Off Topic College

[tumblerK]

So I am tied with 3 others for number one in my class, I have taken classes for college credit and all that good stuff. I applied and got into Michigan Tech for next year. I visited and liked it there and the engineering program is awesome.

For a non-michigan resident tuition for a year is about $34,000. Ouch.

They gave me a $12,000 scholarship which makes it the same as if I were a michigan resident, another $900 scholarship, $1,600 in work study, and $6,500 in subsidized and unsubsidized loans. This leaves another $13,000 that my family and I are supposed to come up with for the next 4 years.

So my parents and I went to visit last weekend and to talk to a financial aid rep and they basically told us that that's all they could give me in financial aid because their federal funding has diminished in the last few years too. So now my dad tells me that just as a backup that I should apply to the University of Minnesota or somewhere else because of how expensive Mich Tech is.

ARG! Applying to colleges is annoying, and I feel rather silly doing it this late in the year. Why didn't they tell me this earlier??!!

 

[gracefulone]

That's awful! I was told that earlier, so that's why I applied to a variety of schools (only 2 of which I actually like), ranging in sticker price from $19,000-$46,000. I got one of my financial aid packages back, and am waiting for one more. I sincerely hope it's drastically different than the one I have because I legitimately don't know which school I like better. It would make life easy.

 

[gymdog]

If you like it for a major program, I would look at that program more carefully. For example, some of those programs you apply to for the last two years. So you could fulfill general and specific prerequisites at a state school, and then if you decided you still preferred the other engineering program, you could transfer in for two years, which would be significantly less expensive than four.

There are schools with rolling admissions. I would look those up. You may be able to get more financial at another school - it's really not all the same. A lot of times people do get different packages.

 

[gymkat]

Unfortunately, what a lot of people don't realize is that FAFSA's idea of the EFC is generally not what they had expected or hoped. I would strongly advise everyone to find an instate public school at which they would be happy, and apply there. Also, I would add that looking for schools right now is probably not the best step because most universities have already started to allocate funds/financial aid/scholarships, so you'd most likely be applying too late to take full advantage of being an in-state student. This is also a rough time for a lot of schools because their endowments have taken a beating in this economy. My school is cutting back on scholarships this year, and I expect the need-based aid to be mostly loans.

I'm graduating in December, and my scholarships expire this semester. Even though I will definitely qualify for some sort of financial aid, I'm planning for the worst: all unsubsidized loans. In reality, I'll probably qualify for some subsidized loans, grants, and/or work-study, but I figure that it's best to plan for the worst and then be pleasantly surprised (or at least not surprised). I'm also in the rather unenviable position of having to pay for everything myself; my parents have never contributed toward my college expenses. However, once you're a student, you'll probably be eligible for other scholarships as well. For example, this year, I applied for about $11k worth of scholarships that were not available to me as an incoming freshman.

 

[I-Heart-Beam]

WOW. That really sucks. The only thing I can think of is a job, or a student loan.

I take it you don't have a Child Trust Fund?

 

[bribri514]

awww i'm sorry. i had a similar problem with utah state. i got some from FAFSA, but i guess our house has gone up in value so much it counted against our EFC to something we couldn't afford. to be able to pay i was able to combine it with WUE (western undergraduate exchange, a program that lets kids in western states go between state schools for close to in-state tuition, like a CO kid go to montana state or an idaho kid go to new mexico, etc.) and federal money i receive for being "disabled".

i still couldn't cover all the costs so i started looking for local scholarships. i applied to a couple at my school and am waiting on them and applied to one at my mom's work, she works part time as a ski instructor and every year the mountain gives out a partial scholarship to an employee/child of an employee. i also applied to a couple scholarships in my town.

my recommendation is to look for those small local scholarships like that and try to add as many as possible!

good luck, keep us updated!!!

<3

 

[gracefulone]

Oh yeah!

fastwebs.com

scholarships.com

Seriously. I've written dozens of essays and filled out the same information sooooo many times, but it's been worth it.