Financial Aid Resources for College????

[Brenda in MA]

Hi all,

 

My ds will be beginning his senior year this coming fall. I would like to learn more about how financial aid works for college. I know that we will have to file the federal form for student aid.

 

If you've gone through this process with your dc, I was wondering if you could recommend any books, websites, etc. that explain the process and provide tips for maximizing aid.

 

Any other suggestions about financial aid would be welcome!

 

TIA,

Brenda

[Gwen in VA]

One clarification --

 

Schools that ONLY use the FAFSA will only expect you to pay your EFC as generated by the FAFSA.

 

Schools that use the Profile (which includes many though not all private colleges) in addition to the FAFSA may expect you to pay much more than your FAFSA-generated EFC. The Profile takes into account assets like home equity.

 

Even if the college guarantees to meet 100% of need, colleges that use the Profile in addition to the FAFSA to figure out how much a family has to pay may well end up saying that your family should pay a number that is multiples of your EFC.

 

Ask me how I know this -- ds was accepted to U Chicago but the amount we were expected to pay was significantly more than our FAFSA-generated EFC. :glare: (Ds is not going there!)

[Brenda in MA]

require only the FAFSA and which also require the Profile form?

 

TIA,

Brenda

[Kareni]

Here's a link to my question on the Admissions Advice board:

 

http://admissionsadvice.mywowbb.com/forum11/1854.html

 

The moderator there gave this link:

 

https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv

 

for schools that require the Profile. (Presumably all schools that require the Profile also require the FAFSA.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Brenda in MA]

I will check into these resources. You all are so helpful in navigating this college search process!

 

Brenda

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

2 ways to maximize aid:

 

1.Have a child with an absolutely stellar academic career and SAT scores, and a good record of extracurricular activities - especially volunteer work.

 

2. Get rid of all your investments and investment property, empty your savings and checking accounts, and reduce your family income to less than 50,000, less than 40,000 is even better.

 

I am not kidding.

[Sylvia in CA]

Absolutely True!!

 

Had to laugh at these two ways to maximize aid.

 

Sylvia

[Guest ritika]

I recently was looking for some scholarship applications online when I found that the requirement for many of them was to be African American or Hispanic. However, there are no scholarships available for only Caucasians. This left me very confused. Why is it that if someone offered a scholarship that was only available to Caucasians it would be considered racist? But it is acceptable to offer scholarships exclusively to other races.

 

[Sylvia in CA]

Just a side note:

 

Being a minority ourselves did not help us get scholarships. What really counts is if student can demonstrate he/she has been actively involved and engaged in that sector of the community as well as committing to being involved during the college years. In addition, their academic performance has to be excellent.

 

I understand how you feel. There are injustices in many facets of life, as a minority and as a caucasian.

 

Sylvia