With no idea beforehand about financial aid, how do you know where to apply?

[JennifersLost]

I know what we can afford to spend on college - about $10,000 per year per child (we have four).

 

I just tried a financial aid calculator, but it was very confusing and I was ballparking everything. It came up with a number that was a little over $10,000 for the parent contribution. But the whole thing felt like a wild guess. If the college costs close to $40,000 a year, does that mean we'd have to get loans for $120,000?

 

Can you assume you'd get offered some aid?

 

It feels mean to encourage my son to apply to a school and then have him get accepted and have to say, "Oops - sorry; we can't begin to fund that. You'll have to figure out something else."

 

If you don't have a high income, do you encourage your kids to apply to universities anyway? Or do you just tell them they have to do two years at the local community college and skip applying until they're sophomores?

 

My son really wants to do the meteorology program at the University of Oklahoma. My husband feels that there's no way we can afford it. Neither of us have any experience with financial aid, so we're absolutely clueless about how to estimate it.

 

Why oh why isn't there a way to know ahead of time????

[Jane in NC]

Jennifer,

 

Financial Aid is a black box. Even if the FAFSA calculator says the parent contribution is X, a college may reconfigure the number to Y.

 

One thing that many of us have pointed out here on the boards is that there is a huge difference in merit aid vs. financial aid. Not all schools give merit aid. The Ivies, for instance, only accept brilliant students. They can be very generous with their financial aid packages but do not provide merit aid. This seems to work against middle and upper middle income people who have a hard time coming up with the $30K or $40K that is the annual expected parent's contribution. (Note that what you feel you can contribute is often not what the FAFSA will compute as your contribution!)

 

Also, many financial aid packages have a loan component. Schools can be generous with grants, but they will expect students to also take on part of the burden.

 

Here is my suggestion: come up with a list of schools that appear to be a good fit. Research their financial aid policies. Sometimes one must apply early admission to be considered for certain merit programs. Do not be intimidated by the idea of merit aid even if your student is not stellar. Some schools give merit aid on the basis of test scores; others look for kids who are engaged in their communities or who are "different".

 

Local scholarships are something that can be pursued, but unfortunately $500 or $1000 does not go very far toward today's college expenses.

 

I would also look into scholarships that may be given by professional meteorology societies. Something might be available along these non-traditional lines.

 

As my Mom always said: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

Good luck.

Jane

[Brenda in MA]

Jennifer,

 

If he is not a US citizen, and he wants to attend a US university, I think that means he would be an international applicant. Aid for international applicants at US universities is extremely limited. If he is not a US citizen, then the FAFSA is irrelevant for him.

 

I don't know that much about financial aid for internationals, but you might want to ask on http://www.collegeconfidential.com. They have a financial aid sub-forum, and there are many knowledgeable people there.

 

Best wishes,

Brenda

[Michelle in AL]

Some of the colleges you can look up their merit aid scholarships online, then you can see how much your child qualifies for.

 

This should be true with Oklahoma. Just type scholarships in their search box and look for freshman scholarships.

 

Some state universities will give in state tuition for students with a certain GPA and ACT or SAT score.

 

I think this can give you a pretty good feel of what to expect, merit wise.

 

If it's close to affordable than I'd consider it. There's also work/study programs available for those under a certain income.

 

I feel your pain. I would love for dd to go to Georgia Tech for engineering. It's $38000/yr. Her ACT score was 28 sophmore yr. Not sure what it will be junior yr, but GA Tech's average ACT is 31-34. Make's it feel a little out of the ballpark for us ina place where she'll just be average. :001_huh:

[creekland]

I share the financial aspect with my boys. They know we can afford X dollars and they see what the schools they like have as their sticker price (total cost). We've talked about the long term aspect of loans. Then I let them apply where they want knowing if the financial aspect isn't there, they might have to go with a 2nd or 3rd choice. I also let them know that's not necessarily a bad thing as I ended up at my second choice college and absolutely loved it there plus got a great education - and met my hubby.

 

My oldest got accepted everywhere he applied - and the financial aid (merit and need based) was in our ballpark at his top choice. With additional local scholarships he has since won, it's almost costing us less to send him to a four year private college (including room and board) than for my middle son to take 2 community college classes (while living at home). We're very thankful.

 

We've told middle son the same thing. Apply where you want, but know that finances ARE a consideration, so don't get your heart set on any one school.

[Halftime Hope]

It feels mean to encourage my son to apply to a school...

 

I don't think it is mean at all to openly, truthfully teach a teen to reach for the brass ring, to give his all to the effort, knowing that even if it doesn't work out, he will have learned from the process and he will be proud of himself for trying to achieve his dream. He will need to know ahead of time what his debt tolerance is, so that would be a convo (or two or three) you all might want to have now, before you get far into the process. We also had dd apply to a range of schools: her academic stretch school, her financial stretch school, some "reasonable choice" schools, and two "safety" schools.

 

It was amazing what she learned in the process and what she accomplished in "going for" the stretch schools. Her confidence and her maturity have grown by leaps and bounds, even though she did not end up attending either of the stretch schools.

 

 

Why oh why isn't there a way to know ahead of time????

 

Arghhh! I know... The answer I've come up with is that if all the schools did $ entirely by the numbers, it wouldn't allow them to pursue those unique, wonderful students who will add so much to the life on campus.

 

And, you'll find that some schools are more predictable than others.

[Hannah C.]

I would say to my children, apply to colleges if you think you'd like to go there and you can afford the application fee. Be aware that some are a long shot, and others you may not be able to go to because we can't afford it, but you can try anyway. If you don't apply to a college or apply for merit/need based aid, you sure aren't going to get any, but there's always a chance if you do apply. :001_smile:

 

If you know you make too much for your children to be likely to get need-based aid, I would encourage my kids to look at colleges which offer merit-based scholarships.

 

Are you willing to take out loans for your child / have your child take out loans to pay for the majority of his/her education? Some people are. Personally, I would not have gone to an expensive school if I had to pay it all in loans, but I know people who chose that route. It's a personal decision.

 

I have friends who almost didn't apply to colleges, thinking they wouldn't get in or they wouldn't get the money to go. They ended up going to those colleges. It's almost always worth the application fee.

[JennifersLost]

Thanks, everyone. I'm getting a little calmer about all of this. I appreciate your answers!

[Quiver0f10]

The university of OK does have a few different tuition waivers if you meet certain ACT/SAT scores.

 

http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/recruitment/Downloads/2010.11%20FR%20Scholarship%20Descriptions.pdf

[Halftime Hope]

he might find that there is departmental scholarship money that isn't advertised anywhere on the university website.

 

Ds was awarded one of the general freshman awards at the state university he attended, based on his SAT and GPA, but we then received an unexpected letter informing him of an additional amount awarded to promising students by the department. We have been told that there is often money held in reserve for juniors and seniors as well, once they are in their upperclass work and showing great progress. That would be something to ask about if you can get your ds to talk to a departmental advisor or to the departmental chair.

 

Best wishes!