 100% need based financial aid according to college board, but I don't know what percentage of that will be in loans. I'm from NJ so I'd have to live on campus there.</p>
<p>Fordham only offers 75% need based financial aid. However, I live an hour away from the campus and I'm willing to commute and hopefully get just enough FA to attend. </p>
<p>I've been told to finish the application for Rutgers but I absolutely don't want to go there. </p>
<p>I think Bucknell and Colgate, if I got in, would accomodate me alot better financially but I just applied to see if I could get in.</p>
<p>So that leads me to ask this. If this scenario plays out like I fully expect it to... where should I put my tuition deposit down for? I think Fordham's a better school than all of the others, but I'm still a little upset that I got waitlisted and rejected there out of HS.
I'm worried about commuting because my father is from The Bronx and grew up on Fordham Road and its not a great area.
But I really want to go there. My FAFSA EFC like always was a 0 again. So what do you think I'll be forced to do?</p>
<p>Do the schools meet 100% need for transfers? I suggest not making any decisions until you know financial packages. Fordham may not meet 75% of your need just because Fordham meets 75% of the total of all students’ need. </p>
<p>I would apply to Rutgers or another in state school “just in case.” Can you commute to another state school?</p>
<p>Perhaps call each school individually and see if there are differences between available aid and scholarships for first-years and transfer students? This will give you an idea of how willing they are to negotiate a good package. Also, I don’t know if this is bad practice, but I mentioned on these calls my EFC of 0 to gauge their reaction.</p>
<p>Yes, do not count of Fordham meeting 75% of your need. That’s an average that applies to freshmen applicants. And the average is meaningless for the individual–it includes 100% for most athletes which means even the average freshmen does not get that. Can you afford a school that meet 75% of need? That’s a big gap.</p>
<p>You need a financial safety which is unfortunately probably Rutgers or another state school.</p>
<p>That might not be a bad idea there cynthia.
hmom, what was the point of taking out a 20k loan for my first year of college and then spending a year at community college to end up at a school I could have gotten into free of cost out of HS like Rutgers? Come on, I need to be rewarded for the effort, even though I don’t have a 4.0 cumulative GPA, a 3.7 is still pretty good right? </p>
<p>I mean I need to turn this into something positive and finish my journey at one of these schools. 75%… and maybe a little bit more because of my EFC. So lets say I commute and eliminate room and board costs. If I could cut it down to needing about $5000-7000 per year I’ll feel comfortable, I’ll deal with the loans later, I just want the education and that particular degree.</p>
<p>and yes, I know I haven’t done any extraordinary research or taken 10 AP courses or cured cancer like other people on here, but there has to be a way I can get enough FA to go to a great school</p>
<p>Haha. I hope you are just joking around, DreamingBig, because the reality is that there are a lot of things in life that just aren’t fair. A person can do everything right, be a great person, cure cancer even and then step out into the street and be struck dead by a passing fruit truck.</p>
<p>Put another way, thousands upon thousand students are finding out that FA opportunities aren’t keeping up with rapidly rising college costs. I wish you the best, but be sure to check out your “financial safetes” aka schools you can afford with average FA packages from that school.</p>
<p>3.7 GPA is great. But it doesn’t necessarily open any particular door. Even a 4.0 doesn’t mean a decent FA at your school of choice. </p>
<p>Be sure to not let your college degree define who you are. You are something much more special than that. Go for the degree–but don’t get in over your head with too much in loans!</p>