<p>I am a high school senior from California who will be attending Penn State for architecture this fall. The estimated total cost is roughly $44,000. I am eligible for $5,500 in federal loans, and $0 for the Pell grant.</p>
<p>My parents make too much money to be considered for need-based scholarships but the truth of the matter is that I am in SUCH great need! I am also too mediocre to win any merit based scholarships. My weighted GPA is 3.98. I played varsity volleyball (captain, senior year). I am also in advanced show choir. The only thing I really have going for me is being minority - Filipino.</p>
<p>Help -___-</p>
<p>Unless your parents are willing to pay $39,000 per year, Penn State is not an option for you and you won’t be attending there this fall.</p>
<p>Sorry to be blunt about it, but that’s the hard truth. You can’t attend a college where you can’t pay the bills.</p>
<p>Where else have you applied? Did you apply to any UCs or Cal State schools? There’s plenty of good architecture programs in the Golden State.</p>
<p>I was about to say the same thing. Did you apply to any more affordable schools?</p>
<p>Penn State is not generous to most low income students either. They do not guarantee to meet and do not generally do so. I know some kids with great stats and the only merit money they got was the automatic award for making the Honors College which is a drop in the bucket, a couple thousand dollars. So it’s not that you are stuck in the middle; Penn State is not a good choice for anyone who wants or needs a lot of aid, particularly if you are OOS. It doesn’t do such a hot job in meeting need for those in state, and you would be last on the list for getting anything.</p>
<p>I have a lot of Filipino friends, and their kids got zip for being of that ethnic group other than some small scholarship that local Filipino Societies might give. We are talking hundreds, not thousands of dollars there.</p>
<p>How did you do with the UCs in terms of admissions and costs? Most always, your state schools have the best prices. Though living at a UC or Cal State school is not inexpensive, it is likely to be a lot less than going OOS.</p>
<p>How much are your parents willing/able to pay? The amount you still need to cover is $38,500, a substantial sum. You’ll be able to earn a few thousand with summer and part time school year work, and you may be able to lower your costs by making less expensive choices than have been built into the COA (not going home during school year, used books, lower personal expenses, etc.) However, that’s a drop in the bucket compared to what you need to cover. If your parents aren’t prepared to shell out over $30,000 a year, I don’t think Penn State is an option for you. What are your other choices?</p>
<p>Those figures sound a bit high for Penn State, even OOS to me. Perhaps the architecture program has extra charges.</p>
<p>Still, the bottom line is that your parents are expected to pay the entire amount through their savings, income, loans, less anything you can contribute through the same.</p>
<p>That amount is about right. Arch probably does involve more fees.</p>
<p>I don’t know why an OOS student would apply to PSU unless they were prepared to pay full freight. PSU gives lousy aid to instate students, and expects OOS students to pay the high costs.</p>
<p>Where else did you apply?</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay each year?</p>
<p>What is your EFC?</p>
<p>What are your test scores?</p>
<p>Edited to add…</p>
<p>1780 SAT</p>
<p>I’m an architecture major. I’ve gotten into Virginia Tech, Penn State, Kansas State, Baylor U, and N. Arizona U but rejected by SLO. I just wasn’t meant to stay in California</p>
<p>What were the offers of your other schools? Will your parents pay for those schools?</p>
<p>If not, you’ll have to start at a CC and then transfer to SLO.</p>
<p>The only 2 schools in the CSU/UC system that have B.Arch (5-year program) are Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona. UCLA and Berkeley have B.A. Architecture + master’s = 6 years. I was rejected by SLO, wait listed by Pomona. </p>
<p>My parents are willing to pay the difference but I just thought there was something that I could do to help. I applied to a couple local scholarships and am still waiting to hear from them. Thanks for the input!!!</p>
<p>but the truth of the matter is that I am in SUCH great need! I</p>
<p>??? Why did you write the above if your parents will pay?</p>
<p>It might be a wiser idea to take pre architecture courses in a regular college and go to grad school for architecture if your interest still holds. Yes, it takes longer that way, but you don’t have to pay for changing direction which is highly likely given the stats of kids changing majors in college. At age 22, with college under your belt, you will be able to take more responsibility for your college costs, too. </p>
<p>THe thing is, your parents are primarily responsible for UG costs, so if they CAN pay, they should. That’s the way the system is set up. You are fortunate in that they are willing to pay. Lots of kids stuck because though the numbers say the parents CAN pay, they WON’T.</p>
<p>Would any of your other options be cheaper? Virginia Tech, maybe? I didn’t check costs but I’m thinking Va Tech or N Arizona might be less that Penn State.</p>
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<p>While a minority, Filipinos are not URMs. Look at the CA, Filipinos are considered Asian. Outside of specific scholarships for Filipino/Asian students, there is unlikely to be much merit aid available.</p>