Full College Scholarships

[Green Tea]

Hackcollege.com shared this article which shows how rare the full college scholarship is: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-m...ion/how-rare-are-full-ride-scholarships/4265/

We often discuss college funding on this board so someone may be interested in the article.

 

[eliza61]

Hackcollege.com shared this article which shows how rare the full college scholarship is: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-m...ion/how-rare-are-full-ride-scholarships/4265/

We often discuss college funding on this board so someone may be interested in the article.

That doesn't surprise me. the only person I know who got a full ride to college for his entire 4 years is my nephew who is currently at the Naval academy. Although he'll tell you he's paying dearly for his tuition.

 

[FINFAN]

My neice was pffered a full ride at several schools, chose UCF..not only that, somehow she ends up making $ each semester, enough to cover her parking and still alittle left over! She earned it tho, top in the state, great work ethic.

 

[punkin]

My neice was pffered a full ride at several schools, chose UCF..not only that, somehow she ends up making $ each semester, enough to cover her parking and still alittle left over! She earned it tho, top in the state, great work ethic.

My good friend's nephew gets a similar deal at FIU. His SATs and grades were Ivy League caliber. He is having a great time and getting lots of opportunities.

 

[jsmla]

Louisiana has a scholarship program aimed at keeping some of their top students in the state. The amount awarded is merit-based and anyone can get it no matter what their income level.

Both of our kids received tuition waivers. DD was National Merit and earned a free ride-tuition, housing, board and a small stipend that just about covered her books and lab fees. DS had (I believe) the tuition only and lived at home as a result.

They both had part-time jobs that covered their "fun". All we really paid was their car insurance, gas, health insurance, things like that. We were soooooo fortunate.

Jennifer

 

[FINFAN]

My good friend's nephew gets a similar deal at FIU. His SATs and grades were Ivy League caliber. He is having a great time and getting lots of opportunities.

it's amazing...however now my niece is thinking of transferring..to Ontario! My DD's decision was between Sarasota and Toronto...the girls in my family are one extreme to the other, lol! Actually, top schools for their majors were in those locations.

 

[punkin]

it's amazing...however now my niece is thinking of transferring..to Ontario! My DD's decision was between Sarasota and Toronto...the girls in my family are one extreme to the other, lol! Actually, top schools for their majors were in those locations.

I would choose Sarasota over Toronto in a minute, but I suppose there is the lure of a big city...a big frozen city.

My DD is at a small private liberal arts college and I am paying through the nose. She got several excellent scholarship offers from lower ranked schools (no full rides, though) but decided on one of her most expensive choices. She did exceptionally well last semester (her first) so maybe she was right.

 

[FINFAN]

I would choose Sarasota over Toronto in a minute, but I suppose there is the lure of a big city...a big frozen city.

My DD is at a small private liberal arts college and I am paying through the nose. She got several excellent scholarship offers from lower ranked schools (no full rides, though) but decided on one of her most expensive choices. She did exceptionally well last semester (her first) so maybe she was right.

same here, DD is a junior and she did choose Sarasota, full retail price, passed on a $40,000 scholarship to a lesser school but she made the right choice hands down. She's in computer labs almost 24/7 tho, so really, it's a shame that she does not get to enjoy the weather much, but I'm guessing heading out to Walmart at 3 am in January is nicer in FL than Toronto

 

[DawnM]

Well, I don't know all the circumstances, and it would certainly depend on what the child wished to do in the future, but I think I would strongly recommend my child take the scholarship and go to the lesser school and worry about "name schools" in grad school. I can't pay $40K per year ($480,000 total! Plus fees and transportation on top of that!) for all 3 of my kids and I really would prefer them not having that kind of loan to pay back.

Dawn

 

[FINFAN]

Well, I don't know all the circumstances, and it would certainly depend on what the child wished to do in the future, but I think I would strongly recommend my child take the scholarship and go to the lesser school and worry about "name schools" in grad school. I can't pay $40K per year ($480,000 total! Plus fees and transportation on top of that!) for all 3 of my kids and I really would prefer them not having that kind of loan to pay back.

Dawn

It wasn't for the name school it was for the program. It has more than proven itself already and not sure of too many schools that can offer the info that more than 50% of their graduating class of '10 is working in their major within 6 months of graduating, at salaries that are above average. My DD did put a price on her happiness, the 40 difference was something she is willing to pay for to be able to work confidently in a field that she loves vs attending a school that offered 1/3 the program and throwing six figures away on an inadequate education. The extra 10 a year was debating long and hard but she definitely made the right choice for her future. That is the cost of a new SUV around here, she is more than happy to live lean to have taken the opportunity she has.

 

[jsmla]

Well, I don't know all the circumstances, and it would certainly depend on what the child wished to do in the future, but I think I would strongly recommend my child take the scholarship and go to the lesser school and worry about "name schools" in grad school. I can't pay $40K per year ($480,000 total! Plus fees and transportation on top of that!) for all 3 of my kids and I really would prefer them not having that kind of loan to pay back.

Dawn

DD had to make that decision-she was accepted to more prestigious private schools but chose LSU and the full ride. I think a big part of it was her desire to stay near her friends and family but it has worked well for her. She's in medical school (still close to home!) now and, even with our financial help, those loans are going to be big enough!

DS used his "college fund" as a down payment on a house after graduation.

Jennifer

 

[DawnM]

Wait, maybe I misunderstood....it is an extra $40K for the entire 4 years or PER YEAR?

And I do agree there are times it is worth it......I just would have to REALLY know it would make a big difference before recommending spending an extra $40K per year for undergrad.

Dawn

It wasn't for the name school it was for the program. It has more than proven itself already and not sure of too many schools that can offer the info that more than 50% of their graduating class of '10 is working in their major within 6 months of graduating, at salaries that are above average. My DD did put a price on her happiness, the 40 difference was something she is willing to pay for to be able to work confidently in a field that she loves vs attending a school that offered 1/3 the program and throwing six figures away on an inadequate education. The extra 10 a year was debating long and hard but she definitely made the right choice for her future. That is the cost of a new SUV around here, she is more than happy to live lean to have taken the opportunity she has.

 

[FINFAN]

Wait, maybe I misunderstood....it is an extra $40K for the entire 4 years or PER YEAR?

And I do agree there are times it is worth it......I just would have to REALLY know it would make a big difference before recommending spending an extra $40K per year for undergrad.

Dawn

40 overall...if it were 40 PER year, basically a free ride, she would have taken it gotten the experience and kinda useless degree but a degree nonetheless and THEN gone to the school she now attends, which is where her heart lies.

 

[englishteacha]

I didn't have one scholarship that covered my costs, but I did have several smaller ones and attended college with only one $1000 student loan. I had the grades and SAT score to go pretty much anywhere, but as I wanted to be a teacher, I chose a wonderful state school that's been highly ranked for several years. If you want to be a teacher, you go to UMaine at Farmington. I had a local scholarship, a state scholarship that covered tuition, and a Pell grant that covered the rest. Had I not gotten the scholarships, I would have needed loans or to work full time and attend school part time. I was definitely a "scholarship kid;" I didn't have money for extras, stayed on campus most of the time, and didn't party because I didn't want to risk my education. If I got in trouble or failed, the money would have been gone!

 

[jsmith]

I think where people tend to be the most unrealistic about full rides is in atheletics-every parent who's child is slightly talented in a sport thinks that its going to pay for the childs education-and thats simply not true. Football is for the most part the ONLY sport that provides full rides for men-thanks to title IX there are more opportunities for women simply because football is so expensive.
My oldest had an academic full ride to Clemson based on his grades, ACTs and interest in a program that is well funded but draws few students. Unforunately he also wanted to run and the coach there would not even look at him as a walk on so after a year he transfered back to Colorado to run-he did get some money but not at the level he had at Clemson. He was however much happier even with the huge time commitment to track and field. He succeeded nicely academically as well and is now pursuing a PhD in physics at U of Michigan. His younger brother had a number of offers to play basketball at D2 Schools but opted to also attend CU and that has worked out well-if not cheaply also. Sometimes in addition to financails you have to consider the students emotional and academic wellbeing.

 

[DawnM]

Ah, ok, I did misunderstand.....I was thinking you were talking about $40K per year.

Dawn

40 overall...if it were 40 PER year, basically a free ride, she would have taken it gotten the experience and kinda useless degree but a degree nonetheless and THEN gone to the school she now attends, which is where her heart lies.

 

[punkin]

The difference in price between DD's best scholarship offer and the school she wound up choosing was $28K per year. I do not know yet if it was the right choice. It is very difficult to pay full price (OK, we did get $2K in financial aid this year) when a comparable education could have been had for less.

 

[IUTBAM]

Before we started looking at scholarships and applying to colleges for my DD, I thought she'd be a shoo-in for a full-ride...and so did a lot of other people. But it's true that full-rides are not that common. My DD is a 4.0+ student (on track to become valedictorian of a class of 600 in a HS in a highly regarded school district), did extremely well on the PSAT (she ended up getting NMCS status), the SAT (2210 overall, 1500 w/o the writing), and ACT (32 composite, including 36's in two categories). She has been accepted to every school she applied to so far, but the only merit based aid she's been offered has been by the two (PRICEY) private schools she has applied too. One scholarship covered about half the tuition ($20K a year scholarship, when the yearly cost for this school is $50,000 if you live on campus), and the other was $16,000/year for a $35K a year private Catholic college. Thankfully she is a semi-finalist for a prestigious private scholarship (which is a FULL RIDE, including books and incidentals), but the competition is FIERCE for that, so we aren't getting our hopes up. Perhaps the schools will offer more in their "official" FA offers once we file the FAFSA and CSS profile, but we are going to have a huge EFC, so I don't know what to expect.

 

[njsweetP]

Unfortunately, even with the best education, how can one predict what the job
market is going to be like in the next 4 years? There is no guarantee of jobs upon graduation and graduating with $$$ in debt seems ridiculous. DD is a senior, great grades, tons of community service. She applied to 4 schools (schools that fell into her list of criteria for the perfect school for her). Out of the four she's heard from two (both with scholarships). Haven't heard from the others yet. Right now she's leaning towards going to the in-state public school, where she received a partial scholarship. This won't cost us much more than we are paying now for her private high school. Why this college? Because it offers a great program, she can study abroad, and she can graduate without debt - the best graduation gift we can give her. What's her stake in it? Maintaining the grade point average every year to keep the scholarship.

 

[Debbie7452]

My DD is a junior and is already fielding recruiting for academic merit scholarships. We can't wait to see what offers she gets next year when things really start rolling. She will be National Merit (we know from her score, it's not official until next fall) and was almost perfect on the SAT. National Merit students are aggressively recruited by some schools and get guaranteed full rides from a few. University of Alabama has an awesome 4 year deal that includes tuition, room, enough extra money to cover food, money for a summer study abroad, and a free laptop! This is guaranteed to National Merit Scholars, not competitive.

We already have one in college on a half scholarship(still costs $$$), so this will be a blessing beyond measure. We are trying to avoid any student loans if at all possible.