<p>I am seeking advice from the many knowledgeable voices on CC. We know a 20 year old young man who wants to apply to college for the first time. He graduated from high school in '08 with a 3.9 GPA but did not apply to college at that time because his mother was undergoing treatment for cancer and finances were an issue. His mom and dad had been divorced for several years. His mom had not been working nor did she have any financial resources. His father did not provide support, nor was he really able to due to sporadic employment and remarriage with a new family. So, since high school graduation, this young man has been employed in jobs that pay not much more than minimum wage to support himself and to help support his mom. </p>
<p>Sadly, his mom passed away very recently. He is now living with his married brother+family. Both he and his brother expended significant time and financial resources (limited as they were) in taking care of their mom. Now, he is starting to take stock of his life and wants to go to college, and has come to us with questions. He told us that he took the SAT but could not recall his exact scores (which seems strange to me, but then, not everyone is on CC), and is in the process of contacting the College Board. He lives in Phoenix and, assuming that his SAT scores are consistent with his GPA, I am reasonably sure he could get into Arizona State. He told us that his high school GC had recommended applying to ASU, and he would like to reconsider this option. ASU seems to be a very workable option, since he could continue to live with his brother and may even qualify for financial aid. Since there is no inheritance, no home or other financial resources to liquidate, I would really like to see him to fund his education through grants or scholarships rather than a large amount of loans, because he has no safety net should anything fall through. </p>
<p>We have recommended that he contact the admissions and financial aid offices at ASU to explain his situation and learn about his options. From my perusal of the ASU website, it appears that he can apply as a freshman and that his HS GPA and SAT scores would suffice for admission. We need to investigate what the pros and cons are in regard to financial aid. </p>
<p>We want to provide the best guidance possible, as he demonstrates a lot of motivation and interest in pursuing a college education. Any suggestions or advice would be welcome.</p>
<p>Condolences to you young friend on the loss of his mother.</p>
<p>Will the HS guidance counselor be available to help this young man? Or did he relocate to move in with the brother?</p>
<p>His GPA and financial situation could earn him full rides/honors programs at various places, so he might be able to consider not staying locally. </p>
<p>Do you know what he is interested in studying?</p>
<p>mominva, he lives near his HS. Would it be reasonable to expect that his HS GC could assist him in the college app process? His HS was not one of the top schools in the metro area, and I am not even sure of how many AP/IB courses were available or how many he may have taken.</p>
<p>We have considered talking to him about schools outside of Phoenix, but given his financial situation, we thought we would start with ASU, given that he could live with family.</p>
<p>Many private colleges offer surprising amounts of financial aid, including Ivies and liberal arts colleges and many others across the range.</p>
<p>I think that he should not limit his applications to public universities and colleges, for financial reasons, because sometimes private colleges can cost less.</p>
<p>His story is compelling and it sounds like he did well academically. I would think his chances for admission would be pretty good at many places.</p>
<p>Probably not. If he has already graduated, he probably won’t have access to the services at the high school. In fact, it might even be hard for him to get back in the building!</p>
<p>compmom, there are some advantages to staying in Phoenix and attending ASU: 1) he could live with his brother, which would significantly reduce his housing costs, 2) he would have the support of family nearby. He has experienced a lot of hardship these past few years, has recently lost his mom, and his father has pretty much not been present through the latter part of his life. His brother and his brother’s family are the only family that he is close to. We do worry about his emotional well-being and the ramifications of removing him from his support system should he leave to attend school elsewhere. 3) It appears he could possibly start classes at ASU as early as this summer, if he submits an application by June 1. Not sure whether he could be considered for any financial aid in such a short time frame, which is why we have encouraged him to talk to the admissions and fin aid offices. 4) He seems interested and motivated to attend ASU, although he hasn’t really explored other options. </p>
<p>As you have suggested, there may be private schools that could offer him the financial aid he needs, and it may be worth taking some time to explore those options. He is the first in his family to attend college, and given his family’s situation, the need to find a job after high school was valued more strongly than a college education. When he initially approached us, he was planning only to explore CC for a 2 year degree in medical technology or a related area that would lead to a better paying job. We were able to get him to consider attending at least a 4 year college instead, which is when he brought up ASU. </p>
<p>In addition to the possibility of receiving financial aid, a private college- especially a smaller school- might offer him more individualized attention and support he needs to successfully transition to college compared to a large public university. However, leaving Phoenix or Arizona has its pros and cons, too, as noted above.</p>
<p>Ivies only offer aid covering up to what the expected family contribution is, and they do not offer merit scholarships. Given that this young man’s father is still alive and remarried, but not contributing, he will have to report his father’s income on the FAFSA but probably won’t be able to cover the EFC out of his own finances.</p>
<p>Sometimes private colleges can cost less but that’s usually not the case. The tuition and fees for ASU Downtown Phoenix for the 2010-2011 academic year are just over $8K. That is total cost, not even counting scholarships or anything yet.</p>
<p>Given his GPA and his background, and if scored high on the SAT or retook it and scored high, and given his background story which would explain the lack of extra-curricular activities, he may be able to get substantial merit scholarships to liberal arts colleges at which he’s in the top 10-20% of applicants. Will they come out cheaper than ASU? Possibly but probably not. He probably shouldn’t limit himself to just applying to ASU but should take a very realistic approach and realize that financial aid isn’t as magical as some people tend to think it is. The vast majority of schools in the country don’t meet 100% financial need, and even when they do it’s not your determination of need, but theirs.</p>
<p>Let’s also not forget that applying widely costs money. At around $60 an application, even applying to 4 schools costs almost $250. That may be money that he and his family do not have, and that’s not including the costs of retaking the SAT if he needs to and obtaining transcripts if his HS charges a fee.</p>
<p>To OP, if you have the time and inclination, I’d recommend sitting down with this young man and hashing out what his desires are. Does he want to stay in Phoenix with his brother? (He may have never even entertained the idea of going away, and he may not want to anyway.) Is he willing to consider (and willing and able spend the considerable expense that it takes) to apply to other colleges? Once he can articulate his desires then he can begin to make a plan - how to apply for admission to ASU and how to gather the application materials for that and other colleges he may be interested in. He can also start to save the money that’s necessary for the endeavor.</p>
<p>If he’s really excited and motivated about ASU, that may indeed be his best option. Some students just thrive better living at home with the support of family. I have a younger sister finishing up her second year at a university - she’s living at home and she likes it. It’s also possible that he spends a year or two at ASU, improves his efficacy and grieves his mom’s death as appropriate, and then decides he wants to transfer somewhere else.</p>
<p>bigtrees, I wondered the same thing. Given that his HS is not one of the stronger ones in the metro area, I also wonder about the quality of the GC services, and whether they would have the capacity or willingness to help him. </p>
<p>We are willing to help him, but it would be long distance. I wonder if there are private college counselors who work with people in these types of circumstances? He could really benefit from one-on-one mentoring and guidance.</p>
<p>“Given that this young man’s father is still alive and remarried, but not contributing, he will have to report his father’s income on the FAFSA but probably won’t be able to cover the EFC out of his own finances.”</p>
<p>We are also very uninformed about how he would complete the FAFSA, and are starting to educate ourselves about that. I wondered whether he would need to report his father’s income, given that this young man is an adult and has been supporting himself for the past couple of years. Plus the fact that the father has not provided support since his parents’ divorce several years ago. </p>
<p>juillet, you raise excellent points about the realities of financial aid. We would really really like to see him avoid student loans if at all possible, and believe that starting a new career or even going to grad school as debt-free as possible would help this young man tremendously, given his complete lack of a safety net (his brother is also not in the best financial shape, either).</p>
<p>Does the father have enough regard for his son’s future that the dad might provide a one-time gift of the cost of a local private college counselor right now? Sometimes people are more willing to provide a one-time gift even if unwilling to pay out long-term for tuition.</p>
<p>If you could contact the dad, asking for that gift, explaining it’s a one-time investment to help best situate his son for the future. Such a person could help advise him on the best possible application to ASU and look for other options as well. </p>
<p>If you can’t ask, perhaps the brother and son can ask dad at the same time. Without knowing the dad, it’s hard to know if there’s any chance of success. There are a lot of cards to play, however; the son delayed college because he was taking care of the mom, and therefore the GC isn’t even available to him! Time for some payback, seems to me. Even the new wife might see why this is an appropriate, one-time request.</p>
<p>For the sake of the counselor, though, get all the money upfront from the dad, as he doesn’t sound like one to make good on monthly bills for services rendered. There will always be a more pressing need in front of him, such as a stepson’s bicycle. Sorry for the snark there.</p>
<p>Maybe your role could be as trustee; keep the money in escrow and pay the private counselor when billed.</p>
<p>He might be able to get declared as an independent student. If, as you say, his father is out of his picture and his mother has passed away, he should consider applying to the FAFSA as an independent student. If this is challenged, he can seek a depedency override from the college financial aid administrator based on the fact that he is self-supporting adult.</p>
<p>The timing is bad for financial aid for the fall, isn’t it? Wouldn’t he be considered independent? I really don’t know the rules. I would send him over to talk to someone in admissions and financial aid at ASU and see what they say.</p>
<p>juillet, great recommendations. We are in the process of having the kinds of conversations with him as you have suggested. We are not particularly close with this young man right now, but we are moved by the fact that he has reached out to us for information and advice, so we want to help as best we can. But we want to take it slowly and not overwhelm him, and also make sure he stays motivated and doesn’t get discouraged. We just finished the college search and application process for my son, a HS senior, but this new situation is vastly different in nearly all respects from the process we went through with our son. </p>
<p>p3t, unfortunately I think there is probably no chance that his dad will help out financially in any way. He has rarely held steady employment and furthermore I don’t think he would see the value of making a financial contribution to his son’s college education. It’s difficult for me to understand how he could feel that way, but that’s the way it is.</p>
<p>Bedouin and MDM, thanks. We are looking into the FAFSA rules. H has suggested doing a conference call including us, the young man and a financial aid rep at ASU to make sure we ask the right questions and get the info he needs. It may be too late for him to receive fall and certainly summer financial aid, indeed, but perhaps spring 2011 may be a possibility. </p>
<p>Thanks to all who have posted. Your comments and suggestions are very helpful as we move forward in this process!!</p>
<p>If he’s having trouble with Collegeboard, he should check with his HS to see if scores are recorded on his transcript. He should probably call or visit the HS to find out, and also obtain their procedure for requesting transcripts. His old GC may also be willing to talk to him, I would give it a try. I know the GCs at our public HS will spend a little bit of time to help alum. </p>
<p>If trying to navigate the red tape of starting at a 4 year school is overwhelming for him, a CC may not be a bad start. He would then have access to their transfer counselors to help him figure it out. Good luck.</p>
<p>I’m not seeing why an in-state education would not be sufficient for the student. </p>
<p>All we know is that he has a 3.9 GPA (but don’t know whether those were easy classes or hard classes) and he is 20. He has some tough experiences in high school. He has been out of school for 1 or 2 years.</p>
<p>That information alone doesn’t indicate to me that he’d qualify for great merit scholarships or that an ASU education would be insufficient for him. I’d look at helping him figure out how to enroll in ASU (even if only for a semster). If he has the right determination, he’ll wade through the system and figure out how to make it.</p>
<p>If money is a huge issue, I’d encourage him to attend community colleges in the Phoenix area and then transfer to ASU.</p>
<p>Professional college counseling seems like a waste of money at this point without knowning more. If the student took AP Calculus, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, etc, etc and had a 3.9, it might make more sense. But if the student took run of the mill high school classes I don’t see why paying a professional counseler would be necessary.</p>
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<p>Tuiton at Phoenix area community colleges is really, really inexpensive. (Gateway community college for example is $71 per credit hour, or about $210 for a 3 credit class). At that price, he should at least enroll full time in the fall while waiting for spring 2011 to roll around.</p>
<p>By the way, a 3.9 GPA from high school is sufficient to get admitted to ASU regardless of his SAT scores. </p>
<p>I don’t see any advantage for a 20 year old to retake SATs. I’d focus him on submitting an application and getting started at ASU or a CC rather than trying to do a nationwide college search.</p>
<p>bigtrees, I am really inclined to agree with you. Doing a national search for a private college and all that is involved will take time, and he probably would end up enrolling in Fall 2011 as a 21-year old freshman, which has its drawbacks socially, I would imagine. I am more inclined to have him enroll in college sooner, while his motivation is strong, which makes a local college more appealing in that regard. </p>
<p>The suggestion to consider starting at a CC is a great one. We had discouraged him from considering CC for a terminal degree, but CC may be a great way for him to transition to a 4 year institution both financially and logistically. Thanks for the info on Phx CC’s, bigtrees!</p>
<p>A community college will also have classes for job/major exploration and a higher average age, plus lots of commuter students. Our local CC also has smaller classes and the professors focus more on teaching rather than research. He can also ask about transferring and what opportunities are available. He should be able to request his SAT scores from college board and those will place him in math and English classes. If they are not available, he can take a placement test that will do the same thing. The CC option gives him the chance to start immediately–even in the summer if he wants. Some CCs have great articulation agreements in place, so he may be able to transfer into a four-year university as a junior after he gets his AA or AS.</p>
<p>It is great that you are willing to help him out. I wish him the best.</p>