Ahh! A bit stressed out... college list/tour help? :)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I feel like everyone is so determined with their future here, except me! My mom is a single mom and I'm assuming I know more about the college process more than she does - and I barely understand how it all works out. I'm hoping some of you could help me out! </p>

<p>Here is some info - </p>

<p>*Background *
Grade: 12th grade next fall.
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Taiwanese/Chinese
Religion: Christian
School: Many sent to Ivies/top schools. American school, although I am considered an international student because it is located in Asia.<br>
Family: Dad passed away 5 years ago. Mom is single. I have a younger sister.
Other: I have lived in California for my whole life until the end of 9th grade. Moved to the school I am attending now (attending 10th-12th grade).
IB Diploma Candidate.</p>

<p>MY STATS ARE BELOW. </p>

<p>Price Range
Talked to mom about price of colleges - she said not to worry about anything.
Estimated EFC from collegeanswer.com is $0 (Is this good or bad?? Can someone explain in simpler terms what this means?)
If we still had to pay, she could still afford the $50,000 - $60,000 range. </p>

<p>For a while I have been interested in Business, but I am really unsure now. All I know is that I love working with people and helping them out. I have been suggested to look into Psychology, because 1. Psychology can go into many different areas (business, teaching, PR, etc.) 2. many schools offer Psychology 3. I am interested in Psychology, anyway. I have also been suggested liberal arts schools (this is kind of embarrassing, but I still don't quite understand what a liberal arts school is) and schools that are more artsy, due to my theatre background. </p>

<p>-I prefer schools that have a closer community, but not EXTREMELY close. Bigger schools are fine, though.
-I HATE hot weather. I am willing to go to an area with snow.
-I am fairly conservative socially at times, but this isn't a big issue.<br>
-I love love love the Boston area because of its public transportation and how there are lots of place to go, but it's not as crowded as a place like NYU (I'm assuming).
-Don't really like schools that are in the middle of nowhere...
-Again, more interested in Boston area/UC schools (closer to home!)
-I prefer more diverse schools.
-Not interested in Greek life.
-IM sports are great, and I NEED a gym or some kind of center where I can stay healthy and get fit. No Freshman 15 for me, please!</p>

<p>Some schools I have considered
By the way, I'm using our schools Naviance program to figure out what the schools would be for me (safety/target/reach)... If you don't know what that is, it shows a scattergram graph of all the students who applied from my school and who was accepted/denied and compares it with me. </p>

<p>I don't know, I guess I'm asking you guys to see what you guys think, and if you have any suggestions or if you think I should just take off some schools from my list. </p>

<p>Caps are what I'm most interested in </p>

<p>NORTHEASTERN (safety)
BOSTON COLLEGE (reach)
BOSTON UNIVERSITY (target)
VANDERBILT (target/reach)
Chapman (safety)
UCs Berkeley, Davis, LA, San Diego <a href="not%20sure...%20didn't%20use%20UC%20GPA%20calculator">maybe...</a>
USC (reach????)</p>

<p>Somewhat interested in -
Purdue (safety) - in the middle of nowhere... but I've heard this school was good? Seems not too difficult to get into, though.
NYU (reach) - Too difficult? :/</p>

<p>For some reason I was also suggested Bowdoin by a counselor (I know it's a definite reach, but she still suggested it?) </p>

<p>Do you guys have any other suggestions?</p>

<p>Also, I am going on a college trip (mostly Boston and California for UCs) so I might be able to check out a few of your suggestions if you have any! </p>

<p>If you have any tips for college road trips, that'd be awesome... i.e. I was thinking of doing a 3 hour tour of Northeastern, but I was told by a friend that they weren't very professional (she went April 2011). Is 1 hour enough for a college visit? I was told that we could do FORMAL interviews (the one that is included in your college application) during our college visit... is this true???? Should I just do a campus tour or does it all depend? </p>

<p>I'm sorry, I'm really all new to this (haha of course) and my family doesn't know much either... </p>

<p>Thanks for reading everything & thanks in advance for all your help!</p>

<hr>

<p>Here are my stats...</p>

<p>SAT
This is the results from the 1/2011 SAT.
I have taken the 6/04 SAT so I haven't gotten the results. </p>

<p>Critical Reading: 620
Math: 570
Writing: 710
Essay: 11
Total: 1900</p>

<p>In my school, math is the best score for most, while writing/essay is the worst for most. I am the complete opposite... not sure if this is good or not. </p>

<p>*SAT II / ACT * Have not taken yet. Plan to take these ASAP (SAT II Lit? & Chinese). </p>

<p>GPA until 11th grade 1st semester 3.69
Weighted... School does not do unweighted. Is there a chance this GPA might be inaccurate? </p>

<p>9th grade
Honors English 9: A, A-
Honors Global Studies: B, B+
Algebra II: B, B-
Biology: B, B-
Photo Design I: A-, A+</p>

<p>*10th grade *
Honors English 10: B, B
Western Studies: B+, B+
Algebra II: A-, A-
Mandarin 3: A-, A-
Chemistry: B+, A-
Theatre and Communications I & II: A, A</p>

<p>*11th grade (only Semester 1, S2 grades not yet received) **
IBSL English: A
IBSL Psychology: A-
US History: A
Honors Precalc: B
IBHL Bio: B
AP Mandarin: B+
IBHL Theatre: A-</p>

<p>*Improvement of grades to consider? More rigorous course load, with somewhat better grades. </p>

<p>Teacher Recommendations Psychology and English teacher.</p>

<p>*Volunteer/Service *
-World Changers (2009-2010)
Missions trip in Fresno, California. Repaired/built fences, painted houses, fixed roofs, un-rooted trees, etc.
-Friday Blind School (2009-2010)
Went to local Taiwanese school for visually impaired every Friday night to tutor a blind student English. </p>

<p>*Leadership *
-International Thespian Society Officer (2010-2012) </p>

<p>*Extra Curricular *
All theatre work. 400 hours. Major roles in 5 shows, minor roles in 2. Backstage crew. Varsity level drama team, varsity level oral interpretation team. </p>

<p>*Honors/Awards *
-Honor Roll every semester from 9th-11th grade.
-IASAS* Stage Crew (2010)
Stage crew for IASAS Drama event
-IASAS* Drama (2011)
Traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to perform full-length play.
-IASAS* Oral Interpretation (2011)
Traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to participate in an international oral interpretation competition with other Southeast Asian schools.
-Honor Thespian (2011)
400+ hours of theatre work</p>

<p>*Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools: Considered as a varsity level event.</p>

<hr>

2

<p>In your other thread you state that you have a US Passport. That is excellent news. You are not an international applicant. You are a US citizen educated abroad. This makes you a domestic applicant for financial aid purposes.</p>

<p>Y can file the FAFSA, and you have access to federally determined financial aid. The only special challenge facing US citizens living abroad is that usually they do not qualify for in-state tuition and fees anywhere. Since you are attending a US-style school, your academic records won’t pose any special problems for the admissions offices. That is a another thing.</p>

<p>What you do need to determine is what your mother can pay. When you write that she can pay $50,000 does that mean she has $200,000+ stashed away somewhere for you? There are lots of places that would be happy to admit you if you are full pay. If you are going to need some financial aid, you will have to dig a bit deeper.</p>

<p>Print out the formula for the FAFSA, and have your mother run her numbers through it on paper. <a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf&lt;/a&gt; She will need to convert foreign accounts into US $ at the exchange of the day. This will give you a better estimate for your FAFSA EFC. You also should read through some of the threads in the Financial Aid Forum to learn more about the subject, and visit <a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5B/url%5D”>www.finaid.org</a> for more ideas.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>

3

<p>Before I start, once again, thank you so much for your help! </p>

<p>If I am a US citizen, would I still be considered a California resident? My mom still owns houses in California - we just rent them out to other people - if that makes a difference. A counselor told me that I wouldn’t be considered one or I’m an international student (?) which makes it easier for me to get into UC schools because they need the money, or something along the lines of that… Would this be true?</p>

<p>I think my mom did say she had the money with her, but I need to ask her again tomorrow morning (2 AM right now)! So, you’re saying that it’s better if we didn’t have financial aid and if we just paid from our own pockets?</p>

<p>Thank you so much again, happymom!</p>

4

<p>Have you looked at Pepperdine University, base off the information given you may be interested in the school.</p>

5

<p>You need to check what the rules are for in-state residence in CA. That should be right on the websites of the public universities and the community colleges. In some states, owning property there would be enough. But in most states, you actually have to be living there. In your personal case, you would have the option of moving into one of your family’s properties and living there while you commute to a community college, 4-year college, or university. This could bring your living expenses down a bit, even though it would reduce your family’s rental income.</p>

<p>You aren’t an “international” student, but if you don’t qualify for in-state residence, you will be an “out-of-state” student and you will have to pay more money to attend a public university. Some public universities like OOS students because they pay more. That is what your counselor was telling you. I don’t know if this is true of the universities in California, but it is something that you can find out.</p>

<p>Your mother needs to work through the FAFSA to see what effect these properties have on the results. They will be considered investments, and will reduce your eligibility for financial aid UNLESS due to other circumstances you can qualify for automatic zero EFC. If your mother is a US citizen or legal permanent resident, she should be filing a federal income tax return every year, and she will use some of the figures from that paperwork when she completes the FAFSA.</p>

<p>Some colleges and universities have “need-sensitive” admissions. This means that if you need financial aid (by their analysis), you won’t be admitted if they can’t meet your need. However, most colleges and universities are “need-blind” for admissions. They admit you, and then they give you a financial aid package, and then you decide whether you can afford to attend. Very few colleges and universities guarantee to meet need, and even when they do, it is by their standards, not yours. Most places will leave a sizeable gap between the amount of aid that they offer, and the total bill. That is why you need to know now what your family can pay.</p>

<p>Since you are a citizen, you can take out student loans, and you can get a job on or off campus during the school year, and you can get a job in the summer. Depending on how much money you make, with the Stafford Loans (freshman $5,500, sophomore $6,500, junior $7,500, senior $7,500) you can put together about $7,000 to $10,000 each year. Your mom won’t necessarily have to shell out the full $50,000 each year. Obviously, if you don’t need any financial aid, you have a lot more choices than if you need financial aid.</p>

<p>There are many colleges and universities in the Boston area. Use any of the college-matching search engines (there is a good one here at CC) to find a few more to investigate.</p>

6

<p>Have you considered Washington DC? It also has a great public transit system, lots of interesting things to do, plus it has an international flavor-perhaps your knowledge of Chinese could come in handy there… with your stats I’d look into American University or Catholic U.</p>

<p>Also maybe consider Philadelphia- Bryn Mawr College? Ursinus?</p>

<p>PS- a number of schools unfortunately don’t give credit to the writing subscore of the SAT- is there any chance you can take the SAT again in the fall, maybe study over the summer, because if you can get those math and reading subscores up I think you’d have a lot more options.</p>

7

<p>Thank you all so much for your help! </p>

<p>I asked my mom, and yes, she has more than enough to pay for my college tuition. Thank you Coolbrezze, I added Pepperdine to my college list! </p>

<p>Happymomof1 - I’m sorry, I totally forgot… I was told by my counselor that for California, I would have to be actually living IN the state of California for at least a year before I would be considered an in-state resident. But, of course, this is impossible, as I will be graduating in Taiwan… so I wouldn’t be an in-state resident for CA. </p>

<p>And thank you again. My mom said something about possibly applying for a grant? She said something about the colleges not knowing, so I wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not I will be admitted if colleges can’t meet my needs. But I think it might be safe to say that even without one, I would be able to afford college anyway… I’m sorry, I’m just very confused with all this, and my mom doesn’t seem to want to go into much detail about it except tell me that I don’t need to worry about it. </p>

<p>Pamom59 - Thank you for your response! I have not thought about DC, but I will now consider (as well as Bryn Mawr)!
And yes, I will be taking the SAT one final time this coming October, as well as the ACT just in case. </p>

<p>-</p>

<p>Question:
My mom is encouraging me to submit early applications to as much schools as I can… is this something normal to do? It’s good if I do, right? But, I also want to take the SAT in October and if my SAT score does improve, I’m afraid the scores won’t come back in time for me to submit with the early applications. Also, I worry about the grades in the beginning of the year vs. the grades near the end of first semester junior year - will colleges see those? And, since I won’t be getting my Year 2 IB scores until the end of senior year, apparently my teachers will be asked their estimation of my scores and those will be sent to the colleges. I wonder if the scores estimated would improve if I waited until regular application time… So basically, do you think the pros outweigh the cons when I’m applying early? Or should I only apply early for schools I like more/feel more confident with? OR would this be more of a personal decision…</p>

<p>Sorry about all the questions! I feel pretty dumb, hehe :frowning: Thank you again for all your help!</p>

8

<p>There are several kinds of “early” applications.</p>

<p>Rolling Admissions: The college/university starts to accept applications some time in the fall, and makes decisions about admission right away. Usually you will have a Yes/No answer within a couple of weeks. Many public universities operate this way. You can apply to as many as you want in this status.</p>

<p>Early Action: The college/university has a fall application due date for students who are particularly interested. All of the applications that have arrived by that due date are processed in one group, and there is one date on which all of the Yes/No answers are released. In some cases, you can only choose one place to file Early Action. Why, I don’t know, but you need to be aware of that possibility. Check the websites carefully.</p>

<p>Early Decision: Some colleges/universities offer the option of applying early. But you can only apply to one, and if you are admitted, you agree that you will attend. If you are accepted, you are expected to withdraw any applications that you have pending at any other institutions. As you would expect, every year some students don’t get good enough financial aid packages, or decide that they just plain don’t like their ED school after all, or whatever, and they need to break this agreement. It is messy. So unless you have boatloads of money, and there is ONE place that you know for absolute certain is your absolute first choice, don’t apply ED. There is one reply date and the options for applicants are Yes, No, and Defer for reconsideration with the regular applicant date. </p>

<p>Priority Scholarship Application Dates: Many Rolling Admissions and Regular Admissions institutions have scholarships that have application due dates earlier than the last date for accepting applications for admissions. If you need/want merit-based scholarship money you have to pay attention to this. My niece got a whomping big merit scholarship for the college that she is attending, but in order to be considered her application had to be on the admissions officer’s desk on October 1.</p>

<p>Regular Admissions:. One due date, and one reply date. In this case the options are Yes, No, or “Would you like to be on our waitlist?”</p>

<p>Talk with your mom about the money issue (and yes, lots of parents have trouble with that one but encourage her to be brave about it), and discuss your test score situation with your guidance counselor. That will help your sort out whether or not you want to apply “early” anywhere.</p>

9

<p>Re California. Since your family owns property there, you do have the option of moving there, getting a job for a year, registering to vote, etc. etc. etc. and then applying to college when you are certain that you will qualify as an in-state resident. Check the regulations about this. You may have to be able to demonstrate that you are fully self-supporting in order to establish residence there.</p>

<p>Re Bryn Mawr. Yup definitely consider that place.</p>

10

<p>I am confused. You said your EFC is zero, yet your mom says she can pay essentially $240,000 for your education out of pocket? That does not make sense (EFC of $0 means your family is low income and is essentially not expected to pay anything toward your education). Just a word of warning, if you lie on the FAFSA and are caught, you could lose all your financial aid benefits and face additional fines and penalties.</p>

11

<p>If you have a chance at UCLA or Cal then you have a chance at USC. It’s not more of a reach than the others. Your list looks fine considering your criteria (Boston/CA) and your SAT scores. Your grades and SAT scores qualify you for UC Irvine or UCSC or UCSB with UCSD a reach.</p>

12

<p>Yeah… I’ve been asking my mom about that too. I used the calculator on the collegeanswers.com website with my mom next to me so I just put down what she told me. I’m not sure if this explains anything, but my mom doesn’t have a job at all, so that might be why we’re low income. The only thing she gets is from her real estate in California. We just have money in the bank. </p>

<p>^ Sorry, this was a response to intparent. </p>

<p>Thank you happymom for your explanation! And thank you ricegal :)</p>

13

<p>did you include the bank account and the value of the real estate in the calculator? Did you include the income that comes from the real estate? did you put in your father’s income?</p>

14

<p>Yep, we put in all the information that was asked for. We put the income from real estate in the unearned income section. My father is deceased.</p>

15

<p>kalifornya,</p>

<p>Sometimes, if the income is low enough, an automatic zero EFC may be generated even though there are investment properties. The most accurate way to predict your FAFSA results is to complete the paper version. Here is the link again: <a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The version at the CollegeBoard website also is very accurate. Here is the link for that one: [EFC</a> Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?](<a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_status.jsp]EFC”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_status.jsp) When you complete this form, choose both Federal Methodology (FM) and Institutional Methodology (IM) to get your FAFSA EFC, and an estimate for your CSS Profile figures. Save at each step in the process, so that you can go back and make any corrections if you need to.</p>

<p>If you go to the Financial Aid Forum, you will find lots of useful information on this topic. Look for anything by kelsmom. She is a college financial aid officer, and can help you determine whether or not you are making mistakes with your estimated FAFSA.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>