Hello, I am currently searching for scholarships for college as a rising high school senior.
What are some notable scholarships (not college specific, but applicable to any college) that are available for me given the following stats
1/2 Hispanic (Colombia)
30 Act/ 2010 sat
4.0 GPA UW
The best scholarships come from the schools themselves. Apply to schools where you have a chance at good merit aid.
What is your family income approximately?
You might be just seeking schools that meet need.
Im looking at schools the give mostly need based aid. Like Penn, cmu, and rice. Im just worried that even with the need based aid I might need some scholarships to fill the gap between what the university thinks we can pay and what we can actually pay. Income is in 2nd bracket. Though, my parents own their home, and it is the price of an average suburban two story home, which for some stupid reason affects the EFC 
@actprep34 please be aware that outside scholarships will likely reduce the need based aid provided by the school because after you receive the scholarship you will have less “need”
@CourtneyThurston might have some suggestions for you.
My opinion is that you need to raise that ACT score to be competitive for those generous outside scholarships.
And as noted, in many cases outside scholarships reduce financial need. in addition, schools cannot give you need based aid to pay for your family contribution. And some schools expect the family to pay that amount.
RE: your home…not stupid at all. Is the home fully paid for? Schools use the equity in a home…so take the value minus any mortgage your parents hold on the home. That is the equity. A portion of the equity is used because your family could use that as collaterol to get a loan to help you with college cost.
@actprep34 …I’m not expert, I just read the boards here on CC but from what I’ve read, the schools that meet full need WILL reduce your need based aid if you have outside scholarships. So writing agazillion essays for those scholarships may not really do a whole lot for you.
And from reading your other posts, it doesn’t sound like those schools are going to think you have much need. YOU think you have need because you and your parents do not have the EFC saved up, correct? (not being harsh, just trying to clarify)
You are NOT alone. I know it seems like you are but hopefully you know there are thousands and thousands of kids out there who want to go to school at Penn, Rice and CMU but we cannot pay what those schools think we can pay.
Our EFC at those schools is around $38K and we a.)don’t have that much saved up and b.) really question whether or not it is worth it. In our family we have a Dr., a NP, an engineer, a CRNA (nurse anesthetist…who makes probably >$200K a year) and a computer science/IT guy and NONE of us went to anything more than our state school or regional/directional school. We all do well and have good careers…so we are hard pressed to believe that robbing the retirement account or borrowing a ton of $$ in parent loans is worth it just to finance an education at those schools.
With your parents unique situation and your high EFC, it sounds like you need to start looking at schools where you would likely get a lot of merit aid. Have you started doing that?
On previous threads you have stated that Penn next orice calculator says your net cost will be
And on another thread you state you will be on a LOT of debt for college because you are “low income” (your words).
First off…if your net price at Penn is $47,000 for the year…your family income is at or above $200,000 a year…or you have significant assets in addition to a decent income. That is NOT low income.
Second…is there a more “accurate estimation” of your net cost. NO. The Penn NPC is the most accurate way to estimate net cost.
Penn will likely expect your family to pay their family contribution. The school won’t award need based aid based to cover the family contribution. Penn gives only need based aid.
If you get an outside scholarship, it will very likely reduce your need based award. Contact Penn and ask THEM their current policy.
Just to clarify some things @thumper1 @carachel2 I am low income by the very definition of low income. We make a very low amount of income per year, about 1/2 of Penn’s full freight cost. Our house isn’t income, it’s all we have, and we can’t sell it and live on the streets just to pay for college. That being said, there was an error I personally made in completing the net price calculator as I noted in the posts you guys are most likely referencing. My EFC from CSS profile is around 12-15k a year, and that is similar to what Penn’s NPC said. With that as my EFC, is it really worth the effort to do scholarships, will the amount I get in scholarships be less than the amount I loose in aid?
Ok good that you clarified that about your income. It sounds like your parents did a fantastic job of preparing for retirement.
It might be a good idea to dig around on the specific Penn forum. In general, I do see lots of posts about students who obtained outside scholarships and once they reported those to the school (which is required)… The school reduced the need based aid by that same amount and the student still had to come up with their EFC.
I know you said your EFC was 12-15k. Will your parents be able to pay that? With a $5,500 federal loan, some work study and then maybe 5-7k left to pay by your parents it could perhaps work out? (Hopefully someone more experienced will chime in!). I would also work on getting your ACT up a bit to put you in line for some schools with automatic merit $$.
Ok…if your net price at Penn is $12,000 or so…Penn will expect your family to pay that $12,000 or so. Per year.
A couple of things about outside scholarships:
How much? Ask them.
The federal loan and work study (if any) is probably already included in the financial aid package, so that’s not available to help with the EFC.
At Penn, outside scholarships will likely reduce the student’s “need,” but will probably be used to first offset the self-help portion of the financial aid package (i.e., loans and work study) before reducing grants.
From the Penn website FAQ concerning financial aid:
So…no loans would be IN the financial aid package.
@carachel2 The federal loan is part of the need based aid on top of the out of pocket EFC. It would not cover part of the EFC. Same for workstudy.
OP, if you can get a test prep book and bump your score up a bit, you will have more merit options. ACT of 32 might be attainable and opens up more choices.
I am trying to get my act score up to a 34 just to get into penn, with a 30 my options are very limited. So if what you guys have been saying is correct, does that mean that whatever the EFC comes out to be will have to be paid in full or financed by the family itself through other means and that federal loans through FAFSA won’t be available to help pay for the EFC?
At Penn, if federal loans are not included by the school as part of your need-based financial aid package, those loans would still be available for you to take, at your discretion, to cover part of your EFC. Most schools do not have a no-loan policy, so you usually see federal loans packaged as part of the financial aid offer.
If their income is half the cost of Penn, I think the OP meant $12k as the net price before loans & other self-help…
Could you please post the exact results of the NPC?
Yes: EFC: $14, 525
Student Work:- $2700
Estimated Remaining cost: $11, 825