<p>I'm currently entering my senior year in high school and I have a pretty good idea where I want to goto college, but I'm nervous that financial aid won't cover the entire costs, so I'm hoping someone here can help shed some light on my problem.</p>
<p>The school I'm hoping to do will cost about $16,000 a year including dorming, tuition, other fees, etc.. Unfortunately my parents will not be able to contribute whatsoever. I've been doing vigorous research into student loans and such but haven't come to any concrete answers yet.</p>
<p>Is it likely that through financial aid I will be able to cover the entire costs? I'm not afraid on student loans and already accept the fact that most of it will probably have to be covered that way, but I just want to know how realistic this is.</p>
<p>If if you need additional information please ask, thanks.</p>
<p>The short answer is that you don’t provide near enough information for anyone to be able to answer your question. It’s certainly possible, but it depends on a lot of things. Heck, if your parents income is very low and your grades are very high, you could go to one of the ivies for pretty much free. That’s an extreme example, but it is possible for a very few.</p>
<p>I’m currently in the business of recommending my new best friend. It’s the book “Paying for College Without Going Broke”. A new edition comes out every October, but if you’re in a hurry, you can find the 2010 model on Amazon right now, or try to find a used one. I bought a 2009 for $3.00 and I’m planning to upgrade to the 2011 in October.</p>
<p>It will really help you to see that it is possible, and how to make it come true for you.</p>
<p>To be ble to pay for just about any college without a parent contribution you would have to be very low inome and have very high stats to get into a top college that meets need, or you would have to have very high stats and shoot for colleges giving big merit aid.</p>
<p>What college is it? Does it meet full need? What is your family’s need? What about merit aid? Are your grades high enough for the school’s scholarships?</p>
<p>Financial aid is based on parents’ income/assets. So, even if your parents won’t pay for college, their income/assets are going to determine if you qualify.</p>
<p>If your parents are low income, then you might get some free aid. </p>
<p>The federal limits for student loans is $5500 for freshmen year. Students can’t take out big loans because they don’t have the income/assets to qualify. </p>
<p>I figured that I didn’t give enough information. Sorry about that. I’m absolutely positive that my parents will not meet any qualifications for “being able to contribute”.</p>
<p>In the eyes of the colleges I won’t look that great due to my foolishness in my earlier years of high school. In my freshmen and sophomore years of high school I had horrible grades. In my junior year I had much better grades, approximately a ~3.9 GPA. In my senior year I’m taking a few AP courses and I’m positive that I’ll do great. Overall (9th-11th + first semester of 12th) I figure I’ll have about a 3.4 GPA.</p>
<p>I took my SATs once without any preparation and on a day when I was recovering from a bad cold, so my focus wasn’t great. I scored an 1860 (1290 CR + Math), but I’m sure I can do much better the second time around in October. I now have an SAT preparation book that I plan to study from and I’m aiming for 2000+ on my SATs. From all the practice exams I’ve taken I believe this to be completely within my reach.</p>
<p>Start by getting an estimated EFC. You can do this with the fafsa4caster or use the one college board has on their site. If your parents’ income is fairly low, you may qualify for a Pell grant and other aid such as SEOG and work study. Then find out what your state offers for student aid and what the qualifications are for that. Continue to look for colleges that will offer you merit aid based on your gpa and test scores. You can find a lot of info on funding college at finaid.org. Good luck!</p>
<p>To the OP…your need based financial will be based on your parents income and assets. Run your numbers through one of the online EFC calculators and see what you get for a FAFSA EFC. Then ask your parents if they can contribute that amount. THEN look at the college website to get some idea of the %age of need the school meets. You will get a stafford loan $5500 max for a freshman. Beyond that…well…for federally funded aid, it will depend on what your family EFC.</p>
<p>Your “stats” are relevant to merit types of aid. See if your school offers guaranteed merit awards to students in your stats range.</p>