I am an African American student trying to get into the university of texas at dallas from out of state.
I have a 26 on the ACT and a 4.5 gpa and I am 5th in my class. I don’t have many ECs due to the pandemic,
I also don’t believe I can afford to go to the school due to my families low income. They make about 25k a year which would be covered by the tuition promise but I am unsure if I will even get it due to being from out of state. Do you guys believe I could get in and also afford to go?
The 6th criteria is to be a Texas resident.
Except for a very few examples, public college are not generous with need based aid for out of state students. You will likely do better at in state or private schools.
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What year are you in school? What is your home state? What do you want to study? As a AA make with a very good GPA and a good test score, their may be other places that offer you enough financial aid to make it work. Your biggest risk of not finishing college is financial. If you can find a school that offers you a sufficient FA package, that removes a huge risk for you. Let the brain trust on this site help you.
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It looks like this thread got moved to the UT Dallas forum. You should make another post more generic asking about school options. Nobody will see it here.
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You will probably get a better financial scholarship at one of your in state public universities or a private college. Did you qualify as a college board national black recognition program scholar based on your PSAT score? Some colleges offer full or partial scholarships for that even out of state. The college board has some new programs available for underrepresented students. My daughter has been participating. A great new resource from the college board for black students is here:
I’m in my senior year of high school, Louisiana is my home state, I want to major in computer science, also, I have applied for Texas A&M as well, but my heart was set on UTDallas
My PSAT is a 190, with a score of 1220, so I don’t think I’ll get anything from national merit, but I’ll check out this resource, thank you
Hi! It is separate from national merit. It is a college board program for underrepresented students (hispanic, black, indigenous, and small town rural students). You would have received an email back last spring letting you know if you qualified and invited you to apply. It’s ok. It sounds like you didn’t get that. I was just checking. My daughter’s PSAT selection index score was 194 and she got the invite. It is a lower score than national merit so a lot of people that don’t make the merit cutoff get this one and colleges often offer the same scholarship to national merit scholars students and college board recognition program scholars. They also invited people who got a 3 or higher on two AP exams.
That’s probably the issue, my school has no AP classes, however I would have three dual enrollment classes, but it probably doesn’t count
Gotcha.
We toured UTD and my daughter applied there too. She applied to 4 schools and UTD is one. It is a very nice school. But it isn’t the only one! There are a lot of good schools. Hope you find a good fit!
In Texas (near Houston), you may want to see if this potential full ride interests you: https://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
Although UTD is better than LSU for CS, it will not be affordable. Nor will TAMU.
You need to find colleges that will cover tuition, fees, room and board, preferably without loans.
With family income 25K or so, your EFC is 0. It means your parents can’t afford to pay anything for college. However it does NOT mean the colleges will offer what you need. So, you need to find colleges that will meet your financial need and cover everything. Those colleges exist and are called “meet need” colleges. Some even “meet need” without loans!
And by being a top student, you positioned yourself well to apply and perhaps get in.
Did you get A’s in your Dual Enrollment classes? What were those? What classes are you taking right now?
Have you taken bio, chem, and physics?
Are you enrolled in Precalculus, Calculus (Honors or DE) or Statistics (Honors or DE), Foreign Language 4 (or DE equivalent)?
Do you have a job? How many hours a week?
Do you help caring for siblings, elderly relatives?
However lots of colleges would LOVE a top African American student who wants to study CS, including “meet need” colleges, meaning colleges that will see you’re low income and provide you with sufficient aid to attend.
TAMU, UTD do not meet need. It means they may offer admission but won’t offer financial aid to do so.
“Meet need” colleges look at what your family can afford (ie;, 0) and offer sufficient aid.
Apply test optional to Tulane, Denison, Dickinson, Macalester, Kenyon, Bates, Skidmore, Grinnell, Davidson, St Olaf, Sewanee. If you’re a girl, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke?
Run the Net Price Calculator on those and choose the least expensive one (without loans) to apply ED. ED will give you a big advantage at these colleges.
Look into Howard (many scholarships are first come first served so apply soon).
See if you can also apply to these:
https://odi.osu.edu/undergraduate/msp
Case Western Reserve, Southwestern (TX), Trinity (TX and CT), could be worth looking into. Run the NPC.
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Texas is a state that highly favors state residents. You’re welcome to apply and go from out of state, but you’ll pay triple the tuition without the benefit of financial aid to cover the tuition difference. Scholarships are available, but the ACT would be too low to qualify.
The good news is that you can still go to school in Texas. Your income could qualify you for generous need-based aid from private schools like TCU, Baylor or SMU. SMU is in Dallas, by the way. I would recommend re-taking the SAT to boost your chances.
Hi, @kirayoshikage , take a look at this list. I am not sure how often it gets updated, but very useful for us. Need-blind admission - Wikipedia. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
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I have actually just been invited to the national African American recognition program and am now looking into it
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That is wonderful news!
If you have not already, you may want to read through the advice in the AA forum.
@EconPop may have advice. Good luck to you and congratulations on your accomplishments!
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Definitely complete the application! If you received that invite and have a 3.5 weighted GPA you simply complete the application and upload your transcript. It is legit and opens doors. For example, Texas A&M gives an automatic guaranteed $4,000 per year scholarship for all 4 years + Out of State Tuition Waiver. (It’s $6,000 per year for in state students). Plus the national scholar scholarship can be stacked with their other scholarships! So national scholars get the guaranteed scholarship plus are competing for the regular scholarships that they award in February to all applicants. A&M also has a lot of support and programs for black and brown students. My daughter has been receiving a lot of invitations for their recruitment events for a leadership weekend and more. She received a bonus $500 scholarship just for attending one of the events this summer. They received a large amount of funding recently to increase diversity in their admissions. I know you have your heart set on UTD but I would consider A&M too.
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They only way you’re going to afford it is to apply for a scholarship. Texas schools are very specific about Texas residents getting financial aid. That doesn’t mean you can’t go to school here. Try applying at SMU. They’re only a few miles from UTD. They would most likely offer the need-based financial aid you’re looking for, since they’re a private school. Also, there’s TCU and Baylor.