<p>hey, im a highschool junior from newyork and i plan on attending a college in florida. i am so confused on how i would go about getting scholarships for colleges like UF UT and USF. i have a gpa of 3.5 and my psat score is 1500. are my grades too low to qualify for these type of scholarships b/c i feel like it is. what type of scholarships would i be eligible for?and is there a way to apply for grants in Florida because i just dot know where to start and what there is for me based on what i have.</p>
<p>Public universities generally don’t offer much in the way of grant financial aid to non-resident students. There are some exceptions, but UF and USF are not generally among them.</p>
<p>You need to talk with your parents about how much they can afford to contribute toward your college costs. Then build a budget based on that number.</p>
<p>You need to talk to your guidance counselor and research Bright Futures and whatever else may be out there for you. You should know the requirements for BF, upside, downside and sideways and work at getting what you can from those funds.</p>
<p>If you are from New York, you are NOT eligible for Bright Futures in Florida. That is for Florida residents ONLY. </p>
<p>I don’t think you will find sufficient aid to pay your college bills for a public university in Florida. </p>
<p>Just gotta ask, what is the matter with one of the SUNY schools. I don’t know how TAP works, but it’s for NY residents. You might want to start there.</p>
<p>Re: your SAT score, if 1500 is for all three sections of the SAT test, it is my opinion that this is on the low side for merit awards.</p>
<p>I did not catch that the OP is a NY resident. If s/he is, other programs such as HEOP should be investigated, as the test scores if 3 part, may be too low for a number of the SUNY schools.</p>
<p>Also, unlike the Florida’s program as it was when I knew about it, NY state aid is very much income driven and for families making under $80K a year as a general rule. Again, the student needs to talk to the GC at the high school and see what is available, given the family financial situaton. It would be a good idea to run some sample EFCs on FAFSA calculators and see what kind of aid is in the picture. </p>
<p>In short, for most all schools, the best financial aid and merit awards tend to go to the best students, the ones with the highest test scores and grades, unless the student has something the school really wants like recruited athletes or other such hooked applicants. You can look up what percentage of any school gets financial aid, what the average awards are and see where you are in terms of percentage in test scores. If the the average range of test scores does not put you at very least in the upper quarter, it is highly unlikely a student is going to get much money. </p>
<p>Also regarding financial aid, those programs that are strictly need driven such as PELL and TAP, it’s what the calculators figure your family can pay, not what they think they can, want to pay or will even agree to do so.</p>
<p>hey thanks for all the replys. the 1500 was my score for the psat not the sat by the way im taking the real one in march. the reason im looking at florida schools is b/c my family is going to move down there after i graduate so they want me to go to college there. but now that all you guys are telling me that i may not be eligible for any aid in florida is really a set back b/c my parents arnt able to contribute alot. im so stuck on what to do</p>
<p>You can go to a community college in florida for a year or two after your family moves there. Then, after a year, you will likely be considered a resident and you can transfer to a four year school and pay in state tuition, which is much lower than out of state. There may not be much financial aid for transfers, but if you work while you attend CC, you should be able to save money for tuition.</p>
<p>I think you have to graduate from a FL high school, and your family has to be residents of FL while applying for Bright Futures, but check out the rules for it carefully. As for going to a FLorida college, just letting you know that when dealing with OOS public schools they can all vary in how they define and enforce state residency. It can even vary within the same college among the offices. You can be a state resident for admissions, for example and not for tuition and vice versa. Yes, I 've seen this. So you have to check out these policies at every single college you are considering.</p>
<p>ok, so i looked into ucf and uf scholarship and i think the do hand out tuition aid waivers and scholarships to students once they’re accepted. here it is and the link if u want to see.</p>
<p>Out of State Tuition Scholarships
Recipients are selected from admitted freshmen who are non-Florida residents for tuition purposes. There is not a separate application for these scholarships, as all admitted students who apply by the November 1 priority deadline are considered eligible. The recipients are selected by a committee each spring and will be notified via e-mail and regular mail by the end of March. Due to our very strong freshman class and the limited number of scholarships we are able to award, our committee has a very challenging time making their selections.
There are four tiers of out-of-state scholarships, reducing the out-of-state tuition for selected students.
The dollar amounts are reflective of the awards made to members of the 2011 freshman class:
Office of Admissions Alumni Scholarship: $8,000 per year
Sunshine Scholarship: $16,000 per year
Orange and Blue Scholarship: $19,000 per year
Gator Nation Scholarship: $20,000 per year
Contact the scholarship coordinator in the Office of Admissions, Rebecca Johnson, <a href=“mailto:rsjohnson@admissions.ufl.edu”>rsjohnson@admissions.ufl.edu</a> or (352) 392-1365.</p>
<p>Those are highly-competitive merit awards and you cannot count on being offered them.</p>
<p>Furthermore, even if you were awarded the top scholarship, you would still be looking at costs of more than $22,000 per year - UF’s OOS cost of attendance is more than $42,000. Those scholarships would be cancelled if you began claiming in-state residency.</p>
<p>When are your parents going to move to Florida? In order to establish residency for tuition purposes, you will have to wait to attend college in Florida until after they move and, depending on the college, it may not be immediate. (In other words, a college can make you wait until the next academic year to be a resident.) </p>
<p>The best situation for you would be if they are moving before you graduate high school because then you may be able to qualify for Bright Futures. Look at this carefully, so you can see what gpa, test scores and community service requirements you would have to fulfill: </p>
<p>If they are moving down after you graduate but before you start college, you would apply as a non-resident, then, after you are admitted, petition the college to change your residency to resident. They may not do it; it’s a gamble. If they don’t change your residency, you may need to defer your admission and wait a period of time up to a year (they’ll let you know) before you start classes.</p>
<p>If they are moving several years in the future, you may be best off starting college in New York and worrying about transferring later.</p>