I’ll preface this by saying that I am not complaining whatsoever about my current situation, I am just curious to know what type of aid I can get.
I would say that I am in the middle-class economically speaking and come from a single-parent household. I have received a full-ride from Columbia, but wanted to see how I could lower the cost even further by being able to pay as little as possible for living expenses. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with how the grants would work. Is it possible to be given grants that would cover living expenses or is it highly unlikely that I would receive any given that I was given a full-ride? How stingy is CLS in this regard?
Again, to emphasize, I am not complaining, I know I’m very lucky to have no tuition, but being a maximizer, I figure why not see if I can save the extra $15k or so a year that living expenses would be (if not more given NYC). Thank you in advance!
Schools tend to say that need-based aid is calculated separately from merit-based, but that’s usually bullshit. Even if they were really calculated separately, if you think you fall in a middle-class bracket, you’re never going to qualify for need-based scholarships.
HYS only offer need-based aid, and I think even someone getting the max is still required to take out a chunk of loans. You may actually get some reasonable amount of need-based aid from them, but it’s not going to be a full ride/cover living expenses, since (at least based on reading here at TLS) they just don’t do that, for anyone.
Again based on reading around TLS, stipends for living expenses at top schools are extremely rare. Except for the Ruby (I think?) which expressly comes with one, I don’t think I’ve seen any (except say the GI bill). Occasionally someone pipes up who got one, but I don’t remember any from top schools (T14). That’s just anecdotal, but fwiw.
I assume it’s a waste of time given that your chance of getting anything more approaches zero, although if I remember correctly from when I applied, they make all admitted students fill out the form for need grants anyway (but current CLS students should correct me if this is wrong)
If you want to get a living stipend, your options are limited to lucking out with the few places that offer those (Chicago, Michigan), or looking for outside funding. Both UVA and Michigan have helpful pages listing outside sources of funding (don’t have 'm handy, but google will help you find 'm)
I guess RAing is always an option though it’s a pain in the ass