On paper, my family is relatively well off, even though in reality, we simply can’t afford to fork over the entire cost of college. I’m relying on outside scholarships to fund my education, but it seems like almost all third-party scholarships have some sort of need-based component. My parents make over $180K a year, and their assets are far too high to even have financial aid be a possibility.
Would it even be worth the time and effort for me to apply for scholarships that have a need-based component (i.e. ask you to release your university’s financial need evaluation to them) if my family’s EFC is above $99,000?
Or is financial need not as big a deal as it seems for these types of scholarships that also consider essays, community service, etc.?
I’m a complete novice in this area, but I’d be inclined to forgo applying for those scholarships unless they are not time-consuming to apply to.
Your parents, at >$180k/year with considerable assets, presumably have been putting money in some kind of retirement plan (eg 401k, IRAs, etc.). I’ve know people who paused retirement savings during the years that they were paying tuition. I think saving for retirement is important, but some families need to take a 4-year break from that.
Are you the only college student?
If the scholarship has a need component, and you do not have financial need, why would you think you qualify for it?
Perhaps you should look for merit awards that do not consider financial need.
The best awards come directly from the college’s themselves.
If a scholarship says that it is need-based you should probably take it at its word.
@IxnayBob Yes, I have a brother, but he is currently in elementary school.
@thumper1 I actually did receive the highest merit scholarship that my university offers (UCLA Regents), but as I don’t have financial need as calculated by UCLA, the scholarship only amounts to $2K a year.
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I’m relying on outside scholarships to fund my education,
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??
You’re a senior and you’ve SIR’d UCLA, right?
What do you mean by your quote above? How much are YOU supposed to come up with? How much will your parents pay each year?
Do you realize that at this point, it is highly unlikely that you’d even find $5k per year towards college??
If you needed money for college, then why didn’t you apply where you’d get the most merit?
No need to apply to the scholarships that require need, but might as well take a shot for the ones that say ‘need considered’. UCLA is different in that a lot of its scholarships are applied for well after May 1, in fact the applications haven’t even opened for many of the fall 2015 ones yet. OP are you OOS? You say you are relying on scholarships, have you actually received any yet? Are your parents going to help you any? If not, you have a tremendous obstacle ahead of you.
If the school is really not affordable, you may need to look somewhere else. Outside scholarships are usually small and non-renewable. You need to think about the cost down the road too. You are not likely to get any scholarship with a need component. You should talk to your parents to see how much they can support you.
If you are OOS, as noted by TerryB15, you will be stuck for OOS fees of $55k per year minus your $2k scholarship.
Did you really accept this school without knowing how you would pay for it?
Outside scholarships generally don’t cover those huge fees; and they typically only cover 1 year.
@“aunt bea” No, I am in-state. My total cost will be about $10K per year. I’m just trying to lessen the load through scholarships.
This is going to be tough for you because you are going to have to find work to supplement your fees. Those “outside” scholarships are few and far between; they typically only work for one year and most are not significant enough to cover those fees.