<p>Please be nice, I tried searching for info on this forum but couldn't really find the answers I was looking for.</p>
<p>I'm a community college student about to start his second year. I've taken four quarters of calculus, physics, and chemistry, and my GPA is a perfect 4.0. People keep saying "you'll probably get accepted to ANY four-year college!" and "you might get a full ride!" and so forth. I'm on financial aid and loans right now, which do cover the cost of CC tuition and fees, but four-year schools are so expensive. I don't know much about scholarships (I just joined PTK), and I'd like to know how realistic it is to expect getting accepted into ANY college or getting substantial scholarships or even full ride scholarships are, based solely on my perfect GPA in math and science.</p>
<p>The idea of getting a full ride or getting accepted into Ga.Tech or UT Austin seems too good to be true, especially given my totally unremarkable HS record from over ten years ago (I'm 28).</p>
<p>So as a non-traditional transfer student, what are my real chances for getting a full ride? Are they better at a local state university or kinda equal all over (among institutions that give full ride or substantial scholarships/tuition discounts). Am I dreaming? Should I even bother applying to the Cornells, Princetons, and UT-Austins, and if I should, should I expect to not have to pay list price for tuition? I figure the people going to those schools already have perfect (or near-perfect) math and science grades and <em>they</em> aren't getting full rides.</p>
<p>Unfortunately transfer scholarships are generally much less generous than freshman scholarships. Getting a full ride as a transfer is not terribly likely. (for instance the most generous 3 top freshman scholarships at my daughter’s college, a state flagship, are a full ride, a full tuition waiver plus some cash, and a full tuition waiver plus a smaller amount of cash. In comparison the largest transfer scholarship is a small partial tuition waiver - nowhere near full tuition - and no cash).</p>
<p>The highly competitive schools such as Princeton do not take an awful lot of transfer students. By all means apply to the schools you are interested in, but don’t expect to be a shoo in. Make sure you apply to your state Us as financial safeties.</p>
<p>If you’re in OH you have a much better chance of getting some merit $ in-state than OOS. You’d only get federal aid at GT and UT. Cornells and Princetons are fine but also look in-state. What is your expected major?</p>
<p>UNC and UVA are the only state colleges that meet need for out of state students. (I don’t know if this applies to out of state transfers though). </p>
<p>Also note most private colleges will want SAT or ACT scores. For top colleges they need to be near the level of what they expect from freshmen admits.</p>
<p>Princeton doesn’t take transfers, but all the other ivies take a few.</p>
<p>I want to double-major in physics and computer engineering. I’m considering OSU as my safest best transfer wise and money-wise. Even money-wise, the tuition far exceeds the financial aid I’ve been getting lately. I have no idea what to expect from them or anyone else.</p>
<p>Why are scholarship for freshmen so much nicer than those for transfer students? Transfer students with solid grades have proven that they can excel at college, whereas even the best high school student may be totally unprepared for college (depending on their major).</p>
<p>it is about attracting students with certain statistics. Usually the high scholarships go to students with statistics that are higher than the school’s average. By attracting those students the school improves their own statistics which makes them look moe attractive. For instance a school whose average ACT for incoming freshmen is 26 will probably not give much if anything in the way of scholarships to students with a 26 or below ACT. But they will offer some scholarships to students with higher ACTs, and probably very good ones to students with ACTs of say 32 and above.</p>
<p>The freshman stats are the ones the schools publish to attract students. Transfer students stats aren’t something the schools really publish or brag about.</p>
<p>Often merit scholarships are given to those the college/university hopes/expects to contribute to various aspcets of the school for four years, not just 2 or 3.</p>
<p>Why are scholarship for freshmen so much nicer than those for transfer students? Transfer students with solid grades have proven that they can excel at college, whereas even the best high school student may be totally unprepared for college (depending on their major).</p>
<p>Colleges get ranked by how strong their incoming freshman class is. So, there is an incentive for schools that give merit to give the most money to desirable in-coming freshmen with high stats.</p>
<p>You need to contact OSU to find out what aid you can get. **As an independent student, you may get a state grant, a federal grant, and a large student loan. **However, since you’re a transfer student, I wouldn’t expect the school itself to give you institutional grants or scholarships. </p>
<p>What kind of aid are you currently getting?</p>
<p>That really stinks. Why don’t colleges want the best students period, regardless of whether they are transfers or not? Surely if a student does well in the real world it’s a feather in the university’s cap, regardless of whether they were a transfer or not, yes? Are they really that myopic about the formulas they use for rankings?</p>
<p>I’m getting a Pell Grant, an unsubsidized direct loan and a subsidized direct loan. It’s covering CC costs, but the amount I’m getting now wouldn’t cover OSU.</p>
<p>They do want the best students period, but they don’t have an infinite supply of money. They have to budget it based on what their marketing strategy and educational mission dictates to them. I agree that having transfers that do well after graduating is a good thing for a college, and there are colleges that offer merit scholarships to transfers too (especially transfers that go from a community college to an in-state public university). However, they’re also concerned over rankings since that’s what they use to attract applicants in the first place. They divide up the money as best they can but eventually most colleges without huge endowments (that is to say, most colleges) have to decide who gets money and who doesn’t, and how much.</p>
<p>***They do want the best students period, but they don’t have an infinite supply of money. They have to budget it based on what their marketing strategy and educational mission dictates to them. ***</p>
<p>Exactly! So, with limited funds, they put their money where it will have benefit them best. </p>
<p>*I’m getting a Pell Grant, an unsubsidized direct loan and a subsidized direct loan. It’s covering CC costs, but the amount I’m getting now wouldn’t cover OSU. *</p>
<p>HOW MUCH are you getting? Your loan amounts may be lower than what you could be getting at a more expensive school.</p>
<p>For instance, if you have junior standing, as an independent student, you could borrow about $12,500 per year.</p>
<p>If you get max Pell, you’d get an additional $5550.</p>
<p>I don’t know what the income limits are on independent students, but you can earn about $6,000 and keep a 0 EFC. </p>
<p>The COA for Ohio State is about $20k for an instate student.</p>
<p>With your $12,500 loan, $5,500 Pell, and $6,000your own income, you should have enough money to cover your costs. That’s $24,000.</p>
<p>Go and talk to the advisor at your community college. Find out what four year universities have articulation agreements with your community college. This means that if you complete your CC courses satisfactorily (and you have) that you WILL be accepted to the four year school AND your courses will transfer in as well. In some cases, if there is an articulation agreement, there is also aid for students who are transfering from the community college. </p>
<p>I agree that your best bet is one of the public universities in Ohio. OSU is the flagship but there are others that are less costly and where you might get better aid as a transfer student. Look into the smaller and less well known schools…I’m thinking Kent and Bowling Green might be worth a “look see”.</p>
<p>Sit down with the Transfer Counselor at your CC, and ask specifically about scholarships for transfer students. That person should be very happy to help you with this because the more money you can score as a transfer, the better your CC (and that particular Transfer Counselor) will look. Here is a link to the Transfer Scholarship page at the website of our local CC, perhaps it will give you some ideas [MC</a> Transfer Scholarship Page](<a href=“http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/studev/schol.htm]MC”>http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/studev/schol.htm) Students from that CC who have grades like yours get big money every single year. Some land full rides such as the Jack Kent Cooke [Jack</a> Kent Cooke Foundation - Homepage](<a href=“http://www.jkcf.org/]Jack”>http://www.jkcf.org/) </p>
<p>If you are already living someplace where you can get to OSU easily, then going someplace else just doesn’t make sense. Moving costs money, too.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that even if you found some school elsewhere that gives transfer scholarships, most schools don’t give transfers much financial aid, so you’d be gapped. A $10k transfer scholarship at a school that costs $50k isn’t going to help you.</p>