Taking my first ACT in June.
Just took a look at questbridge. Geez man, I’m a good student, but I don’t think my stats are good enough for those scholarships. Its really disappointing.
The other Bama scholarship for other levels of stats:
I automatically assumed the OP was viet
I guess my GPA and future ACT score would be good enough for University of Alabama scholarship. I can do better than a 27 on my ACT and if not, I will retake for sure.
Any other options guys? I feel like an idiot for not doing good enough for scholarships. Should never have gotten those B+'s, but nothing I can do now.
Do colleges give out financial aid in addition to federal financial aid? Is the amount usually very little if they do?
Yes they do. But your dilemma in that the college will likely include your alimony-paying father’s 6-figure salary in their calculation to determine what they think your financial need is. His unwillingness to pay will be irrelevant.
Well that’s awesome. I will talk to my counselor about this and see what else I can do. Still seems hopeless for me. I guess its community college for now…
If you guys have any other last words of advice for me, I’d love to hear them. Its sad to get hit in the face with some crap like this.
Can I get someone besides my mom to cosign a PLUS loan? I know for sure my parents wouldn’t qualify for a PLUS loan. Should I just attend community college? Honestly, I don’t even know if I can afford community college. Would I be able to get federal loans for NOVA?
Study for the ACT. Your best plan is to apply to schools that offer automatic, large merit scholarships.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com
Have you taken any SAT or ACT? If not, what was your PSAT score and breakdown (tends to be a good predictor of the SAT)? If you specify that, perhaps people here can give you suggestions of colleges where you may get a full ride merit scholarship.
Or you can look at the following lists for target scores for full ride scholarships:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
Troy: 31 ACT or 1380 SAT CR+M
Tuskegee: 29 ACT or 1300 SAT CR+M
Alabama State: 25 ACT or 1120 SAT CR+M
Arkansas - Monticello: 30 ACT
Howard: 32 ACT or 1400 SAT CR+M
Louisiana Tech: 32 ACT or 1400 SAT CR+M
Louisiana - Monroe: 31 ACT or 1360 SAT CR+M
Prairie View A&M: 26 ACT or 1760 SAT CR+M+W
Try searching on this list, too
http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-public-colleges/
Look at the columns for non-need based aid (i.e. merit aid)
Some schools (especially non-East Coast & non-West Cost LACs) have small asian-american percentages in their student body and may be keen to attract more by offering merit money as an incentive.
Some schools may not lump southeast asians together with northern (Chi, Kor, Ja) asians & southern asians (Indian), because compared to those other asian categories, SE asians are comparatively socioeconomically disadvantaged.
^ and Temple (the required stats have gone up a bit for 2016-2017 from those stated in the list)
Vietnamese is an URM.
see my comment in last paragraph Post #34
GMU tuition is a little over 5 grand a semester/10 grand a year, in-state.
http://studentaccounts.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/Spring2015Undergraduate.pdf
(Assuming you can live at home and wouldn’t have to pay room and board or rent.) Federal student loans would cover about haf of that. Summer/part-time work earnings might cover the rest. That still leaves books and living expenses, but it might be doable.
Your GPA is not Harvard material, but it is TOTALLY SOLID. If you can achieve a similarly solid SAT/ACT score, then provided you apply to a pragmatic range of schools, you should have feasible options next April.
God bless you all. I can’t reply to everyone of you, but I will do my best. Please know that I’m reading every one of your posts.
NavalTradition, I did not know GMU was that cheap. I thought college data had it at $20,000+ a year. I guess that’s only with room and board.
Yes, I can commute to GMU. I live about 45 minutes away and would not have to pay room and board.
I have seen that long list of colleges that offer merit scholarships. While I qualify for some, not all of them I qualify for. We’ll have to wait for my ACT scores. If I don’t qualify, I will definitely study my butt off over the summer to try and get 30+ or take the SAT.
Let’s say I attend GMU. I think I have a decent chance of getting in. Would federal loans take me to $9,000? Stafford is $5,500, and if my parents don’t qualify for PLUS wouldn’t it go up to $9500? Plus, a pell grant maximum is $5000, sowouldn’t that cover the rest of the costs?
Another huge problem I have, my mom is BENT on going to Minnesota. Her alimony expires in like two years. While we are affording rent for my apartment now, that might not be the case in two years. She wants me to go to Minnesota with her, live with relatives, and go to UMN.
Now, you guys said that I would have OOS if I did that. My cousin, who has just graduated from there, is sure that I would be able to get the loans neccesary to cover my costs there. I would not have to pay for room and board either, and my mom would not have to pay any rent. Thoughts?
I would prefer to stay in VA, as I’ve said before. Is there any way I could convince my mom that moving to MN is not feasible? GMU really does seem cheap, as I can get in state AND no room and board if we stay here. If my mom moves though, and I’m left with no home, what am I to do?
@GMTplus7 Had I known about the crap I would be dealing with today, I would’ve tried so much harder my sophomore year. I was so naive back then, focusing only on my grades and nothing else. I slacked off sophomore year, and vowed to do my best junior year. I paid the consequences, and I learned a valuable lesson. I took harder classes junior year, and got better grades. I promised myself I would do the same senior year.
I’ve never been satisfied with my GPA, but I vowed that once I got into college, I would step up my game. I’ve always dreamt of getting into pharm or med school. I see it is a 2nd chance, even though college is a lot tougher than high school. I could redeem myself in college, get the good grades I never had during high school, and get a scholarship into a decent pharm or med school.
I guess I didn’t realize that I needed a pot of gold just to get into college.
Yes, I guess my grades are alright, but they aren’t scholarship material. For people in similar situations, I feel like you’re either SUPER smart and get full rides, or you’re not and you can’t afford college. Its a sad truth that I learned today, but I guess that’s how life is.
GMU’s $10,000 per year tuition plus whatever books and commuting costs may be barely within reach of a federal direct loan ($5,500), Pell grant (depending on amount), and your work earnings (depending on amount), if your mother lets you live at her place at no charge. But if she moves away, then it will no longer be affordable on that basis. If she moves to MN and you move with her, then you may have to take a year or so off school and work to fulfill a waiting period for MN residency for the state universities there.
What test scores have you gotten already? See a list of full rides in reply #33 for college you may be able to attend, or target test scores that could let you go to college at no or minimal cost.
https://www.gmsp.org/publicweb/faq.aspx
Gates Millenium
Vietnamese qualifies (Southeast Asian), Pell-eligible seems likely, meets the 3.3 GPA requirement.
You need to sit with your mom and examine the timetable for a move to MN to ensure it meets the timing requirements for you to qualify for MN in-state tuition.
http://www.mnscu.edu/board/policy/202.html
Contact the university FA Office directly and ask to discuss you case. Do NOT simply rely on the website. And if something is not clear, do not assume.
45 min is a long commute and will not be cheap in terms of money and in terms of time taken away from studying.
But colleges will cut you some slack if they see a strong and dedicated UPWARD TRAJECTORY.
AOs realize not all kids find maturity at the same age.
I have no idea why i put 45, i think it was a typo because i meant to say 25. My commute to gmu is 25 minutes.
Seems like im definitely not qualifying for MN in state tuition.
I guess the two realistic options for me are GMU or community college for 2 years. I need to talk to my mom about this but if she bails on me and moves to MN, the only choice i have would be to find my own apartment and get a loan for community college correct?
Does going to community college or lesser known school impact your studies at all? If i were to go to nova for 2 years and then a normal university, would employers take that into account? What about grad schools, for if i did pre pharm or pre med?