<p>Penny, I mostly agree. One issue is semantics; I don’t consider merit money to be aid, but rather bribe, offering more money than one “needs” to attend a school that really wants the applicant. Also, the rules don’t provide for any additional documentation to be submitted when declining the ED FA offer; the simple statement “We can’t afford it” suffices (imagine if it didn’t, and the school didn’t accept the documentation). Schools know that the FA calculators don’t cover all circumstances, so the easy out is provided. The applicant is already devastated, not being able to attend the dream school; most schools don’t rub salt in the wound by causing more trouble and heartache. Families should indeed use the EFC calculators when deciding to apply ED.</p>
<p>Vonlost, I noticed you are a moderator, so I will defer to your expertise as my experience is limited. I agree that for the student who sincerely wishes to attend the ED school, the family having financial issues can be heartbreaking. </p>
<p>FWIW- This is exactly why our kids do not apply ED. We have also had to tell our child that “dream school” was not the best financial choice, but we only knew that after seeing all our choices. Fortunately “more affordable school” was also an excellent fit. </p>
<p>I guess it is up to OP and her family to make the best decision for them.</p>
<p>IIRC, some schools do not guarantee the offer the same award $$ if you take a gap year. So you should check with Case and see if you are still guaranteed the full scholrship they offered you last year. </p>
<p>If $$ is a concern, are you sure, even if you got into Tulane this go round and got some merit $, that is would be enough to afford to attend?</p>
<p>Quick update-- thanks again everyone for the continued and prompt responses, and thanks Penny and vonlost for the clarification on ED/EA.</p>
<p>Talked to my dad, and he says that unless the new school i apply to and get into is equally as competitive or ‘close enough’ to CWR in BME, it won’t be worth it to go, even if i get accepted with a lot of merit money. so aunt Bea, i’m not to sure about the SUNYs in that aspect, but if it’s free to apply i will still take my chances. My dad thinks Tulane is a good school, maybe not as great as CWR, but good enough that with a little convincing, if they gave me a decent amount of scholarships, i could go. </p>
<p>the reason i am so bound on Tulane is because i keep hearing/see many people posting that Tulane gives a lot of merit money, and in previous years, even to people with stats lower than mine. also, my thought was that CWR and Tulane were comparable academically, so that’s why I thought that MAYBE if I raise my SAT score, i could get a similar scholarship package. many people say that Case doesn’t give a lot of merit aid, and yet i got 22,500. so what would that say about potentially getting some from Tulane, ESPECIALLY if i say i took a whole year off because my dad doesn’t have that to spend? </p>
<p>also, i was told that if i explained a little about my situation to my designated admissions counselor (who i have become aqainted with and am also currently exchanging emails about re applying) and also raise my SATs, showed strong interest in attending tulane, and applied earlier, that maybe id have a better chance of getting scholarships. and if i say i had to take a gap year because of finances, won’t they take me more seriously than someone who is just asking for a bit more?</p>
<p>anyway, i did talk to Case a few times and have found that there are no rules against looking at other schools during my gap year, so as long as i don’t make it a pressing issue that i am looking at other schools, i should risk loosing my scholarship.</p>
<p>jym626–CWR has guaranteed my scholarship in full for next year so long as i don’t take classes for credit. that is the only rule that they gave me.</p>
<p>
I think you are confusing merit aid with financial aid. These are separate issues. Merit awards will not be based on financial need. You might want to consider talking to your father about what he can afford and have him run some hf the FA calculators to see if you can estimate what FA package you might possible get from these schools.</p>
<p>When are you retaking the SAT?</p>
<p>i know the difference between merit aid and financial aid, and i know for a fact that my dad will not qualify for financial aid. by merit aid, i meant scholarships, and i know those are determined by the office of admissions, and that merit aid is not a concrete thing. </p>
<p>thing is, my mom passed away last year and my dad is in a knot trying to negociate with the state about her medical bills, her debt, and properties that she owned. lawyers and such cost a lot of money, and because my mom did not file her will, my dad is having to pay a lot trying to fight off the government. also, i am the oldest of 5 kids and my dad has a lot of bills to pay. these are the kind of things you can’t say with the fafsa. because of this, our EFC is a lot higher than we can actually pay. 17,000 each semester for CWR is a lot to expect us to pay by Oct. 6. </p>
<p>as far as the SAT goes, i think i will take both the oct. and november ones, even if i have to pay the late fee for the oct. one. i only took it twice last year and because i graduated early didn’t have time to prep much for it. im not sure if i will be ready enough for the oct. one to boost my score a lot, but id rather take it twice than once. </p>
<p>any tips on studying or prepping?</p>
<p>Those issues would be addressed in the CSS Profile that he would fill out for the private schools like Case and Tulane. Sorry for your loss. But unfortunately the merit aid is just that, merit aid. It isnt based on financial need. </p>
<p>If you get your scores up and you apply EA/SCEA to Tulane, you can apply for the DHS. If you have done a lot of community service work you can apply for the Commun svc scholarship, wich can be added to the merit awards. If you are a NMF you will get an additoinal $2k/yr from Tulane (dont know what Case offers).</p>
<p>well i know about the CSS, and those are issues that i put when i filled it out. however, the only schools i got accepted to last year that took it was Case Western and Emory–and Emory for sure didn’t really take it into account much. However, i’m not sure about case. </p>
<p>what if i expressed those issues to the office of admissions directly? do you think they might ‘find’ more scholarships for me? i am definately applying EA, but i don’t know if im going to do it SCEA. </p>
<p>jym626 how do you feel about telling tulane’s office of admissions about the scholarship money i got from Case? i don’t expect them to ‘match’ it could they give me something similar?</p>
<p>i need to do more community service before i can apply for that cs scholarship though, haha</p>
<p>Rather than taking the SAT twice, spend the time and energy on serious exam prep. Start with Xiggi’s advice from this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html</a> </p>
<p>Money is likely to be a serious issue for you for your entire college career, because your dad is going to be tied up with straightening out your mom’s estate. These things take longer than anyone who hasn’t worked through one can imagine. With that in mind, I suggest that you scrap your original college list, and create a new one based on where you can get the kind of merit aid needed to bring your costs down to what you can afford, and/or colleges/universities that are cheap enough for your family without any aid other than the $5,500 you can get with a federal loan.</p>
<p>Since you are home without a lot to do right now, find out how much of the estate business you can help your dad with. Can you make phone calls for him, or type up letters that need to be sent out? If he doesn’t need that kind of administrative help, what can you do around the house to free him for the estate stuff? I know this isn’t the way you had envisioned spending this year, but being useful will fill your time and make your dad’s work easier. </p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice and support, and happymomof1 I think scrapping my original list is a good idea at this point. However, my dad thinks the 17,000 a semester at case is worth the sacrifice in order to get a top teir education. I got a larger % of my tuition covered by scholarships by a state school of sub-par academic quality that we turned down over Case. Also, thanks for the advice about the SAT, I was about to ask whether I should take it twice. Do you think I should take it after I apply EA, so that if I get in but don’t qualify for the scholarship, if I come up with higher scores later and send them that my scholarship money could be reevaluated?</p>
<p>Also my dad doesn’t need that administrative help, but as the oldest maybe helping with my siblings is the best I can do (though he won’t let me drive and take them places, which is what he needs the most help with right now).</p>
<p>I know I’m late on this thread but I want to share some insight. We have VERY similar stories as I am also currently taking a Gap Year and also applied to Tulane and Case last year ( waitlisted at both). My SATs were a 1940 which was at the time too low for most merit money so I’m currently using my Gap Year to retake standardize test , re-apply to college and get involved in things that were not possible while I was in school. I have increased my SAT score by 130 points but I’m going to retake until I have 700s or higher in each section. I’m applying to Amherst ED because i have fallen in love with the school and I’m applying EA to several other schools. In terms of explaining your Gap year you should definitely write an additional essay and put it in the Additional Information section of the CommonApp (each of the schools I’m applying to asked me to do this) . I think the most important part of your application will be this essay since it will talk about what you have done, are doing and plan on doing during this year and how it has affected you throughout. I think it will also be a good idea to call Admissions at the schools you are applying and explain your situation since they should be able to help you with suggestions to improve your application and your chances at being admitted. If you are serious about retaking your SATs and improving your scores PM me your email and I will help. Let me know if you have other questions. Good Luck!!</p>