<p>My dad told me that they never gave him an amount per year, but a letter (aka a code). He didn’t know what they meant and he emailed them. He never saw his EFC. </p>
<p>My academic (HOPE) GPA is a 3.1. My unweighted GPA (including electives) is a 3.2 and my weighted GPA is a 3.3. I had a 3.4, but it went down. I never considered GCSU an academic safety, but I did consider it a financial safety. Even with the HOPE it would cost $13,000 a year (including room/board). GCSU’s room and board is a lot of money. I know about all of the HOPE changes as well. U Minn-Morris is 18k a year including room and board. So, I could go out of state for only a couple more thousand a year (not including travel expensives and etc). Flagler costs around 20k a year. Valdosta was actually much cheaper. I would get 90% tuition free, but that’s it. I know people at GCSU and my courseload was much harder. They never took any AP classes. GCSU and GA Southwestern are the only small 4 year public school in GA. </p>
<p>I also do not understand how one can say my family cannot afford an out of state LAC when no one knows how much finanical aid I will get. Hiram College is around 38k a year but minus 10k in scholarships and that’s 28k a year with no grants or loans. I went into this process with an open mind and if my family cannot afford for me to go out of state then I will stay in Georgia. But if I do not apply to any out of state colleges, I will regret it for the rest of my life. I do not know if I cannot afford it until I recieve my finanical aid package.</p>
<p>Please remember that there are lots of ancillary fees that get slapped on (lab fees, student activity fees, health service fees, etc) that add to the cost of tuition, room, board, books, transportation, etc. Find out what your parents can afford, and get the EFC number. If your brother is still in school, the EFC will be split across the 2 if you, which will help you. </p>
<p>The ticking you are hearing is time running out. Get to work on applications and scholarships.</p>
<p>Albright College is a small Liberal Arts school in Reading, PA. It’s less than an hour from Philadelphia. They are test optional… They do give merit $ and you don’t need amazing gpa to get some and they also have grants. With your income and family size and gpa you should get some $. It’s expensive, but they do give out $ so it’s worth looking because you never know. I don’t know if you wanted a small school though.
[Albright</a> College - Admission, Transfer Students, Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.albright.edu/admission/transfer/scholarships.html]Albright”>http://www.albright.edu/admission/transfer/scholarships.html)</p>
<p>We just saw Goucher College and it may be a very good fit for you. The president was a journalist and used to host on NPR. They are sat optional and a very cool school.</p>
<p>Hey everyone. I just had a skype interview with Wheaton College in Mass. I really didn’t feel like it was an interview because the admissions counselor didn’t ask me any questions. He just kept asking me to ask him questions. He said it was Wheaton’s first skype interview. I asked him what made Wheaton stand out, but I didn’t feel like there was anything which differentiated Wheaton from other small LACs. I love the location though. I really just asked him questions. I didn’t feel like it was a real interview. I really like the college still and it’s a top choice, but I am having trouble finding differences with a lot of these LACs. He said most students pay 15k a year after financial aid and take around 30k in loans. I’m assuming that’s for four years. Is that considered feasible? I may have a skype interview with Pitzer, I hope it’s different. Don’t get me wrong, he was nice but it really wasn’t an interview. I was just asking him questions on skype.</p>
<p>I am going to a CTCL fair next week, I am very excited. I am getting a good vibe about Knox College. I have already started senior year. My classes are okay. They should be pretty feasible. I never applied for the scholarship because the topic didn’t really fit my experience well. I had a terrible time in France, so not much positive things to say about it. I would be lying in the essay. I have considered Goucher before, but I already have enough schools on my list. I still am not sure if I should apply to Earlham or Allegheny or not.</p>
<p>Oh and BTW, I have to write a college admission essay for AP Lang which will become very useful later on.</p>
<p>Do not believe when a person from the college tells you “most people pay 15K/yr after financial aid” and then take out about $30,000 in loans." This statement is too general and may not even apply to your financial situation.</p>
<p>I would never let my kids take out $30,000 in loans and have that on their backs the minute they graduate from college—especially when they have cheaper alternatives to their undergraduate education. </p>
<p>You need to get the answers about what your family can and can’t afford directly from your parents.</p>
<p>Did your father ever follow up to figure out with your EFC is? You <em>really</em> need to get a sense of how much they will be willing to pay and what aid you might qualify for, if any, ASAP, if at all possible, and use that info when building your list. Otherwise, you may end up with no financially feasible choices come April.</p>
<p>My father never got the EFC issue worked out. He said they never gave him a number. Some other updates, the CTCL fair was great but it made me very confused! A lot of the colleges I’m applying to are so similar. I asked each school what made them different. The SAT required colleges basically told me that the SAT’s do not matter that much. They will not reject someone based on their SAT scores. They told me it wouldn’t hurt me. Every single college told me this. An admissions rep at Reed College (don’t worry I’m not applying there) told me that another admissions officer does not even look at SAT scores. She only glances at them and said it’s only for numbers once admitted. My dad couldn’t stand how she said “Um” very five seconds. For such a prestigious school, the admissions counselor didn’t represent the school very well. </p>
<p>Clark told me that most people pay 20k a year and end up in 20k debt for 4 years. All of the other colleges were in the same ball park which made it more affordable. I really like Clark and Knox the best! My dad really couldn’t see me at some of the rural schools. He thought Goucher/Ursinus were better fits since they were closer to cities. I already have 16 schools on my list, so I have no room for them. It was really hard not judging some of the admission counselors, but I have to remember just because I didn’t like one admission counselor doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like the college. I really liked Juniata College! I had a skype interview with them yesterday. It went very well! I already have skype interviews for Lawrence, Allegheny, and Pitzer in September. Earlham, Hobart, and Ohio Wesleyan are having interviews all on 9/11, so it has been hard trying to coordinate 3 admission interviews in 1 day. I also have admission interviews for College of Wooster/Knox on different days. I also had a phone interview with Flagler today which went very well. They told me since I had a rigorous course-load that my SAT scores shouldn’t be that much of a problem. I know some of you guys don’t consider my load rigorous, but she did. She was even impressed at trig, so it wonders what type of students go there. The Juniata skype interview was much different then the Wheaton one. School is fine btw :)</p>
<p>Hiram College also told me that I will qualify for a geographic diversity scholarship as long with the $10,000 academic scholarship. Juniata, Hiram, and Valdosta will be my first couple college applications. If I apply by September 15th to Juniata, I will have a decision November 1st. Hiram and Juniata are both rolling admissions fyi. Also, more then half my schools I’m applying to are free since I’m applying online.</p>
<p>I got casted in the one act in school. I didn’t get the part I wanted, but will have the chance to be in another play in February. I may not be able to do swim team this year because the rehearsals are the same time as swim practice. This is a little disappointing since I’ve been on the swim team since freshman year.</p>
<p>He did the FASFA this summer and told me he didn’t see a number for the EFC. He may not have been looking at the right place. I’m really not sure. It was for my older brother who is at a technical school. He told me he emailed them asking questions about it, but I don’t think he got a response. I don’t think he totally understands the EFC and all the financial aid with college just yet. Personally, I’ve done most my researching with colleges and haven’t done as much research with financial aid. I was really planning with going to the college which gives me the best deal financially. If the out of state LACs become too expensive, I’ll just stay instate. It’s as easy as that.</p>
<p>“Clark told me that most people pay 20k a year and end up in 20k debt for 4 years. All of the other colleges were in the same ball park which made it more affordable.”</p>
<p>^Again, do not believe admission’s representatives when they say these kinds of statements.
They are trying to sell you a product. There isn’t any way they can make assumptions on the bottom line costs. They don’t know your family’s financial situation. They don’t know your assets. Do not count on being awarded a specific amount of financial aid or merit scholarships until you have them officially in your hand.</p>
<p>I totally understand that nysmile. I agree with you. They also told me it depends on the family, but I just wanted a general average. I’m applying to so many colleges because of finanical reasons as well. I want to compare my different options come April.</p>
<p>Early_college, do you qualify for application fee waivers of some kind? If not, it is going to get very expensive to apply to 16 schools.</p>
<p>I totally understand wanting to apply to a lot of schools to compare their offers, because it can be nearly impossible to predict financial aid in advance. But I would suggest you (a) make sure you have at least one financial safety that you’d be happy to attend where you are <em>guaranteed</em> to be able to afford it, and (b) see if you can’t cut out some schools that are known to give poor aid, have policies that aren’t good for your family’s situation, etc.</p>
<p>If your father filled out the FAFSA already, hopefully he can figure out how to find his EFC, as you really need that to help you pare down your list.</p>
<p>I do not think I would qualify for any free application fee waivers, but 9 of the 16 schools are free to apply to. However, I still have to send SAT scores to 6 of my schools which is going to be costly. It also costs $2 per transcript. It will cost approximately $417 including everything. I really don’t know which schools on my list give poor aid. Here is my list again:</p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence
Lawrence
Knox
Clark
Valdosta
GCSU
College of Wooster
Ohio Wesleyan
Hobart
Earlham
Juniata
Hiram
Wheaton (Mass)
Pitzer
Allegheny
Flagler</p>
<p>I know Sarah Lawrence is VERY expensive and I see the logic in giving it the boot. However, this is the one college I have had on my list since freshman year. I never thought it would be this hard to cut down on my list!</p>
<p>Hey I’m a junior at Flagler & I just want to help quell your concerns regarding the academic rigor here! </p>
<p>I endured a difficult course load at a very competitive and well known high school. Some Flagler students took similar classes in high school, others more intense & others less so. The Admissions directors favor a holistic approach when reviewing candidates. Flagler seems to seek well-rounded & mature individuals who are capable of contributing to both the academic & social world.</p>
<p>I’ve had a truly wonderful experience at Flagler. Our campus is gorgeous, the town is eclectic, &, above all: the faculty is knowledgeable & helpful. I’ve received INCREDIBLE financial aid & graduate Flagler with zero debt! </p>
<p>Please let me know if I can answer andy questions about Flagler :] Good luck!</p>
<p>Do any of the schools on your list require the Profile for financial aid? If so add $25 for the first college you have to send it to, plus $16 for each additional school. Still if your total application fees are in the $500 range, that’s within reason, IMO. </p>
<p>If your dad can figure out your family EFC and you can post it here, some folks might be able to give you good information about which schools will offer good aid for someone in your situation. It’s hard to make blanket statements. (Nor is the fact that a school’s “sticker price” is astronomical necessarily a reason to rule them out, if they at least sometimes offer really good aid.) If any of your schools require the profile, it makes their aid harder to predict, since each school uses its own formula to interpret the information you supply and come up with their own assessment of your “need”.</p>