I’m a parent of a junior, expecting to start college fall of 2016. My daughter works hard, well rounded (athletics) with a weighted GPA of about 4.4. She wants to go to a good school which means $$ but I don’t want her coming out with crazy debt, and I have no savings. So we are looking to financial aid (grants) and scholarships. I hear Ivy leagues don’t offer scholarships but I know nothing about what is true and what is rumor, and its difficult to find real information without hours of research. And the competition is crazy as well, lots of good students in need. We are in California - and of course UCs are good, but since she is an adventurous soul and would rather leave her home area. Any advice on how to proceed is greatly appreciated!
thanks
Start by reading the links on the thread here. Lots of good information.
Ivy League schools give need based aid only. Will you qualify for need based aid?
There is a Net Price Calculator on each college website. Right now, they are set up for freshmen enrolling in fll 2015. But using the NPC will give you an idea of your possible net costs.
If you are divorced, own a business, are self employed, or own real estate other than your primary residence, the NPCs are not always accurate.
Many top schools, not just Ivies, offer only need-based aid. And the schools determine how much you need, not you :)) If your D is a fantastic student AND you have significant financial need, then an Ivy or a Boston College or another private school with significant name recognision might work. If you do have financial need, you should start looking at schools that claim to meet financial need, and then go further and see if you can find out about how those financial aid packages break down - many schools will offer you “aid” in the form of loans. It can be very misleading.
If you don’t have significant need she can look for schools where she would be competitive for merit-based scholarships. This is another place where net price calculators don’t give an accurate picture, as many merit scholarships don’t have clearly defined criteria - it really depends on what the applying class looks like. Realize she won’t get merit aid at a school unless she’s in the top % of applicants. This doesn’t mean she needs to go to a lousy school. There are many great schools out there that don’t have as much name recognition as an Ivy or a school like Duke, but still offer fantastic educational opportunities. In many cases an Honors program might add significant perks (although not all Honors programs are created equal).
There are some schools that do have defined criteria for awarding merit scholarships based on GPA and standardized test scores - Alabama is one such school. Most public universities don’t offer significant aid to students from out-of-state. But don’t let the sticker price of private schools scare you off - if your D is in the top 10-15% of applicants, she may be eligible for substantial aid in the form of merit scholarships.
There are a couple of threads on automatic merit scholarships and competitive merit scholarships that can be quite helpful.
Is she eligible for the QuestBridge College Prep Scholarship? The deadline is in 11 days. It’s also worth taking the time to try to apply to Nordstrom’s Scholarship (due on May 1).
But most scholarship money comes from the schools. As the posters above have said, you’ll want to see where she qualifies for merit scholarships.
Courtney…this student is a junior in HS. Are you saying the quest bridge and Nordstom scholarships have these deadlines for current HS juniors?
@thumper1 Yes.
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I’m a parent of a junior, expecting to start college fall of 2016. My daughter works hard, well rounded (athletics) with a weighted GPA of about 4.4. She wants to go to a good school which means $$ but I don’t want her coming out with crazy debt, and I have no savings. So we are looking to financial aid (grants) and scholarships. I hear Ivy leagues don’t offer scholarships but I know nothing about what is true and what is rumor, and its difficult to find real information without hours of research. And the competition is crazy as well, lots of good students in need. We are in California - and of course UCs are good, but since she is an adventurous soul and would rather leave her home area. Any advice on how to proceed is greatly appreciated!
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Test scores matter a LOT for admission to top school or for awarding large merit.
When will she be testing? How did she do on the PSAT?
The ivies give no merit scholarships. They are also the hardest to get into.
Need based aid will be based on your income and assets (not bills).
Are you low income?
Does your child have a non custodial parent? If so, then the best schools will consider his/her income as well.
How much can you contribute towards college each year?
Questbridge is a low income program. The program for Jr’s is not scholarship funds for college but is assorted college prep opportunities.and money for some summer programs. Also the Sr year one is not money for college per se, but is a program where partner colleges offer full rides to students.
The Nordstrom is a good suggestion, one of the ones open to Juniors
http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/nordstrom-cares-scholarship-us-puerto-rico
College Prep doesn’t give money for college, but helps kids get into prestigious summer programs/visit college/enroll in standardized testing prep classes, all of which can help you pull scholarships senior year. That’s why it’s a good idea if you qualify.
Those ARE great ideas for this student, if he/she qualifies.
Thanks for,posting them.
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I don’t want her coming out with crazy debt,
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She can’t come out with crazy debt unless YOU enable that. She can only borrow $5500 as a freshman. To borrow more YOU would have to either borrow the money or YOU would have to co-sign those loans (and you’d have to re qualify each year…and each year your credit rating takes a hit from the added debt. Many parents will not co-sign since the parent is responsible for the loan if the student doesn’t pay (and if it’s a lot of debt, then often the child cannot pay it back).
So, your D won’t have crazy debt unless you allow her to.
What is her major and career goal?
Your D may be adventurous but adventure is often a luxury. If it’s not affordable it doesn’t happen.
BTW…Calif is a huge state…the north is different from the south. Just going to a different region of the state is adventurous.
Once your D has test scores, you’ll better know what options might be affordable.
Thanks so much - very helpful info from everyone. Now lots more to read through in my spare time! But all very valuable and very important. Do I have financial need? Yes, according to me but California is an expensive state and I may be told I should sell or borrow against my house. (doesn’t make sense considering I was upside down on it 5 years ago, and I personally have $30K in student loans). But as mentioned here its not determined by me, but by their calculators. Dad (divorced) has no income, been unemployed for years and provides no financial support. I have seen different levels of max income like $60K/year or $90K/year which are quite different. She is #2 in her class but I don’t know how that ranks in the entire country.
Again - much to read through here and look into. But again, thanks for the jump start!
Sometimes smaller and less prestigious schools give more money. My daughter’s favorite safety currently has the most money on the table for us. And, we are in a similar situation, our income cuts us out of some need based aid - but we live in an area that is more expensive then just about anywhere in the US. I told her nothing is ruled out until everything is on the table and luckily she is very anti-debt!