S2 best friend's situation....

Paying for College
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<p>So Son is applying to UA (done!), LA Tech, the UC’s and probably CSU to keep all options open. We live in CA, obviously. CS major, stats 3.75, 1360 SAT. Will be taking ACT and SAT to up from 1360 to 1400+ hopefully. </p>

<p>Thanks to all for your great input here. </p>

<p>His best, best friend - a wonderful young lady - they want to go away together to school, which is one of the reasons I feel good about UA and LA Tech. ( Her mother is from the south.) Having a good friend there would certainly make for a different type of adventure and give him some grounding. She is also a CS major, 4.3+ (or close) GPA and who hasn’t taken the SAT or ACT yet. She is a sharp cookie. She will be the first in her family to attend a four year college. Not low income, - middle. Don’t know all the info yet. </p>

<p>For example… if Son and friend both attend UA and she also receives the presidential scholarship, along with the $2,500 ENG/CS stipend… would she be eligible for any other grants, aid, etc? </p>

<p>For those UC folks out there, would she be eligible for other grants I am not aware of?</p>

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<p>*His best, best friend - a wonderful young lady - they want to go away together to school, which is one of the reasons I feel good about UA and LA Tech. ( Her mother is from the south.) Having a good friend there would certainly make for a different type of adventure and give him some grounding. She is also a CS major, 4.3+ (or close) GPA and who hasn’t taken the SAT or ACT yet. She is a sharp cookie. She will be the first in her family to attend a four year college. Not low income, - middle. Don’t know all the info yet. </p>

<p>For example… if Son and friend both attend UA and she also receives the presidential scholarship, along with the $2,500 ENG/CS stipend… would she be eligible for any other grants, aid, etc? </p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Grants are based on need, yet you say that she’s not low income, but middle. Scholarships get applied to “need” first, so much will depend on her EFC. Are you saying that her parents can’t pay any of their EFC?</p>

<p>Students don’t usually get much in grants from OOS publics unless they qualify for federal grants. </p>

<p>So, if a school’s cost is about $40k
if EFC is about $18k </p>

<p>Then her “need” is about $22k.</p>

<p>So, when Bama gives her a free tuition scholarship (about $24k) and a CS scholarship $2500, then that means that she’s being given about $26k towards “need” (which is actually greater than her need and reduces the family’s contribution to about $16k.</p>

<p>She wouldn’t qualify for any other need based aid because all of her “need” is covered. However, she can still take out a $5500 unsub student loan, which would bring the family contribution down to about $10k.</p>

<p>Since merit gets applied to need, and need is covered, she wouldn’t qualify for any more need based aid.</p>

<p>*
For those UC folks out there, would she be eligible for other grants I am not aware of?*</p>

<p>For UCs…much will depend on whether she qualifies for the Blue and Gold promise and Cal Grants. Do her parents earn less than $80k per year?</p>

<p>How does she plan on covering the family’s EFC? At a UC, student loans will be used to cover “need” so she won’t be able to use them towards EFC unless she gets a Regents or something to supplement other aid.</p>

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<p>LA Tech has automatic merit scholarships, so if she gets the right combo of grades/scores, she won’t need any other money (it covers tuition, room, board, and some other stuff). My niece is going this fall … thanks to the auto scholarship.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the further clarification, Mom2. </p>

<p>Kelsmom - Thank goodness - an LA Tech contact! I’ve been searching far and wide for someone who has inside advice on LA Tech. It is an option as well. Have you been there, or what feedback did you receive from niece’s parents? I have spent some time researching, so I understand most of the general stuff and the pros/cons. Can you give me more info?</p>

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<p>My niece is from the midwest, and she applied there sort of on a whim. She wasn’t really interested, but my brother encouraged her to visit before she said no. The two of them went to an accepted student day, and she fell in love with it! She likes the students, the campus, the dorms … My brother feels very comfortable sending her there, even though it’s far from home. The biggest concern is that the school is on quarters, and students have to leave the dorm in between … so there will be some extra trips home involved. I can keep you updated once she gets there - drop me a PM in the fall if your S is still considering it.</p>

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<p>Will do, Kelsmom. If you come across any other LA Tech parents here, please let me know as well. Curious if niece knows what she wants to study?</p>

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<p>Kelsmom (not to hijack the thread, but it should also be relevant to the original poster)</p>

<p>Has your brother researched the cost of those flights home? Which airport will they use?</p>

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<p>Bama does have a larger scholarship, but they give only 8-10 per year so it’s extremely competitive.</p>

<p><a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/elite.html[/url]”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/elite.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I would suggest applying to some other mid-tier schools with competitive full ride scholarships, such as Mississippi State, Florida International, LSU, SE Missouri State, Texas @ Dallas, etc.</p>

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<p>Niece thinks she may want to study English … yes, not exactly what comes to mind when someones says they will attend LA Tech! She isn’t for-sure, though, so who knows. She could easily switch to a traditional “tech” major once she gets there - she would be able to handle it academically.</p>

<p>My brother bought her a used car so she can come home, or drive somewhere to meet the family, or drive to a major airport … options are open that way.</p>

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<p>lastminute - yes, have to factor in those flights back and forth. Definitely cost of doing business. </p>

<p>Bob, I had forgotten about the competitive additional scholarship as it isn’t relevant to my son. It would be, however, to his friend. One never knows. Are any of the schools you mentioned known for their Computer Science depts? Is there any school that stands out to you? And, would my son also be able to compete with his stats? 3.75/1360 </p>

<p>And Bob, have you narrowed down your selections for your son yet? I know he is a year behind mine but am curious where you are at with it. </p>

<p>Kelsmom, I’m happy your niece fell in love and found her college home! Very exciting ! Good for her.</p>

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<p>She should check the net price calculators at the UC and CSU schools’ web sites to get an idea of what need-based financial aid there will be for her. If her family’s “middle income” is around $50,000 per year, then it is likely that her FAFSA EFC will be only a few thousand dollars, so her UC net price will be that plus a student contribution of about $9,000 (= Stafford loan plus work or work-study earnings, varies somewhat by campus).</p>

<p>Note that Louisiana Tech’s 3.0 HS GPA / 32 ACT automatic scholarship covers tuition, fees, room, and board.</p>

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<p>thanks, ucb. That’s very helpful.</p>

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<p>77Choco - The Presidential scholarship is pretty darn competitive. It is unlikely for even a valedictorian with a near perfect SAT.</p>

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<p>GT…which school’s Presidential Scholarship are you talking about?</p>

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<p>All the schools I mentioned have ABET accredited CS programs. That’s the most important thing to look for, and they have a nice search tool on the ABET website.</p>

<p>77, my son’s in-state option is the most likely - Georgia Tech.</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>Yes, being instate in GA with HOPE, GT would be a sweet deal!</p>

<p>Bob, I had forgotten about the competitive additional scholarship as it isn’t relevant to my son</p>

<p>the Academic Elite scholarship requires that the student apply for University Fellows. If accepted, then the students are considered for the AE award. If you’re talking about the Crimson Alumni scholarship, they’re not awarding to OOS students anymore because the Alumni group can’t afford the OOS rates. However, they may still award one per year to an OOS student, but the chances are lottery-like.</p>

<p>IF the student is in a Arts&Science major (A&S college, not eng’g), and scores an ACT 35-36 or SAT equivalent, then Bama usually awards another $4k per year on top of free tuiton…especially if the student applies early in the app season.</p>

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<p>GT - yes, I understand the awarding of the elite scholarship is an extraordinary achievement. </p>

<p>Mom2, thanks for your clarification on that and the other info on the UA $4,000 Arts and Science award based on test scores. </p>

<p>Bob - thanks for reminding me to go to the ABET site. Trying to absorb so much info here the obvious isn’t always making it’s way through to my brain. You are on GT faculty, did I read? Well, that’s a no-brainer for DS. :-)</p>

<p>ucb - on top of the fact I have my DS graduation next year, along with his best friend as mentioned here… my DS has a twin sister ! They are VERY different… DS goes to the small high school, quieter engineering/ CS type, DD goes to large high school, is into dance, extremely outgoing, etc. etc. A 3.0 math/science student but A++ English, history, humanities, art. 3.83 GPA but is not the best SAT test taker even after a 6 week prep class. And, more importantly - she is very practical, is looking at wanting smaller lower division class sizes and taking a bit more time (which is a smart move for her - I can see her working 20 hours a week, enjoying growing up and taking three years for IGETC - she loves the work - school balance) and has her heart set on attending Santa Barbara City College and then transferring to UC Santa Barbara. She is very proud of the fact she has worked hard, saving enough money to pay for her tuition at SBCC and for a good portion of living expenses already. The working part is such a critical component of her personality. </p>

<p>We will go ahead and fill out the UC and CSU applications for her in case something changes between now and next spring. But she looks to be set. </p>

<p>I feel immersed in teenage- land with all the angst and optimism of taking on the world!</p>

<p>I value and appreciate the wisdom and knowledge imparted here. Most of all, I don’t feel so alone with these enormous decisions! Thank God for technology.</p>