To be more exact, I've realized that I've made a mistake (missing a school). However, I can not make any changes as of now, and my question is why is that? Have I reached an edit limit? why cant i make anymore changes? If this will help, I've sent my fasfa about two days ago and I've made a total of three edits.
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FAFSA EDIT QUESTION
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Moved: Baylor's Invitation to Excellence Program, January 2019 (Faculty Scholarship Questions)
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Disbursement of financial aid on hold due to academic warning review
Hello everyone!
Disclosure: I've already contacted the office of student aid, but was told to wait until the review was finished. I'm seeking advice or opinions of others who went through the same process.
I'm currently a senior at Penn State. I withdrew from fall 2018 semester due to mental health issues and family complications at the end of the term in hopes of saving my gpa. When you withdraw from a semester your future aid can be affected and must be adjusted. I re-enrolled for the spring 2019 and was approved for my major and accepted back into my college.
I'm currently on academic warning due to my cumulative gpa, so I'm required to have my academic records reviewed. I received the adjusted financial aid award letter Monday. I contacted the financial aid office regarding my disbursements and they stated
"Your account is under review for academic warning. When the review is complete, you will receive an email with information. The financial aid has been reinstated to you at this time."
So far, they have only disbursed the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) into my account. The other aid (pell/direct sub/parent plus loan) was adjusted and accepted, but still hasn't been disbursed. I believe the disbursement is on hold due to the review, but why did they disburse some of the aid?
My question: Am I still eligible for the parent plus loan? Does it take longer than the fseog to disburse into the account? Is my financial aid suspended? If so, why would I receive an award letter and have only one aid disbursed?
Any insight or advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you for your time.
- Jess
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Merit scholarships?
Anybody have any recommendations for schools offering sizable merit scholarships (30k+/yr)?
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Are the merit % and $ stats on "College Transitions" site accurate?
We are full pay for D20 and definitely chasing merit. In looking for concrete statistics on % of student receiving merit aid and average merit award, I came upon the "Merit Aid (by Institution)" page on College Transitions. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to paste a URL here but can certainly do so below if permitted).
Stats are reported for 2017-18 academic year and claim to come from College Board, IPEDS, and Peterson's. Are these statistics accurate? If they are accurate, they are very helpful for us in constructing a list (would be even more helpful if they reported scores spread for merit awardees, but, hey!). But if they are junk I will ignore.
Here's a selection of schools with the merit data reported. The 0%s look right (knew about those already), so I am hoping the non-0%s are also credible.
COA OOS % receive merit Avg merit award
Bennington College $74,320 43% $21,973
St. Olaf College $60,990 40% $17,307
Mount Holyoke College $66,558 31% $19,213
Sarah Lawrence College $73,670 26% $17,758
Macalester College $69,127 18% $16,773
College of the Atlantic $54,969 17% $17,604
Bryn Mawr College $71,310 15% $16,041
Skidmore College $71,780 3% $15,000
Bard College $72,968 1% $31,033
Wesleyan University $72,639 1% $52,774
Barnard College $74,777 0% $0
Bates College $71,168 0% $0
Brown University $73,992 0% $0
Connecticut College $71,970 0% $0
Reed College $73,400 0% $0
Vassar College $73,300 0% $0
Wellesley College $72,639 0% $0
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Scholarship Deadlines Before Admission Decisions Roll Out?
Hello, I am a transfer student that has applied to two different schools: a backup that I have already been accepted into (Eastern Oregon University Online) and just waiting on San Diego State University to get back to me in March. I am a local San Diego resident.
HOWEVER, I am finding it extremely frustrating that every institutional scholarship SDSU offers has a deadline in early February, before their admission decisions roll out. I figured "well surely, you wouldn't be automatically out of the running for all the many institutional scholarships you applied for if you don't get accepted, right?" Wrong. I contacted their scholarship department and they told me that is exactly how it works. I find that extremely unfair and quite frankly rigged. I have applied to about 20 SDSU scholarships so far and to think that that it's potentially all completely useless and a loss of my time and potentially earned money, really rubs me the wrong way. Why would they not organize this differently for incoming students? It really didn't occur to them that they should make the scholarship deadlines AFTER I know if I can even go to this school or not?
Is this typical of most universities? I was informed of my EOU acceptance long before any of their scholarship deadlines. And I have of course been applying to several local scholarships as well just to play it safe, but it's a shame that my efforts with these SDSU scholarships could all be a waste if I get denied. Sometimes I think universities get some type of joy out of watching students struggle, lol. Only explanation I can figure for it. Either that, or they care more about what's more convenient for them and not the student.
Rant over.
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Single mom here, chances for financial aid
Hi there: I am a single mom with one kid. I earn less than 100k (live in NYC). Was divorced for 10 years but had support from ex. -- but ex passed away a year ago. Will the fact that I am a single parent and now the only parent help my child's chance for financial aid?
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Financial Advice please!
Hello!
I'm seeking the advice of experienced CCers who can shed some light on how to make the best financial choice.
I know most college decisions and financial aid packages have not come out yet, but there is a high probability that because of my high school profile, that I will end up being accepted to many matches and hopefully a few reach schools.
I'll lay out the options. Experienced CCers, please share your thoughts, advice, questions on this situation.
Some things to note:
My family is in the middle-class, may be considered upper-middle. Probably won't be getting a lot of need-based aid.
I plan to go to graduate school but I'm not 100% what field (masters, PhD or MBA in the future), aiming for a top program
Options:
1. In-State Honors college Full Tuition
As a national merit SF (most likely finalist as well), I have already been accepted to my in-state honors college with full tuition, I will only need to pay housing/food etc. (Please PM me if you wish to know where). Ostensibly, this is the best *financial* option--I'll be out of college with very little debt. However, I don't thrive in a huge public university system where professors are often more focused on research and students are simply "cycled" through. Even within the honors college, class sizes are still big and professors not as accessible. I do not want to live in the state I am in in the future.
2. Top LAC Minimal Aid
This is where I know I will thrive. I'm ~80% sure that I thrive best at small undergrad focused LACs, specifically the top ones. I will be in a *much* better position academically if I go to a LAC, especially because they have such great placement into every field. I want a liberal arts education, and don't know what I want to study so LACs are perfect in this regard. I will be better positioned to get into a good graduate program with strong relationships with my professors and more personal development. No question about it--LACs are a great fit for me and I would be happy all four years, especially with the specific ones I'm aiming for. While some LACs are known for generous need based aid, it will still be very costly, and potentially leave me less options for graduate school if I'm burdened with student loans/can't afford some programs.
Pros- being surrounded by top students and minds from across the US, experiencing unparalleled personal development.
Cons- Expensive
3. Ivy League, etc--Minimal Aid
These are categorized as "other". I applied to Ivies, comparable universities and other top universities like UChicago, USC etc. These places could provide unparalleled opportunities and connections. Some of these universities probably have connections and resources that aren't offered at other schools, making them ideal since I want to pursue graduate school. These places will have research opportunities and name recognition in the academic world. However, since I don't know what I want to do, maybe I should save the money for a top graduate school when I'll have a better idea of what I want to study?
Off topic question: Should I be applying to scholarships? I've heard that they are a double edged sword because if you win a scholarship, sometimes colleges will deduct that out of your need-based aid! Are most scholarships like that? Is it still worth it to apply?
Thank you all in advance!
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Fill out FAFSA?
Hello, I recently got married with my wife currently living aboard. She is a non US citizen and has been waiting for a visa. She is going to come to the U.S in a year. My question is, in the FAFSA, do I need to claim I am married? I'm an US citizen.
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Most colleges have need-blind admissions
Using URLs https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId= with schoolId from 1 to 4000, there were 1732 entries which had either "Financial need is not a consideration in the admissions process" (need-blind) or "Financial need is a consideration in the admissions process" (need-aware). Note: many schoolId numbers had no college entry at all.
Of these 1732 entries, 1464, or 84.5%, indicated need-blind admissions, while 268, or 15.5%, indicated need-aware admissions.
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Checked no on Financial Aid, do I need to change it?
I checked no when asked if I was applying for financial aid (under the misconception that we would not qualify), but have since found out that we would most likely qualify for some (efc is around 18k?), do I need to update schools to ask them to consider me for financial aid? Please note, we sent the FAFSA and CSS profile to all the schools.
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Getting Accepted does NOT mean that a Merit Scholarship will be forthcoming....
In fall, many students pay little attention to the financial aspects of paying for college. Many assume that "grants and merit scholarships" will make their dreams affordable. Many don't even bother to find out if their schools give merit awards or if their stats are high enough to qualify for consideration. Many just assume the money will be forthcoming. Period.
Now, in late winter, is when we see parents and students posting questions like: "I've been accepted to XXX University, when will I get my merit scholarship?"
They will then often post stats that are quite average for the school, or stats that are often quite LOW for the school...but they assume that a merit scholarship will be awarded. I can only guess that they're thinking: "I was accepted, therefore I will get merit."
Many think that the fact that they "did many ECs" or "wrote a great essay," means that they'll be rewarded with thousands of dollars.
Does this thinking come from the T-ball years where "everyone gets a participation trophy"?
I recently was talking to a parent whose average-stats-child was accepted to the family's favorite OOS public. The parent told me that they need a merit award that will cover 50-75% of COA, which is approaching 50k per year...and will hit $50k sometime during child's college time. They are expecting an award of $25k-33k PER YEAR! Really? Do they think that no one should be paying most/all of the costs?
I was speechless. Where does this sort of thinking come from? At this particular school, the very high test score students are getting about $25k per year, yet this family thinks their modest stats child should get that amount and MORE?? A 75% award is approx the amount that the NMFs get.
There seems to be a disconnect between "want" and reality. Wanting to go to a school doesn't equate to the school bankrupting itself to make itself ultra-cheap for everyone thru merit.
The student's stats qualified for the lowest award...about $3k per year. The family is expecting another (MUCH larger) award to come in the spring.
Schools that are "generous with merit," are rarely generous with EVERY student. They are RARELY generous with most students. They are mostly generous to those well-within the top quartile for test scores. Merit scholarships are supposed to serve a purpose....entice high stats students to enroll. Schools aren't just being nice and benevolent when awarding merit....they're rather self-serving....they're buying top test scores with strong GPAs.
Sure, the schools like the "just good students," too, but schools are not going to hand over mega-bucks in merit to entice them to attend. (The exceptions to this seems to be those small privates that are desperate for warm bodies in the seats, so they've raised tuition so that they can flatter acceptees with a token merit...maybe $10k per year off an overly-inflated COA of $55k.
Also...usually high GPAs along do not warrant much/any merit. Test scores are primarily important, in most cases. Getting more high test score students on campus raises the "reported middle quartile test scores", which raises the school's profile.
Here is a brief run-down of how merit is awarded....
There is a HUGE pool of students with high GPAs (this is due to grade inflation, easier curriculums, etc).
There is a smaller pool of students with high TEST SCORES (top 25% of the college)
There is an even smaller pool of students with BOTH high test scores and high GPAs. These are the students who typically get the merit awards. These students may be the top 30% at the college or maybe the top 2-5% of the college. Just depends on how much merit the college budgets to give away.
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FAFSA College Correction
Has anyone received an email with a college making a correction to your FAFSA? If so, any idea of why? Thanks.
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Is it safe to assume I won't get financial aid
My mom isn't married but she makes 250k a year but has tons of student loans and is currently paying my brother's college funds out of pocket and soon will be paying mine, I assume. At this rate with the school, I'm looking to go to the cost will be much higher than his. Is it safe to assume I won't get financial aid?
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Financial Aid Student Work Questions
So I already submit my FAFSA and CSS Profile and on both I indicated that I do not work and get income. However, I kind of realized that I am a peer tutor for my school and I get paid for that. I was originally told by another student that I didn't need to show that and he also does the tutoring. However, when trying to fill out USC financial information it also asks about student income and I realized that maybe I should show that? But I didn't show it on my actual financial aid information and I already indicated like by sending information through IDOC that I don't get any income. So now I'm not sure what I should do. Do I just keep not indicating it? Or do I do something else? I did show on my Common App that I do paid work but nowhere else that I know it shows that I work. I'm not sure if they can check that I get paid by them? I'm really worried. Thanks ahead of time.
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Moved: Coolidge Scholarship 2019
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Last semester financial aid
Next year will be my final semester at CSU EAST BAY. I'm pretty much done and I only have the final capstone class left to take. I'm willing to take the full 12 unit to satisfy the full time student financial aid policy. However, I read online that financial aid only pays for classes that are needed in your major but on the forums here alot of people do get paid even if they took electives that aren't require for their major. Im not sure which is true. Should I take those extra classes (electives)?
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FAFSA changes
Hello. I want to add a college to my FAFSA but I want to know if it will affect my other colleges.One college says the FAFSA is due January 15, which has passed, so is it still fine to make changes?
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Moved: FootLocker Student Athlete Scholarship
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Moved: Foot Locker Scholarship - 2019
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