<p>Hey im pretty new here but im seeking some advice. I've been accepted to Purdue University for about 3 months, and due to the fact that Purdue wasn't even on the top list of my schools earlier in the year. On my FAFSA, my EFC is 0 , but I failed to apply for the available merit scholarships and now im stuck with a ton of financial aid in parent plus loans. My father has told me that I need to either find money from somewhere, somehow, or i'd have to start college late another semester or something to that sort. I recieved scholarships elsewhere, and a pretty good scholarship from NYU-Poly but I never got to visit NYU before the deadline to accept Purdue's admission. Purdue is really the only school that i'm completely acquainted with. I have a couple of good friends also going there, and I was invited to a program at Purdue in early April and I attended and I met even more people that were also invited and made some good friends. I really, really liked Purdue after that.</p>
<p>Now, I'm not particulary worried about the years after the first year. My mother died from breast cancer and I missed the deadline for some scholarships like that, but I will make sure I get those next year, and I've learned my lesson from missing other deadlines and scholarships this year, so i'll make sure I take full advantage of those next year. But I'm not sure if I want to put the burden of heavy parent plus loans on my father for my first year due to my failure to pay attention to deadlines and applying for scholarships I should've applied for. I'm not making excuses, I realize that I missed many oppurtunites. I'm just here to seek advice, or pointers that anyone can give me on finding some good scholarships still left, because I really want to go to Purdue, and I want to feel safe in doing so. I would really rather not start college late. If anyone can point me towards some scholarships i would appreciate it! I know it's late but I figured it's worth a try. Please respond ASAP!</p>
<p>you might want to check, but at some schools you can only apply for the scholarships as an incoming freshman. The scholarships are for 4 years and renewable. If that is the case perhaps you can delay your admission to Perdue for a year.</p>
<p>Do not go to Purdue…You need to take a gap year and start over with apps.</p>
<p>Starting next spring won’t work, since scholarships are awarded for Fall entrance…not Spring.</p>
<p>Most of these generous scholarships are for INCOMING freshmen only. You won’t get them if you apply as a current student.</p>
<p>During your gap year, don’t take ANY classes…you need to preserve your incoming freshman status.</p>
<p>You have an EFC of 0…that means that your dad CAN NOT afford these Plus Loans. </p>
<p>I’m very sorry to hear about the loss of your mom to cancer, but I really doubt that there is much scholarship money available thru that source…maybe a few hundred for one year or something…certainly NOT enough to bring down the cost of Purdue.</p>
<p>Are you instate for Purdue? If not what state are you in?</p>
<p>What were your stats? test scores and GPA including weighted</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>WE can better advise you as to where you should apply with your stats, major, and state information.</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like you were advised well as to where to apply considering your financial situation, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I keep hearing that I should take a year off, and although I’m am considering doing that, it;s currently a last resort and I really don’t want to do that. I was recently accepted to a summer program at Purdue, just this morning, and it is a program that awards scholarships to the top 3 performers of the camp out of about 20. While I don’t have stunning stats (3.3 GPA, 1870 SAT) I believe I can work hard and earn a scholarship. Last year the top performer was awarded a full scholarship. Do you guys think I should take a chance on that, or just do gap year?</p>
<p>Again, that is a last resort. And i’m really seeking advice because I want to know if there are any other good options for me besides doing that. Although my financial situation right now isn’t so good, my dad just got his career as an attorney going good and he got hired at a job that pays pretty well, so like I said, i’m not worried about the next 3 years at Purdue as I am about this year. I did check up on breast cancer scholarships and there was one that was worth 10,000 a year, (Susan G. Komen scholarship) that i missed the deadline for this year. </p>
<p>BTW, my major is Electrical or Mechanical Engineering and i’m located in Ohio</p>
<p>I hate to burst your bubble but quite honestly I would be surprised if you received merit money from Purdue simply due to your GPA. They currently don’t list a minimum GPA or ACT/SAT but in past years they had more definitive requirements which were similar to Indiana University where they require a 3.8 and then an SAT of 1340 for the highest level scholarship and a 3.7/1220 for lower level. Even though Purdue doesn’t like requirements there is no reason to believe that they aren’t continuing to be just as strict. In fact, this year they began limiting the number to 100 of the Trustees scholarship whereas I believe in the past it was more of an automatic thing if you had certain stats.</p>
<p>Now it is possible that you could get something after your summer program but how much is that going to cost? Some summer programs are quite expensive.</p>
<p>Have you been admitted to any Ohio schools?</p>
<p>It looks like you and your dad weren’t particularly well-informed about the financial aspect of college. Right now, your two best options are:
Take a year off, make a new list of affordable places, and reapply.
Apply to any of your in-state community colleges and/or public universities that still are accepting applications for this fall.</p>
<p>You are out-of-state for Purdue, so even if your dad’s business does start doing well, you still will be paying a lot more money for that university than you would have at one of the public institutions in Ohio. You and your dad need to sort out just exactly how much help he can give you for your education. One place to start is by running some of the calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org)</p>
<p>I was recently accepted to a summer program at Purdue, just this morning, and it is a program that awards scholarships to the top 3 performers of the camp out of about 20. While I don’t have stunning stats (3.3 GPA, 1870 SAT) I believe I can work hard and earn a scholarship. Last year the top performer was awarded a full scholarship. Do you guys think I should take a chance on that, or just do gap year?</p>
<p>How much does this summer program cost? Can you afford it?</p>
<p>I don’t know if you could be a top 3 performer. From your stats, I would say, “no.”</p>
<p>Again, that is a last resort. And i’m really seeking advice because I want to know if there are any other good options for me besides doing that. Although my financial situation right now isn’t so good, my dad just got his career as an attorney going good and he got hired at a job that pays pretty well, so like I said, i’m not worried about the next 3 years at Purdue as I am about this year.</p>
<p>You need to take a gap year…don’t go to school…get a job…and then people here can better tell you where to apply. Your stats are NOT high enough for ANY merit from Purdue. Their merit scholarships are for student with high test scores AND high GPAs. Test scores need to be over 2000.</p>
<p>*I did check up on breast cancer scholarships and there was one that was worth 10,000 a year, (Susan G. Komen scholarship) that i missed the deadline for this year. *</p>
<p>It is VERY doubtful that you have the stats to get awarded that scholarship. If it only has one (or a few) to give away, it’s likely going to go to someone who has higher stats…and perhaps a more serious economic situation. </p>
<p>Again, you need to take a gap year, let your dad get on his economic feet, and then apply to schools reasonable for your budget and stats.</p>
<p>OP, Daughters of a friend had much better stats (both GPA and SATs) and got nothing for merit aid at Purdue. You would be much better off looking in-state. A gap year might make sense.</p>
<p>^NYU cost is the problem with NYU poly, even with a merit award. It’s a private school and your COA will be in the neighborhood of $57,000. You need a state u. with a COA in the neighborhood of $22 - 24 k – in other words, half as much and will still be expensive if you don’t get full fin aid!</p>
<p>If things are tight you would be nuts to pay that kind of premium (nor would you be able to with a 0 EFC.)</p>
<p>The only way you would want to consider NYU would be if the scholarship/grants were in excess of $32k or more – which is very very rare at NYU and not likely with your stats.</p>
<p>Did your guidance counselor not go over the cost difference between in-state public schools versus OOS and Private schools?</p>
<p>I think you might wish to get your dad involved in the process, do some research, and start a clean reboot next year. Engineering is a very solid field for future revenue, but you still don’t want to be saddled with too much debt…and you want to let your dad build up his resources a little. </p>
<p>A private school would be crippling to him – and eventually you, by way of paying loans!</p>