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Getting Accepted does NOT mean that a Merit Scholarship will be forthcoming....
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Replies to: Getting Accepted does NOT mean that a Merit Scholarship will be forthcoming....
Nope. The student needs to get accepted first. Those marketing materials do not promise acceptance.
My kid got a TON of promotional materials from Wash U St. Louis... but we knew she was more than a longshot for acceptance. IF she had gotten accepted, she would have gotten decent need based aid because her first year, we had two in college. BUT she didn’t bother applying.
Those mailings are college junk mail plain and simple, and your kid received them because probably they checked a box when taking the SAT or ACT.
Besides your "badge of honor" nonsense, @homeeducator, I find it incredulous that anyone would encourage scamming the federal government. I thought, in my naivete, that you, as a parent, are supposed to try to save money for your child's/children's education.
Relying on others, to pay your bills, just sounds too "entitled" to me. It backfires. Putting down your savings doesn't "disqualify you" for other pay options from the colleges. Also, when you and your child electronically sign the FAFSA app, you are confirming that you have provided truthful information with your signature. Anything else constitutes fraud.
Um...no. If the money is YOURS, it doesn’t matter whose bank account it is in. Are you GIVING this money to grandma or grandpa without restrictions as a gift? In other words...not expecting to get it back and allowing them to use it for whatever? If not...it’s YOUR money and needs to be reported as such on the financial aid application forms. Otherwise, you are applying for need based aid using fraudulent information by not including YOUR money.
@BelknapPoint anything to add?
And for income under $50,000 if they qualify for simplified needs test, assets aren't considered.
Let's say asset protection allowance based on age is around $13,000.
So they would have an increase in FAFSA EFC of around $1,000 (compared to not having the savings) and in both cases would most likely have an EFC too high for Pell anyway.
Nope. Well said.
Relying on others, to pay your bills, just sounds too "entitled" to me. It backfires. Putting down your savings doesn't "disqualify you" for other pay options from the colleges. Also, when you and your child electronically sign the FAFSA app, you are confirming that you have provided truthful information with your signature. Anything else constitutes fraud. ]
Wouldn't the appropriate step be to put the money in a Roth IRA in the parents name (since it is the parent's money) and then use it to assist in payment of tuition? You can withdraw the contributions out penalty-free to pay for higher education costs. [There may be an impact to future year's aid offset by the amount withdrawn, so people recommend withdrawing in senior year - if you qualify for substantial need based aid.]
@homeeducator
If your income and/or assets are interfering with your ability to get need-based aid, then do what many of us have done in similar situations....and that’s chase merit. Yes, that could mean limiting choices, but even when seeking Need based aid one has to limit choices.
There is an old thread from @momfromtexas who had to find free rides for her kids, who didn’t have top stats. She was able to do so, even if it meant that her kids would be going to lesser known universities. You may not need a free ride, and if that’s the case, finding those merit generous schools may be easier.
She was accepted EA with no initial merit aid to her school of choice. We’re prepared to pay full OOS tuition but would obviously prefer not to unintentionally harm any remaining chance she may have of receiving any merit aid by putting down the official tuition deposit.
Specifically - does confirming enrollment help or harm either her pending application to the school’s Honor College or potential merit award?
Ie - does the school think “they haven’t committed yet, so maybe offering Honors College and/or merit aid increase the likelihood of this applicant enrolling?” Or does enrolling/committing now show that the student is truly interested and they’re not risking an Honors spot or merit award to some OOS kid who may not really be interested in attending?
Thanks in advance for any insights!
However, she may want to make the Housing deposit, as soon as she can ,IF rooms are delegated on a first come first serve basis. If she ends up going elsewhere you probably wont get that back, but normally its less than 1K. Doing so will not have an impact on her chances of getting merit $$/ honors status.
"Specifically - does confirming enrollment help or harm either her pending application to the school’s Honor College or potential merit award?"
neither.
You're VERY lucky UCLA gave you any sort of financial aid - they typically don't. They typically only admit OOS students who can pay in full and help subsidize California students. They have enough full pay OOS students that they really don't need to offer scholarships, so even though what they offered was little compared to what you needed, it was extraordinary by their standards.
I hope you have affordable options.
Because you asked them to consider you by applying. UCLA is need blind for admissions, so the admissions office has no idea if you need FA or not. Admissions is considering your application, not your ability to pay. It has no idea if you have a rich uncle willing to pay, just won the lottery, or have a full ride scholarships from a big foundations.