strategies for maximizing merit & financial aid -- am I on the right track?

Paying for College
1

<p>I have read many, many books on the topic of college finances (and read hundreds of threads here on CC) so I feel fairly knowledgeable regarding all the financial aid stuff.</p>

<p>My son and I have been discussing college finances -- how much we can afford to pay, how much it will cost, what the costs are, etc. </p>

<p>We are a low-income family -- EFC right now is ~$500 and even with a possible increase in one of the parent's income in a few years, the most the EFC would be is ~$4000 (unless we win the lottery). The EFC will most likely be the same for FAFSA and Profile -- we have nothing special about our income (no self-employment or business), no special family situation (no divorce, two parent family) and we have no assets.</p>

<p>We will be able to pay our EFC (it won't be easy -- but we will do it).</p>

<p>My son has excellent stats -- at least competitive for Ivy League schools, but no legacy or athletic hook and he is not an URM (he is white) -- so it would still be a crapshoot for him, but he would at least be in the pool of students under consideration.</p>

<p>Here is what we have brainstormed as far as strategies -- </p>

<p>**Apply only to need-blind schools that meet 100% need that he determines are a good "fit" for him.</p>

<p>**apply to schools where his stats place him in the top 25% of admitted students</p>

<p>**Apply to schools that allow outside scholarships to replace loans, work-study and summertime earnings requirements. He would like to avoid loans (doesn't everyone) and he would like the option of working for money or an unpaid position in his area of interest -- so he is hoping to avoid work-study and summertime earnings requirements..</p>

<p>**Be aware of possible additional costs, for example -- if the school does not include transportation in the COA</p>

<p>**Apply for outside scholarships with a goal of $10,000/yr for 4 years of undergraduate. He already has a scholarship of $10,000 per year -- so he is looking at trying to get an additional $10,000 per year.</p>

<p>**Apply for the Questbridge Match program if those schools are are ones at the top of his list</p>

<p>**avoid having a "favorite" or "top choice" school, instead plan on being happy to attend any school he is accepted into with good financial aid</p>

<p>**be very aware of deadlines for applying for institutional aid and federal aid</p>

<p>How does the list sound? Have we forgotten anything? He will be forming his college list this year and he will also be applying for scholarships this year.</p>

<p>I am open to any suggestions!</p>

2

<p>Good strategy! One thing to add is to take a close look at the composition of the average package. The key is to see how much of the financial aid package is actually loans. If you do this (and the information is available from US News and World Report premium, a $15 annual cost), you will see that some schools claim they meet 100% of need but a fairly good chunk is composed of loans. </p>

<p>Your outside scholarship criteria might be too strict, particularly if you can get excellent need-based and/or merit aid. </p>

<p>In keeping fit in mind, think about what your son offers the respective colleges. If he is going to get admitted to schools with great financial aid packages, the admissions counselors will have to see him as an asset to the college community. The best outcome will be win-win for your son, family and colleges.</p>

3

<p>Hi hsmomstef,</p>

<p>I too read the board for guidance and agree with your list. </p>

<p>What I suggest is looking for schools that commit to providing aid without any loans for families with an income of $40K (or whatever the cut off is), such as the University of Richmond and William & Mary.</p>

<pre><code>There are probably others but those are the two I know about.

Keep us posted!
</code></pre>

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<p>momfromme,</p>

<p>Details on how to get this info, please..??</p>

<p>f you do this (and the information is available from US News and World Report premium, a $15 annual cost)</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

5

<p>You can order US News premium through this site, which was posted for me by a CCer back in the fall. Thanks to whoever told me about it!! <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/store/products/prod_bestcollegepoe2007.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usnews.com/usnews/store/products/prod_bestcollegepoe2007.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Besides information on average aid packages for colleges, there are some very useful lists giving such things as average debt per graduate. However, as lots of people pointed out to me when my family was doing this sort of research, there can be some considerable variation around the average. For instance, a school could give limited aid on average and not cover 100% of need, yet had some significant merit awards for top students. That sort of information might be gleaned from USNWR-premium, but that source should be supplemented with a close reading of college's web sites and from people with experience (including CC posters).</p>

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<p>Also apply to in-state public universities particularly those that give nice merit aid for people with your son's stats or other qualifications. Sometimes local in state publics have excellent scholarships plus other major perks for local students. The perks may include honors dorms, laptops, and other things depending on the college.</p>

<p>Since public universities typically have rolling admission, make sure that your son applies as early as possible. Also have him check their web sites for scholarships requiring extra applications that he needs to submit. </p>

<p>And he should haunt the GC office for info about locally offered scholarships. Since he's an excellent student and is needy, he probably would be first in line for some such scholarships if he submits a good application by their deadlines.</p>

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<p>I agree with momfromme. Looking at the composition of aid packages is key. Also looking at what is actually included in cost of attendance is important. When we got aid packages for D, the first thing I did was take out any work study amounts & compared. Then I took out loan amounts & compared. I had bottom lines for all the schools, based on tuition/room/board/fees less the aid that wasn't work study or loans. </p>

<p>Then I realized that one school included much more in its COA than the other schools. So I went through the components of their COA & adjusted it to reflect what was in other schools' COA. Suddenly, their aid was much more attractive than it had been. </p>

<p>It goes to show you that you have to really look into everything. US News is a good start, as is checking out threads on CC relating to schools your child might be interested in. I was amazed at the info a search turned up on my D's favorite schools! I would start by having your son put together a list of what he thinks he might like in a school. The road you walk from there will be full of twists & turns, but your son will learn a lot about his likes & dislikes as he walks the path. Things will change ... apply to a variety of schools that fit his criteria (online application often free --- or fee waivers, since you are low income).</p>

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<p>Northstarmom -- he will apply to our flagship U (UC--Boulder). It really isn't a good fit for him (it doesn't offer the two majors he wants, it is too much of a party school and too big) but he is flexible and adaptable -- and he thinks that if he has to attend there that the honors program and dorm would make it work. He really is open-minded and willing to work with whereever he gets in -- so if it has to be UC-Boulder, he would be fine -- I just know that it would not be a good match for him academically and personality wise.</p>

<p>great info on the COA -- I had thought about it but not really considered it something important to take into account. What could possibly be counted in the COA? I am thinking -- </p>

<p>Tuition
Fees (mandatory and optional)
Books
Room
Board
transportation
medical insurance
personal spending money</p>

<p>am I missing anything? maybe a laptop computer that first year? or money for study abroad? (he is definitely planning to study abroad)</p>

<p>Will the college websites usually tell you what they include in the COA -- or is that only in the FA package once it comes?</p>

<p>He will be out of the running for many scholarships (not all) because he will be attending an international boarding school for the last two years of high school. Of course, that is on full scholarship -- but many of the local and national scholarships require students to be attending school in the US. He does have a huge file of scholarship info and we will be sorting through it this summer to determine which ones he is eligible for -- and which are worth applying for in terms of effort needed and what his chances might be.</p>

9

<p>He also could look at some out of state flagships and publics that are second tier and mid first tier, particularly those where his being a stellar student from Colorado would be a plus and could help him get merit aid.</p>

<p>For instance, I recently met a NM Commended student from Montana who is getting excellent merit aid at University of Central Florida and is very happy there. </p>

<p>What major is your S considering?</p>

10

<p>He is looking at International Relations, Arabic or Middle-East Studies and Religious Studies. U of Michigan would be a good choice for the majors -- still too big and not the best fit -- but an excellent academic program for his interests.</p>

<p>Right now he is thinking of Columbia, Georgetown, U of Chicago, Tufts and Dartmouth.</p>

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<p>msmomstef,</p>

<p>You have a great nucleus of considerations that form a coherent strategy, one that would serve most anyone well. Thanks.</p>

<p>One item you don't specifically address is FA after freshman year. i.e., does the school's FA package shrink once you're there? This is partially addressed by your first point: schools meeting 100% of demonstrated need. Similarly, with merit aid, what are the requirements for keeping a scholarship for 4 years? GPA requirements vary from school to school and for specific scholarships. Also, I like merit aid that keeps up with inflation. A half-tuition scholarship at a school with $20K tuition is better than a flat 4x$10K/yr.</p>

<p>Starting 2007 Davidson College is eliminating loans from its FA packages while still meeting 100% of need.</p>

12

<p>For international relations, he might get good merit aid from American University and George Washington. Both have good IR programs. American may be especially generous with merit aid since it's lower ranked than GWU, but stilll has a good IR program as well as the advantages of being located in D.C.</p>

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<p>standrews -- good points, I am just wondering how difficult it is to find that information out (and whether they tell you the truth). In order to really determine the best schools for the list, I would want to know that information prior to having him apply. I do plan to ask, though -- it does make a difference.</p>

<p>Northstarmom -- he has american and george wash on his possibles list. He is really going to have to strategize since his school limits the number he can apply to (he is going to ask to apply to a few more since FA is such a big deal). he is 99% sure he will be doing a gap year so he is thinking of applying to the schools he really wants to and then reapplying after the gap year if he isn't accepted. Not sure about that strategy -- I think we will reassess once he is closer to application time and his stats are finalized.</p>

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<p>If he knows he wants to do a gap year, it probably would be better for him to apply after the gap year if he doesn't expect to know what college he wishes to attend. There are many colleges that will reserve a space for one if one chooses to do a gap year, but they won't allow a student to reserve a space at other colleges, too.</p>

<p>Doing a gap year also may change what kinds of colleges he wishes to attend. This may be due to what he learns about himself and his world.</p>

<p>My S is just finishing a gap year after h.s. He has been doing Americorps and living at home. While a smart kid with high scores who was always planning on college, he somehow missed the deadlines for all of the colleges that he was considering as a h.s. senior. He may have missed the deadline because he wasn't sure what kind of college he wanted. He then went into Americorps because he loves doing community service. </p>

<p>The college that he will be attending, Rollins, wasn' t even on his radar when he was considering colleges last year. Now, however, he feels it is a perfect fit for him. </p>

<p>Doing a gap year with Americorps also could help your S get merit aid. There are several colleges -- Rhodes, Boston College, and Vanderbilt come to mind -- that have excellent merit aid for strong students with excellent community service backgrounds.</p>

<p>Students who complete a year of Americorps also get $4,700 to use for college. This is in addition to their $200 weekly stipends. Some colleges also match what Americorps gives. One can find a list of those colleges on the Americorps site.</p>

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<p>I don't think he will ever decide that he wants to go to just one school -- too many have appealling aspects that he would enjoy at many schools. However, if he is accepted into more than one, he could decide -- I am sure. I think that I will suggest that he only apply to schools that he really wants to attend and not worry about back-ups or safety schools -- he can worry about those if he decides to reapply after the gap year.</p>

<p>Americorps looks great, but the high school he will be attending is very, very service oriented and many students do what is referred to as the 3rd year option. They usually spend the gap year doing service in another country -- and he is most interested in working in Egypt, India, Nepal or Bhutan. The 3rd year option is organized and set up during the school year and the kids usually work in groups. It is very appealing to him -- and financing is also organized (all kids attending his school are on full to almost full scholarships).</p>

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<p>Hsmomstef--keep UMich in the mix. Their honors program cuts the size down considerably. Though a big state/sports school, there is a very high percentage of students there not into the whole big party scene. The academics are tremendous. And they have some nifty 15K/yr scholarships that your S would definitely be in the running for (you don't have to be stratospheric to get one--my S was offered one and he had strong but not over the top stats.) They have bigger scholarships, too (several CC folks had kids who were offered one that covers pretty much everything--that was out of my kid's league). The school is very strong in all the interests you listed--with so much there, he could really feel like he's going to more than one school!</p>

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<p>Michigan also has some very nice living communities in which like minded students take courses and live together.</p>

<p>University of Maryland is another college to take a look at. Has a nice IR program as well as good honors and living commuities plus easy access to D.C. I believe they have decent merit aid, but check out their site to find out.</p>

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<p>^^ditto what garland & NSM said. I think the LSA scholarships go up to 20k/yr, but be aware that the COA is estimated at 40k/yr for OOS students. My D is one of the kids that got the Shipman scholarship this year and will be attending UM next fall. The money is great, but was not the driving factor. She will be living with other honors students and will be able to study pretty much anything she desires. She loved Ann Arbor and may even try out for their marching band.</p>

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<p>I will have him check out UMichigan -- to be honest, I never even heard of the school before I started reading CC a couple of years ago (I think I heard about the wolverines -- is that their mascot?).</p>

<p>I will especially do some checking on the honors program and financial aid -- too bad that they are doing away with rolling admissions.</p>

20

<p>The merit scholarships will be listed under the colleges (LSA, Engineering, etc.); don't count on their FA, it is likely to be loans only for OOS students.</p>