I am applying to college this year and just found out that the FASFA will not give me nor my twin any money to help out with tuition. However, we both are 4.0 and have slightly above SAT Scores (me 1260, him 1280) so we should be able to get some national merit. Right?
Also I know there are so many weird scholarships out there, so I was wondering if there are any twin scholarships?
Also is there a website that is really good to examine scholarships?
Thank you for your time.
National merit is based on PSAT and confirmed through SAT. What is your PSAT score? Your SAT is too low for big merit scholarships at many/most schools.
Fafsa is a financial aid application form. It doesn’t give anyone money. The info is used to determine your eligibility for federally funded need based aid.
In terms of scholarships based on grades and SAT scores, the best awards come directly from the colleges where you get accepted. You would need to be in the very top %age of accepted students to get. Merit aid.
Where are you applying to college? How much can your parents pay for each of you annually. What is their annual income?
And read the replies on your other thread:
In the parent forum, there is a thread for kids with 3.0 to 3.4 GPA and parents are posting where their kids have earned merit awards. If those kids can get merit, you can too. The problem is, it’s getting really late. Many public universities have earlier deadlines for those who want to be considered for scholarships. Private colleges don’t always have official deadlines for being considered for merit awards, applying early is a help there, too.
Very few students earn national scholarships they can take to any school, but institutional merit aid is within reach of many students. The trick is to fill out your college lists with the schools that offer these awards.
What is your college budget? Where is your home state and where have you applied so far?
Each college website will have a Net Price Calculator which you should be using to estimate your cost of attendance. If the NPC asks about your grades and scores, you will be able get an estimate of your merit aid. The Collegedata dot com website shows a lot of information about scholarships and financial aid as well. Look up a school and click on the Money Matters tab.
FASFA says they should pay 40,000 for me, and 40,000 for him. So basically the price of most colleges.
Your family must have a crazy income (and/or crazy assets) if your EFC is 80k total. In which case, not really sure why you’re surprised you’re not getting financial aid – especially from the government, where the biggest grant you’re likely to come by is only $5775.
FAFSA = Free APPLICATION for STUDENT AID.
It is a form. It is not money. The information gets sent to the federal government and to your prospective schools. The funding (very limited) is dispensed at the school IF you qualify. Most people don’t.
As others have said- colleges are your best source for merit scholarships. For example with your stats you would be eligible for $20K per year from Baldwin-Wallace with the Presidential and CLE merit scholarships. Baldwin Wallace is one of the more “affordable” private colleges out there. Truman State is another option. Maryville University is another college that would be generous but unfortunately Dec. 1 was their application deadline.
Depending on where you live you could look at programs like the Western Undergraduate Exchange. When I have students who don’t qualify for financial aid- the WUE discount through schools like University of Nevada at Reno (which lets you stack WUE with merit) has been a good option for some of my students. You basically have to do the research college by college.
You still have not mentioned your budget, home state, major, or your current college list. This limits any suggestions we might make for last-minute affordable choices. Have you run Net Price Calculators on the places you have applied to and see if there any affordable choices?