<p>Would it better to go to a cal state school (cal poly pomona) for free or an amount that is very little compared to a UC school or get an UC (UC Davis) education and pay a bit over $9000? That is quite a lot for my family because my family is considered low income. Which would you choose and why?</p>
<p>CPP is not your typical Cal State. It is considered to be “higher”.</p>
<p>Go to CPP…well respected.</p>
<p>BTW…when you say that your family is low income, how come you were gapped so much at UCD? UCD gives great aid to low income kids. What is your EFC? Did you qualify for Blue and Gold? What was in your aid pkg?</p>
<p>That said, no, your family shouldn’t take on that much debt to cover the gap.</p>
<p>How do you know if you qualify for the Blue & Gold Opportunity Plan? I received 5,500 in loans and 3,800 for student self help expectation. totaling to a little over $9000. The rest is covered by grants/scholarships. Plus, that doesn’t include food right? Also, after freshman year I might not get housing so I might have to pay rent outside of campus and I have heard that the rent around UCD is expensive? And my EFC was 000</p>
<p>What grants (free money) did you receive from UCD?
What all is in your UCD FA pkg?</p>
<p>When you say that you’d have to pay $9k, are you counting the loans and work study? </p>
<p>What is in your CPP pkg?</p>
<p>When I say $9k I am including loans and “student self help expectation”. It doesn’t list work study on my awards page, but I did sign up for it when filing for FAFSA. How do I know if I have work study or not? </p>
<p>for free money i received:
Cal Grant A Estimated-NH $12,924.00
Federal Pell Grant Program-NH $5,550.00<br>
UCD Campus Fee Grant-NH $525.00
Entering UG Scholarship - NH $4,604.00</p>
<p>loans:
Federal Perkins Loan-NH $2,000.00
Federal Direct Loan Sub-NH $3,500.00 </p>
<p>contributions:
Student Self Help Expectation $3,800.00<br>
Student Contribution $0.00<br>
Parent Contribution $0.00<br>
Additional Resources $0.00 </p>
<p>^ is the blue & gold opportunity plan included in this? or will it be added on later?</p>
<p>Blue and Gold Opportunity ensures that your grants and scholarships are topped up to systemwide in-state tuition and fees for students from family income under $80,000. It does not mean that grants and scholarships will necessarily cover other expenses like room and board (although they can).</p>
<p>Which school is better may depend on your intended or possible major(s).</p>
<p>You may not receive the 12.5k Cal Grant A since it says it is an estimate. I was told the same thing by UCSD but I did not get the CG A. They assume you will receive it but don’t know for certain, so best bet to check your cal grant status at their website. BTW my efc is 0. Most likely, will be attending the other Cal Poly.</p>
<p>Sent from my LG-P505 using CC</p>
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<p>I disagree. IMO, the pecking order of Cal States is: SLO, (perhaps SD) and then all others. Sure, Pomona offers experiential ('hands-on) learning, but that does not make it academically “higher”. Quite the contrary, experiential learning is the opposite of (‘higher’ academic) liberal arts.</p>
<p>OP: What is your intended major?</p>
<p>CPP only has a 13% grad rate over four years, and 50% over six years. If you choose the ‘free’ option, plan to stay awhile.</p>
<p>And, as others have noted, the Blue & Gold plan should take care of tuition.</p>
<p>It depends on the major. I don’t think UCDavis beats CPP in engineering.</p>
<p>Your Cal Grant amount fulfills the B&G promise. the promise is to cover statewide UC fees.</p>
<p>You got a good award package. If you can’t contribute that much, you can also take a $2,000 student unsub loan.</p>
<p>When you say that you can go to CPP for free, do you mean with grants and by commuting from home?</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>Call the FA office about Work-study…you should have gotten some since you’re a 0 EFC.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids For Davis, my major is mangerial econ and for pomona it is business administration. So basically, business majors. Hope to possibly become a purchasing manager in the future? My family is a little iffy on taking out loans because of the interest rates. Is it possibly to have work-study to pay off ALL of the ~9K instead of taking out those loans listed? and if the blue & gold opportunity plan covers all my fees, why do I still have to take out those loans & pay the 3,800? I’m confused.</p>
<p>Also, I haven’t received my pomona financial aid package yet. We are only estimating that it will be “free” or a price much more lower than UC’s price based on what people have told us.</p>
<p>* Is it possibly to have work-study to pay off ALL of the ~9K instead of taking out those loans listed? and if the blue & gold opportunity plan covers all my fees, why do I still have to take out those loans & pay the 3,800? I’m confused.*</p>
<p>No, you can’t get that much work study. The most you’d get is about $2500 - 3000 or so. Schools have to divvy up their W-S amongst all their students with need. Besides, you’d have to work waaaayyy too much to earn that much W-S during the school year. However, you can work a regular job during the summer to put towards college costs.</p>
<p>As for B&G…your fees are the tuition part. “Fees” are NOT your room and board costs. Those aren’t “fees”. B&G does not promise to cover people’s room and board. Tax payers can’t afford to provide room and board for students.</p>
<p>Will you be commuting to CPP or would you also have room and board? If you’ll be dorming, then you’ll probably have loans for that as well. UCs may cost more, but they have B&G promise, while CSUs do not.</p>
<p>You have $23,600 in grants and scholarships at UC Davis.</p>
<p>If you compare the two colleges on a similar basis, including room and board, you will find that the UC school is less expensive.</p>
<p>Academically, UC Davis is a level above CPP, particularly for business and economics</p>
<p>If I get a job, would it affect my financial aid for the next year? For Pomona, I might dorm for one year then commute for the remaining years. So if I unable to receive the same cal grant amount (lower amount) for the next school year (and assuming things such as income the same), under the B&G plan, I would receive the same amount of aid?</p>
<p>@JamieBrown What do you mean on a similar basis? Aren’t Cal states around 21k (including room & board) while UCs are ~32k?</p>
<p>^^^^true, but you will not get a $23,600 grant from CPP like you did at UCD.</p>
<p>so, net of grants, CPP will not be less expensive</p>
<p>Wait until you get the CPP financial aid offer before deciding.</p>
<p>If you get a non-work-study job over the summer, you can earn up to $5000 and it won’t affect your aid. Just don’t have it sitting in savings when you file FAFSA next year. Have it spent on school.</p>
<p>So, you can earn up to about $5k in non-work study… 
And, work-study earnings won’t affect EFC either…even if added to the non-work study and it exceeds $5k.</p>
<p>So…get a summer job!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice everyone!
I think I will try to find a summer job I’m just worried because my parents are afraid that next year we won’t receive the same amount of aid.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if I will be able to receive the same amount of financial aid next year even if I get a lower cal grant amount (because I qualify for Blue & Gold Opportunity plan)?</p>