<p>OP - when did you apply? You have not told anyone if you met the deadline for automatic consideration (not just admission) and you have not told anyone if your grades and test scores are in a range that would put you in serious consideration for scholarships. Many schools have scholarship deadlines that fall in November or early December of the previous year.</p>
<p>Even if you did apply before the scholarship deadline - one is not automatically “enrolled” or “registered up” as you put it, only automatically considered. There is a BIG difference.</p>
<p>No applicant at any school will know how much “consideration” their applications received for a scholarship unless they are awarded one. Just because you did not receive merit money does not mean that you were not considered unless, of course, you did not apply by the scholarship deadline.</p>
<p>Bottom line: If you had been awarded grants and scholarships you would have been notified in writing in your financial aid package and also likely in an award letter with your acceptance. You made a choice to attend a school that did not offer you enough aid to be affordable after having the financial aid information in writing. </p>
<p>OP: “the school made a promise of placing into automatic consideration for scholarships. they refused to do that with me after i enrolled.”</p>
<p>Scholarship consideration does not happen after you enroll it happens as part of the application and acceptance process.</p>
<p>From post 41… If the school owes YOU money…then you have NO PROBLEM! </p>
<p>Which is it? In one post you say that you owe the school money and they will not let you register for courses. In post 41 you say the school owes you money. It can’t be both ways?</p>
<p>And YES schools can and do “pick and choose” who they award merit aid to…unless it is automatic awards. Asked on stats…which Depaul does NOT have. Is this college Depaul? And did you apply before November 15 th of your senior year in high school?</p>
<p>The time to be considered for scholarships is when you apply…and as noted upstream, you only get put in the pool IF you apply as an incoming freshman prior to November 15. Did you do so, and we’re ALL of you application documents received by the school by that date?</p>
<p>I have to ask…why did you accept enrollment at a school where your financial aid package was insufficient? I KNOW you thought you would get aid…but when you were making your matriculation decision, you didn’t have sufficient aid to attend this college…period.</p>
<p>You got ALL of the federally funded aid you were entitled to. If this school IS Depaul, they are very clear on their website that federal funds are really all they offer for need based aid. </p>
<p>You knew in the fall, when classes started, that you had no additional aid. I’m sorry, but you should have chosen a college where your costs out of pocket were affordable with the aid you did receive. </p>
<p>If the school REALLY owes you money, you will receive it at the end of the academic year by request. But it sounds to me like YOU owe them money. Please clarify.</p>
<p>And what were your SAT or ACT scores, and your GPA in high school? Merit awards go to students at the tippy top of the accepted student pool. We’re you a tippy top applicant to your college?</p>
<p>OP focus on the questions that people are asking you, it might help shed some light for all of us. Did you apply to this college by the deadline? Did you submit your financial aid forms by the deadline? Were you asked for any verification and did you submit the verification in a timely manner? Did you receive any correspondence in writing after the verification? Did you receive a letter spelling out the costs and availability of aid? - this comes generally in the spring before a fall freshman start. All of these steps are normal at almost all colleges and universities…</p>
The school might have CONSIDERED you for a merit award and found that others were more academically worthy of receiving the merit awards. Merit awards are NOT based on your EFC…and they don’t increase if you have a lower EFC.</p>
<ol>
<li>The school could have given you a small merit award and it still would not have enabled you to continue to attend for four years. If this school is Depaul…they do NOT have excessively deep pockets despite what you think.</li>
</ol>
<p>if the school ever considered me for anything they would have sent me a letter rejecting me, they never done so. they also admitted they never considered me.</p>
<p>“if the school ever considered me for anything they would have sent me a letter rejecting me, they never done so. they also admitted they never considered me.”</p>
<p>Addressing the quote directly above first - NO, schools do not send you a letter that says, “Sorry Mr. X, we considered you for the _________ Memorial Scholarship but found your application to be sub-par relative to our general applicant pool. In light of this, we are not able to offer you a merit scholarship at this time.”</p>
<p>Back to the first point, most schools to not offer the large merit packages to transfer students. They may not have considered you because as a transfer student you weren’t elligible for consideration. They may not have had adequate funds. Your transfer GPA may not have met the threshold. </p>
<p>Here is an example of a transfer scholarship copied from a school web site. Note where it says that awards are offered on a “funds available” basis. Also note the modest size of the potential award as compared to those offered for incoming freshmen:</p>
<p>DePaul Transfer Scholarship
Award Amount: $2,000
The DePaul Transfer Scholarship is awarded to students who have attended another college and have a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Awards are offered on a funds-available basis. </p>
<ul>
<li>Now campare to a merit scholarship for incoming freshmen:</li>
</ul>
<p>Presidential Scholarship
Award Amount: $15,500
The Presidential Scholarship, DePaul’s most prestigious scholarship, is awarded to a select number of our most academically qualified admitted students. For renewal, you must maintain a 3.3 grade point average.</p>
<p>I was also going to point out that you do not receive a rejection letter. Both of my D’s applied a wide range of schools, both had mixed results when it came to merit awards. AT NO SCHOOL did we receive a rejection letter. Also the place to direct questions about merit scholarships varied-at a large number of schools they were administered by the admissions department (NOT financial aid department), as they are the department trying to craft an incoming class, luring those students that have attributes the school desires. In most cases, it is the highest SAT/GPA of incoming freshman, but occasionally it could be for geographic diversity or to improve racial or gender imbalances. </p>
<p>AT one school where my D did not get an award I contacted the admission rep for our region to ask if there is ever reconsideration and to whom I should direct those inquiries.
<em>note-she did not get a rejection of scholarship, there was simply no offer in her admission paperwork.</em> I got a very prompt reply that at their school, they will OCCASSIONALLY reconsider and D should write a letter with any supporting documentation to dean of admissions, not FA.<br>
YMMV</p>
<p>This is a problem right here. How could you decide to attend a school without knowing what they said it would cost? </p>
<p>Also, my son has applied to schools that give scholarships and not gotten them. We never got a notice that he was being considered nor did we get a notice that he didn’t get them. We only got a notice if he DID get one. And that was very clearly spelled out in a financial aid letter that included, at minimum:</p>
<hr>
<p>Tuition cost
Room and board cost
Fees</p>
<p>and then, same letter</p>
<p>Scholarship (if any)
Financial aid grant from school (if any)
Federal Pell, SEOG and/or state grant
Loans</p>
<h2>Work Study</h2>
<p>and finally, the amount we owe after those things are deducted. This lets us know what we will have to pay to attend. If you didn’t get this letter (and being homeless I get why you might not), why didn’t you get it in person from the financial aid office or online or somehow before you borrowed money to enroll? How did you know how much to borrow from friends without this information?</p>
<p>The OP clearly stated that they got the Pell Grant and the Stafford Loan. Where MY kids went to college, those were given in the form of a need based financial aid award. In the case of this OP, this would NOT have happened until AFTER the verification was complete. BUT they would have gotten the need based award at some point.</p>
<p>As a transfer student, your prospects for MERIT scholarships is significantly less at MOST colleges. My guess is you over estimated your scholarship prospects quite a bit. </p>
<p>Please answer…do YOU owe the school money at this point? Are you taking classes…or not?</p>
<p>I do think you need to reconcile your finances and look for an affordable option for college. This could come in many forms…work full time and save money, work part time/go to school part time, find a job whereby your costs will at least partially be paid, go to a much less expensive college. </p>
<p>This school is being VERY clear with you. They did NOT award you any merit scholarships (BTW…my kid applied for a number of departmental scholarships and ONLY got letters if she was awarded one…nothing for the others…and we KNOW she was considered for them…just didn’t get them). The only need based aid they gave you was federally funded Pell and Stafford loans…which do not make the college affordable for you.</p>
<p>Please understand that people here are trying to help you, but you haven’t been able to coherently describe the facts of the situation. So nobody knows quite what to say. You probably don’t have all the facts yourself, whether due to communication issues, missing mail, or a simple misunderstanding. However, you have financial obligations here, and they won’t go away unless you take steps to address them. You need to develop a firm grasp of the situation, and then take control.</p>
<p>I think you should make an appointment with a Dean or a senior Financial Aid officer. You should bring an advocate with you. This person should be an adult English speaker who is reasonably familiar with financial aspects of colleges, perhaps one of your American friends’ parents.</p>
<p>Ok, I submitted all the forms I needed to on time. I was told that there were scholarships then I was told there weren’t at all any and now I have a huge bill.</p>
<p>The problem here isn’t tht I wasn’t given any scholarships I was never considered for sholarships.</p>
<p>Applying for them and being rejected is one thing</p>
<p>Never being considered for any is another</p>
<p>School’s own administrative staff said it was a policy of the financial aid department to automatically enroll students. I was told by Financial Aid staff I was never considered for any scholarships. Previously when I was attending the school I was told (and those calling on my behalf were told) that the school does not deal with scholarships/grants, does not collect donations for scholarships/grants or has any department dealing or knowing anything about scholarships/grants.</p>
<p>All this was lies, I contacted everyone within the school, no one cares. So my question is there any government agency, organization I can turn to?</p>
<p>You need to stand up for yourself, and do the right thing before others are hurt. Your government stands ready to help. This will not be allowed to stand. Be sure to tell them everything you said here, repeatedly. If you call, you may need to try a few times to find the right person.</p>
<p>quote from OP:
"I was told that there were scholarships then I was told there weren’t at all any and now I have a huge bill.</p>
<p>The problem here isn’t tht I wasn’t given any scholarships I was never considered for sholarships.</p>
<p>Applying for them and being rejected is one thing</p>
<p>Never being considered for any is another"</p>
<hr>
<p>This makes NO sense. If you were not considered for scholarships, how can you claim that you were told that you would get a scholarship? You can’t have it both ways. Either they sent you a financial aid statement which included scholarships and stipulatinos to keep them or they didn’t. Do you have a formal FA offer which includes scholarship amounts? </p>
<p>What school is this? People might be able to help you to better interpret the rules specific to the institution if you shared that information.</p>
<p>^i think what the poster was actually told, but misunderstood, was that he or she was not ELIGIBLE for any scholarsips as a transfer student or due to stats. </p>
<p>The facts of this case appear to be that the student transferred, received standard federal loans that would only pay a fraction of the cost, did not do due diligence with the decision to attend the school, and now is facing a huge debt that her or she doesn’t feel they should pay.</p>
<p>Whatever information or misinformation was gathered or omitted is moot or at the very least, a separate issue. Nothing will abdicate the fiscal responsibility to pay what’s owed, and I predict a transcript will not be released or the student will not be allowed to register for more classes until the debt is settled or payment arrangements are made.</p>
<p>At this point, the poster is focused on the perceived injustice of not being considered for scholarships. Since scholarships are private money with selection criteria, the justice or lack thereof is irrelevant. Making a case of some kind of discrimination when the very essence of scholarships is elective is not the best use of energy. Figuring out how to pay fir the mistake and moving forward with some kind of plan to complete an education elsewhere would be more productive.</p>
<p>Many schools, even the ones that are need blind and meet full need, the most generous schools, do not extend that policy to transfer students. </p>
<p>If you don’t get a scholarship or are not considered for a scholarship, in most situations, unless it is a directed application for the award, you do not get notified unless you win an award. Even a number of directed scholarships don’t bother to tell you. My one son applied for one of the presidential awards at Georgia Tech which called for specific apps, paperwork and an early time line and never got a word back from the school. He was accepted to the school in the spring, but never got a shred of correspondence about the scholarships. He just didn’t get any. </p>
<p>Also getting Stafford loans or other such monies requires active direct work from the student. You have to fill out the finanical aid forms, go through counseling, though it’s on line, and fill out a Master Prommisory Note, etc. You don’t just get the money. </p>
<p>Right now the concern for the student is getting his credit and accounts settled with the college. He needs to meet with the bursars office and find out what he owes. Then he has to decide whether he can afford to continue going here and make arrangements to pay what he owes. If he can’t afford to go here anymore, if he is going to transfer, his account needs to be current for transcripts and other things to be sent to another college.</p>