HOW DID YOU PAY!!!!!

[Amethyst Armoogan]

Hi
i live in mesa and i want to attend Embry Riddle in the 2010- 2011 school year.... but i have an issue... i am the middle of 5 in a single parent family and there is no way i can come up with 37 thousand each year... god thats more than my mother makes a year... she refuses to co-sign on loans and has absolutly no money saved up.... and now shes playing the "i'm old and you have to take care of me" card... its all a bit frusterating and i just want to go.... I'm willing to work but i just want some rough estimates of grants and scholarships that other people got... i'm trying to same up money on my own but i will be lucky to get $1000 by next year... so does anyone have advice on what would help... sorry to bother you all with my problems but i really don't know what else to do....
thank you
AMY

[Miguel Diaz]

well first of all, file the FAFSA,
you never know how much money you can get from the government
and given your conditions you have a high financial need
that will make you more likely to get money from the gov and from various scholarships that are based on financial need
you can also get money from ERAU if you are accepted and are in good standings
for example, I'm entering ERAU this fall and I got 6500 a year and i didn't do anything special
i just did my application for acceptance and some time later i got a letter telling me about my scholarship (after i found out i was accepted)
about the savings, i understand you
i don't plan on contributing anything for expenses myself (or my parents) because whatever i can save would be negligible

so yeah.... thats what i know
but and financial aid counselor could give you more guidance

[Alexander MacFarlane]

How much is negligible? With a part time job you can probably save up $3000, which would account to 10% of your tuition cost each year.

[Miguel Diaz]

ha, i just saw your reply until today, 3 mo. later
well..... i meant my contributions BEFORE entering
and i didnt have time to work then
and maybe 3000 would help but i'll be a flight student so the total cost would be 50000

but i am intending to work at or near campus

[Joshua]

well if you're not against the military army has full rides, covers tuition, room, and board. in otherwords you pay nothing except after college for 8 yrs you have a guranteed job. also file your fafsa and you can get some with the stafford loans, but not enough. Aside from that i really have no idea. you could also try air force, but they don't like giving out money, stingey bastards

[Samantha Kingston]

well the sticker price is a bit of a shock when you first see it! you should jump on filling out the FAFSA as soon as possible, based on that government grants and loans will be awarded to you. I filled it out and had an estimated family contribution (EFC, they calulate it for you on your fafsa) of 30 and recieved a pell grant for 2,100 a semester and a transger merit scholarship from the school for my grades for 3,250 a semester as well as a federal sub loan(no interest occurs while in school) and a unsub(they charge you interest while in school) for 2,750 and 1,000 respectivly, just to give you a ball park idea on what to expect given you have a low EFC as far as private loans go i havnt gotten that far yet and so i dont know as much. I took out two credit cards as soon as the bank would let me to help build my credit score for when i go to apply for loans, i know a credit card sounds scary but just run a balance it dosnt have to be high and make sure you pay it on time every month! My parents werent to excited about having to cosign either and the counselor from embry told me i might be able to get a loan with out one because of my credit history but that theres a good chance i will need one but that some loans after two years of on time payments drop the cosigner, which helped open my parents to the idea. Obamas also doing alot of things to help students out right now and i was advised to not even take out my loan for my first semester, fall of 09 untill after july 1st because of everything going on in congress. I hope this was helpful and most of all keep your grades up there so you will be eligible for scholarships to help you out!!

[Amethyst Armoogan]

Thanks yes this helps alot!
Thank you so much!
AMY

[Rob Kelm]

Hi Amy,

Thanks for the question. Looks like you've received some pretty solid advise so far, but I wanted to add some extra info and suggestions. Hopefully they'll be useful.

Embry-Riddle's first look at financial aid is based on academic performance shown in the high school records included in the admissions application (high school transcripts and standardized test scores: ACT or SAT). Higher scores lead to higher merit-based scholarships which directly impact the cost of attendance. These scholarships have higher potential values than anything else offered by Embry-Riddle, so it is worth going for them. As a hint, the tougher requirement is high SAT/ACT scores, but we will take the top score for each category in the test, regardless of when it was achieved, so if you score high on the Critical Reading section in the first testing, study up for the Math section for the next test date, and make sure you get plenty of rest the night before to you are fresh for the test.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (www.fafsa.ed.gov) is an integral part of financial aid these days, for a variety of reasons, but won't be available to you until January of your senior year, so for now you can put that on the back burner. In some cases, the demonstration of need, via FAFSA results, may be required to complete scholarship application requirements, so you will have to wait for those, but it is best to know in advance which scholarships those are and when you will need to be starting the application process.

For now, I would recommend using your junior year to explore your options (and keep your GPA up). Many students don't start the search for scholarship opportunities until their senior year when they have MANY other things on their plate, so they often limit themselves to national search engines like fastweb.com and the College Board. This year, you can spend time finding additional opportunities so that when your senior year comes around, you'll know where to go and what is required to qualify for aerospace-specific scholarship opportunities.

I hope that helps.

Cheers!

Rob
Admissions Counselor

[Rob Kelm]

Regarding the aerospace-specific scholarships, I usually recommend students start their search with companies for whom they would like to work as professionals in the future. See if your choice of employers can help with the cost of your education.

Also, you can look into professional organizations based on your career interests:

Engineering in general - Society of Women Engineers (SWE, www.swe.org)
Aerospace Engineering - American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA, www.aiaa.org)
Electrical Engineering - Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE, www.ieee.org)
Mechanical Engineering - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME, www.asme.org)

automotive design - Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE, www.sae.org)

Aviation - Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA, www.aopa.org),
- Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA, www.eaa.org) (also good for engineers)
- Women in Aviation, International (WAI, www.wai.org)

Helicopters - Helicopter Association International (HAI, www.rotor.com)

Business - National Business Aviation Association (NBAA, www.nbaa.org)

Meteorology - American Meteorological Society (AMS, www.ametsoc.org)

There are many others; just have a look around the web. Put in your career choice, followed by "organization" to see if one is available.

Good luck,

Rob

[Amethyst Armoogan]

Thank you for the scholarship ideas and everything!!!! i hope you have a great time at school !!!!
Amy