Average Student looking for decent school

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a pretty average student, 24 ACT and the 3.7 GPA when I graduated from High School in May. A couple ECs and not enough Volunteer hours, so my resume is still pretty bland. My ACT score is the biggest problem I have, even though it was thought to be pretty decent at my school.</p>

<p>During my Senior year I applied to only two schools, for various reasons. University of Alabama and the University of Alabama-Huntsville. I pretty deadset on UA, and had been for about two years, but it didn't work out at all. </p>

<p>Now that's I'm having to look at schools again, I've pretty much broadened my view and I'm willing to consider a lot more schools.</p>

<p>I'm hoping to find a school that's a bit more exciting in terms of things to do, perhaps in a city area but at the same time not a commuter school. I'm pretty focused on majoring in either computer science (perhaps a few other computer majors with less focus on programming) , management information systems, or finance. Financial Aid is very, very important. I also want a bit of diversity. I'm a black female, and while I don't want to attend an HBCU, I also don't want to be an ethnic spot in the crowd.</p>

<p>I've pretty much thrown out all the ivy schools and public near-ivy schools, since I know I have little chance of being admitted I don't want to waste admission fees on schools I can't attend. However, I don't mind applying one or two reaches.</p>

2

<p>How much can our family pay for college a year? Pin down your parents to a dollar amount per year. </p>

<p>Are you in college now or are you taking a year off between h.s. and college? If so, what are you doing during your gap year?</p>

<p>Do you live in Alabama? If not, what state do you live in? How far away from your state are you willing to move (Keep in mind the financial considerations -- transportation, clothing costs, etc.)</p>

<p>I suggest that you pay the $15 to fully access the U.S. News premium college on-line site, which will provide you with detailed info about thousands of colleges in the U.S. including their financial aid policies, SATs and diversity stats of their freshmen class, and other valuable info.</p>

<p>Why didn't U of A and U of A-Huntsville work out for you?</p>

3

<p>Right now I'm taking a year (perhaps a semester if I could manage) off and trying to save up some kind of money by working. My parents aren't paying anything towards my college. </p>

<p>I live in Alabama, and while at first I was confining myself to this state, I'm finding that most of the schools here don't appeal to me at all. I'd be willing to go to another state, and I'm no longer making distance my first concern. I'd be willing to sacrifice if it'd be a good fit and would work out well.</p>

<p>UAH was too much of a commuter school and had too little to offer in terns of social life and majors. UA was had too big of a greek scene and didn't seemed to care about football than any of the students, and the classes were taught by mostly computer and TAs, and it ended up being much more expensive than I expected.</p>

4

<p>Why did you not consider U of Alabama-Birmingham? Was their CS program not strong? Also, at many, if not most, large public campuses in the south, football is going to have significant influence upon the social atmosphere on campus, for better or worse.</p>

<p>Going to a public university in any other state is going to cost you [extra] money that you apparent don't have at this time. How much $$ are you willing to borrow? And for CS, my guess is that typically, public schools will more to offer than private colleges.</p>

5

<p>If your parents won't pay anything toward college, even if you are able to use all of your earnings this year for college, it will be very hard for you to find a college to attend that is not a 4-year or 2-year public college that you can commute to from home. Probably the only way that you'd be able to go elsewhere would be by taking out very large loans, and that is not adviseable because of the difficulty in paying them back. The average amount of loans that students take out to pay for a total of 4 years of college is about $20,000.</p>

<p>Also, colleges that meet 100% of students' documented financial need still will require your parents' to submit their tax info, and the college will determine your financial aid based on what the colleges feel your parents and you are able to pay.</p>

<p>I suggest that you look into programs like: ROTC and Americorps, which can provide some money for your college education.</p>

<p>Virtually no public universities guarantee to meet 100% of students' documented need. That's because virtually no public institutions have the funds to meet students' need. Virtually all meet far less than 100% of students' documented need: Perhaps as low as 60% of students' need. Often such schools provide very large loans in their financial aid packages.</p>

<p>Most public institutions provide little or no need-based aid for out of state students. Tuition also is higher, often much higher, for out of state students.</p>

<p>If you are low income and wouldn't mind going to a Christian college, look at Berea College, Kentucky. It accepts only low income students, and provides them with, I think, full tuition in exchange for students working on campus. It has a good reputation.</p>

<p>It's very hard to get aid for many colleges if you start midyear, so it would probably be best if you plan to start college next fall.</p>

6

<p>In checking your back posts, I see that months ago, you posted about your monetary problems. You rejected the idea of Americorps because you don't like community service. You rejected the idea of living at home because of your relationship with your mom. You rejected the idea of trading babysitting services for a room wtih a family.</p>

<p>So, it seems that while there are options for you to attend college, these are not options that interest you. Consequently, either you'll have to broaden your perspective of what you're willing to do to go to college or you'll have to forgo college. It is highly unlikely that you'll get the financial aid or merit scholarships to have the kind of college experience (i.e. little Greek life, living on campus etc.) that apparently you've set your heart on.</p>

7

<p>I agree with Northstarmom's candid advice. Putting off admission may be the best option and won't hurt you in the long run IF you stay focused on your goals.</p>

8

<p>I rejected all of those ideas a few months ago, when I first got my award letter. I've broadened my perspective as far as what I'm willing to do. I became willing to stay at home and try to commute, but I'm failing to find somewhere to commute to, and I'm still trying to find a way to commute. My mother is also unpredicatable, so I'm having a hard time setting it into stone that I can stay at home for four years. </p>

<p>I understand that I'm not going to be able to go to the perfect school for me, I just don't have those kind of resources. I've almost accepted that, in order for me to go to school, I'll be forced to take on some kind of debt. The average 20k for 4 years will probably never happen for me, due to my situation. My previous cosigner is also probably out of the picture, so borrowing is now going to be even tougher. </p>

<p>It feels like a steel box around here.</p>

9

<p>Can you not commute to a community college? That's the way lots of people start their college careers. It's affordable, and typically classes are small and professors are excellent in their fields and enjoy teaching teaching.</p>

<p>You may be able to go to community college for 2 years without taking out any loans. That would allow a lot more flexibility in the rest of your college education, and also would reduce the total amount of loans you end up taking out. There even may be special scholarships at some in-state publics for stellar graduates of in-state community colleges.</p>

10

<p>There are a few community colleges, all about a 30 minute drive. I've looked into that, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how I'm going to get there everyday. Unless I can come up with enough money for a car or something. The only reason I can get to work now is because I work downtown near my mother. That's why I was trying to live on a campus somewhere.</p>

<p>The only school really close is Birmingham-Southern, a small but extremely pricey private Liberal Arts School.</p>

11

<p>If you go to community college, you'll need to buy a car. Fortunately, community college prices are so low, that you should be able to buy a car to commute and you should be able to pay tuition, too. Given your gpa and scores, you may also qualify for some merit aid at a community college. You also can take out some loans, probably a much lower amount than if you were living at a 4-year college.</p>

12

<p>You also need to buy a car in order to have the widest range of job opportunities. Having a car would allow you to work 60 hours a week during your gap year and during summers (something that I did during one summer to help pay for my college). It is cheaper to buy a car to commute than to pay room and board for living on a campus.</p>

<p>I checked the website for one of the community colleges in Birmingham. Seems that fulltime tuition would cost you about $4,000 a year, which is extremely reasonable. They also have a wide range of scholarships. You should call the admissions and financial aid offices at your local community and private colleges and ask about what options you may have for financial aid.</p>

<p>While Birmingham-Southern is expensive, they may be so interested in attracting a local URM with a high gpa that they would give you excellent merit aid. Talk to them, and visit them in person.</p>

<p>One thing that does hurt you overall is your disinterest in community service. That makes you seem rather narrow minded and selfish. Have you ever done any community service? While in communities in which most people lack highereducation, community service is considered that something that people do to avoid prison, in more educated communities, community service, it is seen as something that responsible, caring leaders do to give back to the community that they care about. Community service also is viewed as a good way of getting vaulable experience that will help in the job market, and for getting contacts for jobs, scholarships, etc.</p>

<p>There are many types of interesting community service that would fit virtually any career interests, so I hope you'll open your mind to the possibilities and explore some options. By doing so, you'll also open more scholarship options for yourself as there are many scholarships for students with community service backgrounds and interests.</p>

13

<p>If you're willing to consider a women's college, look at Mills College in Oakland, California. Mills has had a computer science major since the 1970's (when I was there). They offer excellent financial aid. It's a residential campus (exceptionally pretty, too). The student community is diverse in many dimensions, including economic background, ethnicity, and age. Oakland is an interesting city and you're a close bus or train ride to Berkeley and San Francisco. I don't know your family situation and whether you can qualify for need-based aid, but Mills also offers merit aid. The financial aid office took a very personal approach to putting together aid packages when I was there.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

14

<p>Northstarmom-I don't hate community service at all. I've done a bit, but I don't feel I've done enough to make me a candidate for a scholarship or whatnot. I don't have that 200 hour community service scholarship.Mostly because of the fact that my mother and family heavily discouraged it, thinking of it more as free labor than goodwill. </p>

<p>Most of the community service I've done has had to do with promoting diversity, equality, and understanding between people from different communities. I've faciliated a few workshops and served on panels speaking to my peers on the subject. I really enjoy that, and wish I could've done more of it at my school. Americorps seems like more of a job than volunteer work, although I've not completely written it off. No schools in my state match the award though.</p>

<p>Calreader-I think I've heard of Mills, although I've never really looked into to it. I will now, though. Thanks for the suggestion!</p>

15

<p>BSC is an option and UAB isn't?</p>

16

<p>OP, I'm experiencing the same confusion as LakeWashington. What's wrong with UAB? It is a good school, on the upswing reputation-wise, and while it may some have some features that are undesireable to you, I can't imaging it has the intense rah-rah environment of Alabama, and the impression I get is that it is a welcoming and reacially-diverse campus. On top of it all, I believe the tuition there is not much more than the $4K a year quoted above for a community college. I would also imagine it is resonably solid for CS, finance, management and related disciplines. Why not?</p>

17

<p>I'm not at all fond of UAB. After going to HS in the same area for 3 years, I less than love the "southside" as it is called. UAB is all over the place in terms of campus. All the traffic and that one little street of things to do, nothing is centralized. It truly is a commuter school to me, and I've seen a lot of the school. It just didn't fit to me.</p>

<p>BSC isn't really an option with it's price, but I do like it more than UAB because it has some sort of campus feel. I truly doubt I'll end up at BSC, but I'm applying because the app is free for the time being.</p>

18

<p>"There are a few community colleges, all about a 30 minute drive. I've looked into that, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how I'm going to get there everyday. Unless I can come up with enough money for a car or something."</p>

<p>So, if you just had a car or a ride, you WOULD consider a community college, but NOT UAB? Fine, but do you think a community college would NOT be a commuter school, that it would have a "campus feel" like you want? Believe me, I don't mean to nag you, but I would hate to think that your 'druthers are creating artificial barriers to your success. I went to some commuter schools myself before finally graduating from college, and I think you can find interesting coursework as well as friends even in those places, and those are the most important things IMO.</p>

19

<p>I can't get away with anything. All I said was I didn't like UAB much, and I don't. I actually had applied there earlier in the year but couldn't get my Transcript and things to them due to some difficulties. I've considered UAB before, and I still could, but I don't love it. It was more of a last, last resort when I applied.</p>

<p>The only reason I might consider CC over UAB is because it could give me the chance to pick a school I really want to attend after two years, and it is a bit cheaper by a couple grand.</p>

<p>I know I'm a bit finicky with all of this and it makes things difficult. Debt sucks, but I see why some people choose expensive happiness over cheap misery. I am going to be absolutely insane from all of this, well, more than I am now.</p>

20

<p>"Most of the community service I've done has had to do with promoting diversity, equality, and understanding between people from different communities. I've faciliated a few workshops and served on panels speaking to my peers on the subject. I really enjoy that, and wish I could've done more of it at my school. "</p>

<p>That kind of volunteering experience is very impressive to colleges. I know because my S did that kind of volunteer work, and it helped him get merit aid.</p>

<p>"Americorps seems like more of a job than volunteer work, although I've not completely written it off. No schools in my state match the award though."</p>

<p>So what if they don't match the award? If you volunteer with Americorps for one year, you get $4,700 to use for college plus at least $100 or so a week to use for your living expenses while you're volunteering with Americorps. Just the $4,700 would pay for a year of tuition and books at an in-state public community college and perhaps even a public one.</p>

<p>And, when one does volunteer work seriously and responsibily, it is like a job. For instance, people get paid good money for facilitating diversity workshops. The volunteer work you've already done is like regular work.</p>

<p>Among the many plusses of Americorps are having a great deal of responsibility and being able to run with your abilities. This means you do develop job, leadership and interpersonal skills that will help you when you enter the job market and when you're in college. </p>

<p>You get experience with public speaking, time management, grant writing, report writing, running committees, creating programs, and responding to emergencies. All of those experiences would put you far, far ahead of most college students, and would be considered assets when you applied for scholarships, jobs and admission.</p>

<p>You keep listing reasons for not going to various colleges or utilizing various options that would help you finance college. Meanwhile, while you're being picky, other 2007 high school graduates are getting a college education. No college is perfect, so going to an imperfect college is better than not going at all.</p>