<p>Yeah my mom doesn’t know anything about schooling or aid or anything. At this point, I feel like giving up and not going to college at all.</p>
<p>Working for a year and reapplying to schools that have better aid is something that you might consider.</p>
<p>Yes, that option has been mentioned before. I’m just extremely frustrated, I wasted four years of my time doing college research and I wasted my mother’s money, and for what? To have to do it all over again cause I’m an idiot and I did everything wrong and now I can’t go to college. Lol, and I was voted Most Likely to Succeed. Freaking ironic. Now I have to either go to community college with the D students who didn’t get accepted to the state schools, or take a year off. A year off. That’s what privileged suburban kids do, saying they’re “finding themselves” when really they just didn’t get accepted anywhere because they spent high school partying while the rest of us worked to keep a perfect 4.0 so we could get into a good college. Cool, I got into the good colleges. Now I can’t even go to them. My friend got 30,000 in grants from UM and I got 13,000, and her family makes slightly more than mine. I don’t even. I don’t even understand why I got offered so little money from both the in state and out of state schools. I just feel like a failure right now. I really don’t want to not go to college but I don’t want to go to some large university where I’m lost amongst the massesa sfl;asf;aslf I just feel like dying right now. I feel so helpless and just like alone and I’ve been crying for the past hour about my future. I wish a miracle would happen right now, I wish I had like some fairy godmother lol. If only life were a fairytale, hahahaha;lshl;ahasl;ha;lhah;a;hla.</p>
<p>While it looks like you wanted to attend an “art specialty” school however, the reality is that most art schools do not meet 100% demonstrated need and no not have the endowments to offer a ton of need based financial aid. Many students who attend these schools are coming from full pay parents.</p>
<p>I totally agree with EK, that you should consider taking a year off and applying in the next cycle. You have already said that you have a 4.0. If you share with us the rest of your stats, perhaps we can guide you to schools that could be financially feasible options for you or schools where you do stand a chance of getting good merit aid. If we can help you work this out, it may be well worth it to take a gap year.</p>
<p>my mom is kind of oblivious about the college/fin aid process too. i told my mom just now i was applying for cc and i needed credit card for app fee, and she’s like why? and i’m like, because private school is too expensive. and she’s like, just take out student loans. and i’m like, i’d have to take out about 30k a year. and she’s like so? and i’m lol this is why you have bad credit mom</p>
<p>Your mom, and maybe you as well, does not understand that large loans require QUALIFIED co-signers. YOU can’t borrow much on your own. Banks are going to look at a student (or bad credit mom) and say, “Why the heck would we lend large amounts of money to you?”</p>
<p>You need to tell your mom that there aren’t any big loans for students to take out by themselves. And your mom isn’t qualified to co-sign (nor should she because that’s too much debt for a kid anyway.)</p>
<p>without qualified co-signers (and someone who will qualify EVERY year for the next FOUR years), you can only borrow:</p>
<p>frosh 5500
soph 6500
jr 7500
sr 7500</p>
<p>You were poorly advised when it came to applying to college. Florida is a big state, you should have applied to various publics in Florida and used BF and Pell to pay for college. Going to college in another area in Florida is essentially the same as going OOS…you’d be in a different area/culture.</p>
<p>Stop applying to anymore Art schools…waste of app money because they won’t be affordable.</p>
<p>Take a gap year, don’t take ANY classes, and reapply to Florida publics.</p>
<p>Now I have to either go to community college with the D students who didn’t get accepted to the state schools, or take a year off. A year off. That’s what privileged suburban kids do, saying they’re “finding themselves” when really they just didn’t get accepted anywhere because they spent high school partying while the rest of us worked to keep a perfect 4.0 so we could get into a good college.Now I have to either go to community college with the D students who didn’t get accepted to the state schools, or take a year off. A year off. That’s what privileged suburban kids do, saying they’re “finding themselves” when really they just didn’t get accepted anywhere because they spent high school partying while the rest of us worked to keep a perfect 4.0 so we could get into a good college.</p>
<p>Hyperbole much?;)</p>
<p>Just in my small circle I know two kids who attended community college for two years ( to save money) then transferred into much more expensive schools. ( their families were full pay)
Schools were University of Chicago & Oberlin… They weren’t D students when they received their degrees & they weren’t D students in community college.</p>
<p>Many high school students decide to take a year doing something different than sitting in a classroom. After all they have been doing that for 13 years. Both my kids were accepted to all the colleges they applied to, their reasons for taking a gap year had nothing to do with college acceptances.
( Incidentally, we live in a city- & youngest attended an inner city public school)
Oldest participated with Americorps, she volunteered full time, earned a living stipend & money to apply to college tuition or loans at the competition of her year.
Youngest was accepted into an Americorps program, but changed her mind & worked two jobs in order to save money to take a 5 month volunteer vacation, to India. ( they then both went to four yr schools.oldest is finishing up grad school,youngest is declaring her major)</p>
<p>Someone who has such an immature view of the world, such as you have shown you have, could only benefit by taking a gap year & using the opportunity to get over yourself, by making a difference to a community or a cause in need. </p>
<p>You can then get another chance to find a place to continue your education, and hopefully have learned something so that you can benefit from wherever you attend.</p>
<p>“I wish I had like some fairy godmother lol.”</p>
<p>franny101,</p>
<p>Well actually you have several. Very cranky, opinionated ones who don’t exactly have magic wands, but still ones who are willing to help you get through this. Read back through this thread, and see how many usernames repeat.</p>
<p>Remember, the goal should not be to “succeed” immediately, but rather to truly “succeed” for the long term. You didn’t get in anywhere that you can afford. Sad. True. Lots of people are in that situation. Even more are going to discover that they are in that situation on April 1. By then though, you are going to be over the worst of this shock, and have a notion of how you are going to move forward. So, you are ahead of the game!</p>
<p>Lots of people attend their local community colleges - Happykid is one of them. She’s there because it is what we can afford. She’s done very well, and will complete her A.A. this May. She has been accepted at the places she applied to for transfer, and will make her final decision when the aid packages come in next month. And, get this, her CC has multiple honors programs, and multiple merit-based scholarships. Look at the CCs near you, and see what they have to offer. They may be delighted to throw some money your way.</p>
<p>A Gap Year may look like something for a spoiled rich kid, but it also is useful for a serious art student who wants more time to work on a portfolio. If you use the time wisely, it will not be a loss at all. There are a number of threads on this topic in the Parents Forum. One of the most encouraging is <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html</a></p>
<p>Hang in there.</p>
<p>Happymom makes some excellent points regarding community college. I know plenty of students who started at community college and can give you loads of community college success stories. In fact depending on what the student wants to accomplish long range, I even recommend community college. Not only is it an affordable option for many families, but because of the articulation agreements in place regarding admissions into 4 year schools and opportunity programs for low income students.</p>
<p>EK has come up with another great idea. Have you considered doing Americorps during your gap year? You can earn a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award up to $5300 to use for college. You may even end up getting place somewhere that you can use those aspiring graphic arts skills to work (My D did a gap year working at Americorp after graduating college and before starting law school).</p>
<p>[AmeriCorps.gov</a> > What Is AmeriCorps?](<a href=“http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/why/index.asp]AmeriCorps.gov”>http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/why/index.asp)</p>
<p>I have never been a D student in my life and I went to community college. Saved my family a ton of money, which they used to help pay OOS tuition at the school I transferred to. Earned a BS from the University of Idaho and I’m now in graduate school at Indiana University, on track to be a professional park ranger.</p>
<p>My dad earned a Ph.D in paleontology from UC Berkeley. You’d never know from looking at the diploma that he was a high school dropout and attended community college. There is no scarlet letter on his degree that says WENT TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE LOL SUX.</p>
<p>Nobody who matters will look down on you for attending a community college. Especially in this age of skyrocketing college costs, ever more people are going the transfer route.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No need for this.</p>
<p>She’s a bright kid and she’s disappointed. This does not mean she is immature. Give her a little bit to come to terms with this before calling her “upset” immature. She is on here, and she is listening and that is actually, under the circumstances, rather mature.</p>
<p>Haven’t you ever been deeply disapointed? With the way we hold up dream colleges in this country, we’re parental marketing machines for expensive colleges and universities, and then, when it’s not OUR kid? they are immature for not snapping out of it? No.</p>
<p>Franny, you have good advice on this thread. You will do just fine, in life. I know it is impossible to believe, given what you have been being told for the past four to six years, but the college you go to isn’t going to make you or break you, what you do with it once you get there WILL change your life, wherever “there” turns out to be. There are a lot of college faerie tales going around, and it’s not easy when you find out you get to be the one driving the pumkin.</p>
<p>the good news is that nobody can take away the stats you have earned through your hard work, and some of the women on this thread know an awful lot about this. Mom2K is right about art schools. They aren’t going to give you the money you need, but the major publics in Florida DO have art departments. You are qualified to go there, and ought to call up the admisssions office at those state schools and figure out if you can do something with them, and if, since they are public, they can work with you on the fin-aid issue.</p>
<p>Good luck to you. It will be all right, in the long run. But I do understand your frustration.</p>
<p>poet, I disagree. </p>
<p>It’s one thing to be upset. It’s another to be bitter at the people who are trying to help you.</p>
<p>Romani–</p>
<p>I have nothing but respect for the path you have taken in your life. You are exceptionally mature for your age. You have worked hard all the way through and you have had to cross some broken glass and some hot coals to get to where you are.</p>
<p>OTOH, this young woman has had a day or two. </p>
<p>I think she’s being open and saying what she has to say here. She was looking forward to this time of year this year. She worked hard. She got into her first choice college. She was ill advised by the adults around her.</p>
<p>Now, she is going to grow up. </p>
<p>But, being disappointed and upset about this, as a senior in high school, is really not immature for her age. It is exactly where she is supposed to be. And this is how we learn, and how we grow up.</p>
<p>Romani,</p>
<p>I am usually very intolerant of attitudes displayed by some of the student on this board (see on the second page my message about expectations to go to expensive college for free).</p>
<p>However, in this case I agree with poetgirl. The OP did not have an adult in her life to help OP choose affordable college. Look at OP’s other thread, asking about differences in types of the loans. I am frustrated with OP’s mom, but OP should not be judged harshly - instead we should help OP understand all available options.</p>
<p>This late in the game, it is understandable that OP feels hopeless and frustrated. OP showed a good level of maturity - look at OP’s first post, OP acknowledges that taking that much debt is not a good option. OP certainly showed more maturity than some of adults in OP’s life.</p>
<p>Franny, you should be very proud of yourself. You’ve done so well academically and artistically–I absolutely understand how you must feel.</p>
<p>My D’s guidance counselor/school (at a mainly low/middle income urban public) constantly told the kids to ‘go for the stars’ and that ‘financial aid was out there’–well, I feel that is a terrible message. Yes, aim for the stars but tell kids/families about the realities.</p>
<p>Don’t give up, and don’t take anything the more judgmental types say personally. I think you did a fabulous job and only lacked guidance from adults. My D would have been in exactly your boat if I hadn’t researched what college was going to cost. She would have only applied to schools we could not afford, and probably would have had to take a year off & reapply. She would have HATED that, so I can understand how upsetting that must be.</p>
<p>I’ll try to think of some affordable, good options. Hang in there. Life can knock you down sometimes, but don’t let it keep you down, you’ve worked way too hard. There’s a way, just maybe not the way you had hoped.</p>
<p>Franny, happymom stole my line about how yes, you DO have fairy godparents. Yes, we are old and cranky and blunt. Let people here take you under their wing. Let them give you advice. You’re a bright, hardworking young woman with a great high school record who’s had a tremendous disappointment. People here will help you figure out how to proceed. </p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with everything that happymomof1 wrote in her post. Do consider community college. Go talk to some professors there. Tell them that you’re a prospective graphic arts (or whatever) major, you’ve worked hard in high school, and you’ve got pretty much no money for college, so you are looking at community college. Ask them straight out what they’d recommend for a student like you. Are there internships they can help place you with? How do students do with transfering to four year schools in the major? I PROMISE you that professors love talking to bright, eager, hardworking students. People love giving advice. :)</p>
<p>Do consider a gap year program. If you want to take a shot at finding other four-year colleges that might offer you enough merit and/or need-based aid to make it possible for you to attend without enormous loans, that’s the path to take. You don’t want to take any college classes during that kind of gap year, because that could prevent you from applying to colleges as a freshman. Your best shot at big aid is as a freshman, not a sophomore transfer. </p>
<p>Do look at the four-year publics in Florida. </p>
<p>Go have a good cry, because you’ve earned it. And then come back here and ask people for advice and suggestions.</p>
<p>University of Central Florida’s Graphic Design program looks very good. I work in a related field, hire designers-- and it looks like a solid curriculum. The deadline for UCF is rolling, which means you could still apply, but the Graphic Design program deadline was earlier.</p>
<p>You might call the Graphic Design department and ask if it is possible to attend as an undecided student Freshman year, and transfer to the Graphic Design dept in the Spring of Freshman year, or if it would be better to take a gap year and apply next Fall. Tell them you were accepted to Pratt with a merit scholarship, and that your guidance counselor didn’t explain that Pratt would not meet your full aid. Throw in something about how you wish you had seen their program sooner (so they don’t feel like you are settling/not excited). You never know. If their application pool isn’t as big as they expected, they may still take your application. Cost of attendance in-state is about 14,000. Not sure if their deadline for FAFSA has passed or not; if so, best thing is to wait & rebuild college list, apply next year. It sucks, but if you could get a job & save money (maybe you already have a job)–then you’d have a little bit of a cushion. If you got into Pratt, Florida State school graphics programs will LOVE you. </p>
<p>And if you have talent (you clearly do) and work hard in a good graphic design program, you’ll do fine. It’s all about the portfolio and your work. You can move away from Florida after college graduation, and if you can do so with little or no debt, you’ll be in such a great position.</p>
<p>I don’t know why your friend was offered more money at UMiami than you were. UMiami does give big merit, so perhaps her M+CR SAT was higher than yours? </p>
<p>I am an AP Scholar, have a 4.65 GPA, in the top 5% of my class, 10 AP classes, 6 honors, 1850 on SATs</p>
<p>Anyway…you have a very high GPA, but your SAT is good, but not top. That probably hurt you. I wish you had been advised to apply to some SAT optional schools that give great aid. You probably would have had better results. :/</p>
<p>I strongly suggest that you take a gap year OR find a Florida public that is still accepting applications…maybe USF or FIU. Some schools accept apps thru May 1st!</p>
<p>As mentioned above, UCF has a good program. If you take a gap year (don’t take ANY classes!!!), retake the SAT and take the ACT, and apply to UCF.</p>
<p>I just finished reading franny’s post #43. How I recognize the frustration of not living up to your own expectations … I have heard similar comments from several teens I know. Do not make the mistake of viewing yourself through others’ eyes. You need to do what you need to do. Don’t concern yourself with the fact that you were voted most likely to succeed, because you are feeling like a “loser” as a result. Hmmm, just a few weeks ago my own D considered herself a “loser” because she graduated last May and didn’t have a real job yet (she has been working as a barista & living on her own, but she still felt that she was a total loser). Then she got an interview with an amazing company and was offered a job (at a salary that exceeds mine by a lot) the same day. NOW she understands what I tried to tell her … that we all have circumstances to get through on our way to achieving our goals. I hope you can understand this, too. You are not where you go to school … you are so much more. You may not see the options today, but they are there for you. You will do well no matter where you go, as long as you take advantage of all that is available to you.</p>
<p>A plug for CC’s: My friend is a chem prof at a CC. She devotes herself to TEACHING her students … about chemistry and about life. She believes that is the role of a CC prof, and she tells me her colleagues agree. She has helped students get into some great schools. One of the most important things you can do when you get to school is establish connections with your profs.</p>
<p>Florida has one of the finest community college systems in the country with good, solid links to the state university system. Some of these schools (such as Miami Dade) have better art departments than their four year counterparts.</p>
<p>Take advantage of the deal of the community college. You usually get great advising and will be able to locate a good school to transfer to without debt.</p>
<p>Many colleges offer debt free transfers to top community college students who are first generation Keep up the good work. You will get there.</p>
<p>I teach at a community college. Unfortunately,Franny has fallen prey to the high school mentality of community college because admissions are open. I am fortunate in that my school feeds a “public ivy” that routinely rejects 85% of its out of state applicants and 39% of its instate ones. My students are well prepared and most are very bright. Go with an open mind, Franny. You will be surprised.</p>
<p>My take on OP is that she has been led to believe that earning good grades in high school & participating in EC’s will not only insure that there is enough outside (her family) available for her to not only attend art school, but her* dream* of an art school.</p>
<p>When faced with the realization that indeed this is * not * the case, she asked for advice.
Upon receiving several well thought out suggestions from various posters ( who share similar solutions), she scorns the advice & denigrates other students who have pursued those options.</p>
<p>It isn’t doing her any favors to allow her to believe that those schools are going to be feasible for her to attend in the near future, or that students who have made more affordable choices are not as worthy as she to attend her * dream* school.</p>
<p>She will be graduating high school in just a few months & needs to adopt a new plan of action. The sooner she comes to terms with reality, the more options will be available to her.</p>