<p>I come from a lower middle class white family. In 2013 my parents made 35k total (they will be making more this year, I’m just unsure as to how much because rarely do they discuss finances with me) and as of right now my dad is receiving unemployment. I applied for 5 colleges, however none of them will I be able to go to and afford without taking out loans. My parents understand that I’m responsible and will be working while I’m in college to help pay for my tuition, so they’re willing to cosign on my student loans, however I feel guilty taking out so much each year and I’d like to graduate with as little debt as possible. I believe my net price calculator told me that I would need approximately 11k in loans (I’m not positive because I don’t completely understand how those work, plus some of the stuff while filling it out I just estimated). By the time august comes around I should have about 7k saved up from working (I work as a CNA so I have long shifts and get good pay, plus I’m good at budgeting money) but I still would like to try and take out as little as possible in loans. </p>
<p>So I’ve spent the entire day looking up and applying for scholarships… But they’re all so competitive and/or specific. I’ve applied for approximately 6 today, and when I get back from break I’ll get the forms to apply for 8 more. But again, a lot of these are highly competitive and with my average stats I highly doubt I’ll get many, if any, of them… So I’d like advice. </p>
<p>I’m a first generation, white female senior in a suburban town in Wisconsin. I’m planning on going into nursing, I have a 3.6 uw gpa and 3.7 weighted gpa (although it will go up because this semester I have a 4.4 w gpa… Don’t know my uw yet) and got a 28 on the act. I’ve never played varsity sports but I am involved in community service (I have 100+ hours of volunteer). I’ve never done anything extremely noteworthy or inspiring for my extracurriculars. So where should I look for scholarships/are there any scholarships you know of that could be fitting for me? I’ve been on scholarship.com and cappex already, along with on my high schools website. </p>
<p>Also, any financial aid dos and donts would be very much appreciated because I’m the first kid in my family to go to college and so neither my parents nor myself know what we’re doing, so I’m sort of left to figure it out on my own.</p>
<p>Have you looked at lower cost ways to get that nursing degree? Could you get a nursing degree at a community college, and then compete a BSN while working?</p>
<p>Does your employer offer any tuition compensation to full time employees! Maybe work and go to,school part time?</p>
<p>How much in loans do you think you will need annually?</p>
<p>How low income are you? Have you run the net price calculator on each of those five college websites? If not, do so? See what aid you might get. </p>
<p>Are there any grants in Wisconsin for low income stidents? Find out…and find out how to apply if there are.</p>
<p>ETA…you mention Marquette, and Loyola in Chicago in other posts. Both are private universities…and are very expensive. You need to run the net price calculators for those colleges. Are you instate for Wisconsin or Minnesota? </p>
<p>You really need to look at your net costs. </p>
<p>Marquette, for example…is $50,000 a year…or so. Your parents would need to qualify as cosigners for your loans for FOUR years. If they are truly low income, that is a doubtful thing. </p>
<p>@thumper1 I have considered a community college, however my parents know how hard I’ve tried throughout high school to get into these colleges and they don’t want me going to community college because they want me to get the “college experience” and they think I’ll enjoy how much more seriously college students take their education. Also, the place I work at does not offer tuition compensation. Plus commuting would be somewhat difficult. </p>
<p>As previously mentioned in the original post, I’m not sure how much I’ll need in annual loans. I had used the net price calculator but again I’m not completely sure if it’s accurate. Luckily the two most affordable schools are the two I want to go to most. I think one was 7k (university of Wisconsin) and the other was 11k (university of Minnesota) and I’m pretty sure that was after my $5500 from FAFSA. And again, all I know is that my family made 35k in 2013. Every time I ask my parents to run the net price calculators they lecture me and say that it’s not a good time and we’ll do it later, but this is a big concern for me and that’s why I’m trying to apply for as many scholarships as possible right now. </p>
<p>I’m instate for Wisconsin but have reciprocity in Minnesota. Loyola was a back up and Marquette was just to please my God father, but after being accepted into University of Wisconsin both are out of the picture. I’m still waiting to hear back from Minnesota, however, and that’s my top school. </p>
<p>Also, if my parents were unable to cosign a loan, my god father (if able to, I’m not sure if people who aren’t related can cosign?) would definitely be able to and would most likely be willing to. </p>
<p>@Madison85 Madison’s about 2 hours away so it’d be difficult to commute, and again it’d be difficult due to 4 family members sharing 2 cars. Uwm and uww are about 45 minutes away. I’m not sure about lacrosse.
Also when I filled out the EFC I believe it said my parents contributions were $100 but I’m not positive and again it was all estimation. </p>
<p>For nursing in Wisconsin, for someone who is low income, I think @SOSConcern can give some good advice.</p>
<p>She knows which of the UWisconsin schools you should apply to. I think UWisc-Madison may give the best aid for you, but maybe also some of the other ones.</p>
<p>YOU don’t NOT want to borrow a lot. You should be able to get a good bit of need-based aid from your own state schools. Do not borrow money to attend a private or OOS public. </p>
<p>You may have reciprocity with UMInn for tuition rate, but you won’t get state aid. You need your state aid. It won’t help you much just to get instate rates at UMinn…you need the FA help that your OWN state schools will give you.</p>
<p>I hate being this guy, but in my opinion sites like ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ and ■■■■■■■■■■ are a bad use of time. Not because you aren’t good enough to get the scholarships, but because there are so many other people out there chasing after those and many of them are not even renewable. </p>
<p>The best scholarship opportunities are the ones provided directly by the colleges themselves; after those are the ones provided locally by groups in your community. I don’t want to discourage you from using Cappex and those other sites, but just be aware that it’s probably better to spend at least as much time looking for schools that provide scholarships.</p>
<p>I’m confused by why your parents are OK with cosigning loans but don’t want to run the net price calculator; cosigning loans is risky while the NPC is relatively painless. It’s a good idea to nail down how much money you will need now so it will help you gauge how much money you might have to borrow. If your EFC really is $100, you will most likely qualify for Pell money of around $5000 (the maximum amount is $5,730 for this year, for people with an EFC of $0). In addition, if your school participates in the FSEOG program and there is still enough money available for it at your school you may receive an additional grant of between $100 and $4000. On top of that, you may receive a Perkins loan (if your school has enough funding) which is another federal loan.</p>
<p>UW has a program called PEOPLE that is primarily for URMs but also for white first-generation low-income students. If you aren’t in Madison it is hard to participate as it starts in middle school or high school with school year and summer support activities, many held `at the U. It culminates in a 5 yr full-tuition scholarship. You might contact someone there. They may know of other scholarships at UW for first generation, point you in the right direction.
<a href=“http://www.peopleprogram.wisc.edu/application.html”>http://www.peopleprogram.wisc.edu/application.html</a></p>
<p>@heyoimsam Did you fill out the Wisconsin Covenant Pledge in 8th grade? For example with a zero EFC a student can receive $2500 per year up to 4 years in grants.</p>
<p>Email <a href="mailto:garth.beyer@wi.gov">garth.beyer@wi.gov</a> with your first name, last name and date of birth and he will let you know if you signed up in 8th grade.</p>
<p>Many of the UW schools would be great for nursing for the first two years and would be cheaper than the flagships. Look at Eau Claire, Stevens Point, Oshkosh. If your father is unemployed, he’ll be able to check the ‘displaced worker’ box on the FAFSA and most likely no assets will count. If your parents can’t qualify for a PLUS loan, which is much better than a private loan, then you will qualify for additional Stafford money and that may be enough. However, I think you can do this without loans. Ask your guidance counselor about local scholarships. Ask at your church. Local civic groups. Your costs at Wisconsin schools is low to begin with and I think your federal grants and some state grants will cover you. Really look at the cost of living in the smaller cities in Wisconsin (dorm fees) versus Madison/Mpls. I looked at UWSP this year and I think the R&B was only about $6500.</p>
<p>I will pm OP. I obtained BSN in WI; have a dau that is a junior in nursing school now (instate) but not in WI (have lived away from WI for many years).</p>
<p>This is such an individual situation as far as evaluating options and what schools have already been applied to - some options may be closed due to missed scholarship deadlines with particular schools.</p>
<p>Nursing school can be done but will have to explore options specific for this student.</p>
<p>Kudos for the CNA experience, good grades. ACT of 28 is indicative of capable of career goals in nursing - that was dau’s ACT and dau had similar GPA.</p>
<p>OP, I understand that you don’t want the CC option, but you probably should explore and have that option as a back-up in case you don’t manage to get an affordable 4 yr plan, though it seems hopeful that you will. </p>
<p>The WI CCs have very good transfer articulation agreements so that you can attend for 2 years and then move seamlessly into a 4 yr school the last 2 years. I don’t know what your nearest CC is, but Milwaukee Area Tech has an agreement with UW-Madison nursing program that you might look into if it’s close enough. There may be a contract of sorts that you need to sign about the time you graduate HS that specifies that if you complete certain courses with a certain GPA that you will be automatically accepted into the 4 yr program you are targeting. My D has a friend doing that at Madison College. Working as a nursing asst while attending CC and will transfer next fall to UW-Madison and live at home as it is quite close. Has been able to save a lot of money for that during the 2 years of work/CC.</p>
<p>Thank you all of you this has been highly informative and I’m grateful that nobody has even rude I’m hoping that next week when FAFSA opens up my mom will sit down with me and fill it out so I can see just how unaffordable the schools I have applied to are and possibly better explore my other options. </p>
<p>Don’t wait til next week! Sit down with your mom NOW and fill out the Net Price Calculators on a few UWisconsin regional univs that have BSN programs. This will give you time to apply to the ones that might work.</p>
<p>If you wait til you fill out FAFSA, then you’ll have missed some app deadlines! </p>
<p>@SOSConcern Which Wisconsin regional publics have BSN programs? </p>
I’m hoping that next week when FAFSA opens up my mom will sit down with me and fill it out so I can see just how unaffordable the schools I have applied to are and possibly better explore my other options. </p>