What I've learned about full-ride scholarships

<p>Make the decision that allows you & your family to sleep at night--whatever that is for each family. In our case, our S was offered an OOS full-ride at AzSU & UAz, as well as 1/2 tuition at Santa Clara U & USoCal. He will be happily matriculating at USoCal & we all believe it will be a good fit. Sure, it would have saved money if he had chosen one of the full-ride schools but he's excited & we've been very impressed with the faculty of USoCal who have been very supportive. It is a stretch financially but not one that will keep us awake at nights or make S or us awash in loans, so we are all fine with his decision.</p>

<p>Cur stated, "Your approach I could deal with but dont you see how other people could think of it as less than generous when your kid could have gone to HYP or Stanford or CalTech/MIT had you paid even 1/2 to 1/3 of your efc."</p>

<p>Of course I understand that. However your point also proves mine. Our son was not a viable applicant to the highly selective universities you identified. He didn't have the "stats". The more reasonable choice would have been between Cornell/CMU and RPI/Case which he decided to apply to. And the point I have been making is that a student does not have to compromise very much if he needs merit aid to make thing work for him.</p>

<p>And quite frankly, with his 3.76 gpa he might be a viable transfer candidate to universities like Cornell, CMU, Penn. But he chose well and is enjoying everything that RPI has to offer to even consider this choice.</p>

<p>But the thing people are forgetting is that we empowered him to make the choices. Had he wanted to attend CMU/Cornell he could have provided he was willing to supplement his savings with college loans like millions of other students. He knew that but wanted money in the bank come graduation day. His choice.</p>

<p>And that is my only problem with the OP. It seems that student's choices were drastically limited by the parents' decision. If this was the student's choice then I have no such issue.</p>

<p>And of course we need to define 4th tier. I do not put any state flagship university in that category. Being an alum of Ohio State I know the quality education which I received. Some might consider the Big Farm 3rd or 4th tier but I would strenuously disagree based on first hand knowledge.</p>

<p>The clock is ticking for you parents with freshmen to be!!!! Good luck to y'all. Exciting times!</p>

<p>originaloog, your choices should be respected. The OPs choices should be respected. We are all just trying to do the best we can. The college years go by so fast anyway. </p>

<p>Now, my son is interested in a school that is not talked about with a lot of respect on this board. It's Ohio State. How is the campus? Is it ugly? How is Columbus? The area near OSU and the city in general?</p>

<p>dstark:</p>

<p>You'll find some OSU info here:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=212871&highlight=ohio+state%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=212871&highlight=ohio+state&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>When I go back to the original post on the thread, I see that OP wrote their goal was to "aim for the best college possible that offered a full-ride." Now I am thinking, kids who have very high stats can get full ride scolarships at some pretty good schools. Not the elites -- but colleges that can offer them challenges, nonetheless. Along with the full ride it is typical that they are invited to participate in honors programs -- and larger universities with graduate programs may have extra opportunities to offer undergrads at the top of their applicant pools. </p>

<p>Of course, kids with less impressive stats will not be eligible for full ride scholarships at the better schools.... but in that case, the kids also do not have the stats to get into the most elite schools.</p>

<p>There is a dichotomy between the best school the student can get into and the best school that they can get a full-ride scholarship from -- but that relationship is going to be related to the student's own ability. The better the student, the higher the level of colleges offering merit money; the worse the student... the less it can be argued that the student is making a major educational sacrifice to choose a lesser ranked school.</p>

<p>I thought the core campus area at OSU was just fine. Some ugly high-rise dorms near the edge but lots of state schools made that mistake. I hear the High St. area is improving and the area just south was getting better last time I was there (years ago now). Columbus really is not bad. The downtown is not much after 5 but German Village has lots of nice places. I'd call it equal to MSU or Iowa overall.</p>

<p>I think that everyone should temper their comments with understanding. We should all realize that we can only understand a situation from our perspective. In any forum with limited available information, it would be foolish to criticize or even to attempt to impose our values, understandings and decisions on other people or their situations. What is right for some may not be right for others. I believe the purpose of this forum should be to share our experiences, encourage other posters and to offer suggestions, not edicts, when requested. If others can learn from our experiences – great, if not then we should use the medical creed of “do no harm”.</p>

<p>In light of the above I will share how we handled the choice of school situation. At the start of high school, summer before freshman year, we sat down with our kids and had a long talk about college. We told them that we were willing to pay for all college expenses related to our state school. Outside of that, they could attend any school they wanted and were admitted to, as long as they qualified for sufficient merit or financial aid. This understanding eliminated any question as to what was or was not affordable when they began applying to schools. Fortunately they worked hard during the four years of high school and were able to have a wide choice of schools to attend. They turned down substantial merit packages at top schools and ended up at top 20 schools.</p>

<p>This may not be the best solution for other people. I believe that everything is a lot easier and smoother when everyone, students and parents, understand and agree to the parameters right from the start. Although I don’t post a lot, quite a few of you have heard this same message from me on countless PMs and e-mails. I have enjoyed the many dialogues that have come about as a result of these communications. It can be a great time in everyone’s life, if they only relax long enough to appreciate it.</p>

<p>ST2, </p>

<p>Very well said.</p>

<p>


Unfortunately several on this thread and more on the board don't believe you have that option. At least not if you aren't stingy or mean. </p>

<p>If state school price was your EFC , then fine. You pass the good parent test. If state school was less than your EFC then whoa Nelly!! "What else do you value more?" and "What is worth more than your child's education?" Like somehow we are to abdicate our family responsibility to make financial decisions to the Feds and the Collegeboard and their idiotic formulas. </p>

<p>Not gonna happen at my house, and I'll bet it's not gonna happen at your house either ST2. It does seem funny though that O'loog had $16K , we came out state school or $16K and y'all decided on state school (which might have been a similar number). 3 different EFC's . 3 similar numbers.</p>

<p>all parents who would take out a 2nd mortgage to pay for the dream school of your children, say aye :)</p>

<p>What is an EFC?</p>

<p>If taking out a 2nd mortgage is going to make things tough financially, then no.</p>

<p>I find the whole concept of a "dream school" for undergrads, silly.</p>

<p>EFC = expected family contribution</p>

<p>Are you expecting a rush of folks? I'm not so sure the answer is significant. Change it to "sizable number that requires you to extend the term of your home mortgage 10 years". </p>

<p>How about we make it even a little tougher, like how many would borrow a substantial sum against the vast majority of their 401K (for the kid to attend their dream school) ?</p>

<p>Borrow $10 K against the ranch for college so my kid can go to dream school- sure. Find me the lender who'll do it. $120 K ? Nope. Can't leave my spouse with that burden.</p>

<p>Who determines EFC? </p>

<p>Sorry if these seem like dumb questions, but S is at a Service Academy, always wanted to go to one and only applied SAs so this never came up.</p>

<p>DStark-</p>

<p>That is how my kiddos' felt, that a "dream" school was silly. They liked different schools for different reasons. Some of those reasons included cost and in turn value. What each child needed and what each child wanted went on lists, and then prioritized. The lists fluctuated some and then they were tweaked after visits and financial aid/merit/athletic scholarships came. And they also realized that the things they liked about some schools would change over time, as they grew and matured. So they incorporated room in their decisions for growth and change.</p>

<p>I was not so much proud of where they ended up but how they arrived at their decisions and why. Middle DD, a D1 athlete turned down her athletic scholarship for an academic one. She knew she would have to work harder to keep the academic one (GPA, course progression) but she wanted to keep the ability to attend financially in case she became hurt or injured or even burned out from her sport (she is still a D1 athlete just not on athlete money). She was looking ahead and putting her priority of completing her degree ahead of her need to make NCAA nationals.</p>

<p>And so far, so good.</p>

<p>But for her, and her sibs there were no "dream" schools. Only "dream" opportunities that she could create at different schools in various scenarios.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

<p>EFC is determined by the Feds through a document called the Fafsa . Schools use it and sometimes another one called the CSS Profile, put out by the Collegeboard.</p>

<p>LFWB dad-</p>

<p>FAFSA determines EFC. Some schools also require Collegeboard Profile which goes further indepth into finances. Based on assets, income, family size, number in college and other numbers EFC is determined. And many, many are not happy with their EFC.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

<p>Kat, you have mature kids. I like watching the kids as they think things through (even when they make mistakes). :)</p>

<p>"But for her, and her sibs there were no "dream" schools. Only "dream" opportunities that she could create at different schools in various scenarios." :) :)</p>

<p>Cur:
Like I previously stated everyone knows their own situation the best and then makes decisions based on that. I think that we all have a problem if the measure of a "good parent" is passing the "EFC" test. I certainly hope that is not the criterion for judgment. I believe that in our situation, being up front about the situation worked best for us. Since our state flagship university is rated in the top 50, I think the quality was more than acceptable. In the worst case scenario, with in state tuition and a very liberal state scholarship program the cost including room and board would have been less than $10,000 per year. So< I guess that I did have the option. My kids also had the option to either work or not work for something else. I feel what I owe them is an opportunity and nothing more. They were given that opportunity – whether they used that opportunity was up to them – not me.</p>

<p>So as far as it happening in anyone’s house, I guess that is an individual decision. Certainly would not pretend to know what would or did happen in your house – but I can tell you what would and did happen in my house. Once again, I believe that all we owe our kids is an opportunity. What they do with that opportunity is up to them. Worked for our family – may or may not work in other families. Not the Feds or College Board making the decision – just the kids assuming responsibility for their own life and decisions. Something that they have to get used to doing in life anyway.</p>

<p>As an afterthought, it has worked out great. One just graduated with honors and is about to begin a great job. The other just finished freshman year – very happy with her choice and can’t wait to get back to campus for sophomore year. Cur – still would have liked to have seen them on the same team. I just hope that people have been able to use our experiences to their advantage. As for people believing that I do or don’t have options – that is their right. You better believe I have that option, whether they do or not is entirely up to them.</p>