So Frustrated!!!

Parents Forum
41

hi @clowncar

sorry about your predicament. this college carousel is driving me nuts too.

the problem as i see it was you did not apply to any school that guaranteed enough $$$ to be affordable. hoping for scholarships is fine but every student needs at least one school that is a sure thing financially.

wherever you go, your $10K budget will likely be chewed up by room and board – maybe you might have some left over for books – so basically you need at least a full-tuition scholarship.

Arkansas-Little Rock is only $16K cost of attendance for in-state but they have some big scholarships available and the final deadline is 2/1/17. but you would have to move FAST to get all your info in. it looks like $10K per year is the automatic merit award for ACT 30+, that would be a VERY affordable option:
http://ualr.edu/scholarships/academic/

@londondad outlined what i thought was a very clever strategy in post #25 that might work in your situation.

as mentioned before, Alabama-Huntsville will give her 4-years full tuition right now with no gap year. This will fit under your $10K budget:
http://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/merit-tuition-scholarships
for only $30 it might be a good idea to apply to UAH so you have one affordable option available even if you decide to pass on it later.

also mentioned before, Ole Miss will offer $15,500 per year for a 31 ACT, but that would still leave you about $15K-20K per year short:

http://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/#8
however, if they accept later ACT scores for this year, she could retake and shoot for 32+ which would add about $8K more to the auto-merit scholarship and get very close to your budget.

a 31 ACT would get her basically a full ride from New Mexico but I think it’s past the deadline, so you would have to take a gap year and apply next year:
http://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/non-resident.html

31 ACT gets 2/3 tuition at Alabama, if she retakes and gets 32, full tuition is on the table. again, however, i think this would require a gap year and reapply next year:
http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php

if she bumps up her ACT and takes a gap year, Nebraska and Utah would likely also offer lots of $$$.

of course here is the handy-dandy auto-merit list:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

i don’t think she should do community college. she would lose her eligibility for freshmen scholarships if she takes any CC classes after graduating HS. she could go right now to Ark-Little Rock for $5K per year or to UAH on full-tuition, or go to New Mexico on virtually a free ride if she takes a gap year, or be eligible for several more big scholarships with a gap year + 1 or 2 points higher on ACT. she has lots of potentially valuable options in her grasp but she loses them all if she goes to community college.

keep in mind this is a huge decision with major financial ramifications, and there is absolutely no shame in taking a gap year to regroup, develop a new action plan, retake the ACT, and implement a new strategy that will yield better options for your family.

42

Please check out UAH. Great small public in a non-typical southern town. Lots of local NASA and engineering companies look to hire from UAH, and they allow you to retake ACT all the way up to date of enrollment to increase your scholarship level. So your child could study after graduation and take a June ACT.

43

@clowncar

Adding…one reason our oldest went to community college first was that she did NOT have the stats (like your D) to get big merit. So, she was not passing up on scholarships offered to incoming freshman only, as @Wien2NC wisely mentioned upthread.

Although I often felt it was falling upon deaf ears, I told both of our kids, many times, we are trying to make the most of the cards we’ve been dealt. We’ve got to swim in our lane! Make the best of what we’ve got.

Be strategic. It’s a LOT of money. Real dollars. You’ve already gotten some great advice! You can do it! Your D can get her UG degree within your budget. It might take a gap year, but make the most of it.

Good luck!

44

This thread seems to be a cautionary tale to make sure you have at least one safety which is affordable and the student would be happy to attend. It seems like the initial list may not have had one.

45

University of New Mexico would give her a full ride. https://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/non-resident.html

Sandia Nat’l Lab is right nearby for internships. There are more, but I can’t rattle them off without looking them up.

She has until Feb. 1 to apply.

46

My son applied to the University of Alabama Huntsville They do let you take the ACT right up until school starts so you could probably take it in may or June and I am sure with some studying could get a 32. The red ACT book works great. Just apply I know it is rolling, but I am not sure if it is too late to apply.

47

Oops - you will have to contact UNM for deadlines. Some are Feb. 1. Some are earlier.

48

I have a friend with a child at Hendrix. She said to go back and try to get them to lower your costs - sometimes they’ll do that (and apparently did for them).

49

Try Arcadia Univ in Pennsylvania. They have a full tuition scholarship. Admissions are rolling.

I know of a girl who dilly dallied in April for turning down colleges. Unprompted Arcadia came back to her at the last minute and increased her scholarship. From what I hear, she is doing well there.

https://www.arcadia.edu/

They even have a first year abroad program that may be interesting to you https://www.arcadia.edu/global/first-year-study-abroad/first-year-study-abroad-experience-fysae

50

Another college closer to you is Simpson College. There are full tuition scholarships http://simpson.edu/financial-aid/first-year-student-scholarships-and-grants/

They have a vibrant math department http://simpson.edu/math/

51

I’m not sure if Arizona State University honors college is still accepting but the regular college surely is. They have a great net price calculator and you can know within 10 minutes what she could get there. It could be quite high.

52

She should apply to Arizona State.

53

Sounds like your daughter has tons of AP credit. Some schools are more generous than others in letting kids use that. If you pick a school that does allow her AP - she may be able to use that with possible summer classes at your local comm college and be able to graduate in 3 years instead of 4.

My son is in his 1st year of Engineering at Arkansas in the honors college. We could not be more pleased with his choice. We are from TX so he looked at UT, A&M TX Tech etc. At some schools it is very hard to near impossible to change your major and I think that was a driving factor in his choice. I’d be careful looking at schools to make sure if she did want to change from Math to Engineering it would be possible. My son is not a high stats kid so we knew there would be little to no merit money for him (he did get a little from Texas Tech) We are full pay but he did get the scholarship that gives him 90% of the difference between instate and out of state. Our total for the year is about $22,000 including books. (he has the expensive resident parking pass and unlimited meal plan) I bet your daughter instate would be about $20,000.

I hope when all the financials are in she has several choices but if some or all turn out too high I bet she will bloom where planted.

54

@clowncar If 10K is your budget per year, then so be it. Have you D take out a loan and/or get a job! There is no reason why she can’t work now and when she is in school!

55

Also agree with the UAH idea - please check them out! We visited the UAH campus and I loved it. They also have an interesting-looking honors college.

56

I’ve heard many comments about UAH. It was not on my radar, but it’s only 5 hours from home, so I am intrigued. Below are a few more details about my D’s interests. I would be curious to hear from those of you familiar with UAH as to whether or not it would be a fit…
D is exteremely interested in study abroad opportunities and also wants a diverse student body (ethnicity particularly). D is interested in mathematics and may be interested in engineering, but does not want to be forced into that.
D is also very artsy. She is a dancer and artist, so a college that is only STEM might not be the best fit.
Is UAH a good fit?

57

Thanks @dallastxmom for your insight and encouraging words. I’m glad to hear that UArk is working out for your son. That may very well be where we end up.

58

Might want to look at U of Louisiana -Lafayette. Think their deadline is January 31 and they would probably give a decent amount of money. The OOS “academic scholarship” waives OOS tuition and gives a partial housing scholarship as well. Total a little over $20k a year and their OOS sticker price is around $32K.

59

With 11 AP classes how many credits would she get at the schools she’s been accepted to? Would this allow for early graduation making the overall 4 year cost more affordable?

60

@ #17 above – Colby, Bates and Trinity do not give merit aid (except for a narrow exception at Trinity), and the deadlines have passed.

Colleges that Change Lives Schools in south and midwest often have lower sticker price than other privates, and give 1/2 tuition merit awards for well-qualified students. That still means that a $50,000 price tag becomes about $25,000 a year, and the OP says they can contribute $10k a year, leaving a big gap.

Public honors program in state, or automatic full tuition awards, are likely going to be the least expensive options. Arkansas posts its instate tuition is about $8800 a year, plus about $10,000 for room and board. Estimates for books and transportation are, in my experience, not reliable, as students can save hundreds of dollars a semester with used books or alternate providers. If a student is in state, they are not going to spending $2000 a year on transportation costs. Arkansas seems to offer a number of substantial automatic merit awards, between 1/4 and 1/2 of tuition. If the student works in the summer, keeps a 5-10 hour a week job, and family contributes $10k a year, she should be able to cover Arkansas Honors.

Elsewhere, publics like Alabama are transparent about the stats required for levels of merit. In the private schools, full merit awards are few and far between, often requiring truly astonishing stats at schools we looked at, like Earlham Knox, Kalamazoo, Beloit.

As a parent, I feel for the OP here. Many many students choose their instate flagship because it is the most affordable option. We too are a full pay family without full pay resources. I am grateful we have a stable financial life which puts us in that column, even if we cannot write a $60,000 check each year for each kid. So, one kid is at public flagship, the other is on 1/2 tuition award at a school some considered “beneath” him but which he loves and which, after first semester, is certainly showing him he has plenty to learn.