My daughter was offered the Guaranteed Transfer Option for Fall 2018. Does anyone know if there are any scholarships/grants for students coming in under this option. She is a pretty solid student, and we were a bit surprised she didn’t make it in for freshman year (although stiff competition). She has: 3.953 non-weighted GPA with AP exams and classes, top 4% of her class (largest high school in our state), 31 ACT (higher if super score), sports, clubs, volunteering, etc. She applied regular decision. With coming in as a transfer student, she missed out on the opportunity for the other scholarships if she were admitted her freshman year. Seems unfair these students aren’t offered some of these nice scholarships, too, because she’s an excellent one! I think she’d like to go there, but I don’t think she will choose to if that means taking on a bunch of financial aid (and debt). My husband makes a good income, I am a stay-at-home parent. We are a family in need, as we are still paying off my husband’s lawschool and Masters (that his company didn’t cover). So, we have income, but it is already spoken for. Makes me sad that our daughter, who is an excellent student, may miss out on going to this school – because of unmet financial need. P.S. Our daughter wants to major in BioChem (pre-med), so we really need to keep the cost down for her undergrad.
I just wanted to add that possibly the reason our daughter was overlooked, is that we mistakenly submitted one of her lower scores on the ACT. Had they seen the 31, it may have made a difference. Just guessing, and congratulations to all who did get in – I know you’ve worked hard!
Colleges will not care, those were choices. Just as paying tuition for a private high school.
TomSRofBoston are you absolutely sure on this - wondering if you work for Boston U or hold some type of position where you’d be “in-the-know”??? I’m only asking, because we were told by someone at one of the ivy league colleges to claim the amount of my husband’s student loans on our daughter’s financial aid application. I’d hate to think she’d have to be penalized for a situation that wasn’t her choice or not her doing. To me, this is the same as a family who has low income (not that we are wealthy) because maybe they chose not to go to college. That’s a choice, too, right? Or, what about a family who cannot afford to pay much for college because one parent cannot work due to permanent disability due to poor decisions they made regarding care for their own body. That’s a choice, too, right? The scenarios could go on and on. Not trying to be disrespectful, here. Just trying to bring some logic to our situation. In the end, we have a very bright girl or has worked very hard, and she shouldn’t be penalized for something she has no doing/control over. If colleges don’t care . . . they should.
@getnintheknow I have no insider information. Ivy league schools with $20 billion plus endowments can set their own rules, they have the money to do it.
I’m sure they can TomSrofBoston. Hopefully, there are some that evaluate things on a more personal level. We will do all we can to negotiate for her. In the end, we’ll probably go with the school that provides the best package overall. We do not wish to see our daughter take on any school debt (other than what is reasonable). Especially given that she will most likely have medical school to pay for, too. Again, no disrespect here. I’m just thinking of all the kids in a similar situation such as ours. No parent wishes for their child to be saddled with any more debt than is reasonable for college fresh out of highschool.
TomSrOfBoston, was just noticing you have 8,930 posts (not sure if you posted these or read). Wow! I’m sure you’ve gained some valuable information.
I am suspecting Guaranteed Transfer admission might be offered for students with an unbalanced profile (one part exceptionally strong and another part much weaker. getnintheknow, your D seems to have had outstanding GPA but relatively poor test scores for BU. My S is the opposite. Outstanding test scores (1550 SAT, 800 math, 750 R/W) but had poor grades as sophomore at challenging Private school which hurt GPA (although strong upward trend since). Both likely offered Guaranteed transfer because they want to see they will handle college level work…