<p>Looks like I’ll be qualifying for the automatic 0 EFC and I’d really like to go somewhere that meets 100% of need because I honestly have maybe $1,000 to my name and parents aren’t helping me out at all.</p>
<p>I’ve searched the web but I get conflicting answers. Like I read University of Hawaii on some lists but not on others. Is there an official list?</p>
<p>Stats are 1680 SAT, 1170 with just Math and Reading 2.9 GPA and mid 50% class rank. So lets keep it realistic for those stats. Like I know MIT and Cornell meet 100% of need, but I’m not getting in any of those kind of schools.</p>
<p>Some examples of schools you guys might be able to confirm meet 100% of need:
Loyola Marymount
Pepperdine
University of Hawaii
University of Redlands</p>
<p>Go to the Collegeboard.com web site and search for each college. When you find the college you are looking for, go to the “Cost and Financial Aid” section and scroll down to the Financial Aid Statistics part.</p>
<p>When I do that, for the colleges you’ve listed, I find:</p>
<p>Loyola Marymount: 259 out of 693 students with need had full need met; average percentage of need met - 82% </p>
<p>Pepperdine - 146 out of 464 students with need had full need met; average percentage of need met - 87% </p>
<p>University of Hawaii (Honolulu): 151 out of 671 students with need had full need met; average percentage of need met - 62%</p>
<p>University of Redlands: 85 out of 449 students had full need met; average percentage of need met- 71%</p>
<p>So obviously the answer to your question is that NONE of the colleges you listed meet 100% of need. I am wondering whether you are confusing the term “need blind” (meaning that they don’t consider need in making admissions decisions) with a commitment to meet 100% need of admitted students.</p>
<p>To be honest with you, I don’t think that your stats are going to be good enough to get into any full need college, so I think you need to consider other options for financing college – such as looking at starting at a community college or a lower cost public college, or enrolling in a program such as Americorps or ROTC that will offer some level of funding support. You will qualify for a full Pell grant, of course – and of course you also qualify for subsidized loans.</p>
<p>None of those schools guarantee to meet need, but obviously almost all schools meet 100% of need for some of their students. This is often because the student’s need is relatively small (or non-existent) and can be met through student loans and work study. Or, for some, the low EFC triggers a large state grant that covers tuition and Pell, Stafford and work-study cover the rest of the COA. </p>
<p>What state do you live in? You should probably start by researching what state grants you qualify for that will add to the $5550 Pell and $5500 Stafford loans you’ll qualify for. Then, see if that will meet your need at any instate public schools.</p>
<p>I wondered about the schools you listed. I looked at them briefly and could not see anywhere that said they met full need. In general schools that meet full need are very competitive to get into and, as you already realize, you do not have the stats for such schools. </p>
<p>Calmom’s suggestion of starting with a CC or lower cost public U is a good one. Federal aid will probably cover the cost of most instate CCs. It will probably not cover the cost of most 4 year state schools. (my daughter goes to an instate State U, she has a 0 EFC and it is only because her academic scholarships reduce her need considerably that her full need is able to be met - your stats are low for much in the way of academic scholarships). Very unlikely that your need will be met at out of state Us.</p>
<p>My suggestion would be that you start at a CC in your State that has an agreement with the 4 year instate Us to accept transfer students from the CC (our state has this, I imagine many states have the same). Starting at the CC will keep the costs down considerably. Then if you do really well at the CC then you may be eligible for a transfer scholarship which will help with the costs at the 4 year school. Unfortunately transfer scholarships tend to be quite a bit smaller than freshman scholarships, but every little helps.</p>
<p>trunl – What State do you live in? Your stats are very low for the CC crowd, but they are not terrible and will be enough to gain admission to many colleges, just not the ones that offer 100% of need. The CC route is certainly one option, particularly if you live in a state with a good CC system. I wouldn’t necessarily eliminate 4-year schools from consideration yet, but it would help to know about the rigor of your curriculum (have you taken many honors, AP, college-level courses?) and your actual rank or decile rank. Also, is that a weighted or unweighted GPA and is it based only on academic core courses?</p>
<p>Are you saying you are expecting an EFC of $0 because your family’s income is quite low or because your parents refuse to help pay for college? If the latter I’m afraid you have some more bad news coming. Give us a bit more information and maybe we can give you a few more ideas on college options.</p>
<p>I suspect California from the colleges listed. If so you have the good option of attending a CC and then into the UC or CS system which is economically a good route. There are several very good CCs in California. If it’s not Cali, let us know and we may be able to point you toward some options.</p>
<p>From posts in other threads, OP believes the “automatic” 0 EFC will kick in because the mother is unemployed & relying on unemployment insurance.</p>
<p>schnp, I just read a post from you on the independent/dependent thread & together with this post I realized … we have someone in common whom we know (Civil Air Patrol, Michigan, young lady at MSU now)! Her mom said she knew someone going to Rhodes from VT - my D had considered Rhodes for college, so that’s how it came up - hope you are enjoying yourself there!</p>
<p>trunl – Did you take those CC courses at the CC or in your high school? Are they for high school credit or dual enrollment credit? If for dual enrollment you need to know that many of them would not be transferable to many private schools or to some out-of-state publics. If your CC experience has been a positive one then you might indeed think about completing an Associate’s degree there then transferring to one of your in-state publics to complete your undergraduate degree. I’m not familiar enough with the Texas system to give any useful information but you should find out what it takes in CC to transfer to an excellent Texas public school like UT-Austin and then do what it takes. I do think that with your current GPA and test scores – and financial need – your OOS and private options are limited.</p>
<p>Truni, if you are in Texas, consider UTEP. It’s one of the lowest cost universities in the country – and check out the UTEP Promise plan for kids from low income families:
[academics.utep.edu/payingforcollege</a> > Promise](<a href=“The University of Texas at El Paso - UTEP”>The University of Texas at El Paso - UTEP) – you might qualify for free tuition for 4 years. Big university, pretty much accepts all comers, large, very diverse city.</p>
<p>^
UTEP is one of the lowest cost universities in the country? How do you figure? Their COA for a resident living on campus is almost $20k. Granted, if you factor out all the non-direct costs, it drops to around $15k, but still, equivalent in state costs at my alma marter were about $2500 per year cheaper, and I’ve seen at least one other with comparable/slightly cheaper IS COA. These are probably tuition outliers, yes, but I’m still legitimately curious about where you got that stat. </p>
<p>Nits aside, I agree that the OP might want to look into UTEP or UT-PB, which has the same free tuition for low income students offer as well looking at “full need” schools and/or a few financial reach schools that don’t guarantee to but may meet full need.</p>
<p>Actually, the only direct costs are tuition & fees – students live off campus, but housing costs are relatively inexpensive in the area. (Around $300-$400/month for a room in a shared apartment or house, based on current Craigslist listings). So if he qualified for free tuition under the Promise plan, he could probably do o.k. with a Pell grant & stafford loans to cover living costs, plus possibly a part-time job. (I’d note from other posts that OP is an older student, age 22 – so I think he probably wouldn’t really want to live in a dorm anyway).</p>
<p>Good point about the full tuition scholarship–I was just pointing out that I have seen cheaper costs (even just tuition and fees) than UTEP’s, not counting the scholarship. I do think its important that students calculate housing and board costs into their expenses, though. Unless you live very near a school, those do add up, even living off campus in relatively low COA areas. Also, some of the areas around UTEP can be unsafe, so the cheapest housing may not always been the best idea in some areas.</p>
<p>Well, UTEP is actually located in one of the safer areas around town, on the west side – the only big safety concern is that it abuts the river & the border & they actually have had reports of stray bullets crossing over from Juarez. </p>
<p>The main issue is that this is a student with weaker stats & UTEP is a large university where he is certain to be admitted and apparently would be eligible for significant financial aid. Although it definitely is not prestigious, UTEP is a respectable enough school & large enough to afford a wide variety of majors & opportunities for students. It probably is the educational equivalent – as well as the cost equivalent-- of most CSU campuses in California. </p>
<p>Also, if the student is in central or east Texas – and is looking at California schools out of a desire to leave Texas – El Paso has a very different cultural feel than other parts of Texas – so it might provide the change the student is looking for, even though still in-state.</p>