 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
hummingbird
Member
|
Posted: Thu Jun 7th, 2007 08:46 pm |
|
More than half of the top scholars at metro public and private high schools say their college choices this fall are largely influenced by costs even though their grades and accomplishments make them the most coveted prospects among all students.
A survey by The Oregonian of 423 valedictorians and top students shows that straight A's aren't enough to guarantee their first choice because tuition and expenses are rising so high that academic scholarships typically don't cover them....
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1181186717282800.xml&coll=7
|
Consolation
Member
| Joined: | Mon Apr 9th, 2007 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 474 |
| Mana: |    |
|
Posted: Tue Jun 19th, 2007 10:17 pm |
|
The problem with the choices faced by those kids was in part their selection of schools. An OOS student at a flagship state U isn't going to get significant aid. A small private school with little endowment isn't going to have much to give. It is impossible to tell from the article whether they would have had any chance at the most selective schools, but that's probably where they needed to look to get more aid.
|
WestrnMom
Super Moderator
| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | West Coast, USA |
| Posts: | 1161 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Tue Jun 19th, 2007 11:26 pm |
|
I have trouble with the premise of that article, because a college education isn't supposed to be free. If they select schools that have good merit aid for which they qualify that could discount 50% of their tuition costs, maybe even more at a private school. If they qualify for some need-based aid, the costs go down even further. Everyone has some costs for college. If they select carefully when applying to schools, anyone who gets need-based aid should also be able to optimize their lists to at least cut down the costs of attendance. There is no guaranteed right to attend the most expensive colleges, and there is no guarantees there will not be some some expense. Mine took several schools off his list that he might have liked because they offered no or very little merit aid. I know a lot of students locally who have decided on public schools for that very reason. A friend's daughter just left a very pricey, elite east coast college after freshman year due to high costs. She loved the school, but didn't want to graduate that far in debt.
Consolation, we found the opposite to be true. The non-elites that wanted to raise their average GPAs or those where S's GPA was at or above their averages, were more willing to offer merit aid than those where he didn't fit those criteria.
Last edited on Tue Jun 19th, 2007 11:28 pm by WestrnMom
|
Consolation
Member
| Joined: | Mon Apr 9th, 2007 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 474 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Tue Jun 19th, 2007 11:58 pm |
|
WestrnMom wrote:
Consolation, we found the opposite to be true. The non-elites that wanted to raise their average GPAs or those where S's GPA was at or above their averages, were more willing to offer merit aid than those where he didn't fit those criteria.
What I'm thinking of is a place like Harvard or Yale, which seem to offer a full ride or close to it to students whose family income is $60K or less, with a contribution that climbs from there. And Amherst and Williams seem to be about the same. I've seen sample financial aid scenarios from those and other such schools, and they generally seem to expect the student to contribute two or three thousand per year towards expenses, and perhaps another $5K from the parents (if the income is below $60K or if there are other kids in college or whatever). And they do not expect the student to take on big loans.
If one's family income is $40K or less, getting a merit aid contribution of $20K off a total bill of $40K or more isn't very helpful. I don't know much about merit aid packages, but a lot of the awards I've heard of are in the realm of $10K or so: not large enough to help a family that really needs the money.
The whole "merit aid" thing at private colleges is very mysterious to me. Schools that aim to meet "demonstrated need" I can understand. Although I do understand that what each considers to be the level of need and how they plan to meet it does vary.
|
entomom
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Oregon USA |
| Posts: | 362 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Wed Jun 20th, 2007 04:19 pm |
|
I agree with WestrnMom, kids (with the assistance of their parents) are responsible for making a conscious decision that includes finances when they make up their college list. That doesn't mean they can't take a chance by sending an application to their "dream college", but as a whole, their list should be responsive to their academic standing and their financial situation. I don't understand why parents and children don't look at the college application process like they would any other 60 - 200k decision in their lives. It's an investment that requires planning and reasonable expectations.
I actually found merit aid much more straightforward than FA. With merit, the college decides who meets their needs for the scholarship and awards a fixed amount based on the application, essays and possibly interviews. They do play some games with interview weekends, but that's another story  . With FA, colleges mysteriously (yes, I know there are calculators and formulas, but they are often bypassed) figure your need and how it will be met depending not only on your financial numbers, but also on how much they want your kid. There is a lot of "professional judgement" involved. Last edited on Wed Jun 20th, 2007 04:29 pm by entomom
|
Consolation
Member
| Joined: | Mon Apr 9th, 2007 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 474 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Wed Jun 20th, 2007 06:31 pm |
|
entomom wrote: I agree with WestrnMom, kids (with the assistance of their parents) are responsible for making a conscious decision that includes finances when they make up their college list. That doesn't mean they can't take a chance by sending an application to their "dream college", but as a whole, their list should be responsive to their academic standing and their financial situation. I don't understand why parents and children don't look at the college application process like they would any other 60 - 200k decision in their lives. It's an investment that requires planning and reasonable expectations.
I actually found merit aid much more straightforward than FA. With merit, the college decides who meets their needs for the scholarship and awards a fixed amount based on the application, essays and possibly interviews. They do play some games with interview weekends, but that's another story . With FA, colleges mysteriously (yes, I know there are calculators and formulas, but they are often bypassed) figure your need and how it will be met depending not only on your financial numbers, but also on how much they want your kid. There is a lot of "professional judgement" involved.
Yes, but how can people have any idea how much merit aid they might get? Do they publish amounts?
|
WestrnMom
Super Moderator
| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | West Coast, USA |
| Posts: | 1161 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Wed Jun 20th, 2007 06:58 pm |
|
The schools either have their merit aid and criteria listed on their websites, or they will tell you by phone. I also found that the colleges expect parents to have financial concerns and the financial aid and admissions offices welcome calls from parents about costs, since they know the kids aren't usually the ones paying for the education. In my experience, academic merit aid usually comes from admissions, where need-based aid come through the financial aid offices. Specialty awards (music, sports) would come from the departments, although that should be checked at each school since it might vary.
|
entomom
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Oregon USA |
| Posts: | 362 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Wed Jun 20th, 2007 07:41 pm |
|
The only schools that I found vague about merit scholarships were the UCs for OOS students. The others were good in telling how much the scholarship was for and if need was taken into account or not. Not all told minimum or average grades and scores for the scholarships, but our rule of thumb was that we looked for possible/likely merit aid from match/safety schools.
With the exception of families that qualify for the low income guaranteed 100% grant FA at a handful of the most selective schools, FA packages can be highly variable between schools. Our "demonstrated need" had a range of 20k/yr between five private top 20 ranked schools that provide 100% of need (Amherst was one of these schools, and it was at the bottom end of the FA offered). And after asking for a FA review at one of the schools, our "demonstrated need" was increased to match the offers from higher ranked schools.
From our experience, there was more "truth in packaging" for merit than for FA.
Last edited on Wed Jun 20th, 2007 08:23 pm by entomom
|
Current time is 10:17 pm | |
|
|
|
|
