<p>Did you try doing a search on CollegeBoard to see what schools accept a lot of people with your GPA?</p>
<p>I live in Indiana as well, and i am in 2nd year in college. I am in a local college, to get some “basic” classes out of the way. For instance, i took English composition 1 and 2, Macroeconomics, Chemistry 1 and 2 (Lab and Lectures), Pre-calc and Trig, Calculus 1 and 2, and other classes i cannot think of right now. I am in the same situation about choosing schools as well. I was thinking Purdue and IUPUI, but not others. I was trying to transfer to Purdue in West Lafayette, and i gotten declined. My GC said that it should not be a problem transferring, but i guess he is wrong. I have gotten a really low scores in my classes, but i retook them and improved the grades. </p>
<p>-If you do not understand what i posted, i can retry and simplify the post. I am not sure if this is relevant.</p>
<p>I skim through the posts for this thread, and i still need to reread them at a later time.</p>
<p>I had my parents fill out the financial aid calculator. They put what they expect their income to be by the time I apply to schools next year. We got 3,978.</p>
<p>Ok…you expect your EFC to be about 3978…Let’s say 4000, since it’s an estimate…</p>
<p>If you went to school full-time, you’d qualify for a Pell Grant of about $1400. I say “about” because we don’t know your parents’ exact 2010 income and we don’t know if the Pell grid chart will change for the 2011-12 school year.</p>
<p>As you can see, $1400 is not much in free federal aid. </p>
<p>Does your state provide any student aid for students from lowish income families?</p>
<p>BTW…did your parents say if they can afford to contribute $4000 per year? If not, that will be an additional problem because a school will expect that to be paid.</p>
<p>They agreed 4,000 was reasonable. </p>
<p>I put in for the list of school costs an in state public(Ball state) a private(Indianapolis) and an out of state public(kentucky) just to see what the differences were. The difference between an in state public and a private was unbelievable. Like a 15,000 difference. I can’t do that. The difference between the in state public and the out of state were about 6,000 I think. Is that because of the particular schools I chose?</p>
<p>Oh and I’m not sure what you mean by other financial aid for low income families. Isn’t that what financial aid is basically?? I’m not sure what you were asking and I’m not sure how to find out.</p>
<p>Well, college has gotten so expensive that people well into the middle class can qualify for some financial aid. But check with your guidance counselor; I know that here in California, there is grant money specifically for low-income students. That might be the case in Indiana too.</p>
<p>Here’s the basic financial aid formula: Cost of Attendance (you can find on the college’s website) minus Expected Family Contribution (let’s say around $4000 for you) = Demonstrated Need. Your EFC doesn’t change from one school to the next; that means that the higher the school’s COA, the larger your Demonstrated Need for that school. Demonstrated Need is the amount of money the school needs to come up with in order for you to attend. </p>
<p>That’s the theory. Reality is a little more complicated. Some schools promise to meet Demonstrated Need, some do not. Some schools that say they meet Need actually offer aid packages with a whole bunch of loans and not much else – which in my book, isn’t “aid” at all. Many schools will tend to work harder to find aid money for students they really want, usually students with great stats.<br>
Some schools don’t even pretend to meet need; they may offer a package which doesn’t cover your Need. This is known as “gapping” – the difference between your EFC and what the school actually expects you to pay. Bear in mind that EFC is the minimum your family would be expected to pay; actual may be much higher.</p>
<p>In fact, I’m a little concerned about your parents’ readiness to pay the EFC. For most families, the EFC really hurts; it’s usually a pretty hefty percentage of income. Are you sure they understand what it means? Or are you sure you’re calculating it correctly?</p>
<p>As far as community colleges – believe me, I understand that CC is not where you dream of going. But given your financial circumstances, as well as your stats, I’d like you to re-orient your thinking a bit. You said this:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m suggesting you think a little bit more long-term than “where I want to be freshman year”. Re-define “Where you want to be” as “a degree from a good university”. Then you can think about the best way to get THERE. Bite the bullet and start at a CC, work your butt off in school for straight A’s, save up some money, and then transfer. At the end, you’ll have a degree you can be proud of, and the satisfaction of knowing you figured out how to get it. And you won’t start your adult life weighed down by debt.</p>
<p>Instead of rehashing an argument about the OP’s future which they have clearly heard before, I’ll try and throw in my opinion on schools you should be looking at.</p>
<p>Purdue University - Mid Reach
Indiana University - Mid Reach
Butler University - Mid Reach
University of Evansville - Low Reach
Hanover College - Low Reach
Indiana Wesleyan - High Match
Ball State University - Match
Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis - Match
Indiana State University - Safety</p>
<p>There are others, but this is an eclectic list of (kind of) affordable in-state schools (they should be relatively easy to visit). Visiting at least a portion of these schools should give you an opportunity to really see what you like. There are other schools that may match up better that are out of state, as opposed to these in-state schools, but maybe you’ll find something you really like.</p>
<p>Oh and I’m not sure what you mean by other financial aid for low income families. Isn’t that what financial aid is basically??</p>
<p>Some states give extra help to students with low incomes. </p>
<p>Financial aid comes in all types…such as
fed free money, and fed loans.<br>
Some states give free money to their low income residents (not to OOS students).<br>
Some public schools give institutional aid to instate students (often not to OOS students) with strong stats.<br>
Some schools give merit money to kids with high stats.</p>
<p>The problem is that most (non-elite) schools gap (meaning that they often don’t come close to meeting need.).</p>
<p>Go to IUPUI. I went there and loved it.</p>
<p>The only thing that I could really find was the 21st century scholar program, but that requires a family to be under 40,000 a year, which we aren’t. You also have to sign up for it at the end of eighth grade. So I don’t apply. Does anyone else know of any type of programs/ aid given to those from low income families?? I’m not having very much looking.</p>
<p>what did you like about IUPUI? Isn’t that a mostly commuter campus?</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about Western Michigan?? Admission? Out of state tuition?</p>
<p>Your google must be broken. [Costs</a> and scholarships](<a href=“http://www.wmich.edu/admissions/undergraduate/costs.html]Costs”>http://www.wmich.edu/admissions/undergraduate/costs.html)</p>
<p>What schools in Indiana are you looking at?</p>
<p>The only Indiana school I’m looking at right now is Ball state, since its public and I’ve been told IU and Purdue aren’t likely to admit me. Besides Ball state and the IU/Purdue satellite schools(IUPUI, IPFW, IUSB) there aren’t too many in Indiana, at least that I know of.</p>
<p>Maybe you should visit IUPUI to see if you like it.</p>
<p>IUPUI is a good school!! I use to be a campus ambassador. If you have an questions about IUPUI just ask me.</p>