My parents can't afford college.

WastedHSYears · 07-12-2012, 12:26 PM

I have to come up with 9,000 which is beyond what my parents can do, I barely got any financial aid, where can I apply to get some scholarship money I applied to a lot of scholarships(like 300?) and only got 100 dollars, I can't pay for college with 100 bucks so where can I get some money so I could actually go to college.

Iron Maiden · 07-12-2012, 12:38 PM

There is no money fairy or magic pile of scholarship money available.

If you don't have the money you need to go to a cheaper school, take a gap year, work and save $, commute, or work full time and take classes at night. Most likely some combination of these.

WastedHSYears · 07-12-2012, 12:42 PM

No scholarships available at all?

mom2collegekids · 07-12-2012, 12:44 PM

I hope other students/parents read that you applied to 300 private scholarships and only got $100. For those who need money for college, private scholarships are not the way to go.

As Iron maiden says, there isn't a Tuition Fairy out there.

You have few choices:

1) Attend a CC

2) Attend a local state school that you can commute to.

3) Take a gap year and apply to AFFORDABLE schools. For some reason, you didn't seem to apply to ANY financial safety schools.

4) Find out how much your parents can pay, earn the rest, cut back on non-essentials, buy used books, etc to close the gap.

What is the breakdown of the school's COA?

What is the breakdown of the aid you got?

How much will your parents pay each year?

What was your FAFSA EFC?

What was your GPA?

what were your test scores (include SAT breakdown).

GLOBALTRAVELER · 07-12-2012, 01:13 PM

Solution: Community college

Community colleges have made great strides in mapping their first 2 years to the first 2 years of many 4-year universities. Here in Maryland, all of the community colleges map to all of the schools in the U-Maryland System (U-Maryland College Park, U-Maryland Baltimore County, Towson, etc) and 4 of the community colleges actually have guaranteed admission agreements with U-Maryland College Park.

I suggest you do the same in your state. Besides, your first 2 years will be taking your required english composition, social science, arts, humanities, math amd science, there is actually no reason to be paying a ton of money for those courses anyway (different thread topic, I know).

1. Attend a CC
2. Map out a course schedule that is good for smooth transfer
3. Have some in-state 4-year schools in mind
4. Execute the above steps

Employers only care that you have a B.A./B.S. and maybe where you graduated from (some job industries). There WON'T CARE where you started.

I know here in Maryland, the CC's charge about $100/semester-credit. The first 2 years is 60 credits or $6000. I am pretty sure that their are jobs that can pay $6000 over the course of 730 days (2 years).

Good Luck.

mom2collegekids · 07-12-2012, 01:16 PM

Before the student decides to go to a CC, s/he needs to explore options based on circumstances.

If the student will face the same unaffordable college issues as a transfer student, then going to a CC first may not be the right solution since aid/merit for transfers isn't very good.

If the student just applied to the WRONG schools for stats/income, then taking a gap year would be better and reapplying to universities as an incoming frosh would be a better idea.

BobWallace · 07-12-2012, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WastedHSYears

No scholarships available at all?

The place to get scholarships is from the school itself. Usually a careful strategy targeting appropriate schools is required. The deadlines for scholarships awarded to freshmen enrolling this fall have long past.

mom2collegekids · 07-12-2012, 01:26 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by WastedHSYears
No scholarships available at all?
----------

Unless a private scholarship is one of those RARE ones that is large and is renewable for all 4 years, applying to them is a WASTE of time if the money is needed to pay for college. Private scholarships are usually ONLY for freshman year. Even if you had won more than $100, the money awarded would likely be only be for frosh year.

The fact that you applied to 300 and only got $100 provides the answer to your question.

Colleges are the source for large scholarships for ALL four years.

mom2collegekids · 07-13-2012, 10:26 AM

So I had pretty good grades in HS. 3.8 GPA(With tons of A:P classes) 1500 SAT, and I was denied

If that SAT is Math + CR, then maybe you should take a gap year and apply to schools that would give you lots of merit. Heck, with that SAT, if you contact UA-Huntsville now, they might still offer you a free ride.