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QB Moderator
| Hi Everyone, welcome to the QB Online College Discussion Panels! I've adjusted the room settings to prepare for the colleges to arrive at 3pm, which should be in the next ten minutes. |
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flivver76
| Which colleges are here today? |
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QB Moderator
| Today, we will have Columbia and Trinity. |
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krisheenacrank
| could we print out this discussion later? |
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QB Moderator
| Yes, you can feel free to copy and paste this discussion into a word document to print later. or, you can wait for QB to post a transcript of this discussion on the website. |
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jazzyrhythms
| When colleges say that they will meet all of a students financial need, how is the financial package usualy split up?(realizing that each student and college is different) i.e. % of workstudy, % scholarships/grants, % of loans |
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Trinity (Anthony)
| Each financial aid package will differ, depending on the family's assets and demonstrated need. The design of the package will undoubtedly vary from school to school. Your package may vary in its composition. |
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jazzyrhythms
| Are there any scholarships you would suggest to look into? Perhaps many of your entering students recieved them. |
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QB Moderator
| I recommend you register for fastweb.com. By and large, though, the majority of your financial aid will come from your particular institutions. |
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jazzyrhythms
| When recieving financial aid, are there minimum credit/ gpa requirements? What are the usual requirements? |
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Trinity (Anthony)
| from Anthony: You will need to be enrolled full-time, and maintain satisfactory academic progress. Satisfactory academic progress usually varies from school to school. Some schools have strings attached to their scholarships, especially if it's merit-based; so you should checck to see if you need to have a certain major or GPA requirement. |
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Anjanie
| this is also for columbia university...do they have any accelerated medical programs, or programs where a student can be guarranteed a spot when applying to columbia |
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Columbia (Rod)
| No accelerated medical programs, and no programs for guaranteeing a spot into Columbia medical school. Although roughly 10% of Columbia med school students are graduates of Columbia. |
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Anjanie
| when applying to a college do they also take into consideration the time span a person has been here? For example I am from Suriname, and I am a permanent resident, but I have been here only form3 yrs , have learned english in only 3 years, and havwent been able to accomplish as much as other students/ when I had been here my entire life |
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Trinity (Anthony)
| We really aren't concerned about the number of years a student has been in the states. Residency is a factor, whether it's permanent resident or international students. We're more focused on their academics, not so much on their status, so long as they are at least permanent residents.
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Columbia (Rod) |
Private schools will take a holistic process of reviewing applications, and we take many things into account. If you think of it as a formula, you're not giving yourself enough credit, because we read everything! |
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Anjanie
| what was the range for columbia university on their act ? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
ACT range of students who are accepted are between 30-33 composite. |
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Anjanie
| what test do colleges prefer sat or act? |
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Trinity (Anthony)
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We don't have a preference for the SAT or the ACT. Some students tend to perform better.
Rod: Whatever test you score higher in! We take both, and we'll take a look at the higher score. |
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Gabber213
| University participate in HEOP? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
All New York schools, public or private, have an HEOP program! |
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Trinity (Anthony)
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The HEOP program is for economically disadvantaged program, so you need to meet the income requirements. It's not a race-based program. |
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flivver76
| Does being associated with QuestBridge help our college applications in any way? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
We take a look at all parts of the application, and one single program doesn't get you into college, but participating in programs like QuestBridge can reflect positively on your initiative. |
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ukken989
| when colleges say "demonstrated need", does that refer to info from tax documents that show annual income, or are more docs involved? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
Demonstrated need refers to data provided on the CSS Profile, FASA, tax documents, and what families share with us on a case-by-case basis.
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Columbia (Rod) |
Need basically takes a look at families' individual circumstances, and try to acknowledge that family's circumstances.
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midniteblu
| What SAT scores do most colleges look for on the new SAT scale? Most colleges seem to only have the listings for old SAT scores. Does that mean that colleges currently still only look at the Math & Critical Reading parts & not the Writing |
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Trinity (Anthony)
| This will depend from school. I think nationally colleges are still assessing the usage of the new SAT, so it's important to contact the university you're interested in, and figure out if the writing portion is something they're evaluating, because it will vary from institution to institution. |
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Anjanie
| is it possible for a student to get a full ride to e.g. columbia university? Adnw hat does a fyull ride inlcude? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
It really depends on the school's financial aid policies. For schools that offer merit scholarships, it's possible to receive enough to cover all needs. For schools that offer need-based aid, there's an expectation that students work during the summers to contribute to their education, and/or take loans to help pay for their college expenses. |
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chailattegirl88
| Is there money available if pretty much know what you want to major in? -like I'm either majoring in French or Classics (Latin/Greek); would there be departmental scholarships? |
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Trinity (Anthony)
| It depends on the school; that's where you'll have to do research on the individual school, to see if they offer such things. |
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krisheenacrank
| what percentage of incoming freshman applicants get accepted and get helped financially? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
For Columbia, the acceptance rate is 11%, and 100% of all students who need assistance receive financial aid.
Anthony: For Columbia, the acceptance rate is about 37%, and 100% of all students who need help receive financial assistance. |
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tonyaj7
| Even if a college offers me a good financial aid package, should I look for a college that has a lot of job opportunities off-campus, so I can pay for incidentals (extra expenses)? |
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Trinity (Anthony)
| As far as working off-campus, or just working in general, it depends on your work load. It's always a good idea to speak to an advisor before making the decision to figure out how much and where a student should work. Many students will take advantage of work-study programs on campuses, oftentimes very convenient for students; employers tend to be flexible in terms of schedule because they are students. |
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lionel11
| how flexible are colleges regarding clubs and leadership positions? Will having a different type of extracurricular activity that is not "president of whatever" harm the chances of acceptance? |
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Trinity (Anthony)
| We're looking for everyone to be captains or presidents. More important is just that there's a commitment to organizations. It's not necessary to be a leader, its more important to be a strong and consistent member. |
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silverstarmaddy
| Is there financial aid for out-of-state students; like special programs from the university. |
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Columbia (Rod) |
State residency only really matters when you're looking at a public institution. All private universities award financial aid regardless of your state of residency. |
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Anjanie
| what really gets you into columbia unievrsity, except from the usual stuff we always hear? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
At Columbia, we really want to see students who know that this is the right place for them. So, students who have researched Columbia well, really know this is the place where they belong, really rise to the top of applicant pool.
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Trinity (Anthony) | One strong piece of advice would be to connect with an admissions officer from your territory. So this would mean send updates, and create a rapport with an admissions officer who visits your area. By calling the main number at an admissions office, you can get a hold of someone who visits your area. |
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silverstarmaddy
| I read that sometimes schools can be biased to students who cannot afford tuition vs. students who can. Is that true? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
The way that I would take a look at this is whether or not a school is need aware, and what that means. It's hard to give a generic answer, because it depends on the school. You should talk to the school to ask them if the school is need-aware, and how that influences your application.
Anthony: Bottom-line, you should inquire as to whether or not a school is need-blind or need-aware. |
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THOMAS_CARMAN
| Should choosing a college be based mostly on financial aid? |
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Trinity (Anthony)
| No. Financial aid should certainly be a consideration, but the important thing is to research the school to see whether or not it's right for you. You should include financial aid as another criteria in evaluating your decision.
Columbia: You should think of college as an investment. You might not necessarily do well or enjoy your time at a school that offers you the best financial aid. You go through college once, so you want to find a school that matches you academically, social, and financially. |
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lngundam
| I was wondering if Columbia has a particular family range it considers most when considering students for financial aid |
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Columbia (Rod) |
The four main factors that really fuel a student's eligibilty for need based aid, for all institutions that award financial aid, is 1) income, 2) assets, 3) size of family, and 4) number of students enrolled in college. |
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jazzyrhythms
| On the CSS Profile I've heard that you must include the financial information of non-custodial parents. Will exceptions be made to this if a student is unable to locate a non-custodial parent? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
We evaluate non-custodial parents on a case-by-case basis. So students should speak to the individual financial aid offices if you have difficulty getting in touch with parents.
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Trinity (Anthony)
| Since situations can vary greatly, it's also on a case-by-case basis. |
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lionel11
| Does an EFC(expected family contribution) of 0 guarantee a full ride to college? |
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Columbia (Rod) |
No, it doesn't. The EFC that's demonstrated by FAFSA doesn't necessarily guarantee a full ride to an institution. Schools will also look at other financial information to see if the family contribution is appropriate. The EFC does not cover the individual student's contribution, as most schools expect students to work during the summer to contribute to their educations. |
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THOMAS_CARMAN
| Early action decision Are they necessary? |
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Trinity (Anthony)
| Students who apply to any school via early decision should be confident that that school is their first choice. It should not be used as tactic to simply better your chances of getting into a school. But in terms of process, early means you would apply early on that school's calendar. If you're accepted early decision, if you are accepted, you will need to refrain from applying or withdraw applications to other schools. If you're applying early action, you can apply early to one school, get a decision, but you aren't bound by the same contract. |
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QB Moderator
| Thank you for joining us for this chat!
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QB Moderator
| We will post a transcript of this session to our website in the coming week so you will be able to learn from other students. We're sorry we didn't get a chance to answer all of your questions, but hope you can come back to another session and talk further with the colleges. |
