People need to STOP repeating this. It is NOT true, and it is not helpful advice for someone in this position.
From [Auburn](http://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/faq.html)'s website:
From [Alabama](http://scholarships.ua.edu/faq/)'s website:
Thank You Elliebham that last passage especially is very important to know.
Mom2colleghekids I was responding to sybbie719 who asked if he was eligible for STEM or Honors college at SUNY.
My intention of this post was to see if there are any current OOS AU Students that did not qualify for Freshman Scholarships that received one or more of the very many departmental or general scholarships for which they do meet the requirements for or if anyone knows of anyone who has and if so approximately how much they received.
Thinking outside of the box here, how about attending a junior college in Alabama for two years (Southern Union is close to Auburn, and OOS tuition is around $8000/year, it appears) and then transferring to Auburn? There have always been a number of students going back and forth between SU and Auburn. Perhaps he could fish with the AU club during those two years but not compete? (I have no idea how college bass fishing works.) I doubt that there are high dollar scholarships for transfer students to Auburn, especially in business, but it would save at least $40K over the two years. Alternatively, do you have enough holding you in New York that you couldn’t move to Alabama so that he can get in-state tuition? There are worse places to live, and the taxes are cheaper than New York’s. Departmental scholarships at AU do exist, and there are a lot of them, but they tend to be relatively small, especially when compared to the OOS COA.
Good luck with whatever you decide. Two years’ of CC in New York really isn’t a bad option if Auburn is waiting at the end of it.
Dept scholarships are usually SMALL and only for one year. Frequently they’re for upper division kids who are more likely going to complete the degree.
Please start looking at Plan B situations because I’m nearly 99% sure that Auburn won’t be affordable.
How much will that other school cost? Is that in GA?
@elliebham - Thank for posting the Alabama policy. The policy used to be that the SAT or ACT test score had to be in hand before the student enrolled in the Fall. This lead to kids taking the test in the Spring and Summer in order to boost their scores and increase the scholarship amounts.
The way I read the Auburn policy, a kid who takes a gap year would still be eligible for freshman scholarships, but the the scholarship amount would be based on the scholarship policy in the year after the gap year, not the graduation year. The website mentions testing dates in December, but it is not clear if a December test in the gap year would be accepted.
The current scholarships are as follows, with OOS tuition $28,840.
Charter Scholarship
Requires a 29-30 ACT or equivalent SAT score and a minimum 3.5 high school GPA for consideration.
Awarded at $32,000 over four years ($8,000 per year).
Heritage Scholarship
Requires a 31-32 ACT or equivalent SAT score and a minimum 3.5 high school GPA for consideration.
Awarded at $52,000 over four years ($13,000 per year).
Presidential Scholarship
Requires a 33-36 ACT or equivalent SAT score and a minimum 3.5 high school GPA for consideration.
Awarded at $72,000 over four years ($18,000 per year).
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for posting the Alabama policy. The policy used to be that the SAT or ACT test score had to be in hand before the student enrolled in the Fall.
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when was that? I’ve been following UAlabama and Auburn’s merit policies since 2005 and the policy you mention hasn’t existed during that time.
Neither UA nor AU will accept test scores taken during gap years.
I’m going to post this…and it might not be a popular post.
1.Auburn is NOT affordable…and it’s never going to b affordable to this family who has an OOS student.
- Parent has indicated that they will look for loans. These loans will be quite large. In my opinion, way too large for any student getting a bachelors degree. The PARENT will either need to take the Plus Loan which will be all on the parent...OR be a qualified cosigner for private loans. Frankly, with the low income status, being a qualified cosigner for all four years is not going to likely happen.
- Departmental scholarships are awarded to top admitted students. This student is not a top admitted student or he would already have received some scholarship money for this school.
- I understand this kid loves fishing. But you are planning to take out very large loans somyour kid can FISH? I'm sorry, but he can fish in the summers. It is NOT essential that he be on a fishing team at colleges that are NOT affordable to you as a family. If he is saying it's fishing or bust...I would say...bust.
- You are a NY resident. I'm not as well versed on TAP as @sybbie719 but seems to me, you should be at least considering these schools...as they are likely more affordable. The cost of a SUNY is at least half of the cost of Auburn. If he is able to commute to a SUNY, your savings would be even more (perhaps,enough to send him on a fishing trip over spring break).
I’m sorry, but choosing an unaffordable school…completely unaffordable…because you want fishing is just not in my range of understanding.
This kid needs to retool his application list if the ONLY school he wants tomattend is one that is unaffordable.
Every parent wants to help their kids fulfil their dreams. But financially, you have only so much in resources…and your kiddo needs to understand that.
The way I read Auburn’s policy, a student who wants to take a gap year and still receive a Freshman scholarship have to apply for admissions for the “following fall term,” that is, the fall term immediately after high school graduation, not the one of the gap year, and that scholarship amounts will be based on that year, regardless of when the year of enrollment actually is if one decides to defer. It’s somewhat ambiguous when the only term used is “following fall term” but given the other questions in the FAQ using that term refer to the semester immediately after graduation, I believe that is what it means. Thus, I don’t believe a gap year December test score would ever be accepted for these particular scholarships
As far as
I am not familiar enough with Alabama’s scholarship history to know whether it is the case, but I do believe it is currently the case at UAH.
What about some of those satellite UMaine campuses that have not only reduced OOS costs, but ALSO are giving merit scholarships. Do any of them have fishing teams or whatever?
Anyone know??
I have no clue what the OOS costs would be or what financial aid he might receive but it might be worthwhile to check out the University of North Alabama. I know they have some sort of a fishing club/team. Its a rapidly growing 4 year school in Florence, AL. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
With an EFC of ~$4300 your son won’t qualify for much Pell or Tap. If he goes OOS he can’t use TAP, so if he has no scholarships you’re basically full pay wherever he goes. And if his earnings are over ~$6k/year they’ll add to your EFC. How much money do you need to make it work?
His GPA is good. What are his test scores? If that school isn’t affordable maybe there are other options.
I just looked at University of Southern Maine in Portland Maine
I don’t know anything about fishing, but this Univ has a lot of stuff in regards to fishing.
It ALSO has an April 1st deadline for SCHOLARSHiP consideration.
Please look into this. http://usm.maine.edu/scholarships
They are two completely different types of fishing. Maine is on the ocean, Alabama has lakes.
I’m going to be blunt.
Do you want your kid to go to college? Or is fishing more important?
You cannot afford Auburn unless some HUGE scholarship for all four years comes his way.
I personally think he needs to make a choice here. College…or fishing.
OR he needs to take a gap year, and apply to AFFORDABLE colleges where he can fish in lakes.
Does he need college to be a professional fisherman? Is this like golf? Can he just go pro now? What is the point of college for him?
He has a very good chance of making a career out of fishing but he needs an education in case that does not pan. Going to Auburn gives him theven opportunity for both, where staying up North to go to school does not allow him to pursue his fishing opportunities and going South just fish does not get him the education that he needs. I am not sure about you guys but I don’t know very many adults with solid careers that did not
Given the financial realities of your situation, I just wonder if it makes sense to pursue the fishing career now and look at college later if it doesn’t pan out? I know a few people who did that route years ago with golf, baseball, etc. One went to college and trained for a second career after retiring from his sport.
You will need to borrow at least $30,000 a year for him to attend Auburn. He will,have then at least $120,000 in college debt, and that doesn’t include the interest which will start accruing the day the loans are disbursed. Very likely…you are looking at $150,000 or more.
This will translate into about $1800 a month in loan payments for ten years. That is a huge amount of loan debt…for a fisherman.
If he can earn THAT much money…maybe he should do it now…and bank it…and attend college when he has enough money in the bank to pay his bills.
I believe he has convinced you that Auburn is the ONLY place where he can go to,college…and that is simply poppycock.
What will happen when you no longer qualify for loans, and he has to withdraw from Auburn? Then what?
I’m sorry, but your plan is financially flawed.
For college…you MUST be able to pay the bills or you can’t attend. If you are taking private loans…the student MUST have a qualified cosigner for all four years. Will you be a qualified cosigner for four years?
And remember…any loan you take, or cosign, will really be yours if the kid doesn’t make the payments or can’t.
Please…don’t let him persuade you that the ONLY school on the planet he can attend is one that you can’t afford.
And don’t blame the guidance counselor. The cost of attendance is clearly stated ON the Auburn website. Clearly. Auburn does NOT have auto merit awards…and you have stated that your kids standardized test scores are too low anyway for the scholarships they offer.
No money trees or magic wands to pay for college.
he has an acceotance to at least one other school. Any others?!
If you already have a financial aid package from Auburn, I think you have whatever financial aid they intend to give. Even if they award another scholarship, I think it’s unlikely that they’ll bridge the ~$30k/year gap.
Why can’t he go to college in NYS? It will probably be much less expensive than OOS. Living in NY doesn’t seem to have hurt his fishing career so far since he’s semi pro already. I’d consider the SUNYs.
Does he have any affordable options? You mentioned Columbus College in GA. Can you afford that school without parent loans?