I have a friend who is a competitive bass fisherman, and he loves the sport, so I can see why your son loves it, too. Doing a quick Google search, I learned that Auburn bass fishing team is considered the #1 in the nation, so it’s no wonder your son wants to go there. However, doing another quick Google search, I learned that there are several colleges in the US that have affiliated bass fishing teams; here is the list:
http://www.wideopenspaces.com/us-colleges-affiliated-bass-fishing-teams-pics/
Perhaps you can check out each college to see if they have scholarships which your son may be eligible for?
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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.
What will happen when you no longer qualify for loans, and he has to withdraw from Auburn? Then what?
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I’m going to be blunt, too. Sometimes parents feel very guilty and they want to give their kids “their dream,” but that can be so short sighted and lead to a total nightmare when all those loans need to be repaid.
I agree with @thumper1 that I think your son has convinced you that he “must” go to Auburn (or similar). No, he doesn’t.
So I will go back to the original reason for my post. Below I have listed a small fraction of the scholarships on AUSOM that are offered at Auburn that only require being enrolled in the financial need, no merit or residency requirements. I also included a few for first generation students. My question what are they and who gets them and how much need must be demonstrated?
Bo Davidson Endowed Scholarship - Business
Must be enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business and demonstrate financial need.
C. Earl Stephens Endowed Scholarship
Must be enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business and demonstrate financial need.
Calvin Smyre Endowed Scholarship
Must be enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business and demonstrate financial need.
Clara and Forrest Dunn Endowed Scholarship
Must be enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business with preference to students who demonstrate financial need.
Cynthia Conrad Fry Endowed Scholarship
Must be enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business and demonstrate financial need.
David and Barbara H. Oberman Endowed Scholarship
Must be enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business and demonstrate financial need.
Edward L. Spencer, Jr. Endowed Scholarship
Must be enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, with preference to students who demonstrate financial need.
Diana Dalton Mayo Annual Scholarship
Must be a citizen of the United States enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business and demonstrate financial need.
Award
$1,000
Scopes
Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Financial Need
Edward L. Spencer, Jr. Endowed Scholarship
Must be enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, with preference to students who demonstrate financial need.
Award
Varies
Scopes
Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Financial Need
Gregory N. Waters Endowed Scholarship
Must be enrolled in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, with preference given to students who demonstrate financial need.
Award
Varies
Scopes
Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Financial Need
Coca-Cola First-Generation Annual Scholarship
Must be an incoming freshman, a first-generation college student, and demonstrate financial need with preference given to students who qualify for the Federal Pell Grant.
Award
$5,000
Scopes
First-Generation College Student, Financial Need, Federal Pell Grant Eligible
Oliver and Mary F. Head Endowed Scholarship
Must be a non-resident student and demonstrate financial need.
Award
Varies
Scopes
Financial Need, Non-resident
Auburn University Foundation Student Endowed Scholarship
Must be an incoming freshman.
Award
Varies
I would assume the financial aid office could answer your questions about these scholarships. It isn’t unusual for parents to call to discuss the aid package. You could tell them the situation. Have you done this? It doesn’t seem to me there will be more money forthcoming. The posters responding to you are experts on this subject.
I am sorry you find yourself in this situation.
The financial aid office does not handle these (aid and scholarship packages are two different things and the aid was awarded last month scholarships have yet to be awarded) and the scholarship office pretty much says we just have to wait until 4/2 which is when the awards for all of these go out to see what he was awarded. It is not that far off I was just posting to see if anyone had any insight and if anyone had been awarded them and if so what their circumstances were. I believe the only true expert on this topic would be someone who has applied to AUBURN and applied for these scholarships but I have yet to find such a person on this forum.
I’m confused. Is the financial aid package from Auburn requiring you to pay your EFC of approx. $4,300 per year or did they gap you, giving him only $1,000 and $5,500 in loans and $0 in need-based aid? If that is the case, clearly they do not meet financial need for OOS students. Looking at their financial aid page, that seems to be the case.
Merit aid looks pretty limited as well, given that the scholarships seem to require an ACT of 29 or higher and many are limited to Alabama residents.
I am so sorry you find yourself in this situation. It is hard to understand.
Your best bet is to have your son talk to the coach ASAP and tell the coach he can’t attend unless he gets more aid. Some of the scholarships, while they list a minimum ACT, could possibly be awarded to a student that a coach wants that doesn’t meet the ACT requirement.
However, none of those come close to allowing him to attend Auburn. The most is about $18,000 which still leave a large gap.
There is actually a list of the best colleges for fishing. One that comes up is Oklahoma State. It is an up and coming program (won some kind of big fishing event). It is STILL TAKING APPLICATIONS!! and has some scholarship opportunities for OOS students. It may be worth a call to the coach as if they are trying to boost that team, they may be very excited to get your son.
You/he may want to check some of the others as well.
http://www.wideopenspaces.com/10-best-college-fishing-teams/
The financial aid that is awarded is simply what the government gives them to pass on ie. Pell and the Stafford loans etc. That was awarded last month, he is receiving 5500 in loans and a 1060 Pell grant. Institutional “Aid” is given in the form of scholarships in a completely separate package which will be awarded next week. These scholarships consist of the ones I listed above and many more.
I think you need a plan B. It doesn’t seem like those will be nearly enough to bridge the gap. There are other schools to consider and possible even for fall of 2017. If not, and if the fishing is really important, a gap year with a wider range of applications may be the way to go. Or go to the school that he can afford as a freshman and then look to transfer. At least by next week you should know.
Know you are not alone in this - many families find that the schools do not actually meet financial need and merit money is actually quite limited.
“preference to those who demonstrate financial need” still means you have to earn the scholarship!
@Trisherella Understood, my question is what are the qualifications for earning it?
@AprylJD4
This may not be much help but my daughter applied and was accepted to Auburn for this year (class of 2017). She was awared the Presidential scholarship based on stats and met with the honors college about some of the other scholarships on AUSOM. She applied for these through the portal as well. We were told that these are competetive and many are one time scholarships, not renewable. Even with her high stats they are not guaranteed and she should not count on them. There are other scholarships listed on AUSOM that she would possibly be competetive for later as an upperclassman but she would need to reapply each year. My advice would be to call them. They were very helpful and very open but those scholarships were far from promised. There are many, many, many qualified students that have been accepted and are trying for those scholarships and many have compelling stories as well as fanancial need. I feel that Auburn was completely open and honest about the scholarships. Those decisions will come out in the beginning of April. If you can wait until you see what he receives (if anything) then make your decision.
My dd is a great student and really liked Auburn but those extras are not huge amounts and not for all 4 years. Put that together with the competition of other amazing students all trying for a the small pot of money and my dd decided to pass on Auburn and go to a school with a better financial package. If her portal shows some great extra scholarships in early April, she may take a closer look but it is not likely that it will be enough to turn down the better offers. She would have been very happy at Auburn and I am sure she would have received a great education - just not sure that it was worth the increased cost. It came down to the price difference and also a bit more enthusiasm and opportunities at another school.
The goal is complete a 4 year degree, UG, with little or no debt.
If the son truly wants a dream school - he can get there if he wants to do military or perhaps some other way. Many don’t.
It is easier to have a parent who may be guilt-ed into signing parent plus loans. He cannot have 4 years at AU w/o having higher merit scholarship for 4 year. Qualifying for work/study, some grants, still means max student loan and some parent plus loans.
Don’t do it!
In NY you have many possibilities. He could also attend something nearby and live at home - be it CC or state school. Sometimes even a private school with merit and FA package and commuting from home could be a possibility.
He can also look into what AP courses and what CLEP courses to achieve a degree with having less out of pocket for tuition/courses.
That is the same feedback that I have gotten from the scholarship office so it is wait and see, though like you said whatever it is that they offer if anything it will still fall far short of what we need. We have some financial resources and the ability to get the loans needed but he needs to decide if that is the route that he really wants to go.
He already has 4 AP and a few other college credits from the AP and Prep courses that he took. Aside from his test scores he is an exceptional student with a high GPA, high rank, max AP test scores many honor and leadership awards as well as impressive athletic accolades including being a three year Varsity team captain on two sports one of which he started on Varsity in 8th grade the other in 9th. He has also made a name for himself with his accomplishments in competitive Bass Fishing world as well as a few successful entrepreneurial ventures. He has the potential to accelerate both academically and competitively and to make him choose one oe the other and ask an overachiever to under achieve would be doing him a great disservice.
OP sounds like you have a great son with a lot of potential. However if he has not applied to affordable schools and he does not want to attend CC or local in-state school which may be affordable, perhaps he needs to take a gap year to earn $$ and also apply where he can get enough merit (gap year applications for incoming FR merit means no college classes anywhere).
I would suggest he talk to bass fishing insiders for some guidance - from the perspective if he was their son under these financial constraints, what would they recommend for him to get his college education?
Auburn costs $48k for OOS students. Your gap is $42k, and Auburn doesn’t meet need. Their website, [url=https://web.auburn.edu/ir/cds/2016/sectionh.aspx]Common Data Set/url, and [url=https://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/net-price-calculator.html]Net Price Calculator/url will give you plenty of information.
I ran the NPC for a student with a 3.0 GPA and 24 ACT, and FAFSA EFC of $4300. The result: a $1565 grant (probably Pell), the $5500 federal student loan, and a net cost of ~$41k. It didn’t ask for income but it did ask for the FAFSA EFC, so I don’t know if it’s calculating need based aid or just merit. I suppose they could have a merit component to qualify for need based aid.
You can check their CDS to find out about need based aid. Auburn gives over $19m of need based aid per year, but according to their [url=http://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/]website[/url] only 60% of freshmen receive need based scholarships. Their average need based grant is $9k/year. However, that doesn’t mean that each student receives $9k/year. Only 21% of freshmen (~300 students) received enough aid to have their need fully met. Most were gapped.
Need is a tricky thing though. Colleges determine need using their own formulas. The FAFSA EFC is worthless for that. It’s only used to determine whether or not you qualify for a Pell grant. Our FAFSA EFC was similar to yours (~$5,000). Many colleges, however, calculated our EFC to be ~$20k or more. So a school like Auburn would take their $48k COA and subtract the $20k EFC making our need $28k. Some colleges offered scholarships but many, like [url=http://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/faq.html]Auburn,[/url] only offer one to most students, and the max they’d offer would be whatever they calculate your need to be. Auburn only meets about 50% of need on average, so even if they determined your need was $28k the most you’d probably get would be $14k. That would make your net cost ~$34k/year. You may get more, but I’d line up some financial safeties just in case.
How is going to a SUNY underachieving? I’d be careful of loans, especially for a business major. There are companies that won’t hire business majors who have a lot of loans because they’re a risk.
@AprylJD4 I can sympathize with you as we also have a low EFC (~ $3,500). I don’t think you are going to get enough money to make Auburn happen. The only colleges I have found that will come close to our EFC are highly coveted and competitive. Generally, those other need-based scholarships are competitive and given to upper class students who have already proven themselves at Auburn with excellent stats and are in danger of having to drop out due to finances. Auburn, like most colleges, wants to keep its graduation statistics as high as possible, and it doesn’t want to lose top students.
You really need to listen to what the experts above are trying to tell you. Otherwise, your son may find himself in a situation where he gets nothing from Auburn and has indirectly given up other options through missed deadlines. He definitely needs to have a Plan B in place, especially considering that it’s already late March.
I am not discounting other options. He is seriously considering a small private school in TN that has perused him in the past that is far more affordable. I was really just looking for information based on experience on who these need based scholarships go to. I appreciate you telling me that they tend to go to upperclassman, that is the type of information I was looking for.
Just an update. My son has been recruited by Bethel University to join their fishing team which is one of best in the country and has been awarded an academic scholarship as well as a scholarship to commit to the fishing team. These are very generous scholarships which coupled with our federal aid package make this a very affordable option. While it would not be his first choice it is a great option and I think that it is very likely he will accept their offer and sign the commitment next month.
Can you combine need based aid with athletic scholarship?