Thanks @GatorDad305 for the post. My son received the invitation and we were not sure at first, but the more I am learning the more I like. I think doing the critical tracking classes in a smaller class size and avoiding the large TA taught ones could be a good advantage. Like others have mentioned it is just the housing situation that makes me nervous. I like the idea of the apartments located across the street from Santa Fe. But we have to find roommates. Also he will not have a car with him and with no meal plan option, I’m concerned about how he’ll get food.
But the big problem is giving up scholarship packages at UCF and USF. It is those packages that will keep his loans down to a reasonable amount. He has applied to several private scholarships in the hopes those will come through. He is SO close to becoming a Gator and we are grateful for the opportunity. But he is very level-headed and knows his financial limits.
I wish we had more time to figure it all out…but I am going to sign up for the March 16 or 18 Information session for sure. We are excited to learn everything we can.
@KamKitKat Would the financial situation have been different if he was accepted to UF? It is unlikely that he would have received scholarships.
It seems that whether he was accepted to UF or the SF program, you would have had the same financial decision.
From a cost perspective, you might find that an apartment and cooking for himself will be cheaper than dorm and meal plan. Depends on the apartment he chooses. Most require a 12 month lease, so you may pay more for that. But if he goes cheap, it could still come out cheaper. The food will certainly be less expensive. Meal plan is about $2k per semester, $500 per month. He should be able to cut that in half on his own.
Hope he can find a way to get the degree without loans.
@fl1234 thx for the info. I was thinking apartment living would be much more expensive. But he is handy in the kitchen so no meal plan will be a good savings.
Since the kids will be paying Santa Fe tuition rather than UF tuition and he has top Bright futures, I wonder if he can divert that savings in tuition towards other expenses.
Just gotta put pen to paper and figure it out. Crossing my fingers
@Gators4Ever My son is also looking for a roommate. We will be at the March 16 information session and also plan to scout out housing locations.
My son is very social, knows a bunch of kids at UF, including his sister who went through GE@SF. Smart, pretty much mature 18 year old. Eagle Scout. Looking forward to the challenge.
@GatorDad305 thats great. Your post about your daughter’s experience in the program was very helpful in our decision making process. We discussed it multiple times this weekend. Apparently I can’t send you a DM until I hit 15 posts. But we would love to meet up at the info session. I’ll try to get to 15 posts so I can DM you my contact info.
@KamKitKat SF Financial Aid has developed some online tools to help students admitted to GE@SF and GDC@SF get a sense of their financial aid package.
Because these students have not typically applied for admission to SF, our “system” does not know who they are yet, so we cannot provide the personalized information we typically provide to SF applicants. After students accept the offer to join one of these programs, the SF application is automatically completed using the info on the UF application, and new GE and GDC students’ will have their SF student accounts created - giving them access to SF’s online student portal (eSantaFe) and their financial aid account (My FA Status) will be available for viewing!
What can you do now? Until your eSantaFe and My FA Status are created, you may be eager to see what funding could be available to you (a financial aid offer or what used to be called an award letter). To get a head start on the financial aid process at SF and get an estimate of what you may be eligible for, complete do the following steps and utilize the following resources:
My son got the same offer, and he too has the top Bright Futures. But I’m thinking that they will just pay the tuition and they won’t benefit from the cheaper tuition. I spoke to someone from UF the other day and she seemed to agree. I haven’t followed up with Bright Futures though. We are still trying to decide, but I do think this a great option and I think it takes a large school like UF and makes it smaller.
BF pays the full amount (not sure if a community college gets less than the ~$6500 at a 4 year school). If it is not needed by the school for tuition, fees, etc, it is refunded to the student. Many students, especially those with prepay, get the BF amount refunded to them or use it to pay room and board.
