It appears that the parents are only comfortable paying up to $5K per year before whatever Novanoid can chip in. That’s fine and one has to make choices based on parent’s savings, income and comfort level within all that.
The maximum expected family contribution (EFC) eligible for a Pell Grant for the 2021–22 Award Year is $5,846.
Each family’s financial situation is different, and there’s no one income cutoff that makes a student eligible or ineligible to receive the Pell. With that being said, here are some important facts to note:
- Most Pell Grants are awarded to students whose families make less than $30,000 annually
- Some Pell Grants are awarded to students whose families make $30,000-$60,000 annually
- It’s possible but rare for students to be awarded the grant if their families make more than $60,000 annually
My niece could’ve been eligible but chose CC and got an associate’s in nursing after three years despite being top 5% and could’ve been auto-admit to UT-Austin (maybe not BSN). She didn’t even apply. ~$30K family income (parent was bus driver and retail customer service)
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Can we please move on from the drinking and driving topic and get back to the OPs question? The OP seems to have a good head on their shoulders, and I’m sure they’ll take that under advisement. OP, you can still have an engaged, full college experience while living at home. In reality, only 15% of college students live on campus, the other 85% commute from home (28%) or off-campus housing (57%). You can join clubs, attend events on campus, work, join a service or social greek organization, play club sports or join a theatre production…it is possible to be fully engaged, even if you live at home. I would contact Kent Sate and see what your options are and if Honors is still on the table. That offer may have expired on May 1st; let us know, and we’ll be happy to help you walk through the decision process.
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All Title IV community colleges accept Pell Grants, so I don’t understand why one wouldn’t take their Pell grant if they would qualify?
I’m going to drive to Kent State tonight to get a feel for how the commute is and I’ll also email admissions. I appreciate the help!
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If they applied for a Pell, I’m confident that the CC would’ve accepted it. However, it only costs $2K/year for tuition and she worked PT and took it slow to make sure she would do well. Therefore, she took three years to graduate from CC. Would she have been overwhelmed by a flagship? Maybe. Now she’s going to work as an RN and get reimbursed for studying for her BSN. It’s a slower path to higher paying work but she’ll do it without debt.
The OP seems quite motivated and I think he’ll be the type to get the most out of non-resident experience especially if in the honors program.
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Miami is another public university in Ohio.
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Do you know anyone who goes to Kent State? They could give you a better idea of what its like to attend the school. Someone who commutes would also be helpful in terms of traffic and parking options.
I agree that the OP is well-motivated and will probably do well whatever his decision is. But, it certainly sounds like a Pell grant could make the difference between living at home or living on campus at his first-choice school.
There is no way I’m getting a Pell Grant. My family has an income close to six figures.
How did they manage qualifying for in-state tuition of ~$3000 at Miami U of O?
Miami has a guaranteed 13k per year scholarship if you are accepted and have a high school gpa of 4.0 or higher. I received the scholarship, hence, it would only cost 3k without room and board.
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Is there a symbol for face palm?
Here’s what I would do: Live at home. Then, maybe by the end of a year, your parents will break down and pay you to move out. (That’s a joke.)
@Novanoid I am a math professor teaching at a regional university. It seems that Kent State works out for you financially. Academically, it’s a well respected regional university. You’re a good student and am sure you’ll do well there. I see many students like you at my university, and they generally have good outcomes.
Having little or no debt means you will have more options . For example, you may be able to take a lower paid research position in the summer at the university and gain experience and contacts. This will help you build a resume . Also, for CS, it helps to work on projects on your own. Again, if you don’t have to work as many hours , you will have time for this sort of stuff. Dm me if you want more info.
While a residential college experience is worthwhile, the current cost structures do not make it feasible for students in your financial position.
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To my untrained eye, the CS major at Kent State looks adequate and may even be strong:
http://catalog.kent.edu/colleges/as/cs/computer-science-bs/#programrequirementstext
Posters more specialist than I am would likely have more precise opinions!
I would take “regular” Calculus II rather than “Brief Calculus II” but other than that it looks solid.
In other words, take as many Honors courses as you can, take Honors versions of the CS classes if offered (or ask if one can be offered through a “contract” so that it appears on your transcript), go to office hours with questions, hustle.
Based on the Honors courses offered this Fall, you’d be taking
- Calculus I Honors
- Honors Seminar: Be Smarter than your Smartphone
- a Social Science or Humanities or Art Honors or a foreign language
- UC 10097: First Year Seminar “Welcome to Kent State”
- CS 130011-130012 or 130001
= 16 credits
In addition, there should be an Honors Lounge: hang out there 
make it your HQ during the day.
If you were invited to Honors Leadership Academy, recontact them. If not, see if you were considered as an alternate or if you could still apply:
Make sure to join CS groups and various clubs; consider this your full time job, ie., no going home right after class but staying on till after dinner, participating in labs, review sessions, study groups, hackathons, etc.
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It looks like the Brief Calculus II is still a solid calculus course, but omitting some topics. It’s not a Business Calc type course, which is also sometimes called “Brief Calculus” . CS majors do not need that much calculus, but instead need Discrete Math, probability/stats. Of course, if the student wants to double major in math or physics, then they should take the "regular’ Calc II. Like many places, Calc 2 is possibly a GPA killer, and time hog, and thus a “brief” version.
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Ok that would make sense indeed.
My first year would actually probably look a bit different than that since I have significant AP credit that covers some of those courses, but it would be somewhere along those lines still. Probably just Calc II instead and another comp sci class. I still might try to take regular Calc II since I enjoyed calc AB a lot.
I didn’t know about the Honors Lounge, that’ll be nice. I definitely do intend on joining some clubs related to CS and getting involved in hackathons.
Still waiting on an email from admissions… might just call them since I need a timely answer.
Thanks again for all the help/responses.
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I called admissions and they said they’d have a counselor call back within 48 hours. Kind of annoying because I feel the questions I had were pretty simple 
I think it’s great that admissions wants you to get accurate information from someone who actually knows the answer, instead of having the receptionist, or the work-study student who answers the phones try to wing it.
Right?
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