Financial Aid Advice
- Thread starter Joe4Cy
- Start date
90/180. Now be serious, if you make 180 in Iowa and can’t afford an extra 18k or so a year for a kids schooling, you may want to check your spending.
I would suggest trying to set up a meeting with someone in the UW Financial Aid. They should be able to give you some good insight into where and how you can get financial aid.
Both of my kids went to Iowa State, but we live in Indiana. The first year, scholarships were offered based on their application to Iowa State. No extra work was required. Some were four year scholarships and some were one year scholarships. With the second child, she applied for additional scholarships each year through the University. That happened around Dec.
As for financial aid, Iowa State reviewed the FAFSA and told us what loans or grants our kids qualified for. This normally happened in the spring. As others have mentioned, FAFSA was delayed this year, so I am not sure when that will happen. It always seemed very late in the process to me.
In our case, I found Iowa State to be more generous with scholarships and aid than Universities in Indiana and even other out of state schools my kids applied to. Iowa State ended up being a less expensive for my kids than Purdue or Indiana. I hope Wisconsin is generous to your son. I think he will get a great education and an excellent degree.
Both of my kids went to Iowa State, but we live in Indiana. The first year, scholarships were offered based on their application to Iowa State. No extra work was required. Some were four year scholarships and some were one year scholarships. With the second child, she applied for additional scholarships each year through the University. That happened around Dec.
As for financial aid, Iowa State reviewed the FAFSA and told us what loans or grants our kids qualified for. This normally happened in the spring. As others have mentioned, FAFSA was delayed this year, so I am not sure when that will happen. It always seemed very late in the process to me.
In our case, I found Iowa State to be more generous with scholarships and aid than Universities in Indiana and even other out of state schools my kids applied to. Iowa State ended up being a less expensive for my kids than Purdue or Indiana. I hope Wisconsin is generous to your son. I think he will get a great education and an excellent degree.
Oh, thank you SO much. (And a serious, heart-felt thank you to everyone!)
We have orientation the second week of June. I'm looking forward to a small trip and seeing the campus. Anxious to talk with financial aid when we're there.
We completed FAFSA in early January. Still haven't heard...
I went to NIACC in Mason City in the 90's. All of my STEM teachers were old gray hairs. I think most had masters degrees, but I don't really remember.
Not sure what it is like there today.
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I mean this sincerely, I don’t mean to detract from people’s experiences but a huge number of people learn all of that without going to college. I think that stuff is totally overrated.
Never in my 7 semesters of calculus did I have class in a giant auditorium at ISU. I can't remember, but math 165 might have been a TA or young professor, but probably 20-30 in the class.
#1 joined the Iowa National Guard and is coasting through with no financial headaches with just a summer job.
#2 took a year after high school to work and save money and was able to bank the first two years before starting at Iowa, has an on-campus job and works her butt off summers and breaks. She should be able to graduate with less than $40k owed.
The important thing is to have a plan.
#2 took a year after high school to work and save money and was able to bank the first two years before starting at Iowa, has an on-campus job and works her butt off summers and breaks. She should be able to graduate with less than $40k owed.
The important thing is to have a plan.
Is there and age limit to enlisting after college? My Son is starting ISU in the Fall but has been out of school working for a few years. He's 22 now so would be around 26 when he graduates.
My daughter, who is in accounting at ISU now, went to a CC and got her AA before transferring. They told her all of her classes would transfer and she would be a junior at ISU so would graduate in 2 years. Very few of her credits ended up transferring and it will take her 3.5 more years
My #2 is very similar. #1 is pretty much opposite. Tried to get him to go in the service or learn a trade but he thought he could get a job, live on his own and save enough to pay for college. He finally learned that isn't going to happen. Now he's back home, trying to save and starting ISU in the Fall.
Sorry for derailing OP. FAFSA is a pia btw
I agree with you in regards to what the person posted, you can get that stuff just by moving out of the house and finding a roommate.
The stuff that really matters is the networking, relationships and knowledge built during those first few years. Being in an area surrounded by people your own age going through a similar journey is irreplaceable and simply doesn’t exist outside the college experience.
I think where the discussion gets confusing is no one is saying everyone should go to a 4 year university. But, at the same time, a person shouldn't have to choose between over $100,000 in student loans and a 4 year degree. Just like some people aren't made for college, some people aren't made for careers that don't require traditional college.
Looks like all of the Branches take people into their 30s.
Depends on the Branch and the MOS, I suppose.
A healthy 26 year old should have no problem.
Their schtick (at least NIACC’s is) that their credits transfer. They used to say classes but that turned out to be false, so they say credits now. It does you little good to have 60 credits but only 15 of those credits work for classes that transfer.My daughter, who is in accounting at ISU now, went to a CC and got her AA before transferring. They told her all of her classes would transfer and she would be a junior at ISU so would graduate in 2 years. Very few of her credits ended up transferring and it will take her 3.5 more years
CC can work for one year, otherwise you will add semester/s to your time at ISU.
Second, my kids have told me that there is still that weird stigma to transfers from CC instead of those starting at ISU. Ones who start at ISU feel like they weathered the storm together, so they have that bond. The CC kids felt like the players who are grad transfers and are there for a year or so and gone.
This is where people go wrong when going the CC then 4 year route. They just take the classes at their CC without doing research into what transfers. When you go CC, you need to be talking to their advisors and transfer advisors about what will transfer. If you're looking at 2-3 4 year schools, you need to be using the tools out there to know what transfers to each of those schools. Many 4 year schools (at least out here in NY) will have a spreadsheet of what actually transfers from school to school. It is constantly changing so the student needs to make sure they're getting good advise from their CC advisor (usually professors).
Edit: Adding the equivalency document for classes from NIACC to ISU as a reference for people. These types of documents are out there for many, many schools.
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Depends on your schedule.
My calc 1 was a small section led by a grad student but it met MTWF 5-6pm.
My calc 2 was a 200-person section with a prof MWF with recitation 1 day a week.
My calc 3 was about 100 students with a prof in the Marston auditorium.
Diffy Q felt like roughly 40 students.
Did you never take chem or physics? Those were always huge sections
Everything has been delayed by the issues with studentaid.gov this year. Kids who were accepted last fall are graduating high school in just a few weeks and still have no financial aid offer from prospective schools due to the problems.
My kids already at university know to get into the student portal and apply for scholarships for fall but I think the window on many of them are closing now (if not already) and for new students may not be an option for them their first term. Hopefully there are extensions coming.
My kids already at university know to get into the student portal and apply for scholarships for fall but I think the window on many of them are closing now (if not already) and for new students may not be an option for them their first term. Hopefully there are extensions coming.
