Eligible for almost no aid (if any) but parents can't help me with college

Paying for College
1

THIS FIRST BIT IS BACKGROUND INFO. SORRY IT’S SO LONG. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ IT, SKIP TO THE QUESTIONS BELOW.

A lot of this I just wanted to organize and write down so I’d stop stressing over it.

I’ve applied and been accepted to multiple schools. I wanted a college out of state, but for the second reason my parents can’t help, I now plan to attend Azusa Pacific University, which is about 20 minutes away from where I live. Not counting the scholarships I’ve received from APU and a few other places, the total cost for two semesters (living on campus) would be $40,920. The tuition (part of that cost) is $16,258/semester, or $32,516/yr.

I have received a merit scholarship from APU which comes to $8,000/semester, renewable for up to four years. If I get into the honors college that increases by $1,000/year, but I’m not counting on that. In addition to this, the college where my dad teaches will cover half of the tuition of whatever college I attend (not exceeding half of the tuition of the college where he teaches, or half of $23,575.00) for up to 8 semesters (16 total, but that’s split between me and my brother… my sister doesn’t want to go to college) because my dad teaches there. This covers another $8,129/semester. That leaves only $129/semester, or $258/yr, of tuition costs. That will easily be covered with the other scholarships or the possible $1,000 if I get into the honor’s college.

Anyway, that still leaves $8,404/year, or $4,202/semester, not counting meals/snacks not covered in the minimum dining plan (which is on a point system I don’t quite understand but I think gives about 2ish meals and a snack a day, 3 if you get cheaper stuff), doing things with friends, parking permit, etc. which I know is more stuff I’d pay with using money I make from a job (which I plan to get). I don’t want to take out loans. My other scholarships cover about $2,000 of this a year if that’s all I use them for, so that leaves me with $6,404/yr, or $3,202/semester.

My parents can’t help because of a few things. First, they’re trying to pay off a lot of credit card debt they accumulated a few years ago before they switched to using mostly cash or debit cards except for things like gas. Second, my younger brother and sister have been in and out of residential (short term, 1-3 months) and inpatient treatment (shorter term, 3-10 days) for drug abuse, self harm, depression (my sister due to more psychological factors like being adopted and feeling rejected by her birth parents, my brother more for the whole chemicals-in-your-brain-aren’t-doing-what-they’re-supposed-to thing), and chronically running away (that’s my sister). My brother is currently on medications, and those combined with my dad’s blood pressure and diabetes medications cost a lot even after insurance. All those co-pays and days that siblings needed to be in residential/inpatient treatment but insurance disagreed added up. The third reason is that the area we live in as well as pretty much everywhere else in the vicinity has a high cost of living. My parents are crappy at budgeting too. They insist on shopping at the expensive grocery store instead of, say, the cheaper store or the dollar store, eating out fairly often, stuff like that. And they’re still surprised when we run out of money for anything extra two weeks into the month. I can’t force them to budget. I can’t change that they didn’t save a college fund for any of us. I’m stuck trying to figure out how to afford roughly $6,404/yr by myself because the Expected Family Contribution is 062895 (a lot of which is probably the two houses my grandma who’s dead left my dad, which my parents are going to rent out after retiring to have some income) and it will actually be 000000 (unless the thing from my dad’s work counts? which someone said it might? idk doesn’t change the amount I need though). We’re seriously at the point where we have to choose which bills to actually pay sometimes, and I can’t even get a $10 pair of shoes when mine have holes in them. So forget school dances, senior night at Six Flags, going to Knott’s Berry Farm (let alone Disneyland) with my friends, and help with college tuition.

GPA: Unweighted and weighted were the same for 9-11 grades.
Academic GPA 9-11 was 3.8750
Academic GPA 10-11 was 3.8214
Total GPA 9-11 was 3.8571
1st semester of 12th grade I got straight As with 2 AP classes, but I don’t have the updated GPA

SAT: Best Scores were 740 Reading, 680 Math, 770 Writing
1st Try: 740 Reading, 680 Math, 710 Writing
2nd Try: 730 Reading, 620 Math, 770 Writing (they were lower because I was sick that day)

No ACT

Class Rank: 78 out of 651

I’ve attended 4 schools. School 1 in 9th grade, had inter-district transfer but moved near end of first semester of 10th grade and couldn’t get a transfer out of the new district, normal public school (in pretty good district I guess).

School 2 has all credits for 10th grade, charter school, attended for end of first semester and entire second semester of 10th grade because I didn’t want to start at a school where I didn’t know anyone halfway through the year and several friends attended this school.

School 3 11th grade, involved 40 days of backpacking, rock climbing, skiing (cross country and downhill), etc. which was counted in classes like “Wilderness Leadership” and “Outdoor Ed”. I also played Varsity Volleyball, Basketball, and Soccer that year but because it was a small school, not because I’m any good. In fact, I’m absolutely terrible at team sports and mostly played because it was fun and 10 day backpacking trips when completely out of shape are not. If you’re wondering about the tuition, my grandma covered most of it. She can’t help with college because she used to get aid for babysitting kids in her neighborhood but fell and had to stop doing that.

School 4 I’m at this year. Normal public school, same (average) district I live in.

Idk if this would have anything to do with anything, but my family lived in Kyiv, Ukraine from January to June 2007 when I was in 4th grade as well.

IF YOU DIDN’T READ THAT, HERE ARE THE ACTUAL QUESTIONS

What are some scholarships that I’m actually likely to get? Not ones that take so much time to finish that I could have completed several shorter scholarships and have a huge amount of money attached but have a billion applicants, but maybe smaller ones with fewer applicants that will add up if I win a few? (GPA, SAT scores, etc. above)

Does the scholarship from the college my dad works at count as part of the family’s contribution? Someone said it might and I wasn’t sure. Just curious… the answer to this one isn’t actually that important.

How is the EFC calculated? Did it take into account those medical bills, the cost of where we live, how much my parents are actually willing to help me with, etc? If not, will those factors be taken into consideration by APU when they consider financial aid awards?

I want to be a clinical psychologist (because of the stuff my brother and sister are dealing with), so I plan to get a bachelor’s degree in psychology at APU, then whatever other degrees I need at (hopefully) Loma Linda University (my siblings have been helped a lot by programs like the inpatient treatment and partial day program and SHIELD and SOAR). Are there any scholarships specifically for people who plan on majoring in psychology? I know it’s a popular major at the moment and there will likely be a lot of applicants, but I figured I’d ask. If there are, can I apply before I’ve declared my major? Speaking of which, if I know I want to major in psychology do I have to wait to declare that major or can I do so as soon as I enroll or what?

Finally, if I do need loans, which ones should I look into and which ones should I avoid?

Sorry that was so long!

2

You have a school where you can afford tuition and close enough to commute, it should work out for you even if parents can’t contribute. You work earnings can pay for books, transportation and other expenses.

If living on campus means over $8,000 more, that is less likely, even if you took a loan out for $5,500.

3

Did you apply to any University of California (~$12K) or California State Universities (~$6,500), especially ones that are within commuting distance of your home? Your other option given your financial situation is to apply to a California Community College (very inexpensive in California; less than $50 per credit hour!!!) that is within commuting distance of your home and then transfer to one of a Public University after two years. That is what most students do across the country who are in your position. There is no need to spend $40K+ to attend these 3rd tiered Universities.

4

Have you thought about getting a job?

5

It’s late in the season, but you did not want to look at other schools where you could have gotten a tutition free award, then stacked your dad’s college contribution? Or what about your dad’s college? Or the state schools.

Though you have put together a doable scenario there. Take out the Direct Loans and start looking for a job. Now for weekends and some after school, and then the summer. Look for work when you get to school too. Or commute.

6

There are no magical scholarships waiting out there for students. The best scholarships come from the schools themselves (as you’ve discovered). The only way to fill the gap is work or loans. People upthread have also pointed out some other options you have/had.

7

I know you don’t want to do this…but why aren’t you attending the college where your dad works? You could commute. Costs would be favorable, right?

This is a private university. I’m unclear what state ypunare a resident in. Is it CA or is it CO? Or is it someplace else? Did you apply to any public universities in your state? Are the costs more favorable?

Your cost estimate is accurate based on the price Azusa charges this year. It is likely that will increase for the upcoming school year. In addition, you included no personal expenses…books, other school related supplies, transportation, a small amount of discretionary spending money (it’s nice to share a pizza every so often). Where will the extra for that come from?

did you complete a FAFSA form and submit it to azusa? If so, you can take a $5500 Direct Loan for your freshman year. Can your parents help at all? If you get a job, and they can contribute even $1500 for the whole year, that would likely make it work.

Otherwise…this school is not affordable.

You will need at least a masters degree to become a clinical psychologist…and either a PhD, or PsyD. Right now is the time to conserve on funds.

8

Can you live at home and commute? You wouldn’t have to get a meal plan and if you get a job, you may be able to avoid taking out loans.

9

Not so fast, everyone…

OP: First, you should call Azusa. With those stats, you should’ve gotten a higher merit award.

http://www.apu.edu/sfs/undergraduate/apuscholarships/academic/

Your GPA of 3.85 and CR+Math score of 1420 should’ve gotten you at least the Dean’s Scholarship: $13,500 per year.

You could even qualify for the Presidential, w/$16,000 per year. The GPA & SAT combo is 3.9 & 1300+. However, these are not a clear cutoffs individually -the criteria is a combination of both. Sooo your higher SAT should make up for the sub 3.9 GPA, since it’s very close anyways.

These are not holistic awards; they’re automatic for stats.

$16k + ~$11.5k from dad’s college = $27.5k for tuition. Add in a federal loan of $5500 (staffords are pretty reasonable) & you got tuition covered. If you have other scholarships, you don’t need to borrow the full $5500, just what you need. If you’re willing to commute, you should be able to attend.

Call Azusa ASAP.

10

/\ Not all students are in a position to afford loans, @Lilliana330. It doesn’t sound like OPs family is a position to help much financially, so if I were OP I’d carefully consider all options before taking loans. Especially since additional schooling seems to be necessary if OP wants to be a psychologist. I wouldn’t go into debt for undergrad if I needed to pay for a masters and possibly a PhD as well later on.

11

This student switched HSs each year of high school. My guess is the computation of GPA was done by Azusa, and might not be as high as the OP thinks it is. That needs to be checked also.

To the OP…some colleges compute GPA based on your core academic course requirements only…English, math, science, social studies…and don’t include other courses at all. So…what were your core academic course grades? That could be what Azusa uses.

Austin…I think she is suggesting the Direct Loans only…not additional family loans.

12

She did say she got $16,000 scholarship from Azusa, $8,000 per semester.

13

I think she is too, but I worry that this family’s financial situation will put the OP in a precarious position if s/he stretches too thin. I don’t think there will necessarily be resources to help. And if s/he is going on for a PhD, I think the less borrowed now, the better.

14

OP, you don’t need a parking permit if you live on campus, or you don’t need to live on campus if you have a car and the commute is only 20 minutes. You need to make some choices. It is very unlikely you are going to find scholarships that will cover your r&b. You have a great deal here, with tuition covered. You have a car to commute. Yes, it might be more fun to live in a dorm, but it won’t be fun to pay back student loans in 4 years. Live at home, commute. It will be fine.

Your family EFC is $62000. Even taking your father’s employer’s scholarship off, it doesn’t get you anywhere. You’ll just get unsubsidized loans. With and EFC of that size, I doubt your family will qualify for any California grants. You’ve done a very good job of recognizing the problems (medical bills, over spending), but now you have to accept that r&b will have to come from you and your earnings, and it is just a better deal to live at home and commute.

15

Even if you were to appeal the aid award with Azusa, it likely won’t get you any additional aid. The base EFC is simply too high. The federal government (or the schools for that matter) do not take into consideration the cost of living or any consumer debt. These are personal choices made by families, and viewed as such. The only possible reduction could be for the medical bills, but like I stated above - I doubt it would warrant additional aid with the original EFC being as high as it is.

16

@austinmshauri It seems, though, that wherever else she attends, she’s gonna have to take out direct loans anyways though. If she goes to community college instead, sure, she’ll save the first two years…but then she might not even be able to afford the last two. If she transfers to a CSU, she’ll have to borrow full Stafford amount since they have no merit. Same for a UC, and everywhere else the price would be too high.

Azusa is her cheapest option in the long run -if she commutes.

@mommdc Ahhh, I see that now, oops.

17

Azusa may not be the cheapest option, since the high GPA and SAT may win a full ride elsewhere. See the sticky thread about scholarships.

18

The student is a HS senior. I think he already applied to schools. I’m not sure the finances were carefully considered before the applications were sent…or he could have looked at some of those merit award schools.

19

@ucbalumnus Yes, but most of those deadlines have passed already. Too late.

If there are any scholarships left, the highest amount likely would be full tuition. However, all those places would be too far; he/she would have to figure out the full room & board.

There’s no other place in SoCal/commuting distance where this student can get a better scholarship offer, I think. Go farther away & suddenly there’s an extra $10-15k in living expenses -much more than what he’d borrow for Azusa or be able to come up with at all. Azusa is the cheapest option in this case.

20

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ lists some full rides without a published cut-off date or with a late deadline, so the OP may want to find out if the scholarships are still available:

Troy
Tuskegee
Alabama State
Arkansas - Monticello
Howard
Prairie View A&M

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/16224918/#Comment_16224918 lists competitive full rides that may also be worth checking into.