What makes them "better" for aid/scholarships

Paying for College
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<p>So I am just looking for advice/opinions/consolation (haha) on what makes everyone else seem to get a scholarship over me?</p>

<p>I got into the 5 schools to which I applied, 1 ivy, 1 prestigious liberal arts school, and the other 3 are Universities of. However, my parents do not want to pay for school, even though they could afford it if they chose to, unless it is community college (they went to comm college and are now quite successful, thus they believe anything else isn't necessary).
Anyways, not complaining about them, the point is that I desperately need merit scholarships and aid. Aside from outside ones, I was banking on getting some money from the schools.</p>

<p>Yet, even though our EFC was $32,070, I did not qualify for any financial aid from my schools, despite 2 of them being over 50k. My stats are pretty decent:
ACT: 29
SATs: 1960 (cr= 700, writing= 710, math= 550)
Lit subject test: 700
Taken an array of honors and APs, been a world champion Irish dancer for 8 yrs, piano for 10 yrs, founded 3 clubs and was apart of 5, also in theater and debate. Have done many community service projects and tutor little kids weekly for free.</p>

<p>I know I am not miss perfect student, but I really thought I was good enough for SOME type of scholarship? I have talked to numerous people who got the scholarships I didn't, and their stats and extra currics are much lower than mine. I feel like I am on a "DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO" list that everyone is abiding by? I know it is subjective, but I still don't understand why I can't get them, when they are just the ones you are automatically considered for (so they don't even have essays to base it off of)!</p>

<p>Now I can't go to my 2 'dream' schools because I can't afford them, and am praying that I at least get community college. I have talked to one school and asked them to reconsider me, but they said they don't work like that. How are you guys handling it all? I thought getting accepted into an ivy was amazing...but it doesn't matter if you don't have the cash.</p>

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<p>How did you not get aid above your EFC at least at the ivy? I thought all eight meet full need.</p>

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<p>^ Maybe she’s talking about her FAFSA EFC. School recalculate EFCs using the CSS Profile, right?</p>

<p>Not sure - after all, hmom is certainly far more wise than I :p</p>

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<p>There a number of schools that do not give any award money at all unless you qualify for aid under their formulas. Ivies fall into this category as do many of the most selective LACs. Such schools also frequently guarantee to meet all need that is defined by their formulas, and are generous that way, but if you don’t meet the criteria, you don’t get a dime. It appears you fell into that category with some of your schools.</p>

<p>For those schools that do give out merit awards, you need to look at what % of kids get that kind of money and how much. We deliberately picked schools where we could see the possibility of our son being in that %. It’s also very important to have something that the school really wants, such a being out of geographic area, being a URM, having a major that is underrepresented at the school, being a male/female when the school is trying to stay 50/50 that way,meeting some need or being on the wish list of such schools. That’s what it takes to get merit money. </p>

<p>Having gone this route three times now, I can tell you that we had to make merit money a priority when picking schools in order to get the offers we did. We had a college level athletic recruit with good grades and test scores with our first one, and only got one award, and that from his safety. THe second time around, we had a kid with great performing arts talent and high test scores, but even that was not enough for more than token awards of under $5K. When we looked specifically for money in applying for school, which is what we did this time around, we found it. But not at the first schools that come to mind. It took a lot of research. You needed to apply to schools where your SATs were well in the upper 5% of the student population to get some of the goodies if you don’t have a strong hook.</p>

<p>If your EFC is lower than the school’s COA, you are still entitled to subsidized Stafford loans even if you do not qualify for the school’s financial aid. Whether your parents can afford to pay for college is not a consideration from the financial aid agencies if they have the income assets that are considered sufficient to do so, which they do.</p>

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<p>I assume that anyoe smart enough to get into an ivy is smart enough to know their EFC at privates is not the FAFSA one.</p>

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<p>Im wondering how the op got into an ivy, and a prestige lac with those stats</p>

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<p>@hmom: OIC, but I thought she meant her FAFSA EFC. Some kids are not as knowledgeable as those on CC, hmom… especially considering this was her 1st post!</p>

<p>Otherwise I don’t think she’d have said that that was her EFC. Since ivies and most top schools meet 100% need I assumed she was posting her FAFSA EFC… as obviously if she did not receive aid her recalculated EFC would be higher than 50k.</p>

<p>Besides, the OP may be intelligent but ignorant as well. Not that many kids really care about aid until they after they get in!!!</p>

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<p>I appreciate the comments…although some were more helpful than others.</p>

<p>I am sorry that I was not as clear with the ivy requirements for recalculation. I know that schools recalculate based on their own standards, and why sometimes kids get more aid than they thought their EFC said they were eligible for, but I did think that most of the time the schools EFC–especially ivies–did not stray too far from the FAFSA EFC. I suppose I am wrong.</p>

<p>@mhmm, I am not sure how I got into the ivy, though I thought it was through hard work. I THOUGHT that my stats were on the lower end of accepted students but still sufficient to have gotten in. I didn’t think I was an anomaly or something.
The liberal arts school was also the same situation, but I like to believe that my essays won them over as well as all of the samples and writing awards I sent in.</p>

<p>Are my stats surprisingly bad?</p>

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<p>Your stats are a little low for an ivy but your ECs make you stand out - 8 time world champion Irish dancer… Most people may have missed that in your original post (I did).</p>

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<p>But what makes someone a better choice to receive the scholarships than me? Merit-wise at many of the universities I have spoken with the kids that received scholarships and their stats/ec’s are almost identical if not lower. It makes me feel inadequate that others can get them but I can’t seem to.</p>

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<p>For university scholarships, I think you could politely ask your admissions contact that question. For outside ones, alot of scholarships have a financial need component. With an EFC of $32K, you couldn’t meet it. Your stats are good (and you seem like a very well rounded person) but not spectacular. There doesn’t seem to be any (paid) work experience, which can also be a factor. Finally, many scholarship winners have had alot of challenges to overcome - death of parents, disability, poverty, etc. </p>

<p>It doesn’t matter, competition is very fierce for the national and even regional scholarships. Especially this year, when almost everyone needs FA due to the economy! It isn’t a reflection on you, personally…they never even got the chance to meet you! I’m sure you’ll be feeling the love if your high school awards local scholarships.</p>

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<p>With an EFC of $32k, they might have accepted you (with your academics that are marginal for a top tier school) with the hope you could cobble the money together to be a full pay student.</p>

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<p>Yes I understand that the outside scholarships are much more difficult…I guess I am specifically talking about the college’s scholarships. </p>

<p>@sk8rmom, I forgot to mention it but I have held down 3 jobs since I’ve been 15. For the past 3 yrs I’ve been working 25-30 hr weeks in addition to my extra currics and full classes and comm service. I did mention those in my application though.</p>

<p>@OperaDad, hopefully I was not admitted solely for that, but I found out my admissions before I sent in any FAFSA info at all. (early admission for most)</p>

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<p>I don’t know which Ivy and prestigious LAC you are referring to but since the didn’t meet your gap between your EFC and the COA I would guess there are other assets/savings being considered. I think all Ivys and most top LACs use the PROFILE which take most assets into account. They are not treating you any worse than any other student.</p>