@Mom2Senior16 You would not want to accept any loans that were listed in your son’s award letter. That would just increase your share of the Cost of Attendance and decrease the amount of the GMS award. If you have to borrow money to cover the EFC, the GMS award will not cover that amount. To answer your other question, the GMS award can be transferred to another college or university. If the balance of the unmet need at the new school is higher than the one at his first school, the GMS award would be increased to cover it. The GMS award is a “last-dollar” scholarship. It will cover any remaining unmet need plus any loans and/or work study that are part of the award letter from his first school or his next school.
But to repeat, the GMS will not pay for the EFC or any loans taken out to finance the EFC.
@KickingBear No, the GMS is a last-dollar award. It covers unmet need after all other grant aid and outside scholarships have been deducted.
The email said that the program will help me look for additional scholarships, does that mean additional scholarships for grad school or undergrad? Also, how do I go about notifying my college? Sorry if this has been asked!
Can we decline the scholarship for a specific someone else to receive it ?
@pleaseacceptme99 The GMS award is not transferable to another person.
Can anyone explain how we go about notifying our colleges about Gates?
@brendalil First step, contact the financial aid office at the college, tell them you just won the GMS, and ask them if they have every had a Gates Millennium Scholar before. Depending on the college, they will have someone who knows exactly how the process goes or they have never even heard of the GMS and do not have a clue. If they don’t have a clue, I’d suggest contacting the staff at your GMSP partner organization and having them contact the financial aid office at your school. It might also help to forward a copy of the guide to “Understanding the GMS Awarding Process” to the financial aid rep at your college.
@northernAZ Thanks so much! I will do that!
Also, so the cost for housing and meals is the budget for my cost of attendance right? Like I couldn’t be able to choose a bigger room that costs more than the amount set for housing and meals in my current cost of attendance and have my scholarship cover it? lol
@brendalil I don’t know how the GMSP handles room and board at colleges where there are a range of housing and meal-plan options. When you inform the financial aid office at your school that you are a Gates Millennium Scholar, AND if they already know what that means, you may be able to negotiate an increased amount to cover a preferred housing option. As someone posted on the Facebook site, the school will want to know that Gates would pay that additional amount. Have you read pages 5-6 of the Guide that arrived with your notification? As you can see, there are a lot of questions that you need to ask the financial aid rep at your college, so that you know you have enough money to pay for the entire Cost of Attendance, including the amount that the GMS award will cover. And on page 3 of the Guide, it says you may call GMSP if you have additional questions. The question about housing options is a great question to clarify.
My son is a Gates Scholar currently attending third year UC Davis. The way it works is Gates takes the cost to attend and then subtracts your EFC along with any aid your school is giving you. That determines how much Gates awards you. So yes, in theory, you could get a larger room, but when you do that you are spending more of your Gates award. My son chose to room with 3 others in the dorm and he did 2nd year housing with 5 others. He is now sharing an off campus apartment with 3 others and he has been able to save $10K by doing it his way. So you have to decide if you want to spend every last dollar on your “comfort”, or sacrifice some and bank the excess.
Hi @GinaRivera, My daughter was selected as a Gates recipient this year. Thanks for your information, but I would like to ask a few questions, if that’s okay… I am a little confused as to what “extra” there would be, especially when living on campus. I was under the impression that the Gates only paid what was normal for the school, and a dorm comes with a room mate everywhere I have seen. Or at least everywhere we have looked. Also, how does the award handle miscellaneous expenses, travel expenses, etc? Is there a set amount or can this be negotiated?
Thanks for any info you or anyone else may have for me. I may be a little slow at this, but we are brand new to this award and want to make sure we get everything done correctly.
@OnlyEvilJo - my mentee won Gates in 2015, so we have been thru our first year. I am by no means an expert but I can offer our experience.
Items like travel and books are set based on your school’s cost of attendance, but not a “you have to provide us receipts” kind of thing. So his school allocated $1,200 for travel, he was given $1,200 in travel - a literal check given to him in mid-late October. Books? same deal. Of course if you spent more, you don’t get more, you get the school COA. If you spend less on books, the money is yours to save. I strongly advise your student to SAVE money. This is probably the one chance in her life she has a chance to save money. Best of luck, I’ll do what I can to answer.
Gates is a wonderful program, not least of all because of the support network it offers.
How does banking the excess funds work? From my knowledge, I understand that as you said whatever is included in your COA is paid for by Gates that is after all scholarships and grants are accounted for and the EFC is paid.
But, how does one bank the excess funds if they sacrifice for a small room rather than a suite.
I thought it is whatever is in you COA, they pay for. I didn’t know that if you sacrifice for a smaller room you are able to reap benefits such as extra funds…could you please further elaborate on this?
THANKS
Thanks so much, @NJRoadie. That did help a lot. Hopefully she will be smart with her funding. I know how it is to live check to check worrying where the money for bills is going to come from, so hopefully this scholarship will help her achieve a better life than I was able to give her. I will definitely encourage her to save all she can.
Also, does anyone know of a good, reliable, cheap place to buy her books? She is going into environmental science, so she is looking at quite a few expensive texts if she can’t get them cheaper somewhere else. Thanks!
For all the ?? regarding the banking excess funds. It is the same concept that you use to manage your finances. For example; My son has $3000 deposited into his account from Gates for a quarter according to what the cost of attendance is per quarter. It only cost him $1250.00 to live because he was smart with his money by shopping for textbooks and instead of living with 1 person he shares with 3 others. That means he can keep the $1750.00 that he did not spend. He has been so smart with his money that he has $10K in the bank. And did not go hungry or shoe less. He has a smartphone and has a fairly active social life. I do not contribute to his care at all because he has been money smart.
Exactly @GinaRivera . This is also a good time to start an IRA (retirement investment savings). The minimum amounts for students are lower, so if you can be frugal and start saving for retirement now, compounded interest will be a wonderful thing in your life. These are all things you can and should discuss with your mentors. Financial sense is as critical a skill to learn as any other you will get from college!
If you do not have a bank account, you need to get one. Look for one with low fees and that has a branch near your college of choice. Especially look at ATM fees and access, as this will be your primary means of access to money.
Exactly @NJRoadie, my son takes $100.00 of his excess every quarter and deposits it into his Schwab account that he opened when he was 18. He is now 20 and he has about $2000.00 in his account. His $900.00 investment has yielded him $2000.00. There are far more benefits to this scholarship than tuition being paid for. Due to the breathing room this scholarship has provided for my family, I was able to go back to college at 53. Without Gates paying for my son I would have been unable to do that.
Please email me Gina have questions 1st year GMS. Phyllis.branch@gmail.Phyllis.branch@gmail.com
Thanks
gina rodgriguez and kaley cuoco are speaking at the west conference