Jump to content

Menu

CC question


violinmom
 Share

Recommended Posts

We live in Arizona. The local CC is very good. We can do a dual enrollment during HS to get college credit. If completed, dd can enter ASU or U of A as a Junior. They must accept you and must accept all credits from the CC from what I understand.

 

My question is regarding $. While CC is much less expensive than ASU, 2 years of paying full price at ASU is still a lot for our family. Plus tuition is going up! Since she would enter as a Junior, does that mean she would forgo any opportunity for assistance? I don't think we would qualify on paper for anything based on need.

 

Do we try for the National merit? Both universities offer full tuition for finalists. If we do that, then I think we would miss out on the dual enrollment deal through the CC.

 

Happy to hear any thoughts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does either university offer transfer scholarships based on the cc GPA? My dd is completing her AA at a cc, and the university she is transferring to, an out-of-state state university, offers transfer scholarships. We should find out in Feb or March if she gets a full tuition transfer scholarship, based on her cc GPA. Many universities offer transfer scholarships, not just freshman scholarships. Check ASU and U of A websites to see what they offer.

 

I think it is worth trying for National Merit status. It is just a couple tests (PSAT and SAT). I am not sure how being a Nat'l Merit Finalist would mean your dd can't do dual enrollment at a cc during high school. The finalists are not announced till 12th grade, so can't your dd still do dual enrollment before any announcement comes out? Our cc doesn't care about that status. Or do you mean that if your dd is a Finalist, her cc dual enrollment credits won't transfer to the university because she must complete all 4 years there? Even if that is the case, she will be learning a lot at the cc and the classes she takes there, even if they don't transfer to the university, will prepare her to do well at the university. I wouldn't consider it wasted time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Makes sense. I didn't think there was such as thing as a transfer scholarship. I never went to a cc so it's a new territory for me. After a quick check, it seems there is a partial transfer scholarship and others depending on the specific degree being pursued.

 

Yes, I meant that 2 yrs of cc would be out the window. She would learn a lot, though. Just wasted $. I guess we have to do both because you just don't know what will happen. Guess I will just make that appt. with the counselor at both schools and talk options.

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, OP. We are in Florida, which has a similar program (must accept 2 year AA credits at 4-year university) and we have a daughter, right now a h/s senior, who has earned enough credits at the local CC to have completed her Freshman year of college. Some of these classes are paid for by the state as dual-enrollment course, and the remaining courses we have had to pay for on our own, as "enrichment" courses. They do count for college credit, however. D has also CLEPped several courses.

 

My daughter wanted me to "graduate her" from h/s this past winter December 2010, and she would simultaneously apply to colleges for Fall 2011 as a transfer student with Sophmore status. However she was advised by several admissions counselors NOT to do this, because the vast majority of scholarships go to incoming Freshman. Therefore, they told daughter to not "graduate" high school, per se, but instead, remain a high school senior with a bunch of college credits who will graduate May 2011, when she was supposed to in the first place. Lesson: do not have your daughter "graduate" high school until she is at the end of her senior year in high school, no matter how many CC credits she has earned.

 

The reason why: coming in as a First Time in College (FTIC) student. Meaning, while in high school a student can amass a lot of credits, but as long as he/she is still in high school, no matter how many credits he or she has, when entering college he/she would be a "FTIC" because he/she has never attended college as a college student, but has always been a high school student taking college classes. There is a major difference between the two, and it affects scholarship eligibility!

 

Unless there is an absolutely urgent need for your daughter to "graduate" high school early, your daughter can attend the CC full-time as a high school student in both her junior and senior high school years, earn the equivalent of an AA degree in credits, and apply to 4 year-college as a FTIC student. This would allow her to enter the 4-year as a Freshman (in the college's eyes, a student who has never been to college AFTER high school) with Junior status. The reasoning behind this is to make your D eligible for all the Freshman (in other words, FTIC) scholarships. The criteria for FTIC scholarships tend to be less strict than Transfer scholarships, and there are many more of them.

 

Just curious, does AZ not have a program of partial tuition aid to ALL students with a certain GPA and ACT/SAT test score? Most states in the nation have one, though each is called by a different name.

 

ALERT to this link: http://www.ade.state.az.us/asd/tuitionwaiver/parents-students.asp Your state does have a tuition scholarship for honors students. The criteria is less restrictive than National Merit and your daughter may very well qualify, it doesn't seem too difficult.

 

Last consideration is having your daughter live off-campus after her FTIC year of living on-campus, live in a campus dorm that has access to a kitchen, and/or choosing the least expensive meal plan. All of these options can save at least a thousand or more dollars per year.

 

PM me if you need more clarification about the FTIC concept.

Edited by distancia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Texas, as long as your student's college credits were earned while she was still in high school, your student will still be considered a freshman for scholarship purposes.

 

My dd will have 50 college credit hours when she finishes high school in May. She will be entering college at a state school in August as a freshman, the 1st day of class, her status will change to sophomore, but she'll still be able to be in the freshman dorm and have all the regular benefits of a freshman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By the way, YOU as the homeschool (high school) principal are responsible for initiating the automatic scholarship for your student (daughter). Doesn't look like a very formidable process: you just have to make sure she takes the AIMS tests during the right period, takes 2 AP course exams [in May] and scores a 3 or higher (not difficult if she has already taken a CC class in that subject) and you file with the D of E in Arizona prior to October of her senior year http://www.ade.state.az.us/asd/tuitionwaiver/FrequentlyAskedQuestions.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are in AZ :seeya: and here's how we did it. Dd took college classes, some in PA where we used to live, and some here in AZ. When she graduated from our homeschool, she had 58 college credits to transfer. She entered ASU as a freshman on a National Merit Scholarship (better than the AIMS scholarship because it included room and board) and once her credits were all logged during the Spring of her Freshman year, she suddenly was awarded Junior status. Didn't affect her scholarship at all. Still, she has 4 years of a scholarship available as long as she isn't eligible for graduation, so she is applying for a 5 year bachelor/master's program and will hold back a class to remain a senior right up until the end of her 4 years. When she graduates after 4 years, she'll also have her master's. As a member of the honors college, she is also eligible to take classes over at the law school if she wishes. Having the extra room in her schedule has allowed her to do that. She is taking a law course this semester calledNeuroscience, Ethics and the Law...a truly interdisciplinary course with roughly 1/2 law school and 1/2 half Biology grad students in attendance. The relationships she is developing with older peers, often those back in school after another professional career, are at least as valuable as the information she's taking away from the classes. Other than needing to pay full boat for her CC classes in high school, there have been no drawbacks. At approximately $200 for a 3 credit class, she was able to work as a busser/hostess and pick up babysitting jobs to help pay for her classes.

 

Barb

Edited by Barb F. PA in AZ
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great info! The AIMS scholarship here in AZ is losing funding. For current 10th graders, the amount has been reduced to 25% scholarship, and they are making the criteria harder. dd is in 9th grade, so there may be nothing since our state is in a financial crisis. Still, we can try! I was misinformed from someone else about losing Freshman status, but now FTIC makes sense.

 

I am glad we live to so close to ASU to make that part easy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...