More financial aid? Transfer student, Incoming Freshman, Defer for a year

Paying for College
1

<p>My child had a concussion at the beginning of her junior year and was only able to do the work in 4 classes. She was medically cleared at the beginning of her senior year and she has a lot to catch up on and it leaves her with perhaps 3 options. Her Oct. SAT scores were average</p>

<p>1) Do the best she can and apply to schools and start attending schools next Fall.</p>

<p>2) Wait a year, take CLEP exams for credit and apply to schools next year as an incoming Sophpmorei</p>

<p>3) Next year go to community college, then transfer to another school/university after a couple of years.</p>

<p>What I am trying to determine is how do each of these options work from a financial aid perspective? Are almost all monies “spring loaded” to option #1? Or if you take an atypical path to the school of your choice does one still have good financial options available?</p>

<p>Also what I was told is that while schools state they will take CLEP, they will not take any CLEP credit once they have seen your application.</p>

2

<p>IF your D takes a gap year, then she’s an incoming frosh, not a soph…no matter how many CLEP credits she’ll have. </p>

<p>Money is “loaded” for incoming frosh.</p>

<p>I think she should apply to colleges now and see what happens. </p>

<p>If her SAT scores were average, does that mean that she’ll be applying to schools that don’t give a lot of aid? Have you run the NPCs?</p>

3

<p>IF your D takes a gap year, then she’s an incoming frosh, not a soph…no matter how many CLEP credits she’ll have. </p>

<p>Money is “loaded” for incoming frosh.</p>

<p>I think she should apply to colleges now and see what happens. </p>

<p>If her SAT scores were average, does that mean that she’ll be applying to schools that don’t give a lot of aid? Have you run the NPCs?</p>

4

<p>What do you view as an “average” SAT score? What is her GPA? What types of colleges does your daughter wish to target? How much can you pay for college annually?</p>

<p>No way to answer your question without knowing the answers to these questions.</p>

5

<p>You need to investigate the CLEP policy at each place that she is considering. Some prefer the exams to be taken before the student enrolls. Others don’t care at all. </p>

6

<p>D got a 1600/2400 on SAT. Most FA directed toward incoming frosh makes sense to me…She is considering 15 schools or so, but doesn’t have her heart set on anyone of them. Thinking that if she applied to the schools and got in with a deferment would they revisit FA award with an open eye next year or does the FA get locked into place for this year?</p>

7

<p>I would imagine that any merit awards would be locked in place, however federal awards may adjust - just depending on any budget updates from the feds. </p>

8

<p>Generally, merit scholarships are better for frosh than transfers.</p>

<p>Some private schools (e.g. Columbia) give worse need-based financial aid to transfers compared to frosh.</p>

9

<p>What is hr combined Critical Reading + Math Scores?</p>