@ChangeTheGame @apraxiamom Be careful. Often times these scholarships take away your need based aid if you have any so it ends up being a wasted effort. It doesn’t go towards paying your EFC.
The only way to gain ground on your EFC is likely for kiddo to get a job. They won’t stack these scholarships many times.
@gearmom, @ChangeTheGame: Good point. I agree students should check individual college policies first.
@thumper1 You quoted the OP in #79. @camcam2022 didn’t say that.
@ChangeTheGame That isn’t the way it works, outside scholarship to help. It will reduce your need aid. That is why people suggest places like U of Alabama Huntsville because of guaranteed whopping aid that can cut into your EFC. It’s the ONLY way to do it many times.
@apraxiamom @ChangeTheGame It’s MOST that reduce need based aid. If you can find an exception let us know. Very few have been able to find a place to stack scholarships. The norm is disappointed wasted effort in which your need based aid is taken away by the scholarship amount.
@gearmom Understood. At some of the cheaper schools (UGA ,Georgia Tech, TSU, Southern) my EFC is too high to get any need based aid so this can cover some of the remaining balance (At Tulane however we would have to get enough to cover any need aid + our EFC to make things work).
@ChangeTheGame Make sure that they allow your merit aid to stack. You probably have but you need to make sure
At UGA they have already stacked what my daughter has received so far and Georgia Tech (if she gets in) is the same. But Tulane is the big fish. If my daughter truly wants to go their she know the number she has to bring in outside scholarship money to make it happen (we did the Math after taking to Tulane) and it won’t be easy. But life isn’t easy… Hopefully, she will get the DHS Award (full tuition) which will make Tulane the same price as UGA and Georgia Tech
Look carefully at those outside scholarships. Many are not renewable for subsequent years…in other words…they are for freshman year only. While that will ease the burden at a place like Tulane for one year…what about the other three?
I’m a big fan of “every penny counts”. So do apply for,these scholarships…but in your planning…remember, college will be more than just this coming academic year.
@ChangeTheGame Though it is risky, sometimes kids RA for free board (and sometimes board) sophomore year on. Might be an option for her if she can get the job.
Let’s hope for the DHS.
I have the handy dandy excel spreadsheet of costs for all of schools and she will know the final real costs. We pledged no loans a long time ago so schools not in our budget will get cut. I learned almost all of this stuff on CC. You all are awesome sharing your knowledge @gearmom and @thumper1
The grandparent talked to my daughter and got nowhere. She passed the phone to me after 2 minutes (she told him she was finishing up an essay)
Does your daughter qualify for,the Zell Miller? What about Hope?
Post #90 That’s our girl. Eyes on the prize.
She does qualify for Zell Miller currently.
In all honesty, I haven’t found any scholarships that will make a severe dent into $67,000/year. If you know of any, please keep me updated! I’m trying to get down to a maximum cost of $35,000/year so you can imagine how that is going…
I am not at all. I know a person receiving merit money. So unless the parents is lieing to me
then it is true. Fact is also a neighbor’s daughter is receiving some from Princeton as well!!!
Look at #2. https://admission.princeton.edu/cost-aid/how-princetons-aid-program-works
Princeton does not give merit scholarships. Many people are misinformed about this and call need-based financial aid a scholarship.
@camcam2022 In casual conversation, it is not unusual for someone to refer to financial aid, especially a grant, as a “scholarship.” That doesn’t mean it’s merit-based. From the respective websites:
Here’s info from Penn. http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/costs-financial-aid/financial-aid-at-penn
@ChangeTheGame You have probably already done this, but with all this talk of trying for outside scholarships, I would suggest running the NPCs at a few of the top meet-need schools just for the sake of comparison, to make sure she’s not passing up potentially better financial possibilities.