Accepted but likely not attending. Need input.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Minnesota
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So, I was accepted to CLA back in December, and I was extremely excited because UMN is pretty much my dream school. I’ve visited twice, once with my dad, and once actually on my own, and I loved it both times. I’m an OOS student from Indiana, though, so I was really banking on receiving scholarships to help me pay for the cost of attendance… especially with the tuition hike that’s happening now. Unfortunately, I received nada :frowning:

The only other school I applied to, IU Bloomington, I was also accepted to and received about $12k worth of scholarship money from. IU, being an in-state school for me, was already cheaper to begin with, so it would make a lot more economic sense to attend there. Don’t get me wrong - I’ve visited IU and I actually really liked it there as well. The campus is beautiful, and they have SO much to offer in terms of education/majors/clubs/etc… plus, I think for my major specifically (Korean), it might be a better choice for me, considering their brand new School of Global and International Studies, which is a school within the university entirely dedicated to students with internationally-oriented majors. I was a direct admit to this school, as well, which has its own perks. I was even invited to be in the Hutton Honors College (IU’s honors college), too. It’s all pretty great.

I feel I should be excited for this opportunity with IU, but… I can’t help but feel a little disappointed, honestly. Even though I’m not sure UMN would even have been the best choice for me considering what I want to do, and weighing the costs of attending there versus staying in state… I just fell in such love with the school and the campus when I visited and it really felt like that was the place for me. The Twin Cities are amazing, it’s such a vibrant and interesting community with so much to do, and the school is great as well. And, I just wanted to branch out and get away from Indiana, too, honestly. So many students from my high school go to IUB, and I wanted to go somewhere new and fresh. So, I feel pretty lost right now.

To give you an idea of my grades/test scores/etc. -
ACT - 33 composite
SAT - 2150 (650 M, 740 CR, 760 W)
GPA - 3.93 weighted (about 3.5 unweighted, my school doesn’t send UW though)
By the end of my senior year, I will have taken about 9 AP classes total, if I’m recalling correctly. I have also taken honors/ACP courses, as well.
I’ve been involved in a good number of extracurriculars, too.

So, I’m pretty bummed that I received absolutely no money from UMN, honestly. Lately, I’ve been considering taking a gap year, just to kind of figure out what I want to do, and get myself together before going headfirst into college without even knowing if that’s really what I want to do, or if IU is really where I want to attend. I could work and save up money, travel, who knows… and I’m wondering if maybe with a gap year, I could do some sort of reapplication at UMN and potentially be considered for money then? I could even retake standardized tests during that time to increase my scores even more, if that would help with scholarship consideration. I was honestly hoping for Gold National most of all, just so that I could pay in-state tuition, which would help a ton.

If anyone has any input about any of this – scholarships, gap year, IU vs. UMN, etc. – it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

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I have a degree from UMN, and can tell you that it isn’t “all that” compared to IU. It sounds like you have some great opportunities and scholarships at IU – you should be able to do really well there. I personally would not consider it worth a gap year to try again. If you don’t want to see people from your HS at IU, you probably almost never will given that it is a big school. If you want to move to the Twin Cities after graduating, you can do that.

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UMN and IU are comparably-ranked schools, IU may be a better fit given your major and you have been accepted to honors. All those point heavily toward IU even if they cost the same.

Your scores are great - 75th percentile of SAT scores for CLA on the SAT and way above that on the ACT. How will retaking those tests possibly help you further?

The Gold National is awarded based on GPA and class ranking. They are going to look at unweighted GPA and unfortunately you came in a bit low at 3.5. (it doesn’t matter that your school doesn’t send UW - believe me, every AdCom knows how to un-weight every transcript and re-load based on it’s own criteria in order to put everyone on a level playing field). Not sure what your class rank was but you needed to be top 10% minimum in order to be considered for the Gold National (and even then it’s very competitive - many are way under that percentile). That will NOT change even if you take a gap year. You’d need to speak to Admissions at UMN about how/whether they reconsider someone for scholarship who has taken a gap year. Chances are you are going to be up against the next year’s applicant pool and it’s not clear that things would be very different then either.

Had you gotten Gold National I calculate that you would still need to pay an extra $25,000 over the course of four years to attend UMN (assuming housing and other costs are equivalent).

A gap year might work only if you have accepted* one of the universities (not sure). You’d have to make sure you know how it works, and also whether your scholarship would be preserved should you take a year off. And make sure you don’t take any college courses (or take no more than allowed) during that year because that might bump you into “transfer” status vs. “first time freshman”. You’ll need to know what those rules are as well. (Financial aid, scholarships, etc. can all change once you lose your FTF designation).

  • Edit/Update: Actually you may not have to accept either place - but that means you WILL have to re-apply for admission. Check with each institution for the specifics. Information is probably on the websites.

But the idea of taking a year off and working is not a bad one at all - especially if you are feeling lost at this point - so you might consider that option! You’ll have about 62 weeks (one full year plus 10 weeks of a summer) between June 2016 and Sept. 2017 which is a lot of time to think about your future. If you get in 50 - 60 hours of work time per week (two part time jobs, for instance) you will also have the advantage of building up a college fund which can help now or in the future. Or you can try living on your own and supporting yourself which is a very genuine and proactive way to get that fresh start you wanted.

Good luck to you!

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@hannahyalea I agree with intparent and I was actually going to say the same thing - why not move to the Twin Cities after you graduate? Truthfully, IU sounds like a better match for what you want to do. Best of luck to you!

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@intparent @uwalummom – Thank you both so much, I hadn’t considered moving to the Twin Cities after graduating actually. That is always an option! I do agree that IU would probably be a better fit for what I want to do, as well.

@Mamelot – Thank you, this comment was extremely helpful, and kind of kicked me into the reality of things, as well. I made some calls to IU and was able to find out that I can defer my admission for one year without having to reapply, and I can keep my scholarships and my direct admission status, as well. I only cannot take more than 11 credits of courses from any outside institutions, or else I’ll switch over to transfer status, as you said – but I don’t believe I’ll be taking any college courses.
I am feeling a little lost, and there’s still a lot I want to do before college that I don’t think I can fit into one summer (get my license, work, travel, etc.) – so I definitely think I’ll taking this gap year opportunity. Thank you so so much!

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Good luck to you @hannahyalea. It takes guts to make a tough decision like this rather than just take the easy route and start college somewhere when it’s not the right decision or time. Here’s hoping for an unforgettable year and an amazing college career!