How can i choose a college when i don’t even know if i can afford it or not?
Question by Bob: How can i choose a college when i don’t even know if i can afford it or not?
I’m currently attending Community College for my freshmen year, i’m doing well, it is easy, and i do not see myself getting below a 3.0 gpa. I want to transfer to an actual U, so i can actually meet some people my age and get a degree from a decent school. However i don’t really know how to tell whether or not i can afford to attend a school.
I get 5k per year for a pell grant, and right now that’s it, i did not do well in HS so i have no scholarships, but i am hoping that if i do well, i might be able to receive some.
anyways, how do i go about figuring out if a certain school would work for me financially? Are most students usually able to get the amount of tuition they need in loans? or what.
I want to attend ball state next year which would cost me about 15k for the year including room and board. subtract 5k for my grant and that leaves me with about 10k i do not have.
thanks so much
Best answer:
Answer by chuckles951
Go to the state school in your state if you do not think you can afford it.
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February 18th, 2012 at 10:17 am
Since you get a high Pell Grant, that suggests that your family is very low income. This means you will qualify for a lot of financial aid at schools that give generous aid. Your job is to find those schools. For most, that will mean a low cost state school, but if you do very well, it can mean great private colleges too.
It is generally the top private colleges that have the most aid to give. Ivy league schools like Harvard and Dartmouth give free rides with no loans to low income students. Go to the College Board web site or a site like College Confidential and look for schools that meet 100% of need.
Here’s the problem. You’ll need to do much better than a 3.0 for most 100% meet need schools, so do your best to earn really high grades since you find school easy!