Scholarships, EFC, appeals

Paying for College
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<p>Bella, your state of resident for tuition purposes is the state in which your parents reside in the VERY VAST MAJORITY of cases. If your family doesn’t reside in Texas, it is very unlikely that you will be granted instate residency status as an undergraduate student.</p>

<p>In addition, at some public universities, your residency status can NOT change once you have matriculated. In other words, if you enroll as OOS, you remain so. If you enroll as instate, you remain so.</p>

<p>Your threads have me VERY confused…and yes,I have read them ALL. </p>

<p>You say your parents can pay about $25,000 a year. SO, start by looking at your instate public universities which would likely be affordable. </p>

<p>If you haven’t taken the SAT or ACT tests, you really have no way of knowing what kinds of merit aid you would qualify for…most merit is a combination of excellent SAT or ACT scores and GPA.</p>

<p>You have talked about applying to some schools in the $50,000 a year range. If your parents can only contribute $25,000, these schools might end up being unaffordable.</p>

<p>Are you an international student? If not, what state do you and your parents live in? What year in high school are you?</p>

<p>Understand that need based aid is based on your parents’ incomes and assets…and yours as well. Merit is based on GPA and SAT/ACT scores in most cases.</p>

<p>You are giving the posters here a very cobbled picture of your situation…adding info, and changing info with each thread and post. It is very hard to give even ball park info when the story keeps changing.</p>

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<p>Daddio…the best net price calculators are the ones on the COLLEGE website. Some colleges do link to the calculator on the college board website, presumably because that reflects what that college does.</p>

<p>HOWEVER, if a college has a net price calculator ON that college website, use THAT NPC, not the IM one on the college board site.</p>

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<p>Why does the CB even have the general IM calculator still active? It was only a general predictor before the NPCs, and now it is even less relevant.</p>

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<p>Good question entomom! I do know that some college NPCs actually direct you to the college board one. But I agree…there should NOT be a direct way to complete that from the CB site…but then we are talking about the CB!</p>

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<p>So true, the CB will always be the CB!</p>

<p>The NPCs came out a year after my youngest, but I ran some trials for a friend. What I saw was that when I used the same data for different schools (they let you store your data), I was given different packages by different schools. So my understanding was that even though the NPC was on the CB website, it was specific to the school and not the general CB IM.</p>

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<p>I don’t know why you think it is cobbled up. Take for e.g. Just because I said my parents can afford to pay $25K, doesn’t mean I would want them to pay 25K if I can manage to pay $15K or 20K. neither it means that I should not look at schools which cost 50K. Why can’t you look at schools that cost 50K if you can manage to bring your net price down to $25k. Where is the inconsistency? There are lots of things like that and I wouldn’t want to waste my time in answering these type of questions. Since you have been helpful, I felt that I should clarify this once. </p>

<p>Let’s please not get into this nitpicking. Let’s answer to the queries if we can. Nothing is set in a hard stone.
I’m looking at various options. I know my personal situation the best. I listen to all sides, take input from various sources and then make the final decision. I’m sure everyone here does that.</p>

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<p>People cannot give you good information when you withhold facts (stats, state of residency if any etc). </p>

<p>Garbage in, garbage out.</p>

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<p>Bella,</p>

<p>everyone understands that a person might get aid to bring an expensive school down to budget.</p>

<p>The point is that if you have one thread that includes basic info: GPA, test scores, home state, amount parents will pay, intended major/career, etc, then you’ll get better responses to your various questions.</p>

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<p>Mom2college</p>

<p>I understand you point perfectly. I will seek specific query when I have all the info in next few weeks. </p>

<p>I also feel you don’t need all the info to specific queries such as instate/out of state tution fees, NPCs, FAFSA. Please go back and look at all the queries I posted, many of them really are questions of general nature and I’m trying to hone up my understanding on various subjects, basically get a head start.</p>

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<p>

See [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/) Also, please put in some thoughts on your posting before you post it on the forum. For example,

is not helping anyone.</p>

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<p>Easy answers to general questions.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>You will need to complete a FAFSA for virtually all colleges. It becomes available January 1 of your senior year in high school. Do it ASAP after that date. Get a PIN for you and your parents before then.</p></li>
<li><p>For about 300 schools, you will need to complete a Profile. </p></li>
<li><p>Some schools also have their own school form.</p></li>
<li><p>The amounts from those net price calculators should be viewed as estimates.</p></li>
<li><p>Until you have an SAT/ACT score, it is hard to give any info about merit aid.</p></li>
<li><p>You are an instate resident for the state in which your parents reside. </p></li>
<li><p>OOS public universities are going to be pricey, and most do not offer need based aid to cover the differential between IS and OOS tuition costs.</p></li>
<li><p>Your final list of schools should include two safety schools…schools where you are guaranteed admission, can pay the costs to attend, and are places you like. Choose THOSE schools first.</p></li>
<li><p>Discuss finances with your parents and find out what they really intend to pay each year you are in college. Sure, apply anywhere you choose, but at the end realize that you will need to adhere to the financial guidelines set forth by your family.</p></li>
<li><p>Certainly apply to match and reach schools. But be realistic when it comes to your specific situation…both stats wise, and financially.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t miss any deadlines!</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>^AND don’t let your attitude toward those in a position to assist you come through in your college applications ;)</p>

<p>And by attitude, I am referring to this:

</p>

<p>THERE’S NOTHING ‘NITPICKING’ ABOUT WANTING TO KNOW YOUR GPA AND STATE OF RESIDENCE.</p>

<p>If you can’t or won’t answer simple questions then perhaps you should talk to Dr. Google instead of using this particular resource.</p>

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<p>themper1,
Great post!

I would add:
Ivy schools don’t award merit aid at all. See <a href=“How Much Merit Aid Will Your College Offer? Take a Look - The New York Times”>How Much Merit Aid Will Your College Offer? Take a Look - The New York Times. However, your test scores and your GPA are still important.</p>

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<p>I just read all of Bella’s posts. Unless I misread someplace, she is currently a high school senior. She has taken the SAT twice, and at one point was thinking about taking the ACT in December. She is retaking the SAT in October. </p>

<p>Bella, correct me if I’m wrong…but your posts imply that you wish to apply to some very competitive schools, but your current SAT scores don’t support that. Thus the retake. In particular, you want to raise your math score by 100 points.</p>

<p>Please…take this free advice…you already have a number of reach schools on your potential list. Take some time NOW to find some schools that really ARE matches and safety schools. Those choices are very important on each application list. Quite frankly, it’s easy to choose reaches!</p>

<p>Look at the worst case scenario…that your October SAT won’t improve significantly. Find some realistic choices with what you have now.</p>

<p>And realize that the GPA from the end of your junior year could very well BE the GPA that colleges will be looking at when reviewing your application for admission.</p>

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<p>Thanks Thumper1</p>

<p>What do you mean by this? </p>

<p>and realize that the GPA from the end of your junior year could very well BE the GPA that colleges will be looking at when reviewing your application for admission.</p>

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<p>and realize that the GPA from the end of your junior year could very well BE the GPA that colleges will be looking at when reviewing your application for admission. >></p>

<p>It means that your GPA at the end of junior year could be the colleges look at; they might not consider senior grades.
What was confusing about what Thumper said?</p>

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<p>I want to know more on why colleges would simply look at your GPA and not standardized testing scores?</p>

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<p>They don’t. They look at both but for GPA, if you apply in fall, only the GPA from the end of junior year will be available on your transcript. Some schools may postpone a decision until you send them fall senior year grades.</p>

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<p>

Not quite. See [How</a> Important Are Test Scores to College Applications? - College Admissions Q&As (usnews.com)](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-experts/2011/12/14/how-important-are-test-scores-to-college-applications]How”>http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-experts/2011/12/14/how-important-are-test-scores-to-college-applications)

However,

</p>

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<p>Okay now I get in what context Thumper might have said “realize that the GPA from the end of your junior year could very well BE the GPA that colleges will be looking at when reviewing your application for admission.”</p>