My daughter was accepted and awarded $14,000 in merit scholarships and $5000 in Loans (no thanks on the high-interest loans) but that barely covers the COA, room and board. I want to ask the school if she will possibly receive more scholarships but read somewhere that if she looks anxious to attend, then they may put the brakes on more scholarship? I was just about to ask the question on the school’s Facebook page but then got nervous that they will figure out who my daughter is and thus reinforce what I stated above. Good gravy, do I sound paranoid?
I’m confused. If the $14,000 merit scholarship and the $5000 loans (federal loans and the interest is reasonable) covers the COA, room and board, why would you be looking for more money? The school cannot award more than is needed.
I’m doubly confused, since the term “COA” is the Cost of Attendance, and includes room and board.
Do you have information from previous years that merit awards are communicated in separate pieces over several months? That would not be the usual case. If they already have additional merit money earmarked for her, why would they withhold the information? It sounds to me that the merit award was communicated. If your daughter wants to ask if they can possibly give more, she (not you) can do so politely. It helps if she has a bigger award from a different, comparable school to show to them.
You say the merit award “barely” covers the COA, room and board. Do you mean tuition, room, and board (which are the components of COA)? Were you expecting a full ride scholarship for your daughter based on her GPA and scores? How much per year can you afford to pay toward college? Full-ride scholarships are extremely rare.
Also, FWIW, the interest on the federal loan is not high. It is a federal student loan.
you previously referred to your D’s scholarship in this thread
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/embry-riddle/2072811-embry-riddle-scholarships-p1.html
To which @CourtneyThurston responded,
I think that if Embry Riddle is still on the table, you are going to have to play the hand that you have been dealt. The real question is now to have a discussion with your D and let her know if this school is a financially feasible option for your family. If not, then you may have to look at more affordable options.
Embry Riddle’s COA is ~$50k. The $14k grant would just about cover room and board. If she takes the $5500 federal student loan your net cost would be ~$30k/year. How much of that can you pay? Colleges will sometimes review aid packages if a comparable school gave more, but I don’t think they’d offer more than a couple thousand dollars/year. And if your EFC is $30k, I don’t think they’ll offer more at all.
Did your daughter apply to any financial safeties? I don’t think she needs a private school for computer science. CA is a big state. Have you looked into their CS programs?
You are saying no to the $5500 freshman Direct Loan? It’s a loan in your KID’s name only, and I can’t think of any loan for an incoming freshman to get in their own name (if there is even one) with a lower interest rate. Sure, YOU (the Parent) could take out some loans, but there are benefits to the Direct Loans in the student name only.
If you are going to need loans, and don’t really want to co-sign or take those loans yourself, I think you are going to need to rethink your position on the Direct Loan.
In addition, has your daughter had any additional notable achievement since she got her award (like a higher SAT score)? If not, on what basis would your daughter receive additional merit aid?
KKMama, the money offered does not cover tuition, room and board.
brantly, no I sure was not expecting a full ride and have no problem spending a good amount of money on her tuition. Just don’t want her walking away with a big debt loan, regardless of the interest rate. Since I managed to pay the “full pop” of her sister’s education and her apartment thus graduating with zero debt, I want this one to have the same advantage. I was asking about future offers because my friend keeps telling me that there will be more offers to come, Not sure why he is so certain but he got me all excited that is why I posted.
austinmshauri: I don’t expect them to offer her the sun and the moon - I get that. Like I mentioned in my response above, me friend keeps telling me that more awards will be forthcoming because that’s how it happened to his daughter for only one school she never applied to (however, that is not how I remember it). As for California, I want to get the hell out of here. Just got done visiting Florida for the second time and friends and family want me there.
austinmshauri: oh one question, what do you mean “financial safeties” exactly?
@JupiterBound, A financial safety is a college that a student is very likely to get accepted to, is affordable, and they’ll be happy to attend. Will she be able to get in state rates in FL if you move there? There are good colleges there too.
If you want a poster to be tagged on this forum…put the @ in front of their screenname. @brantly @austinmshauri @KKmama there. I did it for you.
Please read again the response from @CourtneyThurston she knows quite a lot about the scholarships at ER. Don’t ignore her info.
And a financial safety school is a college your kid is guaranteed to be accepted to AND which is affordable for you in terms of paying your net costs. Does your daughter have any of those on her list? It sounds like ER is not affordable.
I understand you don’t want your kid to have loan debt. But that $27,000 total in Direct Loans is about $300 a month in loan payments. Here is what you could do…have your kid take out the loans in her name…with a guarantee that you will repay them for her if she graduates within four years. Or some similar deal. But then when she graduates, that can be her gift…loan repayment. $300 a month will be less by a lot than what you pay for her to attend college.
And again I say…I don’t agree with you. The interest rate on those loans is actually low considering your student has ZERO collateral and likely not a full time job either.
I never heard of a college sending out merit offers in dribs and drabs, if that answers your question.
@brantly when our older kid applied to music performance programs in 2002 for 2003 admission, there were three colleges that sent additional merit awards for music performance between his initial award and May 1. And I’m not talking teeny amounts…I’m talking $3000 or $5000 additional. Added on to a minimum $10,000 initial award. But I do believe this is not common practice.
@CourtneyThurston certainly knows about merit awards at ER. I would suggest the OP listen to what she posted about merit awards there.
@thumper1 OK, yes, that’s a different situation. If there’s a possibility for some specific departmental award that’s separate from the general merit that comes from admissions office. OP, would your daughter be expecting something like that? An award specifically for science, music, etc?
Who knows what your friend is talking about but that is not the norm.
Maybe he’s talking about merit awards that come with admissions, and then need based aid later on if you’re qualified AND if the school is able to give more.
Maybe he’s talking about a more rare situation where a major dept sends a later award.
You mention having had an older daughter in college. Was she given awards at various times during the app year from the same school?
TBH, those awards seem especially generous considering her stats are rather modest.
Personally, I think it’s a risk for a student with rather modest stats attempting very difficult CS at a school where if she finds CS to be too difficult, she’d want to leave the school and then her merit opportunities elsewhere will be lost.
if I were you, I’d have her attend a regular university, try CS, and then if she makes it, fine, but if it’s too hard and she needs to change to something else, that other major will be at the same school.
What is highest math class that your daughter has taken and what grades has she gotten?
Where all has your daughter applied?
I think you’re a Calif resident. The CSU deadline has been extended. Which CSUs has she applied to?
In the threads that are for 3.0-3.5 gpa students (by graduation year), quite a few parents report that their children were offered more in aid during the spring, months after the acceptance and first offer. One of my kids did get another $2000 in April. She had her first merit award with admission in the fall, then the department scholarship in February, and that was increase in March (don’t know why, but maybe someone turned theirs back?), and then the alum award in April.
Schools do all kinds of things to attract students who may be deciding between schools in April.
However, it usually isn’t a huge bump, and in OP’s case might not be enough to afford the school. ERAU is very expensive and I don’t see them offering another $10k. It is a very stats driven merit system and the OP’s daughter doesn’t have the top stats.