<p>I've noticed that some of the colleges I'm looking at have later deadlines than others. For one, the application deadline is feb 1 for the fall term.</p>
<p>For the college I'm looking at in particular, it has a habit of waiting to accept eligible students until the student finishes the spring quarter/semester. Mainly when the spring quarter/semester includes a pre-req class. But the problem is, that the student may have to wait until June before they find out if they're accepted or denied. </p>
<p>My question is, what happens then with financial aid? When will you find out the amount for the benefit package?</p>
<p>Many students apply to more than one college, and they would have to wait to accept this college until June and even later if the financial aid amount plays a big part in their decision. Like in my situation, if need to know the package before accepting. </p>
<p>It just doesn't make sense to me, especially if a student needs to tell a prospective college their decision by May 30 (I think), but they want to hear back from this college first. It would put them behind in everything, including finding housing. </p>
<p>I guess I'm hoping that that at least release the aid amount with the college acceptance I stead of the usual 4 weeks post acceptance.</p>
<p>I think the problem we are having is that we cannot even guess at which colleges you are referring to because as far as any of us know, there is no four year college that waits to send out admission decisions for high school seniors until after you have completed high school and submitted grades for spring semester. There are some colleges, none of any high rank, that may still be taking new applications that late but they are rolling admissions colleges that send out decisions as aplications are received beginning in Fall of your high school senior year. The rest of the colleges, I.e, any that have real application deadline of March 1 or before, release their admissions decisons by no later than first week of April, provide financial aid decisions by no later than mid April, and you need to accept admission by May 1 (Or May 2 or 3 when May 1 is Saturday or Sunday). Though those may put some borderline students on a wait list when decisions are released, even then a final decision is made before end of your school year.</p>
<p>If in fact you have any college as described, then your option is to apply elsewhere, get decision on admission and financial aid and accept admission by May 1 at another college, and then switch to That late decision college when decisions are made on admission and financial aid and they are favorable to you. Your loss in that situation is usually the deposits you submit to the first college on May 1.</p>
<p>Sorry I should have provided more info. I’m referring to the university of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and this would be for a transfer student. I was scoping the decision forums and saw this issue pop up with a couple students who where taking a class, lets say calculus, that needed to be completed before the college would issue out their acceptance/denial because the class was a required class. </p>
<p>Thanks for your responses. I’ll try sending them an email. </p>
<p>@drusba it may be that the students I saw this happen to in the decision forum were waitlisted, they just didn’t make reference to that. I would hope then that some students who are still taking a required class in the spring, could still be accepted around the usual decision times.
Thanks for your help </p>
<p>This a transfer situation…You will have to request a delay in acceptance if your FA pkg hasn’t yet been rec’d by the deadline time. You just have to contact admissions to get that extension.</p>
<p>Also…do NOT cut ties with your current univ until you’ve seen the FA pkg at your future school. Many find that their transfer pkgs aren’t affordable and need to continue at their current school.</p>
<p>If you’re at a CC and have to transfer, then be sure to also apply to a public univ that you can commute to…transfers often get bad aid pkgs.</p>
<p>The deadlines for transfer students are later than for first year students. So…just don’t eithdraw from your other school until you have all of the info to decide about Michigan. make sure you adhere to EVERY deadline date. In fact, submit early, do not wait until the last minute.</p>
<p>Thanks for your info guys. It would be a transfer from a CC, we’re OOS, residents of California. My husband will be applying to colleges starting fall 2015 for attendance in fall 2016. So we’re trying to figure out as much as we can and he’s determining his list of colleges to apply to. We looked into the financial aid available at UM and it seems as though it may be a good fit. We have children and our financial situation isn’t the best, so he would qualify for some income based grants, and we’re also trying to research places that have good engineering programs. </p>
<p>UMich’s cost for engineering for upper-division students is about $55k per year. I highly doubt that a transfer student from OOS would get much aid. </p>
<p>Don’t count on UMich. </p>
<p>There are over 200 schools with very good engineering. Don’t overlook very good affordable choices thinking that your H needs to go to a school like UMich. There are MANY CSU’s in Calif that have excellent engineering. </p>
<p>Don’t get yourselves into a bad situation with lots of loans and a tight budget. That is totally unnecessary for an eng’g student.</p>
<p>I’m from Calif…Calif has over 25 schools with VERY GOOD engineering. Engineering is a staple offering at many good schools. It’s not hard for an established school to have a VERY GOOD program.</p>
<p>Don’t overlook your own AFFORDABLE backyard.</p>
<p>Companies ARE NOT going to pay a UMich grad more than a CSU grad. It just won’t happen. Companies pay their new hire engineers THE SAME AMOUNT. You don’t want a situation where your husband’s work colleagues are getting paid the same as he is, but they don’t have crazy loans because they went to good affordable schools. You’ll regret that forever.</p>
<p>Being a transfer student changes the situation entirely. Most of the transfer students I know do not get their answers for acceptance and aid until well into June and even later. Yes, schools would want that spring semester’s grades to make their decisions. This is typical. </p>
<p>Because you don’t know if you will be accepted as a transfer and you don’t know if you will get sufficient financial aid to make the move, transfer students should also fill out all forms and make the moves as though they are staying at their present colleges because they may not have the transfer options. An exception would be if a student has an affordable option with an early acceptance at, say, an open enrollment school or other venue where things are squared away earlier. But Michigan is not unusual with its timing for transfers from what I have seen.</p>
<p>You might also note that transfers get their aid after everyone else. The first year new crop get their acceptances and aid packages first, followed by waitisted students and those who are return students. Then the transfers get what’s left pretty much, and they are also acepted as space allows. Some schools that guarantee to met full need for most students will exclude transfers from this guarantee.</p>
<p>I encourage you to give UMich a go if tha is an ideal venue, but I agree with those here who are saying that the pickings might be slim there in terms of financial aid for transfers. I also agree that some schools in CA should be included in the mix. I would not count on a lot of aid from Michigan for an OOS transfer. Not much merit money available for tansfer either. Do check with your liason at the CC as to what schools like to accept transfers from that CC and are good to such students. Michigan does facilitate some transfers but they are from instate CCs, not OOSers.</p>
<p>I appreciate all of the info, time, and consideration put into your responses. </p>
<p>My husband goes to Lake Tahoe Community College in California. The majority of the colleges he will be applying to for fall 2016 admission, are in California but we were thinking of giving UMich a try. But after all of the info you guys provided, I think we will shoot for just in-state colleges. The reason we looked at UMich was because of the family-friendly campus. </p>
<p>I believe my husband has a good chance at financial aid due to our financial situation (we make under $54K and have 3 children), my husband is a first generation college student, has a 3.93 GPA, and has work/volunteer hours. </p>
<p>Our biggest concern is finding a family-friendly campus in California. Would you guys have any suggestions?</p>
<p>how many semesters will your H have been in school when he transfers in Fall 2016?</p>
<p>What do you mean by “family friendly campus”??</p>
<p>? and how is UMich family friendly?</p>
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<p>Your biggest concern should be lowest cost for a good school that will leave you with little debt.</p>
<p>You should be looking at UCs, CSUs, and Cal Polys that are near MechE employers so hopefully your H can do a co-op and maybe have his employer pay for some of his education. Maybe CSUFullerton, CSULB, Cal Poly Pomona…</p>
<p>how much has your H borrowed so far?</p>
<p>that income when the student is the parent will still have a decent-sized EFC.</p>
<p>What is your H’s FAFSA EFC with a $50k income?</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids by family-friendly, I mean student family housing would be a plus. I was wrong to say that a “family-friendly campus” is our biggest concern, the lowest cost for a good school is a huge factor as well. I am worried about cost of living. Can loans, if needed, cover enough for a home big enough for us? </p>
<p>We have not had to pay anything out of pocket as of yet. And I believe my husband’s EFC is 0. It is minimal enough that he gets the maximum amount for the pell grant. </p>
<p>When he transfers in the fall 2016 he will have 60+ credits completed. Including his IGETC and engineering pre-reqs, such as: calculus, physics, chemistry, computer programming, etc. </p>
<p>The most your H could borrow as a junior is about $12k per year…and some of that may already be used for tuition, books, supplies, meals, etc…so you probably can’t borrow enough to rent a home for 5. COA is based on providing room and board for one person, the student. </p>
<p>And your H can only borrow $12k per year as long as this doesn’t exceed the COA minus any other aid he receives. </p>
<p>Is your H eligible for a Cal Grant? Did he maintain his eligibility? </p>
<p>Will your H or you continue working? If you’re earning $50k per year, then can’t some of that pay for your housing? </p>
<p>I don’t know which campuses have student-family housing that undergrads can rent. Some schools have such housing options for grad students. You’d have to look at the various websites. </p>
<p>It sounds like your H is 24 and he’ll be applying to univs next fall for Fall 2016. How many semesters has he received the Pell Grant? If he’s been going to college for awhile, then he may run out of Pell eligibility long before he graduates. I think Pell is only for 12 semesters. </p>
<p>Sugar, financial aid is meant to cover the expenses your husband incurs in college. Contact some of the schools. In most cases family housing is for grad students, but it is possible that it would be available for your family as well.</p>
<p>The maximum Pell is $5730. That is not enough to cover your costs, right? He also gets about $12,000 a year in Direct Loans. Is he getting the Calgrant?</p>
<p>Where do you live now? Can you continue to live there and have your husband commute?</p>
<p>My husband was 30 when he returned to college to complete his degree. He worked part time and went to school full time at night. And yes…it took longer, but it was all we could afford. He also chose a school with a co-op program in engineering. So he worked one semester and went to school the next. This also helped ease our financial costs. </p>
<p>I worked full time, which I recognize would be difficult with three children. Some colleges have excellent and reasonably priced day care centers. Check for something like that. It would make it possible for you to work at least part time.</p>
<p>Your husband’s college financial aid will first be used to pay for tuition/fees. Yes, you can use remaining money for housing, including loans.</p>
<p>I think they’d be best to have H attend a Calif univ that is in a techie area (but not too pricey!!) where there are co-op opportunities. My gut tells me that would be Cal Poly Pomona. Housing is cheaper there, and there are techie companies to the west and south of it.</p>
<p>Going OOS can have too many negatives…likely way too costly…little/no aid for transfers beyond Pell/loans…AND the cost to move a family of 5 across the country would be very high. Plus, if there is a big weather change, there will be added costs to outfit a family of 5 for extreme cold. </p>
<p>A possible OOS school that MIGHT be affordable is U New Mexico or New Mexico Tech. Both give merit for transfers, and both are in areas where housing is lowish cost. But, I don’t know if there would be co-op situations there.</p>
<p>A single student can more easily go anywhere for a co-op opportunity for a summer or semester. Your H wouldn’t be able to do that. So, it’s best to choose a school where such opportunities are close-by so that he can take advantage of them. </p>