I suppose that graduating early to help your family in general (and specifically earn money to help them) makes a “gap year” impossible.
BTW scoring a 33 as a sophomore is impressive, and you should have another “free test” from ACT so you could retake it and try to score a 34 (although a 33 is excellent already, after taking precalculus and more English odds are that you may improve enough to reach a 34.)
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@Dilly05, let me just say wow at your academic resume and achievements so far in high school. You have beaten great odds to reach this point and I salute the hard work you have put in.
My 1st suggestion is that you apply for the QuestBridge National College Match which connects America’s brightest students from low-income families with the leading institutions of higher education. QuestBridge’s National College Match Program offers selected students a full ride to the college they match with. This means that all expenses are covered, from tuition to housing to transportation. You would need to start getting everything together this summer, but you are exactly the type of student that QuestBridge helps and a lot of top notch schools are attached to the program
Also consider applying for other prestigious competitive outside scholarships (Gates Millennium, Coca-Cola Scholars, Jackie Robinson, Foundation, etc.) because you have the story and the resume to compete with top students and receiving outside money could truly open up attending any school you are accepted to.
You will have a shot at a lot of great schools and I hope you consider my own school (Morehouse College) which is a Historical Black College or University (HBCU) in Atlanta, GA. I am definitely biased, but I truly believe that there is no better school in America for a young Black Man. Regardless of the next steps you take, I am excited for you and pray for great opportunities to come your way.
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Well, Maine is beautiful. And for sure would be very different from Florida (or Haiti).
Doesn’t your mother have TPS?
I actually registered for the July 17th date early today so hopefully, that goes well!
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Yes exactly. Although I should’ve added this also: she may have to go back because many in our family having health problems and she’s the only “healthy” one left so to speak. Also yeah the cold definitely isn’t the most appealing, definitely not a deal breaker though!
I saw the Gates scholarship but I don’t know if I’m particularly academically qualified… I reached out to someone who received it and she had done things I couldn’t have even imagine 
A friend says “you’ll learn to ENJOY Winter!” 
Truth be told, once it’s very cold, it’s very cold. You wear appropriate clothing and it doesn’t really matter how cold, unless it reaches dangerous temperatures like -30. And the buildings are warm. 
Unfortunately, most of the most generous universities are in cold climes.
You could run the NPC on Davidson and Emory though.
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Rice is in Texas but Houston weather isn’t much better since it’s super humid! Though I will say New England has a lot of cities that I’d likely never be able to see otherwise (e.g. NYC, Philly, Boston)
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You have already overcome so much to get to this point and I believe that you should “shoot your shot”. The couple of Gates Millennium students that I have interacted with were unbelievable kids with amazing achievements, but what you have already achieved as a student is very special.
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A FL. resident here. UMiami has a clear cut awards system; score this, half tuition, above this, full tuition, and above that, Room & board. do grad schools are far nicer to students that stayed instate for UG. For anyone considering Med school, dental, PT, etc., you remain in state unless you went out of state for UG.
FSU is gaining in popularity. For your major, it would definitely be a contender.
As far as graduating early, my son did that. He fared far better at the tech schools than HYP. Still, he had been taking 11 classes at the local U in junior year, so there was nothing but English 4 for him if he had stayed for a senior year. HYP would then consider him as a transfer student, which makes a big difference in financial aid.
QuestBridge is a route to consider - but another to add on top of the ones I mentioned b4 (W&L - talk to POCs there - the feedback on the board is all over), SMU…add American U Frederick Douglass Scholarship.
We are only talking about about the creme de la creme and I hope you get in but as a 3 year student, who knows. Make sure you apply to downstream schools - whether it’s the UF, FSU or U of SC or Alabama which all have wonderful “Honors” opportunities. Or on the private level, someone above sent Rochester, Kenyon would be good, Oberlin (meets need), Wake Forest, College of Charleston stacks lots of scholarships and add another $6K for being under $30K EFC after you do FAFSA.
You can’t apply to 50 - I’m just saying don’t apply to 10 that are reaches for everyone - protect yourself by applying to a few that you’re likely in or one that you are definitely in (Miami you’d be I believe).
The QB may be the way to go though - you can talk to your counselor.
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Hello there.
Getting into one of the top colleges is no joke. Surviving them is another story.
But based on your post (excellent formatting!) and your responses, I honestly think you have a really good chance at getting into the top ten. But if you’ve been on this site, you know that it is a highly subjective and somewhat random process as so many overly qualified students don’t make the cut.
You may already be aware of a lot of this, but in case it can be helpful:
(1) You mentioned the fields that you would eventually like to go into. US News lists the top 10 schools for most majors. Pull those lists for your areas of interest and compile them into one list on a spreadsheet. Add any other schools you are interested in to the list. Use this spreadsheet to track the items below and any other items that are important to you.
(2) For each school, you are going to want to research its culture. No matter how great the school is, your chances of succeeding will decrease significantly if your not happy there. You are going to want to pay particular attention to the support system in place for lower income students.
(3) For each school, run the Net Price Calculator that will estimate the amount your family will need to contribute. You are right about the endowments. If you can get into one of the top 15 private schools, it will cost you far less than any public school. My daughter is starting her last year at one of the top 5 schools and the total cost for four years will be considerably less than one year at UC Berkeley. And we are considered high income, but have no assets. The assets are what kill the Net Price Calculator. So you should be good.
(4) I believe there is a way to get the college application fees waved for your family’s income bracket. If that is the case, I would suggest applying to all the top schools. It will be alot of work. But after four years of college admissions research for my oldest daughter, you have a very good chance. So I think it would be worth the effort. That’s what she did. She applied to all of them.
(5) For each school, go to their website and look up their application requirements. Note this on your spreadsheet. You want to include information about early admissions (binding or not), supplementary essays, and anything else that matters. Each school is the same, but different and keeping all this information organized will help you weed through the process.
(6) College applications are just forms. Its a way of collecting data. So think of the receiving end. Do you think there are humans scrubbing 40,000 applications and sorting them into piles? An algorithm is most likely doing the initial pass. So how you input your data into the form is extremely important. Everything in your post is exactly what will be entered into the common app. For example, my second daughter who is in your class, skipped sophomore and junior year (its why I noticed your post). During the last three semesters, she completed the first two years of college by taking JC classes concurrently. The profile section you complete for the SAT registration is very similar to the common app. When I first completed it for her, it looked like she was a HS senior who did nothing her sophomore and junior year. You mentioned all the AP classes you took were in addition to your regular course work. When you complete the common app, pay attention to how you are noting that work so that it gets transmitted to the other end correctly. You also have all three major hooks. URM, Low Income and FG. More than anything, for these top schools, along with your GPA, number of APs and maybe your ACT score, will be the metrics that trigger your app into the next stage.
(7) Start crafting your essays NOW. Pull last years prompts for all the schools you intend to apply to. Write essays for all of them to get the feel of it. All the awards and extracurriculars you listed are great, but you literally get two inches of free form text to list all of that. My oldest had a similar list and when we went to list all of them it was sad to see all her accomplishments reduced to two inches. That is why the essays are so important. I can write a lot about college essays, and if you need help I’m happy to help. But in short, if your application gets past the algorithm, your essay is what will distinguish you on the other end. Everything you read online about college essays is true. I feel, the most important thing your essay should accomplish is to tie together every other part of your application into a singular golden thread. The reader has to get an instant and absolute sense of who you are and why they are reading your application. If you can convey that, your work is done.
(8) Here is how I have my girls prep for the essays: Come up with your golden thread, which is your thesis. My daughter’s was “I am not a robot”. Brainstorm all the points you want to add in the essay (ie family situation, reason for graduating early, your extra coursework, personal things, etc.). Read as many winning college essays that you can find. This will probably help you write about your family situation without it being a cliche. Read the New Yorker or similar short form writing to get the sense of how to convey information in an entertaining manner. You need to keep your reader engaged, so writing style helps a lot. Find people from varying backgrounds who can read your work. Find someone who can help you edit your work.
(9) If you haven’t already, start prepping your letters of recommendation. Or rather the relationships that will feed into those letters.
(10) Since you mentioned public health, if you can find an internship for this summer or fall (its still possible) and you have the time, a STEM based summer internship and the resulting glowing letter of recommendation, especially if you can participate in research will just add to your stack.
I know it seems like a lot, but if you pace yourself between now and November, it wont be so bad. And in the end, it will be worth it for you and your family. College admissions are seriously a coin toss. And with two years of deferrals the competition is extremely tight. But with your metrics, I believe its just going to come down to how you come across on your app and essay. Like I said, happy to help as long as you are not applying to Columbia🙂 That’s my daughter’s top pick. Sorry.
PS My daughter worked 20+ hours a week in high school and college. If your acclimated, its doable. Especially if your smart about it.
You may want to look into the Public Health Scholars program at American University. A BA or BS can be earned via an accelerated track in 3 years and it can be combined with a master’s in Health Promotion Management in 4 years.
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Another way to do @Penzy ‘Golden Thread’ is to do what I had my D17 do and that is come up with 3 words(or short phrases) that describe you:
- academically
- extra curricluar-ly
- personally
Use these when writing your short answers and essays so that a common theme is spun in all your responses.
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What STEM-based program ideas would you know about? Honestly, I’ve been trying to find some myself. Also, thank you so much for the feedback & the offer to help, I really truly appreciate it. Have a nice day! I WILL be starting my common app essay today 
My only concern with American University is the cost. I ran the net price calculator and it seems that I would have to pay 20k annually and that is absurd for an undergrad education within my context, unfortunately
One warning: colleges won’t just take your word for it that your father won’t pay anything towards you going to college. Public universities often rely solely on the FAFSA, which is filled out by the custodial parent. So, for most public universities, only your mother’s income will be considered.
Most private colleges, especially the most elite, require the non-custodial parent “NCP” form. Your father is expected to fill this out. You should try very hard to get him to do so. If he is also low income, his income probably won’t have much of an impact on aid.
However, if he refuses, it can be a big issue. Some schools will waive his contibution; others won’t. There is rarely a way to tell in advance which will waive. To some extent, though colleges don’t admit it, it is based on how badly the school wants you.The decisions are made on a case by case basis.
Some private schools give some specifics on their financial aid web pages as to when they will waive. One top school will not waive if the parents have been separated less than 3 years. Others require proof that your mom has tried and failed to collect child support.
Two of my divorced mom friends were able to get father’s contribution waived at some colleges but not at others. For an old example–it happened 20 years ago now–Harvard refused to waive father’s contribution, even though the father lived overseas and owed over $300,000 in back child support (for mutliple children.) Mom had tried and failed to get access to monies he has in the US and had the court papers to prove it. In the circumstances, Harvard refused to waive his contribution; MIT did. So, of course, her son went to MIT.
I want to leave you with 4 thoughts: 1.Even if your father won’t pay, try to get him to fill out the NCP form.2. If he won’t, make sure you apply to some FAFSA-only schools, just in case you can’t get waivers.3. Talk to your mom about what documentation she has that supports a claim he can’t or won’t pay—e.g., he is in prison; she has an order of protection for her and you against him and contacting him would create a physical risk; she sued for child support and won, but her efforts to collect failed. (Obviously, I don’t want you to spell out the circumstances here. I’m just trying to make it clear that you need documentation you can give to colleges that he can’t pay if he won’t fill out the NCP form.)
Good luck! You sound like an exceptional young person!
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Since OP has a good shot at all T20 schools he probably should focus on the most financially generous ones which happen to be top ones. I would agree QB is a great route, unless his early choice is Harvard which is not on the QB list. But getting on QB first won’t hurt.
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You’re right: in practice, the most financial aid+ merit award combination at AU is full tuition. They don’t meet need therefore they have no obligation to cover room&board, fees, transportation, books. (To be fair, such generous coverage is very rare). The exception is the FDDS program, which is offered to 5 students , and the program for high achieving local residents from DC public or charter schools. Most merit is in the 20K range.
Is your father alive? Do you know where he lives? Is he incarcerated or has he been deported? Has he been abusive toward you or your mother or siblings? (Those would be reasons considered valid as to why he can’t support your college costs).
Has he been in regular contact with you? Does he pay child support? (Those would be reasons that make it mandatory for him to fill out the financial aid application).
If he’s low to low-middle income, he likely won’t be asked to contribute.
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@Dilly05 you say your father is “out of the picture” but he would need to be VERY out of the picture for his info NOT to be required for some of these top 20 colleges for financial aid purposes. Most require the CSS Profile and the non-custodial parent form. You would need to have a good reason for that non-custodial parent Profile to be waived. Is there a good reason?
If you choose law school…who will fund that?
If you want to work in public health, you will likely need a masters.
You are looking at a lot of years of schooling before you will be able to help support your family. I’m not saying this to discourage you, but that’s a reality.
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