How much financial aid can i get approximately?

Question

I want to transfer to Northwestern University or University of Chicago in Illinois. I am currently a sophmore at a 2year college and my gpa is 3.88. I would like to go to these schools but I do not know if I would even be accepted and if I do, thers no way I can pay for it without a lot of financial aid.

Answer 1

The first thing that you want to do to is fill out your fafsa application.  The only thing that you count on being different is your pell grant. That is only because it's based on your EFC (estimated family contribution), which is a calculation that is based of family income, family household, Cost of Attendance, and etc.  But I can tell you what is constant.  

Independent students:

Freshman $3500 Subsidized

                  $6000 Unsubsidized

Sophomores:  $4500  Subsidized

                       $6000 Unsubsidized

Juniors and Seniors:  $5500 Subsidized

                                      $7000 Unsubsized

dependent students:

Freshman:     $3500 Subsidized

                        $2000 unsubsized

Sophomores:   $4500 Subsidized

                        $2000 unsubsized

Juniors and Seniors:  $5500 Subsidized

                                     $2000 unsubsized

And of course dependent v. Independent just depends on whether or not your over the age of 24.  You might want to contact the Scholarship office and apply for scholarships that they might have available.  And you might want to get on a list for workstudy because I'm sure that they are out of funds.

If you are dependent and need more loans then you could have your parents apply for a parent plus loan and if they are approved the interest on that is 8.6% and if they are denied based on bad credit you qualify for the additional $2000 unsubsized loans.  If you are thinking about becoming a teacher they also now have a teach grant that you might to ask about.  If you are a science major they have a Smart grant that you would want to ask about.  There is also a college affordability grant that you might want to ask about.  The qualifications for these grants vary and might be interested in.

Answer 2

The best way to find out how much financial aid you are eligible for is to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).  This is a free application so it doesn't hurt you to fill it out.  If you find out that you can't afford to attend one of the more expensive schools you can just transfer over your application to a new school.  There is no need to fill it out every time for a different school.