<p>Hey all. I have a few questions for you and I hope I can get some insight. I posted essentially the same thread in the section devoted to my actual college (Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington) but I decided to post here as well for more topic-specific advice.</p>
<p>Anyway, I applied early decision to my dream school and I was quite happy when I found that I was accepted. The school is a great match for me in every way so I would love to go there. The problem is that I'm really not sure if I can cover the cost of going there. Since it's a private school it costs quite a bit extra. Specifically it costs $52,000 a year to go there and based off of the financial aid and scholarships offered to me, I have $40,000 per year covered. This $40k includes $5k in low interest loans and some work study. This means I have to come up with an extra $12k a year to go there. I come from an extremely low income home so I can't get any noteworthy help there at all, so if I can attend at all this money has to come from scholarships and such.</p>
<p>I'm not sure, however, if the amount of money I have to raise is feasible through scholarships alone though. If I don't get the costs covered by scholarships then I'd have to take out a substantial amount of loans which is undesirable (especially considering that I plan to go to med school after undergrad). I realize that I can also get a job in addition to work study and put in a lot of hours but frankly I would prefer to keep these responsibilities to a minimum. That way, I can focus more on my studies as I plan to take a rigorous pre-med course load. Besides, even if I put in a ton of time over summer and breaks I couldn't come up with $12k a year...</p>
<p>Anyway, the aid I was offered totaled about $40,000 out of the (approximately) $52,000 aggregate cost despite an EFC of 0. I understand that schools are unable to completely meet the financial needs of each student but I was expecting a fair amount more. Coming up with $12,000 each year seems like a daunting task; can it be done? I've always heard anecdotal conversations about how many scholarships are available if one knows how to look but can I come up with this amount? Can $12k be raised through scholarships alone and if so can it be done 4 years in a row?</p>
<p>Can anyone give me a hand here? I just want to get some insight to see if anyone thinks I could come up with this amount and, if so, possibly some valuable tips or advice they may have. I've begun filling out some information for some scholarship matching agencies which I was told are good for my area but where do I go from there? I apologize for the wall of text and general franticness but this is quite stressful, this is my #1 choice and I would do everything possible to prevent settling for anything less. Thanks much for any help or insight.</p>
<p>You are right, most schools are unable to meet the full need of all students and in fact do not do so. You got a very generous award from this school but it does not meet your need.</p>
<p>Things to look at…what are “billable costs”…tuition/room/board/fees? How much is THAT amount? What amounts in that $52K are “personal expenses” places where YOU can save money? </p>
<p>If you can find a summer job (or two) you should be able to earn PART of that $12K gap. However, keep in mind, your $12K gap is for this year…and it will continue (and maybe rise) for the subsequent three years too.</p>
<p>Private scholarships might help you this year, but try to have a plan that will help you all FOUR years. </p>
<p>Did your financial aid package already include the Pell grant and the Stafford loans? With a $0 EFC, you should be eligible for the maximum Pell. That with the Stafford loan ($5500 for freshman) would almost cover your $12K gap…so…are these awards already IN your package??</p>
<p>Thumper is right…you need to make sure that you’ll have all 4 years covered. Many private scholarships are only for freshmen, so don’t just get your first year covered.</p>
<p>Direct costs at Whitman (for the current school year…each year will be higher so your gap each year will likely GROW!!!)</p>
<p>Out-of-state tuition and fees: $38,770
Room and board:… $9,720 </p>
<h2>Books and supplies: …$1,400 </h2>
<p>About $50k in direct costs</p>
<p>you’ll need to expect another $2500 or so in personal expenses and transportation. (how far away do you live?)</p>
<p>Work study can’t really count towards direct school costs since you’ll get that money in paychecks throughout the year to go towards personal expenses.</p>
<p>So, it looks like you almosl have about enough aid for tuition, but not enough for room, board, books and any remaining tuition/fees costs.</p>
<p>Since you already have loans in your FA package (which will probably end up being around $30k by the time you graduate), you really shouldn’t borrow any more money…especially if you want to go to med school. Also, you would need co-signers to borrow more and if your family income is low, that’s probably not going to work out.</p>
<p>You need to contact your school and tell them that their FA package is just not affordable for you and find out if they can perhaps give you more money.</p>
<p>PROFILE OF 2009-10 FINANCIAL AID Freshmen, WHITMAN COLLEGE</p>
<p>Financial Aid Applicants 282 (71.2%) of freshmen
Found to Have Financial Need 194 (68.8%) of applicants
Received Financial Aid 194 (100.0%) of applicants with financial need
Need Fully Met 163 (84.0%) of aid recipients
Average Percent of Need Met 94%
Average Award $28,133
Need-Based Gift Received by 190 (97.9%) of aid recipients, average amount $24,003
Need-Based Self-Help Received by 153 (78.9%) of aid recipients, average amount $5,500
Merit-Based Gift Received by 89 (45.9%) of aid recipients
Merit-Based Gift Received by 122 (30.8%) of freshmen without need, average amount $9,775 </p>
<p>Posting these stats for reference.</p>
<p>Don’t forget if you get “outside scholarships”, Whitman may reduce your Grant $ by that same amount. So for example if you get $1,000 scholarship from some civic organization for Freshman Year, you must report it to Whitman FA Office, then they may turn around and reduce your Grant $ by $1,000. Check their “outside scholarship” policy before you knock yourself out, writing essays for these scholarships! It makes no sense to do all that work & then have Whitman put it back into their coffers!</p>
<p>Make sure you consider inflation in your 4 year planning equation as previous posters have mentioned. Figuring inflation @ say 6.0% per year, the current estimated COA for Whitman of $49,890 for 2010 then rolls on as follows:</p>
<p>2011-2012 $52,883 TOTAL 4 yr COA: $231,344 AVG per year: $57,836<br>
2012-2013 $56,056
2013-2014 $59,420 *Average inflation adjusted additional cost per year above
2014-2015 $62,985 current 2010 COA: $7,946</p>
<p>As you can see from the above, the estimated potential inflation adjusted COA figures for 4 years are an eye opener. Unfortunately, the ‘magic’ of compounding inflation makes matters significantly worse when you’re starting from an already high initial COA. No guarantee that we’ll see 6.0% yoy inflation in the next 4 years, but if you don’t factor it in to some degree you’re asking for BIG trouble on down the road.</p>
<p>Also, make sure you confirm with Whitman what portion of your grants & scholarships are indexed to inflation/cost increases and what items you can realistically expect to have renewed yoy so you do not have any ‘surprises’ in subsequent years.</p>
<p>If you’re an in-state WA resident did you by chance apply to any other financial ‘safety’ schools? The University of Washington seems like that would be a very good lower cost alternative if you’re interested in studying pre-med. Best of luck getting it all figured out.</p>