I am going into my sophomore year of hs. My counselor in hs told me it’s too early for me to apply. I already have an appointment to visit Drexel university later in august for a tour and to speak with an admissions advisor. Could the advisor tell me if im going to be accepted? And could the advisor and I discuss price? Or is it too early because I’m planning on applying later in my sophomore year?
Most colleges do not allow you to apply until you have completed your junior year of high school. Your freshman grades do not give a complete view of your abilities and accomplishments and your interests and extracurricular activities will expand as well, giving them a broader basis for evaluation.
There is no way for anyone from the school to tell you whether or not you would be accepted in two years. She or he can tell you about scholarships that may be available and whether or not they are guaranteed for specific grade point averages and test scores. Of course they can not be promised to you now.
Listen to your guidance counselor. It is way too early to apply.
The Unis aren’t going to engage you at this point unless you have a special attribute (e.g. top Lacrosse player in the nation). you have 2 high school semesters behind you. That’s not much whatsoever. They want you to apply but they’re not going to woo a 10th grader. Certainly they’ll tell you the scholarship programs available for the top applicants but they’re not going to “discuss price” with you. Right now, it’d be highly presumptuous other than to look at their full tuition and fees.
Why are you planning on applying sophomore year? Will you be graduating high school after just two years and starting college in what would be fall of your junior year? If so, will you have all the requirements needed for acceptance and have you taken the appropriate standardized tests? Or are you just trying to “lock up a spot early” - which you can’t do?
When you tour a school, whoever you speak with will not be able to give you any guarantees. They’ll talk in generalities of strong chances for admission, and tell you about scholarships you might be eligible for - but real numbers about cost come after admissions.
Some schools that do interviews won’t allow you to schedule an interview until junior year.
I hope you live near Drexel, or will be near there for some reason other than a campus tour. Most kids will change their minds often about where they want to apply before their senior year. You might see Drexel in a different light in the summer with no students around. For better or worse, who can say. I think it is too early for you to start visiting campuses, but I guess it depends on who is taking you to see the campuses. What you need to focus on in tenth grade is getting the best grades you can and perhpas start taking practice SAt or ACT tests. Good luck.
I get the whole apply junior year thing, but everyone is doing that. I wanted to tour the school, and being able to speak with someone was a bonus. I’m just wondering if I can’t talk about price, what would she be talking to me about then?
Since you scheduled the meeting it is up to you to come up with questions. She is just there to answer your questions.
Anyone you speak with pre-acceptance is going to be trying to sell you on the school. Nothing more. And you need to sell them on what you would bring to their school. At best they may be able to point you to scholarships awarded based on certain scores/GPA (not sure if Drexel has any like that) and talk about average financial aid awards. I think that’s a co-op school so they’ll explain that concept to you.The closest you’ll get to a price is an estimate from the school’s Net Price Calculator.
Also, you apply to (most) colleges senior year, not junior year. The common app doesn’t even come available until August of the year in which you apply (There are some schools where you can apply earlier using their app but that information should be available on the school’s website).
I’m pretty sure schools don’t want to be dealing with applications for future years. They have enough to deal with one year at a time.
You’re wrong – twice.
People apply during their senior year, first semester. No one is doing that because colleges admit (mostly) high school graduates.
The school will talk about affordability: their scholarship opportunities, their fin aid opportunities. But they’re not going to look at you and say: “OK, we’ll take off $12,500 off of each year. Please apply.” That’s not how it works.
If colleges aren’t awarding scholarships based on an application, what would they be basing the offer on? Even a student who’s being recruited for a sport has to file an application and financial aid forms before a college creates a financial aid package for them. Will they offer admission and/or scholarships based on an informal conversation with a high school sophomore? No.
To me your question is like asking, “I’m going to a restaurant. Can they bill me before I ordered anything?” Is this post a joke?
I can think of one situation where a school would “award” merit aid before a student officially applies. And that applies to the schools that offer full-ride and/or other large scholarships to students who have scored above a certain threshold on the PSAT.
IIRC, daughter had not requested info from (and definitely had not applied to) a few large state schools that are known to offer big merit awards based on PSAT…but started receiving materials/invitations that basically said “if you apply here, you will get in and you will most likely be one of our full-ride scholars…please come visit (perhaps they even offered to pay for a trip there?)”. I think it was Spring of junior year (because the NMS announcements don’t come technically come out until the kids are seniors…right?). Schools like Alabama and Oklahoma.
FWIW, Drexel used to be one of the schools that offered scholarships based mostly on PSAT score (full tuition)…but if you go to their site, it doesn’t mention it anymore.
Yes, once assured merit thresholds have been met then you can get offered merit aid before applying. But you only receive it if you attend.