Financial struggle

[Rektmani]

I’m going to be a senior in High School this upcoming year and Baylor has been on my radar for prospective schools I want to attend, assuming I get into the school. I was wondering how most of you pay for this school. I used the estimator online and out of the $60k cost per year, $34k would be covered in grants/need-based aid and $8k in loans. That still leaves $18k uncovered and I have no idea how I would pay for it. I’ve looked at the scholarships I can apply to, but many of them seem far fetched. I wouldn’t get into UT, and TAMU doesn’t feel like it’s for me. I’m planning to major in Computer Science. My Estimated Family Contribution is $0…what can I do to cover the remaining cost? Should I just abandon the idea of attending a private school?

• Hispanic, First-Generation to attend University
• 3.4 GPA, Top 25% Class Rank
• 1340(out of 1600) SAT, hoping to get +1380
• AP Scholar with Distinction
• Academic Decathlon(Top 10 Individual State Finalist)
• Varsity Tennis(All-District Team)
• Varsity Band(All-Region Runner up)

[musiclover20202]

From my experience of applying, I would say your SAT score can make a huge difference in how much money you get from Baylor. The higher your score, the higher amount of automatic scholarship money you get. Also, applying for as many outside scholarships as you can also helps! Google as many as you can and try talking to your college counselor

[musiclover20202]

fastweb.com is one good website to start looking for outside scholarships

[woodlandsmom]

This is a hard question. I think you have a great chance of getting into TAMU and UT and they are a good value for the education you are receiving. I would apply to Baylor and see if they offer any additional money but it is so expensive. (even with the scholarship) I am not sure it would be wise to attend Baylor and go into debt if you can attend a school that is 10k less per year. I know this may be bad news because Baylor is a great school. You did not say what part of the state you are from but with a public school you could live at home and attend college to defray costs too. If you lived at home and attended A&M or U of H it would probably be 10k per year. Hope it works out.

[Rektmani]

I live in the DFW area. I have visited UH though, as well as TAMU because my brother goes there. I was just hoping for a smaller school that’s still somewhat close to home. I think my decision will come between UH and TAMU, although I’ll still apply to Baylor and see what they offer.

[AuntieMame]

I have no idea about need-based aid. It’s just so unpredictable. It shouldn’t be, but it is. The EFC provided by filling out the FAFSA was 100% ignored.

Baylor’s and SMU’s scholarships (merit aid) didn’t bring the cost to anywhere NEAR a Texas public school - even at their top-most levels. They filled in some of the gap with loans, but even so it was almost twice the price of a public.

A friend of mine got a pretty decent need-based aid package from TAMU. Try it and see what you get…

UT-Dallas is an excellent school (all dorms are brand new, all single rooms- sweet!) that offers generous merit-based aid based largely on SAT scores. You lack something like 5 points for a 50% scholarship. Bump it up a little higher and you’ll get full tuition and fees -PLUS- $2k/year stipend.

http://oue.utdallas.edu/aes/ (If the link doesn’t work, search ‘UT-Dallas AES’)

• Achievement * Average SAT (Critical Reading + Math only): 1345 - Average ACT: 30 $3,000 per semester applied toward UT Dallas tuition and mandatory fees Total value over four academic years: $24,000
• Distinction * Average SAT (Critical Reading + Math only): 1436 - Average ACT: 32 Complete coverage of UT Dallas tuition and mandatory fees $1,000 per semester cash stipend to defray the costs of books, supplies and other expenses Total estimated value over four academic years: $55,224
• Honors * Average SAT (Critical Reading + Math only): 1528 - Average ACT: 34 $3,000 per semester cash stipend to defray the costs of books, supplies and other expenses Total estimated value over four academic years: $71,224

I’ve seen scholarships for Hispanic students. There are also awards only open to you, something like National Merit. I would check those out.

College websites are notoriously hard to navigate; Google - or for better privacy - Bing is your friend!

[AuntieMame]

musiclover20202
I mentioned that even at the highest level, Baylor’s merit and need-based aid packages weren’t competitive. (After the foootball/rape scandal - all their football Draftees are trying to get out of their commitments - Baylor will probably lose lots of incoming students - it doesn’t sound like a great place to go.)

Also, be careful about outside scholarships. Most schools do not ‘stack’. Instead, outside scholarships are subtracted from their aid package, so you net out even - after a LOT of essay writing.

[woodlandsmom]

I think UT Dallas is a great school. My son has a friend going there because their CS program is very good.

[CollegeWizard16]

I am pretty sure that the academic status of Baylor has nothing to do with the football team. If that is anyone’s reason for attending a specific college, then you are wasting your money because you attend college to learn. I would advise to talk to people attending a school you are interested in, then try to seek out the real facts about universities and finally base your decision on your specific needs and what type of career path you expect to have. Honestly in Texas it matters more regarding the career/degree you choose, than the college. One other note, be weary of the ratings for colleges because these are actually highly influenced by alumni (popularity) and also by the number of graduate programs available. These two factors have little to do with picking the best undergraduate academic option for you.

[AuntieMame]

@CollegeWizard16 “the academic status of Baylor has nothing to do with the football team. If that is anyone’s reason for attending a specific college”

Perhaps the elephant in the room is being overlooked. The problem, all along, is that the Baylor Administration has been focusing on the importance of their football team, and completely ignoring, covering up, etc. the multiple rapes committed by football players over the years (i.e. ‘elephant’).

My daughter’s reason for turning down Baylor’s generous academic scholarships was that women can’t feel safe on that campus when known rapists are allowed to do whatever they want - continue raping - with complete impunity. Without any accountability whatsoever, campus heroes can turn into monsters.

I hope this is the reason so many football draftees are also turning down Baylor’s athletic scholarships - that they want no part of a rape culture.

There is so much more to this situation than football. I hope you dig back into the stories from several years past, read what happened to these women, and how Administration dealt with them. Also, please take note of what their life was like afterwards, so you can understand the devastation of this long-lived elephant.