Heather in Neverland Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Ok, one last thing. We have talked about DS dual-enrolling via online classes in his junior year at the college where he wants to attend and getting some credits out of the way early. For instance, one school we are considering is Cedarville University. They have online DE classes for HS juniors and seniors. So ds could start online then eventually attend there in person and finish. But that also means he would not technically be a "freshman" when he starts since he would have his freshman credits completed. Would this affect his ability to get scholarships or any kind of merit-aid or need-based aid? Do colleges only give those "nice" financial packages to freshmen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonshine Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) Good financial aid packages are not commonly given to students in any bracket except freshman. Not to rain on your parade, but Cedarville is known for having only a few merit scholarships. It's possible your son would get one, but I would make sure he has plenty of other eggs in his basket, because you can't predict that. The last I heard the scholarships at Cedarville involved being invited to a scholarship competition weekend. You need to think about that, being overseas. Keep asking questions - it'll start to make sense at some point. Edited February 12, 2011 by Sonshine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Different colleges treat dual credit enrollment differently. Most colleges will accept dual credits that are earned while still enrolled in high school and still call your student a freshman for scholarship and entrance consideration. The school where my dd is going in the fall has a matriculation agreement with the community college she is attending and will accept all of her credits (50 by the time she graduates high school in May). They still considered her a freshman for college entrance, dorm, and scholarship consideration, but she will officially be a sophomore on the first day of classes (need 60 credits to be a junior). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I'd e-mail Cedarville and ask them. I also second the "beware." Cedarville is not a school well known for good aid. You might want to have some other choices to consider. If that's his preferred school, by all means, still apply and see what happens especially since you do have the "Malaysia" aspect to add the the package. But unless you are willing to do 50% - 75% in loans or from savings, I'd also apply to other schools more well known for aid. I had "the talk" with my oldest and middle sons already. That talk was about our finances and college and the potential problems with debt. They know they can apply anywhere, but where they actually go will be somewhere we can afford without too much debt. We feel that massive debt is not in God's plan and that He will work out the finances for where they go. Since our savings are now essentially a bust (if we cashed them out), oldest has roughly $5000 in debt per year. To me, this is ok and can be paid off fairly quickly once he graduates. If the economy improves between now and then we ought to be able to pay it off for him. If not, he knows he'll have $20,000 to deal with. I'm not so sure I'd be willing to do much more than that personally. Don't stop asking questions! It's how we all learn. I've gleaned a ton of info from reading answers to questions I didn't even think to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Great info on Cedarville!!! It is definitely NOT the only one we are looking at...just one we are considering. Ds does not know what he wants to study just yet (he's just finishing 7th grade!) so choosing a school is tough right now. All we have decided on is a conservative christian college. I know, that doesn't narrow it down all that well! But we are working on it! If any of you have suggestions for GREAT christian colleges then I am all ears (or eyes?). If it seems crazy that I am so stressed out at such an early age for my ds it's not because I AM crazy... it's just that we need to make some decisions about our next 5 years in regards to staying here or going some place else. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 You certainly should ask perspective schools both about status and if they accept DE/online credit. In general, less than X credits can allow a student to remain a freshman for aid purposes--I entered as a Freshman, but had almost Soph standing, and graduated in three years--but it varies from school to school . What do you mean by "conservative Christian?" I can recommended some strong Christian colleges that have good merit aid, but conservative means very different things to different people (on one hand, calling Baylor "way too conservative" and on the other, calling Bob Jones "way too liberal.") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 You also may want to consider mainstream denomination colleges in either the South or the Midwest. While the denominations aren't all that conservative, the student body of many of them is made up of mainly fairly Conservative and Christian students. By that I mean, the students tend more on the conservative side politically, and many are believing Christians. Depending on the college, you may have much less of a partying type of campus than many public or clearly secular colleges. It really depends on what you are looking for. In our case, our daughter was looking for colleges that do accept Federal Aid that are welcoming to both Christian and politically conservative viewpoints. She did not need or want strict college rules like no R movies or no certain kinds of music but did want a college where there were plenty of believers and asking for prayer wasn't seen as a strange request. One college we visited in the summer (so hardly any students) had a feature we noticed right away which were the numerous prayer request boards, that were being used and not way out of date. But YMMV. Our dd has been raised in mostly traditional churches but we aren't aghast at female ministers and also don't think we need to have her go to a campus with our religious tradition. She has applied to secular colleges, Methodist colleges, Presbyterian colleges, Lutheran college and a unaffiliated but formerly Baptist school plus one state school. All have active Christian groups on campus and a number of worship opportunities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Google "Third Culture Kids College Scholarships" - lots of interesting looking sites popped up! Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Ds does not know what he wants to study just yet (he's just finishing 7th grade!) so choosing a school is tough right now. All we have decided on is a conservative christian college. I know, that doesn't narrow it down all that well! But we are working on it! If any of you have suggestions for GREAT christian colleges then I am all ears (or eyes?). I can put a plug in for Covenant College. My son absolutely loves it there even though we aren't their denomination (PCA - Conservative branch of the Presbyterians). They also are quite high for academics. Not all of these are conservative colleges by any means, but did you look at this list that I made a year ago listing entering stats? It can be another tool to consider when looking at places. Look at the last post for the most complete list. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160154&page=4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
distancia Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 (edited) Most colleges will accept dual credits that are earned while still enrolled in high school and still call your student a freshman for scholarship and entrance consideration. Same rule goes here in Florida for all the state schools and many private ones. Of course, in other states it may be different (but I don't think so), but I do know that private schools have different standards for DE acceptance. However, even if they don't accept DE but will take AP, for example, the students are still considered freshman, sometimes up to 60 credits, as long as the credits were earned while in high school. By the way,just an aside: here in Florida the homeschooling laws allow a student to still be homeschooled and in high school for two SENIOR years. In other words, your student doesn't have to graduate after four years of high school, it can be five. I don't quite know how it works but our local homeschool specialist who charges $35- an hour consultation fee told us this. This can work out fabulously for your child if he/she accrues a lot of DE credits while still in high school (for that extra year) and then applies as a college freshman. Edited February 13, 2011 by distancia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jld Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I've heard good things about Grove City College. May be worth looking into . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobblygook Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I highly recommend Bethel University in MN, both as an alumna and former staff member. It's a wonderful institution, and the only reason I'm not working there now is because I'm home with my children. I believe the financial aid staff to be very willing to work with families, and there is a strong MK/TCK group on campus. My brother-in-law and DH still get together with friends from that group from when we were students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 (edited) I would have you look at LeTourneau University about 15 minutes from here. They have students from all over the country and are VERY big into missions.. I mean huge. They have missions emphasis every semester. They have great academics. They have really good scholarships. I'm going to give you a link to ones listed. But I know there are lots of other ones. For instance, they have someone who gave money for a homeschool scholarship. So they do that every year. A lady from the University talked to our group this fall. She said for them to apply the summer after their junior year. Go ahead and send in the deposit when they are accepted because then they are on their list. So when someone gives them some scholarship money for asian americans, or children of missionaries or homeschoolers or whatever ( I guess this happens a lot.), then they look at the list they have accepted and start giving it out. Once the money is gone, it is gone. Now some things that are dependent on FASA , you still have to wait, but she STRONGLY urged to go ahead and apply and accept early. The nice thing is that you have until the beginning of May to get that deposit back if your child changes his or her mind. I wish this school were farther away. My son really likes it, but it is just so close to home. He really needs to spread his wings... Here is the site. Click on the links for various types of scholarships there on the left. For fun use the scholarship calculator to see what they might have. They work really hard at trying to help people attend if they need it. I saw they do phonathons to alumni to help bridge the gap for some students. Anyway, here it is: http://www.letu.edu/opencms/opencms/_Admissions/financial-aid/types-of-aid/letu/ Christine Edited February 14, 2011 by choirfarm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 They also have some kind of twitter feed on that site for various scholarships. You might look at that. I don't know if they are LeTourneau specific or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Since I think it would be of general interest, I'll start a thread with Christian schools that offer full or close to full rides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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