Transfer financial aid?

Transfer Students
1

<p>What are some schools that are good with aid? What schools would help my "budget"</p>

<p>Some info first. I am a CC student with a 3.77 GPA and I am going to be taking two more semesters before transferring for a bachelor's in philosophy. My family(Mom and Dad) combined make good money, but after sending my one sister through 4 years of Michigan State and helping my other sister flounder around in CC and Wayne State money isn't exactly flying around my house. I am sure many of you are aware of the financial problems the state of michigan is going through...</p>

<p>Anyway, combined my parents make roughly $200,000(they are divorced though so they don't exactly see eye to eye on how to divvy it up in regards to my and my sibs)</p>

<p>I am going to apply to the University of Michigan. It is my dream school and everything about it works out extremely well...aside from the getting in part ;)</p>

<p>What would some good safety/reaches be that would offer need or merit based aid? I know at UofM I will get nothing, but I am of the understanding that if I got accepted into a more expensive school(ie NYU-not applying just an example) I would actually get some financial aid money because it is so much more expensive?</p>

<p>I would love to leave the state, preferably to better weather. However, traditional LAC really appeal to me because of their smaller class sizes. I don't know how many of you have sat through a philosophy class with 300+ people, but it almost defeats the purpose...</p>

<p>What schools could I get some money to that would make the price less crippling? If the overall tuition was somewhere around michigans($12000ish) my family could make it work, but 30,000+ is absolutely insane. Especially considering I want to enter directly into graduate school after my undergrad.</p>

<p>I have heard great things about Reed, but I checked them out and they are strictly need based. Would I qualify as "needy" to them? What about schools like Columbia, brown, or Cornell. Would I get need based aid from them?</p>

<p>I also was checking out San Diego State because they have reasonable OOS tuition and dirt cheap in-state tuition. How long would it take for me to establish residency in California?</p>

<p>I'm trying to make a nice list of a few schools that are realistic both academically and financially. This is the place to ask it seems to me. Any advice is more than welcome :)</p>

<p>P.S. After this next year my GPA will be a high 3.8</p>

2

<p>You need to talk to your parents to see what they can afford. Your expected family contribution (EFC) can be estimated here: [FAFSA4caster</a> - Federal Student Aid<a href=“This%20is%20just%20an%20estimate%20because%20colleges%20calculate%20their%20own%20EFC%20using%20their%20own%20criteria”>/url</a>. Colleges that meet 100% need will still expect your family to pay the expected family contribution.</p>

<p>The fact that your parents are divorced may change your family’s income for the FAFSA calculations. See here: “If your parents are divorced (or separated - see below for more information), answer the questions about the parent you lived with more during the 12 months preceding the date you complete the FAFSA. If you did not live with one parent more than the other, give answers about the parent who provided more financial support during the 12 months preceding the date you complete the FAFSA, or during the most recent year that you actually received support from a parent. If this parent has remarried as of the date you fill out the FAFSA, answer the questions on the remaining sections of the FAFSA about that parent and the person he or she married (your stepparent).” from here: [url=<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2007_2008/ques5.html]Completing”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2007_2008/ques5.html]Completing</a> the FAFSA 07-08/The Application Questions(55-83)](<a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf]FAFSA4caster”>http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf) </p>

<p>However, some schools require two forms: the FAFSA and the CSS Profile. The CSS Profile will ask for financial income from both parents.</p>

<p>This: [Project</a> on Student Debt: What’s the Bottom Line?](<a href=“http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php]Project”>http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php) shows “the net cost of attending the private and public colleges that have made detailed “no-loan” or “low-loan” pledges to date, for families with various incomes.” You may find that your EFC is higher than you are expecting.</p>

3

<p>You will probably not get any need based aid unless you can get into a super generous school–Stanford and Yale being the only ones that accept transfers. But even then, it would not bring the cost anywhere near $12K.</p>

<p>NYU type schools would give you no more than an unsubsidized loan, Brown gives little aid to transfers and probably zero to students with your family income (especially if either has home equity and any investments).</p>

<p>There are a few schools that give merit aid to transfers–others here will know more about that–but only a few.</p>

<p>My guess is that it will be impossible for you to find a Michigan quality school that will be anywhere near your price as an in state student.</p>

4

<p>I agree, only S & Y are likely to give a transfer any FA with $200k income. And at that income level, they expect families to contribute 5-10% of income if the have minimal assets, more with assets over their threshold.</p>

<p>My D is a transfer and we went through FA two years for the top schools and I can tell you, that for people earning 100-200k, there is a big difference between HYPS and ALL the rest of the top private Us and LACs.</p>

<p>Not only is Brown unlikely to give you FA, they are also need-aware for transfer admissions. Reed made news this spring because they ran out of FA and didn’t accept 100 students with need for students who could pay full freight:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/business/economy/10reed.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/business/economy/10reed.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As far as getting residency in CA, that’s all but impossible. You can’t establish residency while attending college in CA and you have to show financial independence for 2 years prior to enrolling. This means that you must show salary to support yourself and your parents don’t declare you as a dependent for 2 years on their taxes:</p>

<p>[University</a> of California - Admissions](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/ca_residency.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/ca_residency.html)</p>

<p>While there is some institutional merit aid for transfers, the vast majority goes to incoming fr.</p>