PiggyMcPig

My son is considered an independent student, as he has been on his own since he was 18 and will turn 25 in Oct. He has completed 3 semesters (but the first semester he only took 2 classes) at a Community College in California with a 4.0 GPA (does not have an Associates degree). He has never taken the SAT or ACT and had really crappy grades in high school.

He would like to transfer to a normal 4 year school (does not have to be in CA, but he'd probably like it better if it was), and is open to either a smaller college or a big university. I know some schools give very little financial aid to transfers, but he really needs to use his CC grades for any application because his HS record was terrible.

Financial aid pays for his tuition and books, but he is working full time in a restaurant to pay for rent, food, and everything else. That is really starting to wear on him and he's hoping to find a school that would give him a full ride that included room & board.

Are there schools that would give him a full ride either as a 4.0 student or because of financial need as a transfer? (some smaller schools offered me a full ride based on my SAT and little else back when I was applying to colleges)

Would it be better for him to finish his AA then attempt to transfer. even though it'll take another year and I'm not sure he could work full time and keep the 4.0?

Does he need to take the SAT even as a transfer? Is there an option to be considered a freshman as far as financial aid is concerned (because he's finished only a little over one year's schoolwork), but still have them use his CC grades for admission?

Thanks for your help.

happymomof1

Has he discussed his situation with the Transfer Counselor at his CC? Some of them are very good at helping their students get into colleges and universities that provide excellent financial aid.

PiggyMcPig

I'll ask him to talk to a counselor, but the Community Colleges in CA are pretty swamped and he's had trouble getting anyone to talk to him previously.

cptofthehouse

I agree with Happymom about discussing possibilities with the transfer counselors at his college. As for full rides, they are very hard to come by these days. I don;t know how it works in CA in terms of state aid and UC grants, though I've seen them mentioned on this board. Perhaps someone who knows the CA state system and how aid works can go over that with you.

Federal aid guarantees are limited to the PELL and Staffords, with a part of the loans subsidized. The rest is up to the school. CA, like NY has some support for low income undergrads if they are under the income threshholds. Whether that is sufficient for him to go away to school or not, I don't know.

There are not that many schools that guarantee to meet full need for transfers, and many that do still require SATs even for transfers, though the weight of the test scores is not anywhere as much as it would be for undergraduate admissions. The fact of the matter is that there are not many scholarships out there for transfer students.

And no, he cannot be considered a freshman for financial aid because he has already used some of his financial aid quota. Those things are carefully tracked via FAFSA.

entomom

Check the Resources sticky thread on the Transfer Students forum, there's a link to a thread on merit scholarships.

annikasorrensen

For transfer to UCs and CSUs, he needs 60 units minimum to transfer (and to complete the appropriate GE pattern). Did he graduate from a CA high school? If so, it sounds like he qualifies for a CalGrant if his income is low enough which I presume it is. One word of caution, CalGrant has a max of 4 years of eligibility and it is based on attendance... so even if he hasn't ever applied for or gotten CalGrant, he has already "used up" 3 semesters worth of eligibility because he's taken 3 semesters of college.

He can apply for CalGrant (not quite apply -- but he does have to make sure he does FAFSA and turns in any grades forms to appropriate places) now--and has the option of "banking" his award while at CCC, which may be to his advantage, since CCC is relatively cheap and UC/CSUs much more expensive. It may work better to bank the CalGrant for that year's worth of awards to help the latter years.

There are so many details about CalGrant that escape me, so he is going to have to be VERY proactive about meeting the strict deadlines and getting any grades/verification forms in. CalGrant can be upwards of 10K or so in certain cases, so it can be worth it.

Other than that, I don't know of any privates in CA that award a full ride, and even a full tuition scholarship is on the rare side (even for a 4.0 -- it means the student is capable of doing well at a 4year, but doesn't seem to have adcoms fainting with excitement and giving out scholarships .

mom2collegekids

How much does he earn? It sounds like he earns too much for a 0 EFC.

He's not likely going to find a lot of merit aid for his grades. And, if he's earning enough to support himself, then his EFC may be too high for the aid he wants/needs.

Calif schools are probably this best bet for aid and affordability.

PiggyMcPig

He's going to try to see a counselor, but they're so overwhelmed that in the past he's only gotten canned answers and a quick goodbye.


Looks like his best option is to finish another year of Community College with terrific grades then transfer to a UC.

kingdomsroa48

I don't know about CSU's, but I do know that several of the UC's here in CA offer regents scholarships for competitive CCC students. Aka, 4.0 average students.

University of California - Scholarships

Note the above description says freshman, but the majority of the campuses, if not all, also offer regents to transfer students as well. If your son has a 4.0 average GPA, there is a good chance he could receive regents at the UC's he applies to. Also, assuming his income is below $80k, he would also receive B&G. Funding his education at UC at least sounds entirely possible.