I’m trying to find a cheaper school with decent quality education. No matter where I go I’m going to have to take out student loans, but I’d like as little debt as possible. I’m a white female living in an upper class area in NJ but my family’s income puts me in the lower class (our income is somewhere under $30K but I don’t know the exact number).
Grade: 12
GPA: 3.44
SAT: 1840 (retaking them in October, hoping to raise my scores, especially math, after being tutored) Reading: 700 Writing: 680 Math: 460
Extracurriculars: Amnesty International (grades 10-12), German club (9-10), employed as a cashier (11-12), cat shelter volunteer (11), homecoming committee (10), relay for life committee (9), hoping to join the National Art Honor Society this year if I can make it work with my work schedule. I usually work 15-20 hours a week
Honors: Academic Excellence in World Language Study, Academic Achievement Society
Taking 2 AP, 4 CP, 1 honors class this year
If your parents make that little, you should receive some financial aid. I just ran your info (obviously missing some parts) through Ramapo’s net price calculator. Without room and board, it totally to around 9,000, which you can afford with loans and if you work part time. All of NJ’s public schools should be around that amount for you.
What do you want to study?
Skidmore is a liberal arts college in NY state.
Its total sticker price is about $64K/y.
However, according to its online net price calculator, with a family income of $30K and assuming no siblings or home equity, your estimated net price after need-based aid would be $7500 (before loans).
That’s for tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies, and $1400 worth of other expenses.
Since you’d qualify for fed aid and NJ state aid, be sure to apply to some NJ public schools…especially ones that will accept your stats.
YOU can’t borrow much, so you will be limited by that. You need to apply to schools that will give you aid.
Richard Stockton College NJ
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
SUNY Plattsburgh
SUNY Buffalo
Rochester Institute of Technology
U of Rochester
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
URochester (#4 ), which has an average SAT score of 1350 (CR + M), is “most selective” (USNWR) and costs about the same as other similarly competitive schools.