@3scoutsmom - just wanted to make sure you know not all $2500 NM have been awarded. They will be offered in waves depending upon what students decide.
Just in case…
@bookmom7 good to know! It would be a boost to her ego even though it doesn’t stack at her school.
In speaking with D16 this weekend she talked with a very level head about the three schools left on her list. She and we are very fortunate that two of them are full rides, while the third, which is the highest ranked, offers full tuition and fees, but of all of her schools from her original list would have the highest R&B (expensive city, so going off campus isn’t a huge help and she really doesn’t want to go off campus), travel costs and miscellaneous costs related to travel and transport of her belongings. She has eliminated any schools prior to this point that were not within our defined budget and any she really does not want to attend. Her original dream school fell off of her list because although she likes it, others have displaced it from the top of the list.
She is going to see the school that will cost both she and we the most money out of pocket this coming weekend (we split direct costs up to matching the unsubsidized loan and cover all other indirect costs ourselves as per our agreement with D). In her words it has to be a total takes her breath away, cannot live another second without attending this school knockout for her to choose to spend money that she could otherwise keep in her pocket and ours. She will be closely checking out the school and area as a possible grad/professional school and seeing if it really grabs her so much that she turns those other offers down.
At times she muses that she wishes costs were something she never had to consider when it comes to school, and I remind her to look at the car she drives, the ones her Mom and I drive and plenty of other things in our life to see that cost and avoiding avoidable debt, while searching for good value, is the way we and she have always lived our lives. She chose not to apply for any outside scholarships, knowing early on that she had a full ride school in her pocket, and hasn’t really worked summers so that she could concentrate on academics and EC’s (lots of volunteering). That strategy paid off with some of the offers she has gotten, but has given her no savings of fall back outside scholarships. Those were conscious choices she made and we allowed her to make, and she seems fine living within those practical constraints. If she decides to spend more money on her most expensive option, it won’t be because she didn’t weigh cost and value, it will be because she did and found it was something valuable enough to be worth paying for.
@labegg, wait, didn’t your D have a conversation with someone from the music faculty at her school? About getting paid for playing piano? Did she find out how much time commitment that would entail? Is she not going to do that any more? I’m just asking because if you qualify for federal work study and get such a position then they don’t withhold FICA taxes, just federal from the pay and the income doesn’t affect her FAFSA EFC because it is from “need based employment program”.
I totally understand being careful in first semester or year with the workload of classes etc
I’ll put a bug in your ear about why it might (might!) be worth it to apply for a handful of low-amount scholarships even if the cost-benefit analysis shows they would not help reduce your out of pocket college costs. Prestige. The scholarship does not have to be prestigious, but to have been awarded one/some is. Why would that matter? It matters for the next scholarship or award or honor or opportunity the student attempts to get. Success breeds success, on this front. So, in the long game, some financially inconsequential scholarship award now could have soft influence on attaining future honors. These kids are “building their brands” now. 
@dyiu13 one of the scholarship my D has applied for for her major is automatically renewable for a second year, pending grades. The same organization offers another scholarship for Junior and Senior years for more $$ but I think getting the freshman/sophomore scholarship might help in getting the junior/senior scholarship.
When we met with the head of the department, he specifically mentioned this scholarship as one they keep track of and have a friendly rivalry with other schools with the same major. For them, even though it is not a $$$ scholarship it is indeed a prestige thing and would look good on a grad school application.
Ok, can someone give me a link for a good website on the different types of loans? Good and bad? I would really like to know what we are getting into. I know I want to ask one school if they could possibly look again at her aid. We have had some pretty high expenses come in since we did the paperwork. Does this paperwork ever end? {sigh}
@Skates76 A friend of mine expressed similar sentiments today. She got in to her favorite school but it’s off the table because they gave her as she put it “zero dollars and zero cents” . She said a rejection would have been less painful than getting in with zero money. Thankfully she has other options she is happy about that gave her generous amounts of aid but still, it definitely stung. On the topic of scholarships my mom made us apply for any and all school and local ones we qualify for. In fact I’m in the middle of finishing a 9 attachment application right now.
@readingclaygirl, how did you find out about those? Isn’t there a site that is sort of a clearing house that people go to? S’s choice is costing more than some of the other options he had. We agreed that he would take a small loan for the first year - the whole skin in the game thing - but, I may recommend he look into something like this just to one, put some of his own effort into this and two, because @dyiu13 make me think of next year when he will again apply for supplemental scholarships through the school. Maybe even showing one thing would help his chances. He missed the deadline this year because unfortunately he had ruled this school out earlier.
I don’t know. The guidance office keeps applications for school and local scholarships in the guidance office and there is a frequently updated list on the school website.
Just echoing what @readingclaygirl stated. My D16’s guidance counselor has local and nation scholarships posted outside of her office that she updates frequently. The school also updates the senior section of their student portal with the various opportunities. You can also google scholarships and a ton come up. I think we have used Niche to find a couple and we got a book listing thousands of scholarships as well.
To share a loan horror story I only need to go back to S’12’s situation. His Mother and I are divorced and when school discussions came up I was basically kept out of the loop. I was never certain of how many schools he applied to or which ones, his Mother was of the mindset that money shouldn’t matter and was never the type to do the kind of research that brought me her to CC. I was told when he decided to go to a semi-local LAC with a very good reputation and had a nice financial package with it, one I would have always approved of. Just before officially signing on the deposit line, he was taken off the waitlist at another school, larger, well regarded, but known for a low yield on its acceptances because it is very pricey and even with the scholarships that I think they offer to everyone, the out of pocket price was out of this world. It is one of those schools that send a financial aid award that includes a ParentPlus loan in the $25-30K range as part of the ‘Aid’ they offer, on top of the unsubsidized student loan.
It was his dream school and though I said I would not sign for the PP loan, his Mom did. He was going for CSE, but even with that high paying major he and she were looking at $100,000 plus in loans for UG. Since then he decided to switch majors to psych and sociology, which will extend his time in school and likely require grad school too. I am very happy with his new choice of majors and career plans, they really do fit his passions far more than CSE ever did, but other than trying to find some loan forgiveness programs since his future career plans are in fields where that might be possible to some extent, he and she have a huge mountain of debt. Knowing what I do now about PP loans, I feel guilty for even agreeing to temporarily act as a guarantor for her PP loan (with my name since removed from it) for his sophomore year when she had a clerical hiccup in her credit check.
Biggest irony, the school he was originally going to attend has a much stronger program in psych/soc than the big price tag school he ended up going to and he would not have that giant loan monkey on his back, nor would she.
The loans were for a school that D’16 applied to and dropped like a hot potato when we saw the PP loan amount in her financial package, despite getting a half tuition scholarship. Her view was succinctly stated in that she only dreams about schools that dream about her (and apparently schools dream about her by giving her better aid, or so I surmise).
Got accepted to Vassar today! Really excited as it’s one of my top choices I am deciding between.
@frenchtoastlover Congrats! My son was accepted at Vassar as well…
@frenchtoastlover Congratulations!! My cousin’s daughter is a freshman there and seems very happy.
@frenchtoastlover I have a friend who’s D16 was accepted to Vassar ED. She is super excited and has nothing but great things to say about the college. Congrats!!! I am looking forward to you decision process and your final choice.
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Congrats to your son @Highbury!
Thank you @Highbury and congrats to your S!
@CAMidwestMom Thank you and glad your cousin’s D is enjoying Vassar!
@livinginLA Thanks, and yes I will be glad to finally have made a decision too!
Congrats @frenchtoastlover @Highbury Vassar is a great school. The guy who tutored me in math goes there
Great news @Highbury and @frenchtoastlover! Vassar is also the top pick for a friend’s D.