Which of These Colleges Meet Full Financial Need?

Paying for College
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<p>I'm applying to colleges this year and I'd like to know which of my schools meet full financial-need. Also, I'd like to know if any of these colleges have opportunities for merit scholarships.</p>

<p>Here is my current college list.</p>

<p>U. of Illinois
U. of Michigan
UVA
U. of Chicago
Georgia Tech
Wash. U in St. Louis
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins
New York University
Emory
Boston College
UC's: UC Berkley, UCLA, UCSD, UC Davis
U. of Richmond
Cornell
Carnegie Mellon </p>

<p>I'm a domestic applicant and am out-of-state at all of these colleges.</p>

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<p>Great website for your questions:</p>

<p>[College</a> Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.org/]College”>http://www.collegeboard.org/)</p>

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<p>Understand that your financial need is determined by the colleges, not by what your family thinks your need is. It is generally higher than what familites think they can afford. So, the first question to ask is for your parents, how much can they and will they contribute each year.</p>

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<p>OP, since you’re a transfer student you’ll want to look a bit more carefully at FA policies for these schools. Best chances for merit scholarships are for freshman applicants, not transfers, so be careful that you’re not looking at offers that only apply to freshmen.</p>

<p>Take the UCs entirely off the table. </p>

<p>Have you run Net Price Calculators for any of these schools?</p>

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<p>I looked at the OP’s other thread titles and didn’t see anything indicating being a transfer student. Looks like the OP is coming off of a planned gap year.</p>

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<p>[Princeton</a> Review](<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/schoolsearch.aspx]Princeton”>College Search | The Princeton Review) provides excellent data on which schools do and don’t meet full need. As for merit scholarship opportunities, check the schools’ websites!</p>

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<p>annoyingdad, take a look at threads started by the OP. He/she also says he/she’s 54, so maybe we need to take this all with a grain of salt. :)</p>

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<p>Browsed them quickly this time. Didn’t find the 54 thing but did find one about being a sophomore transfer. The gap year thread says OP just graduated from HS and is planning a gap year. Perhaps multiple people in a family using the same username? OP will have to clarify. This thread subject doesn’t seem to have any elements to give any satisfaction to a ■■■■■.</p>

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<p>Google is your friend. Google each school keywords like “meets full demonstrated need” as well as with “merit scholarships”.</p>

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<p>I think the below is correct.</p>

<p>U. of Illinois - no… especially no for OOS
U. of Michigan - instate students only … especially no for OOS
UVA - yes
U. of Chicago - either yes or close
Georgia Tech - no… especially no for OOS
Wash. U in St. Louis - yes
Georgetown - yes (but heard that their calculations aren’t generous)
Johns Hopkins - no
New York University - no
Emory - yes
Boston College - yes (but heard that their calculations aren’t generous)
UC’s: UC Berkley, UCLA, UCSD, UC Davis - no, especially NO for OOS students.
U. of Richmond - no
Cornell - yes
Carnegie Mellon - not sure </p>

<p>Keep in mind that the CSS Profile schools get to decide what your need is. And the FAFSA only schools (like the UCs and GT) do not meet need.</p>

<p>Edited to add…</p>

<p>Are you a transfer student? If so, take off ALL OOS publics except maybe UVA. </p>

<p>Also, some of the schools that “meet need” only do that for FRESHMAN. Many “full need” schools give little aid to transfers. </p>

<p>Also, significant merit is usually for freshman only as well. </p>

<p>What is your home state?
what is your major?</p>

<p>Your state school may be your most affordable choice.</p>

11

<p>*I’m applying next year as a sophomore transfer student and I have no idea which schools to aim for. I feel that my application is really lopsided – my GPA is absolutely hideous and my EC’s are somewhat average, but my test scores are decent, I have an upward trend, and my course load is one of the most rigorous at my school. </p>

<p>I’m planning on majoring in finance and computer science, but I’m also considering economics. After my undergraduate education, I plan to earn a masters in financial engineering and become a quantitative analyst. I haven’t decided what major I should apply to at each school because some are more competitive than others. Also, I won’t be posting my entire application on this thread. If you would like to chance me, please send me a PM so I can give you the rest of the information. </p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I: 2320
ACT: Didn’t take
SAT II: 800’s on two tests, including Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Between 3.75 and 3.85
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, but probably in top 15%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Took 10 AP exams before senior year, none of which were self-studied. Taking a few more this year as well.
Senior Year Course Load: Will send by PM
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, many national and state-level awards in physics and economics*</p>

<p>???</p>

<p>Why are you applying as a “soph transfer student”? </p>

<p>Didn’t you just finish high school? </p>

<p>Can you explain. You may be screwing up your chances for aid, etc, by applying as a transfer student. </p>

<p>Are you calling yourself a transfer student because of AP or other credits? If so, that’s wrong.</p>

<p>??? in June, you say that you’re a high school senior…so are you doing a gap year this FALL? </p>

<p>You’re a NMF, and it seems that you missed the boat with all the merit scholarships that would have given.</p>

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<p>The answer is that all of these schools probably meet full financial need to SOME students. The only thing that matters in these situations is whether a school will meet YOUR financial need, and that is a whole other story, and impossible to determine most of the time. Even when you apply to several schools that use the same methodology for giving aid, there can be pretty big differences. There are discretionary practices at each school that make that happen. That’s why if you need or want money, you have to cast a wide net.</p>

<p>You can complete a NPC for each school and see what each one comes up with for you. However, if the calculators are not specific in asking you personal questions, and if the school also has merit awards, it could be way off. You need to also check the school and see what scholarships they have where you would be a contender. That can change the picture greatly. A school that gives very little financial aid to out of staters as a whole, might have some scholarship where you meet the requirements closely enough to make you a good candidate for a nice award. </p>

<p>Example, Northeastern does not guarantee to meet financial need. Not particularly a generous school either, IMO. But if you are a NMF, that is a whole other story. I’ve known people who have gotten their best financial aid packages from NYU, but they are notorious for gapping.</p>

<p>If you are highly desirable for some reason or other, then your financial aid package could be very good at a school that does usually gap. </p>

<p>The above list that Momtwocollegekids gives is pretty accurate for applicants, in general. CMU does not guarantee to meet need. Georgetown and Cornell give no merit money. </p>

<p>Your SAT scores and class rank, any special hooks, geographics, URM status, first generation status will all figure into what your awards might be as well as what your EFC and institutional need calculations.</p>

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<p>I could be mistaken but I think U of Richmond guarantees to meet full need.</p>

<p>I will say…I AM confused by the info the OP has posted. </p>

<p>Is he inquiring about need based aid? That would seem to be the case…but with those stats (if they are real) he should be looking for merit awards as well.</p>

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<p>The answer is that all of these schools probably meet full financial need to SOME students. The only thing that matters in these situations is whether a school will meet YOUR financial need, and</p>

<p>True, if a school costs $60k and the student has an EFC of $55k, then need is met with a $5k student loan.</p>

<p>However, when EFC is low, then it’s very hard for a school that doesn’t meet need to do so. It just takes too much of the school’s money.</p>

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<p>UVa is need blind in admissions for US students and meets 100% of proven need for US undergrad students. This policy was just confirmed this week in a presentation by the UVa Dean of Admissions. A college could be one, but not the other.</p>

<p>There are many colleges that consider ability to pay when they pull students from their waiting list. </p>

<p>Of course, for most colleges, meeting 100% of need involves work study during the school year and taking out the maximum amount of federally subsidized loans each year, and working during the summer to at least pay your own personal expenses.</p>

<p>I just read an article that said that Johns Hopkins met 99% of need. Those percentages are typically available in the “common data set” for each college.</p>

<p>I understood U. of Richmond generally has good need based aid.</p>

<p>Like many public colleges, William and Mary only promises to meet 100% of need for Va. residents.</p>

<p>UNC-Chapel Hill is the only other public university other than UVa that promises to meet 100% of need for all US students.</p>

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<p>I sincerely apologize to everyone for giving you to wrong impression. Please let me explain my situation.</p>

<p>The truth is that I’m taking a “gap year” this year and applying to colleges over the course of the year. I graduated high school in June 2012, so I’m definitely not a transfer student. In senior year, I decided to do my applications during my gap year because I thought I would be a stronger candidate then. I applied to a few school (including my state flagship college) so I could have a back-up college when I applied during my gap year.</p>

<p>In early June however, there were a lot of layoffs at the company that my dad/mom works for (I won’t say which parent it is so I avoid giving too much information). He/she strongly believed he would be fired for sure, so my family started preparing for it. My parents told me they couldn’t afford my gap year program and that I’d probably have to attend my state flagship. I didn’t have anything else lined up, so I immediately started looking for opportunities. After two weeks of searching, I didn’t find any affordable programs that were still accepting participants. </p>

<p>Out of desperation, I wrote that thread on transferring because I thought I would be attending my state school next year. Also, I asked people on CC about transferring because I had no idea how it worked. To be honest, this was one of the most frustrating and miserable periods of my life. I started questioning everything including my achievements, my goals, and my original gap year plans. In fact, these events made me so distraught that I posted a thread called “Should I Take a Gap Year and Re-Apply?” I pretended that I was choosing between transferring and a gap year because that choice wasn’t really available to me. Writing that thread helped calm me down, but I really wish I hadn’t made it in retrospect. It mislead a lot of people, and I’m truly sorry about that.</p>

<p>After a while, I eventually found some new gap year ideas and started revising my plans. I posted a few threads with my new itinerary asking for comments and responses. In late July however, my dad/mom found out that they would be keeping their job. At that point, I had gotten some new offers for gap year internships. Some of these opportunities were extremely good, so I decided to start my program at a later date. It took me a while, but I finally put together my gap year itinerary (finished it this week, in fact).</p>

<p>Again, I’m sorrry for confusing everyone and I hope this apology makes up for it. I really want to remove my transfer thread to avoid confusion in the future. Anybody know how I can do that?</p>