<p>1st notification: <a href=“http://robesonian.com/news/news_education/4124108/Purnell-Swett-senior-spends-evening-with-stars”>http://robesonian.com/news/news_education/4124108/Purnell-Swett-senior-spends-evening-with-stars</a> - Good luck to all of you!</p>
<p>@ScubaMom9026 Thank you ! The way that they received their award is so cool (primarily Usher being there). I am so excited and grateful that I would make it to this stage of being a finalist. Good luck guys!</p>
<p>1 down, 999 more to go. </p>
<p>@larryle2, “Jacobs is among the first FIVE Bill and Melinda Gates Scholarship finalists to receive notification of winning the scholarship”…</p>
<p>@ScubaMom9026 5 down, 995 more to go… </p>
<p>^^ lol </p>
<p>I’m sure most of the finalists have received amazing FA packages right? My DD has and so I think Gates won’t cover the " student contribution" I believe they want the student to have some skin in the game. </p>
<p>@NewHavenCTmom, you are correct. GMS will only pay up to the EFC. Some institutions inflate their cost of attendance giving students more money in their pocket, but other institutions go with actual cost of attendance. Our EFC is about $3000, so that is our out of pocket expense per year. There may come a time where my son will have to take out loans, but right now we are tying to avoid that. Also, I spoke to my son’s institution after he was notified as a recipient and found out that even if he received other external scholarships it would only reduce the amount of institution aid that he would receive. At this realization, we declined other scholarship offers because I just couldn’t take money from other students who might need it. Hope this information is helpful.</p>
<p>So much maneuvering that goes in with this process! I have picked up so many gray hairs since her freshman year! Lol</p>
<p>@ NewHavenCTmom, I understand. I didn’t do much for my GMS scholar other than tell him that he had to find $$ to go to his school of choice. That’s exactly what he did. I have two more to get through and these have already told me “eh, the bar has been set too high”. lol ;)</p>
<p>@NewHavenCTmom and @ScubaMom9026 , can you guys please elaborate on how much GMS will pay, if the student is selected?</p>
<p>I am sorry but your conversation is over my head. What do you mean when you say : “GMS will only pay up to the EFC. Some institutions inflate their cost of attendance giving students more money in their pocket, but other institutions go with actual cost of attendance.”</p>
<p>And “My DD has and so I think Gates won’t cover the " student contribution” I believe they want the student to have some skin in the game."</p>
<p>Either this headache is worse than I thought or I am just clueless. Either way, I don’t understand. Thanks</p>
<p>@LanaHere, okay, my son is attending a private university. GMS is a need based scholarship, so depending on what your EFC was on your SAR report, that is all GMS will pay up to. You are responsible for the EFC. I believe when we submitted our documentation to GMS initially it was like 2818. My son is attending a school that cost about 50,000/year. He received merit scholarship from the school + grants. What ever the difference is minus your EFC is what GMS will cover. I know a few students who are at UT and GMS covered their expenses + they had $$ left over. I guess the best way to put it is state vs. private institution. I’ll see if I can find the document with the breakdown so that you can understand as well.</p>
<p>Okay. Students have a contribution to make, or should I say some students? I can’t speak for everyone else. But She was given loans in some of her FA packages, not all. Gates does not cover the loans as they consider that to be aid. Go figure right? </p>
<p>Student contribution is $$$ that the student must pay to the school. That $$$ goes up every year.</p>
<p>Not all of the schools that she was accepted to are expecting her to take out loans. Just four out of the nine schools that she was accepted to added loans into her package. They are quite small. The other non loan schools have a “student summer contribution”, which is $$ earned over the summer or possibly through her work study job.</p>
<p>Actually, UNC CH, added $8,000 of loans & Howard added $11,000 of loans. Both are a no…because Gates doesn’t cover loans.</p>
<p>@ScubaMom9026, so basically, GMS will cover your student loans?
If a student has an award for work and study, say $2,000. Will GMS cover that too? </p>
<p>Sorry @NewHavenTom , I wrote the question about student loans BEFORE I saw your reply. </p>
<p>Anyways, my D was given an option to accept $15,000 in loans A YEAR. Please don’t tell me GMS will not cover that. lol. That’s a lot of money!! :(</p>
<p>@LanaHere & NewHavenCTmom, my son’s university took work study away and only offered him the loans that accrued interest starting from day 1. Let’s say someone has an EFC of “0”, then in theory they would have no out of pocket expense. Make sense? I hope I’m not confusing you more, but I just want you to be aware and not be shocked. Here is the link to how GMS pays out: <a href=“http://www.gmsmentoring.org/uploads/2/1/9/5/2195645/gms_resource_guide_for_scholars.pdf”>http://www.gmsmentoring.org/uploads/2/1/9/5/2195645/gms_resource_guide_for_scholars.pdf</a></p>
<p>@LanaHere, please do yourself a favor & call Gates. Ask as many questions as you need to! They are there to help!</p>
<p>I’ll be right back. Going to look up the link from @ScubaMom9026</p>
<p>Okay, I just read it and this is my understanding. Please tell me if I am wrong:</p>
<p>As written: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>" It is important to be aware that GMS scholarship awards do not replace Family Contributions
or loans that replace the Family Contribution."</p></li>
<li><p>“GMS WILL pay for UNMET NEED + SELF-HELP AID = GMS AWARD TOTAL”</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This is what I got from it: They will not pay for loans that replace EFC, but WILL pay for loans that students take out after EFC. </p>
<p>The light just lid up in my head. My headache is gone. I hope I am right. </p>