<p>So I recently received my packet from USF with the letter congratulating me for my acceptance... But it was just one piece of paper inside an envelope.
I've heard of people getting news about their merit scholarships, and I was wondering if that information was supposed to come with the acceptance letter? :( I'm pretty sure I qualify for at least SOME merit scholarship, but I got nothing... >w<
Help will be much appreciated! <3</p>
<p>I got my scholarship letter in my packet with the letter of admission! Check out this out to see if you qualify for the scholarships, this is the criteria you had to meet to get the scholarship letter in the packet! Best of luck to you!
[University</a> of San Francisco (USF) - Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.usfca.edu/admission/undergraduate/financial_aid/]University”>http://www.usfca.edu/admission/undergraduate/financial_aid/)</p>
<p>Do you guys receive an acceptance email AND letter or either one?</p>
<p>I received an email, an acceptance letter, and a merit scholarship paper. I only got $6,000 off tuition hopefully I’ll end up getting more from the FAFSA or I won’t be able to go</p>
<p>Sigh… I’m just hoping it’s just a mistake on their part regarding the scholarships (I’m pretty sure I at least made the $6,000 one 
). And I’m the same as phezzzz; if I don’t get a lot of money from FAFSA, then there’s no way I’ll be able to go to USF… >w<</p>
<p>I wonder how much people typically get off from the FAFSA and cal grants</p>
<p>USF Admissions just sent an email out this morning saying there was a typo on the original merit-based scholarship letter, so if you didn’t get one because of error the first time around, you should be getting one this time, hopefully. Good luck!:)</p>
<p>For anyone trying to compare or get an idea of the costs, feel free to view <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-san-francisco/885176-usf-financial-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-san-francisco/885176-usf-financial-aid.html</a> and the last couple pages of posts.</p>
<p>Oh my, it’s turtlerock the savior again <3 </p>
<p>I’m really clueless on all this scholarship stuff so I’m a little confused. So by applying for FAFSA, we will receive some amount of financial aid through Calgrants right? I noticed in one of the posts from the thread you just posted that Loyal253 received a large sum from a tuition grant. Do colleges give you grants based on your need automatically after applying for financial aid? Because I always thought all I’d be receiving is FAFSA money (which I heard is around $10,000) so I was thinking it’d be impossible for me to attend USF :(</p>
<p>I’ll try to explain briefly how Financial Aid works:</p>
<p>There are 4 main forms of Financial Aid (hitherto referred to as FA in California):
- Cal Grant Eligibility -This is an amount not to exceed $9,084 if attending a public institution or $4,000 if attending a private institution (like USF). There are 3 types of Cal Grants - A, B, and C. All are awarded an amount from $1 up to the maximum based on need, however GPA requirements must be met for A and B at 3.0 and 2.0 respectively. After you fill out the FAFSA, you will need to request your high school official (academic counselor or whoever) to file a Cal Grant application on your behalf (as they are the ones to certify your GPA). Cal Grant C is awarded based on extreme need, and is used differently than A and B. You will need to resubmit for Cal Grant eligibility after 2 years (for Cal Grant A) or 1 year (for Cal Grant B), however your original application for Cal Grant is good for 4 years (if I remember right). So, you can have your High School official file your Cal Grant application your Sr year, take 1-2 years off of school before you begin college and you will still be eligible for the original award amount, only needing to reapply after 1-2 years of school time, or after 4 years of not using the grant.
[California</a> Student Aid Commission - 2012 Eligibility Changes as a Result of the 2012 Budget Act](<a href=“http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=1452]California”>http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=1452)
<a href=“http://www.csac.ca.gov/NEWS/G-30_calgrantcomparisonchart.pdf[/url]”>http://www.csac.ca.gov/NEWS/G-30_calgrantcomparisonchart.pdf</a></p>
<ol>
<li><p>Institutional need-based grants - Institution would be the school, and these grants are any amounts (or lack thereof) that the school feels they can give you towards your tuition in an attempt to meet your need, as in helping you only having to pay an amount that is close to the FAFSA EFC (expected family contribution). Most schools are not required to meet student need - i.e. if the FAFSA says one student’s EFC is 5000, the school is not required to give enough grant aid so that the student ends up paying exactly 5000. The school can give grant aid that brings the student’s cost to 7500 or 6500 and may think that is enough, though of of course the student and family may think otherwise. These grants are considered need-based in the sense that the student will need them to get close to their EFC provided by FAFSA. This is the biggest misunderstanding with FA: FAFSA itself does not grant any grants or scholarships. I only analyzes your income and assets information and gives you a number, the EFC, that the schools you apply to can gauge you need off of (and it also determines your award amounts for public grants you do get).</p></li>
<li><p>Merit awards - these are the simplest. You get “X” amount of money for having “X” GPA or “X” SAT/ACT scores. Sometimes these awards are renewable for 4 years (so long as the student maintains eligibility by having “X” GPA), but sometimes they are a one-time-only affair and it’s important to watch out for those as you may be awarded it for your Freshman year thinking it will also be there your next year, but then it’s not. Other merit awards come in the form of scholarships and can be given from outside sources (foundations or private donors), not just the school itself. There are also athletic-scholarships which I will lump as merit awards.</p></li>
<li><p>Student loans - Just by filing the FAFSA you (the student) are qualified to receive $5,500 (Freshman), $6,500 (Sophomore), and $7,500 (Jr and Sr) of a combination of subsidized and unsubsidized loans if you are a dependent. You are qualified to receive $9,500 (Fresh), $10,500 (Soph), and $12,500 (Jr and Sr) if you are independent or if you are a dependent student whose parents are unable to obtain PLUS loans. Again, to be able to receive these all you need to do if actually file a FAFSA - no income and assets analyzed. You may also obtain private student loans from commercial banks or what have you.
[Subsidized</a> and Unsubsidized Loans | Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized]Subsidized”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
Generally that is how it works if you file FAFSA (some students do not because they already determined they do not need an EFC as they will be considered “full-pay” students because of high family incomes). You file your FAFSA, send it to the schools in which you applied so they can see your EFC, and they award you the mix of need-based grants and merit awards/scholarships to get your out of pocket expense close to that EFC. Since you filed the FAFSA, the school will automatically assume you will be taking the max amount of student loans you can and will automatically count $5,500 of loans towards you paying in tuition from the loans (that way they give $5,500 less in need-based grants). Sometimes they guesstimate your Cal Grant award based on your GPA and EFC, but you’d need to make sure that what they say you will get via Cal Grant is the same as you believe you will be receiving.</p>
<p>So Meow, if you attend a public school then your max award for Cal Grant is near that $10,000 mark you are referring to ($9,048), but if you attend USF, then your max award is only $4,000.</p>
<p>If you don’t fully understand something, or you have a specific question with what USF has on their FA award for you, then tyr looking at that other thread or ask here.</p>
<p>turtlerock, you… are truly amazing. You’re seriously saving my butt so much right now. Thank you so, so much for taking the time out of your day to answer my questions >w< They’re deeply appreciated. </p>
<p>Everything’s starting to make sense now. It’s a little sad that Cal Grant is only $4,000 for private institutions when obviously they cost so much more. In fact, it makes me angry that they basically cut the grant so freaking much… Ugh. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to afford a private institution anymore, now that it’s been cut to basically nothing. </p>
<p>I come from a rather low-income family, and I’m also a first-generation college student, so I’m going to be requiring lots of assistance in terms of financial aid. Hopefully I’ll be able to find a financially accessible university soon. </p>
<p>So if I’m understanding correctly, the FAFSA is filed by February, but I will be notified of the amount of money the schools are willing to give me before I have to choose a school, right?</p>
<p>Again, thank you so much for the help. You’re amazing.</p>
<p>$4000? Max? In what interval, per year? Could you clarify it for me a bit, turtlerock?</p>
<p>I’m a little confused and concerned now. To my understanding:
I was just looking at the CalGrant site and I thought the most you could get via CalGrant A was $9223 (Source: [Grants</a> for College Students, College Grants, Grants for School California: Cal Grant awards](<a href=“http://www.calgrants.org/index.cfm?navId=11]Grants”>http://www.calgrants.org/index.cfm?navId=11)) and this amount was given annually* for that proposed amount of years. And with Prop 30 passing, this shouldn’t be on chopping block, right?</p>
<p>And what about the Pell Grant? Is it similar in pay out as the CalGrant? Because I thought they worked in essentially the same way, except at a federal level.</p>
<p>I probably shouldn’t be looking too much into this before I actually fill out the FAFSA and get my FA package (Expected first week of April, right?
)</p>
<p>*as implied by “How Much Money Are We Talking About? With a Cal Grant you can get up to $12,192 a year to pay for college expenses…” (Source: [Free</a> Money for College, Grant Money for College, College Grant - About Cal Grants](<a href=“http://www.calgrants.org/index.cfm?navId=10]Free”>http://www.calgrants.org/index.cfm?navId=10))</p>
<p>Thanks again!:)</p>
<p>Well the thing is, if you look at the website turtlerock posted: [California</a> Student Aid Commission - 2012 Eligibility Changes as a Result of the 2012 Budget Act](<a href=“http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=1452]California”>http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=1452)
It says near the middle…
“In 2013-14, the maximum Cal Grant A & B Tuition and Fee awards for new students at private for-profit institutions will be reduced from $9,223 to $4,000.
In 2013-14, the maximum Cal Grant A & B Tuition and Fee awards for new students at independent institutions will be reduced from $9,223 to $9,084.”
Since USF isn’t a for-profit institution, I believe it should be considered an independent institution? :o I’m not sure though :(</p>
<p>Whoops. Apparently my eyes hovered pass that link. Sorry.</p>
<p>But okay. As far as I know, USF hasn’t been tagged listed as a Private For-Profit, so it shoooould still be a private independent institution, correct me if I’m wrong. So that should only drop to a maximum of $9084, right?</p>
<p>
Hold it. Sorry for throwing you for a loop, but yes, USF is a not for profit institution, and the Cal Grant max award if attending there is $9048 per year.</p>
<p>I was completely overlooking that the cut in Cal Grant was to the for-profit schools such as ITT and Heald. Good clarification by the SacBee article here: [California</a> budget cuts Cal Grants at most private schools - Education - The Sacramento Bee](<a href=“http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/27/4591713/california-budget-cuts-cal-grants.html]California”>http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/27/4591713/california-budget-cuts-cal-grants.html)
The article does note, however, that not for-profit private schools will see Cal Grant eligibility dropped another $1,000 in 2014 to $8,056.</p>
<p>Again, sorry for the confusion: USF is a not-for-profit and is still eligible for the $9,084 in 2013 ($8,056 in 2014).</p>
<p>
Absolutely. So at the end of filing the FAFSA you choose which schools to send it to (you can resend to more schools later if you’d like, so long as it is sent before any specific school’s deadline). The school receives this information and if they accept you, then they will also be sending a Financial Aid letter (via hard letter in the mail or an email through a school’s admitted students’ website) that details all your awards (merit scholarships, grants, loans, etc) and shows you a figure you will be expected to pay out of pocket for that year to attend.</p>
<p>Most often a student knows if they will not be attending a certain institution as soon as they receive the FA letter, since it may show an expected amount to be paid that the student knows he or she cannot come up with.</p>
<p>Also, again, it’s important to understand that private schools (USF included) will place the maximum amount of student loans to your FA letter in an attempt to get yo closer to your EFC as per the FAFSA without having to give you as much grant aid (free money). For example, my EFC last year was 06000 or so and USF gave me an FA package that included grant aid, GI Bill, and $9,500 in loans (the max amount of loan I could take out) so that I ended up having to pay out of pocket about $5,500 - which was actually very close to the EFC from the FAFSA of 6000. But in reality, I was paying out of pocket for the $5,500 that year, plus the $9,500 loan (+ interest) that I would need to pay back later. Over the course of 4 years at USF I would have paid about $20,000 in cash to the school and would owe ~$43,000 in loans (assuming I received similar FA packages in years 2-4).</p>
<p>Some people may see my example as financially “doable” for them to attend USF - especially if you consider that USF allows for payment installments for your portion of tuition ($5,500 split up into a few payments that were due by the beginning of the next academic year) . Unfortunately, it was not “doable” for me and I was not able to attend solely based on financial reasons - which bums me out only now because I can afford it now only a year later, though I would still have to come to grips with knowing I would owe $43,000 after graduation.</p>
<p>Seriously though, after touring all the schools I did last year USF impressed me the most, and if I had to elect for $43,000 in loans to attend a school I was admitted to, it most certainly would have been USF. I’m now thinking about applying as a transfer there.</p>
<p>Back to Financial Aid: The Cal and Pell Grants really become the most ‘bang for the buck’ for low income students who attend CSUs as commuter students making the cost virtually free because of the lowest cost of tuition at that level - and some students get the same financial results at UCs, especially if they hunt for the outside scholarships.</p>
<p>Private universities are becoming the best bargain for high income families. Since they would not qualify for Pell grants or other need-based aid to begin with, they see that they end up paying the same price for a public school, like UCs, as they would for private schools. But at least at the private schools they have some (arguably) better amenities, so they often choose that route.</p>
<p>For a third time: really sorry about the confusion. Hope it’s clear enough now.</p>
<p>Don’t apologize, turtlerock. It’s amazing that you’re doing so much for us. We should be the ones repeatedly thanking you even if I’m starting to sound like a broken record :p</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I come from an extremely low-income family, but I don’t like any of the public schools I applied for… And I have yet to visit USF, but I have visited the other privates I applied for, and I really do prefer them over public schools. Hopefully USF will be willing to give me a good amount of financial aid… And not too much in debts. This is still better than my initial impression; I didn’t know there were such things as tuition grants, so I was definitely terrified at the thought of having $20k+ debts per year! </p>
<p>If we do both end up going to USF, hopefully we’ll be able to meet so I can properly express my thanks for all your help in person :)</p>
<p>meow443- I’m in the same situation I definitely prefer private schools over public schools even though my family can’t afford them at this point. I’m keeping my fingers crossed about the USF financial package is a good amount. I visited USF last week and I loved it! My only complaint is that it’s spread out it’s not like a close knit campus I felt like. The dorms were very small with communal bathrooms but that doesn’t really bother me. Everything else was so beautiful lol I loved the cafeteria, the green outdoor place, the library and the location in the city</p>
<p>I got the $10,000 per year one, but I didn’t get the $20,000 per year scholars program scholarship :(</p>
<p>
It can “feel” spread out (mainly because of the ‘split’ portions of campus), but in reality it is very small in area compared to other private schools in the greater Norther California area like SCU and UOP. Kind of a reflection of SF as a city (seems big because it’s so dense, but is really smaller in area than most other cities in CA).</p>
<p>I didn’t like how the main cafeteria (not the Lone Mountain one) was on the 2nd floor. I would have no problem getting to it everyday, but I could imagine it’s a bit more of a hassle than needed for disabled students, even with an elevator. Instead, the bookstore is on the 1st floor, which I can see makes a little sense because they may want to keep it quieter with the study areas on the 1st floor as well, but then they should just move both the bookstore and study areas to the 2nd floor together. I dunno - just something I noticed; I don’t recall seeing another school with a cafeteria on a 2nd floor.</p>
<p>I thought the library was great too. Did you go into the Atrium attached to it? It’s supposed to be the quiet study area, and it’s da bomb. It’s so quiet and relaxing with a good view of most of the lower campus and the church. I could imagine myself going there like everyday, studying needed or not.</p>
<p>Guys, are we sharing tours of USF?!
(Seriously been on like 5 because I love the campus so much)</p>
<p>Each time I’ve been on campus has been during the construction of the CSI (the science/plaza building they’re currently constructing that will be done Fall 2013), so I’d say about 1/3 of the main campus has been blocked or sectioned off.</p>
<p>What I noticed about USF is that because it’s so small, they have the luxury of prioritizing updating their facilities rather than acquiring new ones (with the exception of their branch campuses and their new downtown business building). This means that about half of their campus has been remodeled this century. Right now and after the construction of the CSI, they’re revamping some of the dorms (Hayes-Healy now has lounges and brand spankin’ new bathrooms) and the Koret Center because of some recent grants. This is definitely different from most publics I’m familiar with, which make a habit of constantly expanding their reach and building new facilities without touching their older ones -cough- Davis -cough-.</p>
<p>Another perk about USF that I appreciated was how nice everyone was. I kid you not, it was pretty obvious I was a visitor and I was like a deer in headlights when I found out that literally everyone I passed by asked I was lost. I even got to sit in a class one day and found everyone really genuinely sweet.</p>
<p>I also found some really interesting classes like Boxing & Social Justice, where it’s description said you go into the SF community and teach boxing to recent immigrants how to box to help them find their identity soon after their transition. As said by a friend I told about this “WHO FREAKIN’ COMES UP WITH THIS STUFF?”. Their freshman year seminars are really cool, too; sucks that you can only choose one. (Literature of the Child to fulfill the English core? YES!)</p>
<p>Thennn you have off campus. It’s SF. But to elaborate on that, I have to explain something. I’m a foodie. My most opened tab on Chrome is Yelp. I live to find hole in the wall establishments. And in the Richmond Districts, they are aplenty. On campus food pales in comparison. That’s my biggest vice with USF, actually. The food sucks, it’s expensive, and you HAVE to buy a meal plan if you live on campus.</p>