<p>Okay. So I’m 17 and I am under legal guardianship. I got accepted to both of the colleges I really wanted to go to- Columbia College Chicago (private) and Southern Illinois University Carbondale (public). I’ve already sent in my verification documents that prove I am an independent student.
My question is, how much aid am I likely to get? Do you think either school will meet my full need?
Will I get aid all four years?
Help me please?!</p>
<p>Need based aid is computed annually. You would need to ask the colleges if their awards would be similar from year to year assuming your financial situation does not change. </p>
<p>Neither of those colleges guarantees to meet full need so you will need to wait and see. Does Illinois have any grants specific to low income students? </p>
<p>Good luck… I hope it all works out for you. Congratulations on your acceptances.</p>
<p>When we visited Columbia with Happykid last year, the admissions office was very straightforward about how limited their financial aid is. I’d suggest that you run the Net Price Calculator at the website, so that you get a general idea of what your situation could be like. Happykid was accepted, but the only aid offered was Stafford Loans, so she won’t be in Chicago this fall.</p>
<p>If neither of these places are affordable right now, do you have a back-up plan? Can you continue to live with your guardian(s) and study at a local community college for a year or two?</p>
<p>Neither school guarantees to meet full need and if you look up their data, you will see how much need is met on average, and how much of it is grant. Most of such school give very little other than what the government (state and federal) have available. An old friend of mine who went back to school and had an EFC of zero only got the PELL and Staffords plus about a thousand or so in actual money from the colleges themselves offered to her. She had people within admissions pulling for her and going the extra mile to get whatever funds out there for her and those small awards were the only things they could find. I don’t know if Illinois has any state programs that give low income students additional money, like NY does, but her state had a big fat zero in anything.</p>