<p>I am reposting this since no one replied to my earlier post. I think the topic of help me help someone made everyone think I was going to ask for money. I am not, just some basic advice/opinions....</p>
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<p>I am trying to help a friend's niece. I am not a professional, just a parent who has been through the process and the child of educators who grew up in college towns and in a collegiate atmosphere. </p>
<p>Niece is senior at low producing high school. High school never had her take PSAT. She took SAT once and scored in the low 500s. </p>
<p>She wants to major in kinesiology. She has a lot of sports, but not State Champ teams or anything. Good all around kid. Parents have drug issues, she lives with aunt and grandparents, none of whom went to college. We are in CA. I am going to encourage her to apply to the low end UCs and the Cal states. My concern about those is that they are commuter schools and she will not be able to afford a car. </p>
<p>On the other side, she might qualify for some good out of state merit stuff but there would not be money for travel, etc. </p>
<p>Grandparents are retired, Dad is unemployed, Mom who she does not live with has a low end job. At one low point in her life she was living in a car with Mom. Would you stick with my plan re: UCs and Cal states? I don't want to sell her short of an opportunity but I want to be realistic. </p>
<p>I am meeting with her on Sunday to get her started.</p>
<p>Is that 500's for each section. Will she take the ACT? May want to look at University of New Mexico, they have kinesiology program and several scholarships. Also may want to look at Private Schools where they give good FA with high grant/loan ratio. What sports? Depending on the sport there may be the possibility of particpating on a D-3 team.</p>
<p>If you can research schools in this field both private with merit money and state schools, maybe she can try some of each. I don't know that field and would have to research it myself. She can get a good education from state schools and her stats may not be high enough for merit aid at certain privates. Hard to say. I just wanted to pass on that the mother of one of my child's college varsity teammates is a professor of kinesiology at California State UniversityDominguez Hills and so I know they have that major. Check it out. Some of the state schools may have many commuters but I would imagine they all have some dorms or some apartments in walking distance. For instance, I have heard that Cal State Fullerton has apartments near by. So, factor in the lack of a car when doing the search and see what housing options exist. Like you say, a school out of state might be hard with the travel expenses. Perhaps the girl can take a part time job to help with such expenses. I don't know enough of her situation to say.</p>
<p>Ebeeeee. this is a toughie. With average SATs, it's tough to find a college that will bite with merit aid. And it is usually the more selective schools that give the best need based financial aid packages. I have not seen particularly generous out of state aid packages for kids with average SATs. My inclination would be to look at the UC and Cal State schools. Which ones could she reasonably get in and do they have good financial aid, especially on a non commuting basis. If her family EFC is low enough, a combination of government grants, loans and work study may be able to cover most of the tuition, but the room and board is problematic. If her grades are super good, there is a chance that a she can get some money through merit within need. If she is associated with any particular religion, a school sponsored by that religion may be helpful. There is also a college in the Appalachia , Berea (?) which is free those who are needy. ROTC may also be an alternative. Even without a scholarship, it often pays towards books and gives a small stipend.</p>
<p>ebeeee,
I went to the National Center for Educational Statistics and just put in kinesiology as a major for a search. It asked if I also wanted Exercise Science, I said yes and it came up with 263 four year colleges across the United states that offer this. When I narrowed it down to California, it came up with 14. <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool/%5B/url%5D">http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool/</a> I agree that merit aid is probably not going to be available unless her gpa is high, since her SAT's are fairly average. I wonder if there is something else that will make her stand out in the applicant pool. I've told my friends that my son got accepted to Colleges that thought more of his character then his stats. IMHO, that might be the kind of place you want to look for with this girl.</p>
<p>If her GPA is high, perhaps some of the test optional schools might be an option. I would also think she could improve her scores with studying or do comparatively better on the ACT.</p>
<p>ebeee, I read your post and gave it a good bit of thought when you first posted, but felt stymied. Your niece has a constellation of problems and frankly I don't see a good way out. I don't suppose you want to adopt her?</p>
<p>I, too, read your earlier post but wasn't sure what to suggest because she is a California kid and, although I lived and went to school there once, I'm no longer there nor savvy about the options.</p>
<p>That said, since you are still seeking input: the Cal States or low end UCs seem like a good option to me. Although there may be a lot of commuters there, there are dorms, are there not? While some kids might not like the weekend emtying out of such campuses (and I understand that), it seems like that is the least of her problems right now. Presumably, she can find friends among those who stay around campus. Or she might become good friends with a car-owning student and spend weekends with that friend, wherever that friend goes.</p>
<p>I'm not clear on why you think she would get merit aid out of state. So can't comment on that option. Nor why it would be such a great option if travel $$ are a problem.</p>
<p>The Cal States and UCs offer a tremendous value to in-state students and I don't think one who has that option needs to feel short-changed.</p>
<p>I think it is wonderful that you are helping her. Perhaps you will find helpful folks in the Admissions offices of the relevant CSUs and UCs. When I helped my step-grandson, also from an under-preparing high school, apply to his instate flagship and that of the neighboring state, I found both admissions' staffs to be empathetic and forthcoming when questions came up.</p>
<p>And, of course, as you get more involved, I'm sure we all would like to help where we can.</p>
<p>Is she an underrepresented minority -- black, Hispanic or Native American?</p>
<p>Regardless, I think that Calif. schools may be her best bet because they have a good price for in-state residents, will consider her family situation as they evaluate her application (assuming that she or her Gc tells them about her parents' drug probs, etc.), and such colleges would probably be the most convenient and probably would be less of a culture shock for her. </p>
<p>It's a major transition for most students to go to college. It's even harder, though, when they are low income, have family problems and may not be able to afford to call home easily or visit home during long weekends.</p>
<p>One problem with attending a "low producing" high school (not really sure what that means BTW) is that she may be a little behind the curve when it comes to math and language prep. Kinesiology is sure to require a lot of bio/chem type classes. Could this kid handle UC work?</p>
<p>Maybe starting at a CC is an option...and it is cheap, too--with the ability to transfer into a UC or CSU.</p>
<p>She'll boost her chances by studying for the SAT and taking it again. You also can help her look for scholarship $. There probably are local scholarships for students who come from challenging backgrounds as she has. Perhaps some of the low level Calif. 4-year colleges also have merit aid and financial aid that can help her. Keep in mind that particularly at public institutions, need-based scholarships may be awarded first come, first served. Some merit aid also may have deadlines that are earlier than the colleges' admission application deadlines.</p>
<p>Many CalStates have dorms. I checked out kathiep's link and found that it appears to not be comprehensive. I did a search of just a few CalStates at random and each of them has a Kinesiology major (they each have dorms) -</p>
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she may be a little behind the curve when it comes to math and -language prep
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If she is, this is definitely worth investigating to make sure the colleges "fit." In my step-grandson's case, he did not have the recommended language preparation. It turns out the schools he applied to were "forgiving" of the missing years of hs language. As an Engineering major, he does not even have to do a foreign language in college. WRT math, he was also "underprepared", esp. compared to many Engineering majors. At his school, one could read the catalog and see that they expected even Engineering students to come in at various levels of math preparation - and had several different math sequences to allow for that.</p>
<p>Thank you all!
Celloguy, it is a tough one and to clarify again this is my friend's niece. If she was my niece I would try to adopt her...You're right, there are a variety of problems. BUT I do want to try to help if I can and it is just these problems that make it hard for kids in this position to go to college. </p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad thanks. I am thinking the Cal states might be best. Cal State Long Beach actually has a good program. </p>
<p>I am also thinking that she may have to go two years at the CC. She lives with grandparents who are stable, just broke. So..the CC is an option. </p>
<p>I will post again with an update after I meet with her on Sunday.</p>
<p>BTW, I guess low producing hs might not be the right term. What I was trying to say is that this school does not send a decent percentage of their students on to college. Probably 10% go to four year schools.</p>
<p>ebeeeee, from hanging out on the Transfer Forum quite a bit last year, I found many ccc kids who had great professor/mentors, who really meant a lot to them, who guided them on to good UC programs (top UC programs, in fact). It can be a great option.</p>
<p>well, if she's broke she'd get plenty of financial aid. can't beat cal state's tuition prices either - 4500 a year.. also, community colleges offer FA as well.</p>
<p>Broke and highly desireable to schools that have the money means lots of financial aid. If you look at the % of need met on the majority of schools for average kids, it does not come close to 100%. If you don't have the money, "sleep-away" colleges are a true luxery and unaffordable under most tuitions and aid packages. If you don't have the stats, you aren't going to get the merit aid needed to go away. That leaves community college which is problematic when the home situation is dysfunctional and downright harmful. Even there you have commuting costs, and unless you live in an area with excellent mass transit, you need a car which costs money. Where we live, it is very difficult to do without a car. Going to school and working without a car would be problematic, maybe impossible unless you take a course at a time and/or get some to drive you. Also with insurance rates and gas as high as they are here, a car is very expensive. My son is finding out that he cannot get ahead even with a decent paying job here. He cannot take a course unless we subsidize it as he is barely making ends meet.</p>