Getting Accepted does NOT mean that a Merit Scholarship will be forthcoming

Paying for College Financial Aid (Need-Based, Merit Aid, Loans)
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[QUOTE=hopedaisy]
My friend’s son just graduated high school. He had high enough scores to get accepted at some good places but no merit aid. They just did a total remodel on their house which means he will be attending community college next year. I feel sorry for that kid as he really wants an opportunity to go away to school but his parents never saved a dime.

[/QUOTE]

When it comes time to transfer to a four year school to finish his bachelor’s degree, will he have any options (based on financial criteria) besides the local state university within commuting distance?

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When it comes time to transfer to a four year school to finish his bachelor’s degree, will he have any options (based on financial criteria) besides the local state university within commuting distance?

No, I don’t think this boy will have many options except to go locally. I really think my friend expected him to get a full ride scholarship.

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Instead of starting at a community college, he should take no classes at all, only work a job, and apply to some schools that will give him significant merit for his stats

@hopedaisy

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If he has a shot at a full tuition/full ride scholarship with a better list, he shouldn’t attend CC since scholarships are few and far between for transfers.
Can he open an account on cc and start a thread? Can his mother?

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Bump

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This was a very helpful thread when I was going through the college search game with my kids!

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While I agree that the public’s are not known for giving tons of merit scholarships they are also more affordable (even the OOS ones) . Private schools, however, are known for inflating and discounting costs to attract more candidates so expecting to get some merit aid (even if one falls in the average of these schools stats) is not without reason. Following your advice students would only apply to colleges that they can afford out of pocket. (that would negate most of us). I can’t imagine hoping to graduate without making any financial contribution to your own or your child’s education, but I also can’t imagine expecting to pay $70,000 a year if you are part of the 90% of us with average incomes and 2.3 kids.

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What many parents are also “clueless” about is the limitation placed on the loans their child can take. Students are limited to $5500 freshman year and $6500 Sophomore year and a bit more on subsequent years. This is done to limit the amount of debt a student can incur obtaining an undergraduate degree, but the remaining cost will be on mom and dad.

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Can I ask where your son applied that had he could audition for non-major music money? My son is a euphonium player who doesn’t want to major in music but wants to continue playing and having lessons. He is very good.

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I think it is important not to discourage students from applying to schools that without significant aid they could not afford it. For students who have worked very hard to have a chance at the school of their dreams being admitted is a badge of honor even if ultimately they determine they can not afford it. I know very few who can pony up the half million it would take to educate two kids at a private college out of pocket. You never know unless you try.

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Saving for college can also backfire when it comes to time file FAFSA as the amount asset protection afforded even average earning households has dropped significantly meaning your savings could easily disqualify you for federal grants and subsidized loans. A better way is put the savings in grandma or grandpa’s name and then use it for the final year of college or to pay off any subsidized loans you may have taken.

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I encouraged my daughter, with above average stats and excellent Ec’s to apply to OOS state colleges where she may be from an underrepresented state - thus filling a diversity box that another wise middle class white girl could not fill. It’s worked out too and another state flagship will be about half the cost of our own (stingy flageship) due to her Merit!

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" For students who have worked very hard to have a chance at the school of their dreams being admitted is a badge of honor even if ultimately they determine they can not afford it. I"
A BADGE OF HONOR?? That’s called “trophy hunting” and should NOT be encouraged. The reason that colleges HAVE NPC’s is so that families KNOW IN ADVANCE what it will cost to send their child there.
It does a student no good to apply to colleges they CAN’T afford to attend.
I think if you start reading , you will find that all of us “old timers” on CC encourage students to run the NPC’s before submitting applications, instead of engaging in wishful thinking or trophy hunting.
sheesh…
[-( 8-|

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I disagree this completely. I absolutely discourage kids from applying to schools that they know they cannot afford. Applying to colleges comes with costs in terms of both $$ and time. It is a waste of both to apply to schools that they know that they cannot afford to attend. And, yes, it is possible to know if need-based only aid schools will be affordable before they apply. THat is what NPC are for. No need to try. You know.

For schools that offer merit aid, it is possible to have a general idea as to whether or not the student is at all competitive for schools’ available scholarships. If their stats are not in the top 25%, they are not going to be in the running for competitive scholarships. If all they have are test scores and no ECs and lacking top rigorous courses, they are not going to be in the running for competitive scholarships. If that type of scholarship is the only thing that will make a school affordable, again, there is not point applying.

Students can put more effort into creating a compelling app for schools where they are competitive than wasting their time and $$ at schools where it is obvious that they aren’t.

Getting into a school they can afford and are willing to attend is the only badge of honor that matters.

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I don’t know who you’re directing this at but…

Students do not have unlimited time nor resources to dedicated towards college apps, therefore they need to be prudent, particularly if money is tight. It’s ok to apply to one of two schools “just to see” if by some miracle they might be affordable (maybe an unexpected merit award). But to simply be looking for a “badge of honor,” leaves a bad taste in many of our mouthed.

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It is also really hard come March and April to get a lot of rejections if the student has applied to too many reaches. People SAY they are just taking a chance but it’s not fun to get confirmation that you aren’t getting into Stanford or Yale.

I’m not a big fan of doing even one ‘reachy reach’, especially if you can’t afford it even if you get in. Spend that money on lottery tickets.

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[Quote=Mom2aphysicsgeek]

For schools that offer merit aid, it is possible to have a general idea as to whether or not the student is at all competitive for schools’ available scholarships. If their stats are not in the top 25%, they are not going to be in the running for competitive scholarships. If all they have are test scores and no ECs and lacking top rigorous courses, they are not going to be in the running for competitive scholarships. If that type of scholarship is the only thing that will make a school affordable, again, there is not point applying.

[/quote]

This.

We knew without merit aid, school wasn’t happening, so we did the research. We looked at schools where daughters stats would put her in the top 10 to 20 percent of applicants. Then we combined that with schools with reputations for giving merit aid, and schools that stacked scholarships. We also made sure her EC were great to offset her lower stats. Her stats weren’t bad, but far from perfect. She has some major learning difficulties, and her school refuses to offer any accommodations, so she’s far from a straight A student. Because of that, we weren’t trying for ivy leagues or top schools. We knew realistically she wouldn’t get into those and definitely wouldn’t get any money. The goal was to find a good affordable school that would allow her to be successful in the field she wants to go into.

We found quite a few that fit what we were looking for. Schools with programs ranked in the top 25% for her field, but not top 20 schools or anything. She ended up receiving 50 to 75% of tuition in merit aid from every school, with options to go back and compete for more at about half. 4 of the schools wanted her badly enough to offer discretionary funds to bridge the remaining gap. One school even offered to pay to fly us all out to the school. I can guarantee you the top schools wouldn’t have thought twice about us, much less offered to pay for plane tickets.

I feel like people think it’s either an Ivy League education or nothing. Like you have to choose between community college or Harvard. The truth is millions of people go to lesser known schools and still go on to lead successful lives. Every school we’ve looked at has had 100% job placement for her major (with most being offered jobs before graduation) with positions starting around 65,000 to 80,000 a year, and these schools are giving her the merit aid she needs to be able to go.

I did let daughter apply to one reach school for the fun of it, and only because it was a tuition exchange school with an amazing program in a great city. She knew her chances of getting in were basically zero, but she was curious. She ended up waitlisted which surprised me. I thought for sure she’d be outright rejected. They only had a 30% acceptance rate, and her stats were below their average.

However, in general, I agree with others. I see no point in applying to schools where you don’t come close to meeting their criteria or that you can’t afford. One reach is ok if you have the time and resources to spend on it, but you really need to have realistic options first. Do the research. Find schools that will give you the aid you need. If your child just barely scrapes by and gets in as one of the academically lowest students, they aren’t getting merit aid. In addition, how well realistically do yo think they are going to do in that type of environment where everyone else did better? Encourage them to find the right fit, not necessarily the most prestigious one.

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How about a university that sends promotional material (on a weekly basis) to a high performing student promising merit aid for a combination of certain test scores and GPA? A targeted campaign! AND then places the applicant on the waitlist. This is, at a minimum, unethical. The cost of applying to several colleges is not insignificant, and schools that employ these strategies to increase application numbers should be fined.

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"How about a university that sends promotional material (on a weekly basis) to a high performing student promising merit aid for a combination of certain test scores and GPA? .AND then places the applicant on the waitlist. "

@Eyeleen
I know its hard to accept BUT Universities employ Enrollment Management marketing companies to increase the # of applicants. Just as other companies pay advertising companies to try to entice you to consider buying a Mercedes. Enrollment management companies have NO input with admissions committees regarding who is or is not accepted. It sucks but it is what it is.
For instance, Wash U has a NOTORIOUS reputation for WL’s THOUSANDS of students who do NOT apply ED.

What parents NEED to do is research stats of ACCEPTED applicants at colleges. That is best done by looking at the Common Data Sets for any colleges you child is considering. Those are public documents can be found here. NOT all colleges participate, but most with competitive admissions do.

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

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It’s marketing