<p>I'm a noob to this whole financial aid thing. Is the only way to receive fin aid from loans, grants, and scholarships? My family makes too much to be considered poor, but my dad says that he can't pay more than a few hundred per year for school. I really don't know what to do but search for a whole bunch of scholarships. Is there any other way?</p>
<p>There are two types of money for college…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Need based aid- This type of aid is based primarily on your parents’ incomes and assets…mostly income. </p></li>
<li><p>Merit aid- this type of aid is awarded based on your academic stats.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>A “few hundred dollars” a year isn’t going to pay for much. I think you need to talk to your parents about what they hope to see you doing after high school. Try to get a realistic amount that they are able to contribute to your post high school costs for college. </p>
<p>If they really have very limited money to offer you, you will need to find a way to attend college within that financial limit. This might mean working and going to a community college while commuting. If you have very strong stats, you might be able to garner merit aid to help you…but full rides are very few and far between.</p>
<p>Look for the thread by momfromtexas who found large money awards for both of her kiddos to attend college. There might be some helpful information for you there.</p>
<p>Yeah, the thing is that we are living in a very expensive part of CA, soooo that’s where all of the money is going. The thing I don’t understand when I talk to my dad is that he tells me he can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars. He also tells me that I should go to the best school I get into even if it means taking out a bunch of loans because it will pay off with my career. We are in disagreement about both of these things. I will try looking for the thread, though. Thanks. Also, there is no way I am going to a CC here…I need to get out of this state.</p>
<p>You will be eligible for $5500 in Stafford loans for your freshman year. Those are the only student loans you will receive in your own name. Any other loans will have to be cosigned by someone else OR taken in their name (parents can take out Parent Plus loans…but those are in the parent name only). How does your father think you will qualify for loans in your own name that will pay for your college education? Even instate in CA, you will be paying about $20,000 or more per year if you don’t qualify for need based aid or the Calgrant. Subtract the Stafford loan and you still have about $15000 ADDITIONAL loans to secure…and I believe you will need a cosigner for those.</p>
<p>Also…that would mean that at the end of four years, you would have $80,000 in loans to repay at a MINIMUM…that would mean loan payments of about $800 a month at least…for ten years.</p>
<p>Did you calculate Your EFC?</p>
<p>BTW, UC’s are worth staying in state a few more years, especially if money is tight. But a few hundred won’t help much.</p>
<p>*Is the only way to receive fin aid from loans, grants, and scholarships? My family makes too much to be considered poor, but my dad says that he can’t pay more than a few hundred per year for school. I really don’t know what to do but search for a whole bunch of scholarships. Is there any other way? *</p>
<p>Tell your dad that you can’t take out a “bunch of loans”. There are federal limits for students. You can only borrow $5500 for your first year.</p>
<p>What are your stats? Perhaps your stats are high enough for merit scholarships.</p>
<p>*Grade: Senior
Gender: Male
State: California
Race: Puerto Rican
GPA: 3.69 uw (school doesn’t rank but I have taken 5 AP’s and 2 honors classes in Jr/Sr year)
Rank: School doesn’t rank unless valedictorian candidate
APs: Chemistry - 4, English Language and Composition - 3, Physics - N/A, Spanish LaC - N/A, Calculus BC - N/A
ACT: 29 (awaiting my retake score and anticipating a 30-32)
SAT I: N/A
SAT II: Math II - 750, Chemistry - 680</p>
<p>I want a school that issssss</p>
<p>Public or Private
Not religiously affiliated
Population of 7k+
I would like a beautiful campus, not a product of deforestation in order to build a school
Preferably a school that isn’t too expensive, or that has opportunities for scholarship/aid
Northern Midwest area or Northeast
No LAC’s please
A school that isn’t smack dab in an urban area. Maybe suburban/close to urban town or suburban.
A place that still has a lot of things to do on or around campus considering the last request</p>
<p>Thank you guys *</p>
<p>If you can get your SAT up, there are schools that would give you merit money.</p>
<p>When you get your recent test scores, let us know.</p>
<p>What is your likely major?</p>
<p>since your family will have an EFC that it can’t pay, you need to just be open to the BEST school that will give you the MOST money and forget about any parameters. You can’t afford any parameters.</p>
<p>Also…sign up for the October or November SAT…some do better on that…and you DESPERATELY need HUGE scholarships. </p>
<p>Do not depend on big loans…they will destroy your adult life.</p>
<p>mom2, the OP could take the SAT but if the OP gets a 32 on the ACT that’s a decent score.</p>
<p>OP 7,000 is an odd number for size for the midwest. The privates tend to be smaller than 7,000+ and the OP says no LACs. The midwest flagships are big, big schools. What is too big? Are you thinking 10-15,000 kids?</p>
<p>How much do you “care” about selectivity…that’s going to be the key for you. Is it more important to get merit money and be in a different region or do you need to be at a place where everyone “knows the name.”?</p>
<p>You won’t be able to leave your state and afford college on your own without huge merit. It would be a very good idea to “pin” your dad down. Will he take out loans or won’t he. How much can he contribute if any? Have you sat with him and calculated your EFC. </p>
<p>If you can answer some of these questions and have an idea of EFC people will be able to formulate suggestions. Without it everyone is shooting in the dark.</p>
<p>mom2, the OP could take the SAT but if the OP gets a 32 on the ACT that’s a decent score.</p>
<p>of course it’s a decent score…it’s more than decent…it’s 98 percentile…</p>
<p>But right now…the OP doesn’t know if he can get an ACT 32. He shouldn’t wait until after he gets his ACT score to then sign up for the SAT. Some schools won’t accept later scores for scholarship consideration. Some won’t accept scores beyond the fall for scholarships. </p>
<p>Sometimes it’s easier to get merit with the SAT because some schools only use the Math + Critical Reading for scholarship purposes. That allows the student to study just those 2 sections and possible score higher than on the ACT. But, some do better on the ACT…this is just a suggestion to explore both ways. :)</p>
<p>so, he should sign up for the October or Nov SAT…just in case. :)</p>
<p>Doesn’t the OP mean that he wants schools that are larger than 7,000 kids? </p>
<p>I’m not sure which schools are “deforested”…my kids’ school has a ton of trees. I guess some Calif schools are concrete jungles, but I think many campuses have made an effort to have lots of trees and greenery.</p>
<p>And…keep in mind…that many campuses did not “deforest” in order to build their schools. Many just removed the least number of trees as possible to put what was necessary…leaving as many trees as they could and replanting as well. </p>
<p>And…some schools have expanded their campuses by purchasing developed land that was already being used for some other commercial purpose and therefore the school had no part in its being deforested. </p>
<p>*You won’t be able to leave your state and afford college on your own without huge merit. It would be a very good idea to “pin” your dad down. Will he take out loans or won’t he. How much can he contribute if any? Have you sat with him and calculated your EFC.</p>
<p>If you can answer some of these questions and have an idea of EFC people will be able to formulate suggestions. Without it everyone is shooting in the dark. *</p>
<p>I didn’t “get” the deforesting comment either…I read it as no “concrete jungle” urban colleges. Maybe that’s a regional problem like strip mining in some parts of the country or water resource managment…</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that my EFC is a few thousand dollars. I just took the ACT last week and I am expecting a 31+ on it. I was basically saying that I don’t want a uni that is solely concrete without any nature…that would be a bit boring don’t you think? I’m hoping that I could possibly get SOME money for being a URM, but I’m just stressing out about this money situation. So far on my list of colleges, the one I want to go to the most is the cheapest of them all (24k minus room and board). I’m just trying to minimize the amount of debt as much as possible.</p>
<p>EDIT: I don’t have a max on how many students the school has, but I don’t want a small college.</p>
<p>Double EDIT: I am unsure on a major as of now.</p>
<p>Do you have any in-state public schools on your list? They might be your best bet, since I don’t think there are any that charge $24,000 for tuition only.</p>
<p>^ There are colleges that only charge 24k tuition. I have a few on my list that are that cheap.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No, you’re hearing me wrong. That’s a bad thing. You should have at least one in-state public option that is much cheaper than that if you commute, just to hold onto as a safety option in case you can’t make the others work.</p>
<p>Shooting in the dark as I’m not sure I understand what you’re looking for but look at these…I haven’t done research for an OSS student and scholarships but you can do that 
and anecdotally these are often mentioned as having decent scholarship opportunities. Michigan State tends to be more generous than UofM. UofM is probably out of reach financially.</p>
<p>Arizona, Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, both Montana universities, Michigan State, Indiana University, Iowa, University of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota is in Minneapolis and is definitely urban, but Minneapolis in general is not a concrete jungle.</p>
<p>^ Thank you Mo3B, I will take a look at those schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think the others are understanding that I want out of CA -.-. I don’t like it one bit…</p>
<p>JDE - make sure you look up WUE (Western Undergraduate Exchange) California participates as does Arizona, Colorado and other Western States. WUE discounts tuition for students attending from WUE states. We toured the Arizona colleges with #2 because he wanted out of Michigan. Met a few Californians that wanted out of California. Flagstaff (where Northern Arizona is located) is at high elevation which means pine trees, snow and all kinds of stuff one does not normally associate with Arizona or southern California. I wasn’t sure if you chose midwest/NE because of “snow” and 4 seasons…which is why I suggested NAU and the Montana universities. NAU would be generous with your stats and I think they post their automatic scholarships. NAU also guarantees no tuition increases for all four years…it’s fixed in your freshman year.</p>
<p>states include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.</p>
<p>Wyoming is very inexpensive but I don’t know…it’s abit “unique” so I didn’t include it in my suggestions.</p>
<p>*I’m hoping that I could possibly get SOME money for being a URM</p>
<p>So far on my list of colleges,** the one I want to go to the most is the cheapest of them all (24k minus room and board).** I’m just trying to minimize the amount of debt as much as possible.
*</p>
<p>Financial aid is based on income/assets…not URM status.</p>
<p>you need to find out what your EFC is…It is often MUCH higher than people think.</p>
<p>Also, since most schools don’t meet need, even with a low EFC, you may be expected to pay a lot. OOS publics aren’t going to give you aid to help with OOS costs. Some OOS publics might give you merit if you increase your scores.</p>
<p>What do you mean by $24k minus room and board? Are you saying the tuition, room, and board cost $24k?</p>
<p>Is this an instate public? Which school is this?</p>
<p>I don’t think WUE works well for students who need financial aid because those schools aren’t going to help you pay the costs.</p>
<p>
I was talking about money from scholarships.</p>
<p>
Noooo, I’m talking about just tuition.</p>