<p>Generally speaking, if offered merit scholarships, mention of it will be included with the offer of acceptance. You can contact the individual school and ask them when they inform applicants of merit scholarships. </p>
<p>They can’t do anything about need based aid until they’ve received and processed the necessary Financial aid forms submitted by you.</p>
<p>The estimator was offering scholarships, grants, and work study. I also put in some estimates because my parents weren’t with me. It said with my GPA/SAT Scores I would get $4,000 a year. It’s just concerning that they didn’t include it with my acceptance. It was also a early notification program, so maybe they don’t give out scholarships yet. I will have to wait for a response from the admission counselor. Do finanical aid offers vary a lot depending on the college? Since I am applying to a lot of CTCL schools, should I expect similar packages? Loans will have a lot to do with where I go as well. I don’t want to take out many loans. I am hoping more for grants/work study.</p>
<p>Need-based offers can vary tremendously, depending on the school’s resources, their commitment or not to meeting full demonstrated need, whether they use the FAFSA only or also the CSS Profile, etc. Very very few schools will give a financial aid package without loans.</p>
<p>I’m okay with taking out loans, but I don’t want to be too much in debt. How much debt is considered too much? For example, is $10,000 a year in loans considered a lot? Lets say a college gives you a good finanical aid offer and you want to accept the work study/grants, but not the loans. Can you just add the money to the tuition instead of taking out loans? The good thing about staying instate is that I won’t be taking out any loans.</p>
<p>$10K/year is a lot, and you may not be able to get loans in that amount even if you wanted them, without a cosigner.</p>
<p>You can decline the loans in a financial aid package if you have another way of coming up with the cash.</p>
<p>Email Response from LR:</p>
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<p>I’m glad the admission counselor answered all my questions. What’s the maximum loan do you think one should take out a year? If I need a cosigner then the loan is probably too much. Also, I know everyone also says to look for outside scholarships. I’ve been on fastweb and scholarships(.com), but I’ve also read on CC that these websites are a waste of time. Can anyone clarify this? Is it worth applying for a $1,000 scholarship which 1,000 other teens will be applying for too? Should I just focus on the apps and which school gives me the best finanical deal? What other type of “outside” scholarships can I look for besides the ones that are a waste of time?</p>
<p>With all due respect, ec, are you willing to put in the time and effort it takes to find the best scholarships for you to apply to and take the time and effort to write a good essay that will be required, and submit whatever documentation is necessary, or will you tell us that you don’t have the time and need to put the time into your schoolwork or college apps? There is money out there to be had, but it takes time and work to find it and apply for it. Some will tell you its a waste of time because many are not renewable. Others will tell you they got a lot of money through these scholarships. IMO, as you transition to senior year, this is a good time to start reasearching these things and making our own decisions on these issues. I will tell you that one of my children got about $8K in outside scholarship $ his freshman year, but he researched the scholarships, did the legwork, wrote the essays, got the letters of recommendations, etc. You need to find the ones that are the best fit for you and apply. What scholarships he won are probably not relevant to you, so there is no need to mention them here.</p>
<p>I am willing to put in the time and effort to apply for scholarships if there is a decent chance I may get it. However, I have heard a lot of these outside scholarships are a waste of time. That’s why I asked and that’s why I haven’t looked into it yet. What are the odds I will get a big scholarship when thousands of other kids are applying for it too? BTW, whenever I write an essay I always put in 100% effort. I have spent a lot of time throughout high school researching colleges as well all know. Do you suggest websites like fastweb or scholarships (.com) or are there other ways to find outside scholarships? I will also have to spend a lot of time on applications since I have 15 schools on my list right now.</p>
<p>You dont go after the ones that tens of thousands of people will apply to. You find the ones that seem to be specific to you and thus the competition will be less. And you look for ones in your community or through organizations you have an affiliation with. Its time to do your own research and make your own decisions. Look at ALL the sites and you will start to see what scholarships you are appropriate for. School hasnt started yet. Do this NOW or you will miss deadlines. Why dont you spend the next 2 hours researching the scholarships, filling out the forms on line that help with this and report back.</p>
<p>Will you commit to that? You can take the first steps to narrow down your scholarship choices and identify/target the best ones for you. Show the initiative, start the process, and report back by 8 pm.</p>
<p>What I question about your list is that if there is a realistic chance you can afford anything outside of public in-state schools, given that your SAT/ACT scores will likely disqualify you for more than a few thousand per year in merit aid at most. Have you run an EFC calculation for the FAFSA and Profile, if applicable (keeping in mind that most of the schools, if not all, that you are applying to don’t meet full need)? Have you talked to your parents about what they can afford/are willing to pay?</p>
<p>I have been researching scholarships the last two hours. I really didn’t find much on any of the websites. I updated my information, but couldn’t find any good matches. I found one scholarship which was good, but the application is due August 1st. </p>
<p>My father just did FASFA for my older brother and he said they gave him a code for our EFC. I don’t think he understood it very well. Also, my plan has been to apply and see how much finanical aid I get from each college. My SAT scores/GPA would give me $10,000 per year at Hiram College in Ohio. My dad has his own buisness so it changes yearly. I also thought Flagler/U Minn-Morris may be affordable. My parents usually tell me different things concerning finances and college.</p>
<p>Good for you for starting the research. You can get the first one done tonight! Then you can go from there. you can do it! And you will be proud of yourself if you do. What did you find?</p>
<p>The one I found was to write a travel blog (just came back from France), but honestly I don’t think I have enough time for it with so little time. It also stated it was a very popular contest. I am not trying to make excuses, but I don’t think I will win when I don’t have much time. I also have to put pics on the blog and other stuff and if I would have found it a couple nights ago, I would have done it. But I will be looking for other scholarships. I just found this one a little too late.</p>
<p>There is NO reason not to try. Write about your trip and download the pics. My s won second prize of a national scholarship and he wrote the application when he had a horrible case of the flu. He didn’t even remember doing it!!! Start NOW. Deadline is tomorrow. you have a full day. We want to hear that you did it!</p>
<p>Have you considered GA College and State University as your financial safety? It is very different from UGA and Valdosta but the students I know there really love. Many in-state college counselors consider it a hidden gem.</p>
<p>For some reason, I thought the deadline was midnight tonight. I forgot that you can submit your application on the day it’s due. GCSU is already on my list. If I have to stay instate, I want to go there :)</p>
<p>Yikes, I just wrote a long response that got lost, here is the jist of it. </p>
<p>You need to stop avoiding the big elephant in the room. Your family can’t afford to send you to OOS schools or privates. Even with a $10,000/year scholarship, there is no way for you to meet COA. Your stats aren’t going to get you enough money to go OOS…period.</p>
<p>So let’s move on to what you can do. Apply to all you instate schools with the exception of UGA. See where you get in, then go visit. Spend the night, see the campus and the social scene. You WILL find a Georgia school that you can like and have a positive college experience at. You really need to let go of the OOS privates you have been looking at and embrace the schools that you have a genuine shot at. Good luck.</p>
<p>^excellent advice!!!</p>
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<p>Uh-oh. In my (anecdotal) experience, a parent thinking the EFC is a “code” typically means the EFC was <em>way</em> above what the parent expected to pay/can afford. I’d ask your father to look at your EFC again. Also, with a highly variable family income, I’d be very wary of depending on need-based aid to finance your college education.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I think that even GCSU may be a reach-match/reach–your SAT of 900 (M+CR) is substantially in the bottom 25%. What is your academic-only GA GPA? Of course, you have some strengths (good ECs, a fairly rigorous courseload, being in-state) that will help you, so it’s definitely worth applying and you stand a pretty good chance of getting in, IMO, but I don’t know if I would consider it a true safety.</p>