(If this isn’t the appropriate forum feel free to delete or move)
I’m 21 years old and I have my Associate of Arts. I graduate in Spring '15 and took a year off to get my life together after being diagnosed with a chronic mental illness. I’m looking into schools but it is really overwhelming doing it on my own.
College Stats:
Associate of Arts. We didn’t do ‘majors’ but I am planning on going into Sociology.
Graduated with a 3.6 GPA, 60+ credits (don’t know off the top of my head). One withdraw, no fails, two C’s, the rest A’s with a few B’s.
Made the Deans List 5/6 semesters I was enrolled, awarded a scholarship for my academics.
Deeply involved in my colleges LGBT program, was a member for one year, misc. officer for a second, and president for the third.
Presented original research at a symposium, did a lot of conferences and stuff like that.
I am confident that I can be accepted to almost any school I want, but I am concerned about paying for it. I live with my parents and work a full time(ish) job making ~$12,000/year. I have about $4,000 saved to pay for moving expenses and stuff when I get to college. My parents and I are considering having me file as independent on this years taxes. I am an Ohio resident but would strongly prefer to go out of state. I have already applied for the JKC Scholarship but I’m not sure where else to look, every other scholarship makes it seem like you need to cure cancer while maintaining a 5.0 GPA to get it, or they’re exclusively aimed at incoming freshmen.
Schools I am looking into include Seattle University, University of Washington, and the University of Oregon, however I’m pretty flexible.
I am afraid that the best FA for transfer students will be found at private universities, rather than out of state public universities. You might want to look into public universities in Ohio which are not in your hometown to see if they offer decent FA.
If your parents are not able to help you with the expenses, you might have to work and take that into consideration when deciding where to go.
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Unfortunately, the most generous financial aid comes from the universities to freshman applicants.
Public universities reserve their monies for instate residents. The Washington schools will be very expensive.
Check your instate publics and privates.
Unless you are 24 years of age, and have been self supporting, it would be really hard to declare yourself as independent for financial aid purposes through FAFSA at most schools.
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@xraymancs My parents are able to help to a very small extent. They could provide me with $50-100/month for musc expenses but they do not qualify for parent PLUS loans (mom defaulted on her student loan). I am OK with working work study or a similar situation but I’d prefer not to keep working where I am because the job is extremely stressful for very, very low pay.Thanks for the response.
@"“aunt bea” Thanks for your response as well. Seattle U is a private school that seems to have the best financial aid in this situation. I suppose I will need to make a choice between wanting a larger, research university (usually found at state uni’s) versus good financial aid for transfers.
You should speak with the Transfer Advisor at your old CC. That person will be able to tell you where students like you have been admitted in recent years, and if they recieved good financial aid. That person’s whole job is to help stude ts like you find good places to finish their degrees.
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My son is a transfer student at an excellent liberal arts college (a “college that changes lives” college). He was a bit older than the OP when he applied. He was awarded a very generous need-based grant that covers almost all of his tuition. He still has to take out loans to cover the remainder & his room/board, but that is considerably less.
As others have said, private schools will in general offer the best financial aid packages. My S did have high SAT scores that made him a more ‘attractive’ candidate, but his GPA from his Freshman year at his original college was not terribly impressive (2.9). In the years between the two colleges he did work and also went to community college to build up his GPA & demonstrate he was ready for college. Two other small liberal arts colleges accepted him and offered him similar packages. And the OP’s stats seem more impressive than my sons.
People said the same to him, that transfer students weren’t offered nearly as much money as Freshman. This is true, but it’s also true that there is money out there if you qualify and choose schools that can give it to you, and want you there. I’d definitely suggest private liberal arts colleges. There are many excellent ones out there that would deliver a top education and give you ample opportunities in whatever direction you choose. Good luck!
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