<p>So I will be attending UCF and was just offered Pegasus Gold scholarship for $14,000. Great right? ...Not exactly. Looks like I have better stats than others with the same award and near identical stats to those with the higher up provost award for $30,000. Not only that, but the Pegasus Gold scholarship was $24,000 last year. Should I contact them some how for reconsideration? I'm guessing a written letter would be the most effective. I desperately need the extra money, and the way it's looking now might not even make ends meet.</p>
<p>So you have $14,000 with the Pegasus. How much is your Bright Futures? And aren’t you Pell eligible also? </p>
<p>What are the totals of Pegasus plus Bright Futures, plus Pell?</p>
<p>Bright futures is $2,400 a year and Pell is $5700 if I am given the full amount. My mother will likely get a higher paying job when I move out though so the subsequent 3 Pell Grants won’t be that high.</p>
<p>With Pegasus at $3,500 I’m looking at $11,600 a year. That’ll just cover the essentials (as long as I can budget my groceries well and books only cost as much as they say they will) for the first year. This is not including gas money, personal expenses, various fees, etc. If I don’t have to rely on loans I absolutely will after the first year with the reduced Pell Grant.</p>
<p>What about a summer job? Have you been working and saving your earnings for college?</p>
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<p>Pegasus at $3500? Your OP said your Pegasus was $14,000. Which is it?</p>
<p>And from another thread:</p>
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<p>$14,000 (Pegasus Gold) plus $5730 (Pell) plus $2400 (Bright Futures) plus $5500 Direct loan ( which you can take as a freshman) is about $27,000.</p>
<p>And this is from the UCF website:</p>
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<p>I hope you do understand that the university is not obligated to provide you with aid that exceeds their cost of attendance. </p>
<p>Even with $3500 Pegasus, $5730 Pell, $2500 Bright Futures, you would have almost $12,000 for the year. Add to that the Direct Loan of $5500, and you have plenty to attend this school.</p>
<p>$14,000 over the course of 4 years. Which would be $3500 a year. And I just feel like I’m a good enough student to not have to take out max loans for college. I’ve always been the top of my class, I shouldn’t be having to do that.</p>
<p>the scholarship is $14k over 4 years (3500/year)</p>
<p>it looks like the pegasus and the bright future will cover your tuition and fees (keep in mind that all scholarship awards over the cost of tuition, fees and books will be taxable income to you).</p>
<p>Pell and student loan will cover your room and board.</p>
<p>A part-time job starting now along with working over the summer will cover your misc. expenses.</p>
<p>You are being given a nice offer from a college you wish to attend. It is not unreasonable for you to assume some off the financial responsibility via a Direct Loan and a job. </p>
<p>UCF does not guarantee to meet full need for all of its accepted students. You have a good offer from them.</p>
<p>Thank you for clarifying the Pegasus award. </p>
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<p>Is that the highest Bright Futures award? Isn’t there a higher amount available?</p>
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<p>Oh please, there are stronger students than you that are taking out full student loans. That said, if you don’t want to take out full fed loans, then work full time over the summer and part-time during the school year. That should net you at least $5k per year to put towards college. </p>
<p>You’re getting a good bit of “free money” …at some point you need to tell yourself, “I NEED TO contribute to my own education.” </p>
<p>And, once your mom gets a “better job” then maybe she can help you a bit with some small things.</p>
<p>BTW…in another thread you mention that your SS will end when you turn 18 which will reduce the family income, so if your mom gets a better job, won’t that just mean that the household income will stay about the same (unless she gets some huge increase in income.) Your Pell amount may stay about the same.</p>
<p>Ok…I see that you’re upset that someone with an ACT 32 got a lot more than you did. For some reason, many colleges consider an ACT 32 as the threshold for getting a LOT more money. It may seem like “just one more point” but when you compare to the SAT, the difference is like a 1330 M+CR vs a 1410 M+CR</p>
<p>Your stats</p>
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<p>GPA on UCF scale: 4.56</p>
<p>ACT/SAT: 31</p>
<p>Community service hours: 470</p>
<p>Anything extra: Applied about a month ago.</p>
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<p>If you don’t like your award, apply to some other FL publics that would give you more for an ACT 31. And, who knows, maybe if FAU, FIU, or UNF, or USF offer you more money, THEN maybe UCF will reconsider and give you more merit. </p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>BTW…has BF dropped again? It would seem like you’d qualify for top BF…wouldn’t that be for more than $2400 per year? I thought it was for over $3k.</p>
<p>isn’t the top BF $103 per credit hour? If so, then 30 credits per year would be over $3k.</p>
<p>And wouldn’t you qualify for the top scholar bonus? </p>
<p>Are you estimating BF based on 12 credits per semester? If so, don’t do that. If you want to graduate in four years, you need to take at least 15 credits per semester. Don’t be misled by the “12 credits is full time” …that gets kids into trouble. They’ll take only 12 credits and then be shocked when they don’t graduate on time and lose their funding. </p>
<p>If you do qualify for the highest level of BF (which it appears that you do), then calculate your BF based on 15 or 16 credits per semester.</p>
<p>What is your major? There are some majors, like engineering, where students need to take 16-18 credits every semester.</p>
<p>Majoring in marketing. And I’ve already taken 30 something hours of college courses from AP and DE classes so if I were to take 15 credit hours a semester I’d graduate in 3 years. I still might do this, especially if I’m going to have to take out student loans, but I was leaning more towards doing the traditional 4 years. </p>
<p>And what’s the top scholar bonus? I’ve never heard of that.</p>
<p>Mom2 is saying you would qualify for the higher Bright Futures award…the top award given to Bright Future Scholars.</p>
<p>Absolutely appeal your award and see if you can get more. Not going to do any harm. Maybe you will get more.</p>
<p>I have no idea what drives this award, but I can tell you that unless an award is guaranteed with certain stats, your stats are only part of the picture. It’s possible to get nothing at all and others with lower stats getting more. But get some insight as to how the award was given and if you can get more. Some schools do award integration, so that might be in the picture too. But you should know. Good luck on the appeal.</p>
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Majoring in marketing. And I’ve already taken 30 something hours of college courses from AP and DE classes so if I were to take 15 credit hours a semester I’d graduate in 3 years. I still might do this, especially if I’m going to have to take out student loans, but I was leaning more towards doing the traditional 4 years.</p>
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<p>No, you do NOT have to graduate in 3 years either way.</p>
<p>My kids came into college with 45 AP credits. They still took 15+ credits per semester and went all 4 years. They took some classes “just for fun” and also did some minors. </p>
<p>I think you think that you have to graduate to graduate in 3 years if you take 15 credits per semester, you don’t.</p>
<p>And, also, depending on your AP/DE credits, some may be unneeded (like extra history credits), so 30 AP/DE credits does NOT necessarily mean one less year of college. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the help guys! I wrote a letter yesterday and after letting it go cold edited it today to remove/reword some of the emotion. I will be handwriting it on stationary paper to add a more personal touch. UCF is quite ambiguous with their scholarships so I’m uncertain if they are given out strictly on a “by the books” basis or if there is some other means of qualification. Either way I believe I wrote a compelling letter so I’ll just have to wait and see.</p>
<p>I sure do hope I can go to college for 4 years and take some classes just for fun (that’s what I was imagining it’d end up like before this news), but if I am taking loans out on it I’ll need to get out of there asap. I absolutely abhor having to owe people money. Whatever happens happens though and I’ll make the best of it.</p>
<p>^^
You won’t likely need to take out loans or take out much. You can work over summers and use that money.</p>
<p>Also, your mom should qualify for the tuition tax credit. If so, then ask her if you can use that money for college.</p>
<p>I’m rooting for you, Tallguy. Hopefully, it works out. </p>
<p>As for graduating in 3 years, that’s up to you and how things work out My son’s best friend did so,and enjoyed his college experience immensely. His parents could just afford for him to go for 3 years at the school of choice, so he busted his chops to get out. Like you, he had AP and other credits that helped him do so. He’s in a master’s program in NYC right now for some directed career path.</p>
<p>Question</p>
<p>Does bright futures only cover tuition (or does it also cover room, board, books and fees)
Does the pegasus scholarship only cover tuition (or does it also cover room, board, books and fees)</p>
<p>If scholarships are tuition only scholarships (and many are), you may not end up with any more additional monies if your tuition is already covered.</p>
<p>Appreciate it cptofthehouse!</p>
<p>And I haven’t heard anything about wither scholarship being for tuition-only so I’m going to assume it’s general. </p>