<p>To vballmom: My mother and I are going to call and see if we can get a waiver. </p>
<p>To mom2collegekids: Well, I don’t know. Rutgers, tbh, seems like a dump-truck school where all the New Jersey kids matriculate. Now I am not belitting their academic reputation because I know it is solid but…I don’t know. I thought maybe my unusual circumstances might help my case?</p>
<p>*To mom2collegekids: Well, I don’t know. Rutgers, tbh, seems like a dump-truck school where all the New Jersey kids matriculate. Now I am not belitting their academic reputation because I know it is solid but…I don’t know. *</p>
<p>It sounds like you haven’t visited or haven’t visited with an open mind. You should. :)</p>
<p>Let me tell you this. Typically, flagship schools are NOT filled with “everyday kids” (altho all schools will have some). Most “everyday” kids go to their local regional publics or CCs, or the they don’t go to college at all. </p>
<p>Since the COA for in-state kids at Rutgers is: $26,345, there’s no way that “all the NJ kids” could go there. Most families don’t have $100k to send their kids to college.</p>
<p>Look at Rutgers stats…</p>
<p>Middle 50% of
First-Year Students Percent Who Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 530 - 630 99%
SAT Math: 560 - 680 99%
SAT Writing: 540 - 640 99% </p>
<p>Your stats…
SAT I:
1st time —> 1890= 630 CR… Math 590… 670 Writing 11e (math + CR = 1220)
2nd time —> 2100= 690 CR …Math 620… 790 Writing 12e (math + CR = 1310)</p>
<p>It looks like you’d be in the top 25% of the students for CR and W, and about the top 50% for Math. That’s good. :)<br>
Great Writing score, btw. :)</p>
<p>Merit scholarships are usually based on M+CR SAT scores, so if you’re looking for any merit, look for schools that give merit to scores of 1300+</p>
<p>Does Rutgers have an honors college/program? Would you qualify?</p>
<p>* I thought maybe my unusual circumstances might help my case?*</p>
<p>I’m not saying that other schools absolutely won’t be give you FA, but you need to prepare yourself if they don’t give you anything or they don’t give you what you need. In truth, your circumstance isn’t that unusual. There are a lot of kids from broken home where the custodial parent makes little to nothing while the NCP is rather affluent (and won’t pay). Sadly, this is actually too common. There’s a lot of NCPs out there (especially dads) who make decent livings who refuse to contribute to their kids educations, even though their financial status prevents any financial aid.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Typically merit aid does not require that need be demonstrated. Therefore, the family income is not considered at all. Doesn’t matter if it’s FAFSA or FAFSA and Profile. (note…some schools do require forms be completed for merit aid…and some merit awards are combined with need…but straight merit…nope).</p>
<p>The OP was concerned about need based aid. If the school is a Profile school it MIGHT require the non-custodial parent Profile and it might not…gotta check each school.</p>
<p>FAFSA only schools don’t care about the non-custodial parent if the parents are divorced BUT the doe care about step parents if the custodial parent has remarried.</p>
<p>Ok I will try to keep an open mind 
Thanks for the compliment about my writing too :-)</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Let us know if you do a Rutgers campus visit. And, do make an appt with the dept of your major to meet with them to find out what they offer. Does Rutgers have an Honors Program that you’d qualify for? :)</p>
<p>I am going to check :-).</p>
<p>My daughter was admitted to Columbia last year. We struggled with the same issue, too much in savings accounts so no grant money, just a small amount in loans. We appealed twice with Columbia, but they would not change the award. My daughter is attending our flagship, UC Berkeley. She should be able to graduate in three years with no debt. We have agree to pay for her graduate school, the total cost for ungrad and grad will probably be less than the cost of Columbia.</p>
<p>Wow…interesting…</p>
<p>*We have agree to pay for her graduate school, the total cost for ungrad and grad will probably be less than the cost of Columbia. *</p>
<p>We’ve done a similar thing with our kids. Since they’re going to our state’s flagship, we’ll help them with med school and grad school.</p>
<p>Similar scenario here, too. In son’s case, he accepted a full ride merit scholarship (everything, including personal expenses), so we pay nothing at all for college. We will give him the money we didn’t spend for four years of EFC for law school.</p>
<p>Yup. Exactly what we’re counting on at our house. I MIGHT be able to BARELY eke out enough for an upper tier education, but it will HURT. A lot.</p>
<p>But we already know D is in at state uni, already with 3 schollys that drive the cost to 1/2 price, a probable 4th and possible/likely 5th that will make it free (actually BETTER than free…some “goodies” on top of the money). It’s SO hard to turn down. Because she aspires to grad school, and, this way…I can pay for that (probably). So she gets an in-state undergrad and hopefully top tier grad school education (where it matters more) at no cost to her,. This, versus her getting into her top choice school for undergrad, but we’re both in debt for a long time, and no real hope at grad school. ALMOST a no brainer.</p>
<p>Another thing that kids, who are going to schools that their parents can barely afford, need to think about is this…</p>
<p>Many undergrads want to do a study abroad during the summer or during a semester. Those programs can cost $8k -10k+. If a family is so stretched just to pay for college, there’s no way they can pay for a study abroad. Accepting a scholarship can sometimes mean that a family can now afford these “extras” for your education. </p>
<p>I know a dad from Texas who has promised his D that if she accepts the big scholarship offer, he’ll pay for all the rest of her costs, and she can do a pricey study abroad for a semester or two.</p>
<p>To the seniors and juniors posting here,</p>
<p>I understand your pain 
When I was in high school my dream school was Columbia, and I also wanted to apply to other places like Yale and Princeton, and I really wanted to go somewhere like that. And I had the stats to get in (not a guarantee, of course, but I was the average applicant at those places). Unfortunately my parents only made around $60K a year and this was before these universities were doing their programs for loan-free aid for families who make little, and so our EFC was around $19K. I knew my parents couldn’t afford it.</p>
<p>What I suggest that some of you who are so inclined to is look at universities and colleges that are below your stats - where you rank in the top 10-25% of students who are applying to that school. I applied to some LACs at which I was in the top 10% of applicants. These were schools that were on the second tier of the U.S. News lists (specifically, Agnes Scott and Spelman Colleges), so very good schools, just not at the tippy top and they often offered large scholarships to their top students. I got enough merit-based aid at Agnes Scott to cover my tuition completely, and I got a full scholarship from Spelman that covered all of my costs. I ended up going to Spelman, and I had a fantastic time there.</p>
<p>And you know what? I ended up at Columbia for graduate school :)</p>
<p>As for the study abroad issue…that’s true and not true. At most universities your aid is portable, meaning that whatever aid you’re getting there you can port it overseas to get it during the study abroad program if you study during the academic year. If your study abroad program is the same cost or cheaper as a semester at your school, it’s covered. Even if your parents are paying full-freight, they usually don’t have to pay any tuition towards the school for the semester that you’re gone - maybe just a fee, which is usually around $300 or so - so if you pick a program that’s around the same price as your university you’re not coming off any worse. Matter of fact, my study abroad program was $17,000 for the semester, which is actually cheaper than COA for a semester at a pricey Ivy League. It was more money than my semester costs, but I applied for some extra scholarships and got the difference (about $5,000) covered, so my study abroad program didn’t cost my parents anything.</p>
<p>Actually, my entire college career didn’t cost my parents anything. I’m about $9,000 in debt from my undergrad, which were mostly loans taken to cover incidental expenses (my books, and break and summer housing).</p>
<p>*Matter of fact, my study abroad program was $17,000 for the semester, which is actually cheaper than COA for a semester at a pricey Ivy League. It was more money than my semester costs, but I applied for some extra scholarships and got the difference (about $5,000) covered, so my study abroad program didn’t cost my parents anything.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>I agree that you can apply your tuition money/scholarship money towards study abroad. The program that my son is looking at will cost us an additional $7k (not including airfare, transportation once there, spending money, or “weekend trips”) - so probably about $10k when it’s all done. If we were paying for an expensive school, that extra $10k would not be do-able.</p>
<p>Very true - the cost of my program was only about $5,000 above my school’s total costs. This included airfare, lodging, most food and some educational excursions. I already had a scholarship that gave me a living stipend of $900/month (I was a hustler lol), so I just applied for two scholarships that covered the gap.</p>
<p>But yes, the caveat definitely was that I had to look for programs that were around the same cost or just a little bit more than my COA at Spelman - I wasn’t as fancy-free with my programs as I could’ve been. And so it is with kids who go to really expensive schools their parents are scraping to afford.</p>
<p>My parents helped me out as much as they could. I cried when I left because my mom gave me a going away card with $300 stuffed in it, and I knew she had saved and saved to give me that $300 to go away with :)</p>
<p>*I cried when I left because my mom gave me a going away card with $300 stuffed in it, and I knew she had saved and saved to give me that $300 to go away with *</p>
<p>I got tears in my eyes reading this. Mother love. :)</p>