Chance Me UMich and UIUC

Asian American Female. First Gen Student.

Very low income (less than 30k).

Out-of-state (IL).

Top 20 IL HS

Major: History (LSA)

Stats:

3.6 UW GPA, 4.1 GPA (I got 4 Cs)

1570 SAT

35 ACT

9 APs

EC:

3 years of tennis (2 years on Varsity)

2 years of Badminton (1 year on Varsity)

1 Year of Track

1 Year of Cross country

2 Years in National Honors Society

1 Year in World Language Honors Society

2 years on Asian Club

2 Years on Student Council

20 hours of community service

I also dealt with a ton of immigration issues because of my green card and social security number. Hence, I had to go downtown and was not at home very often. Dunno if I should mention it in my essays.

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You’re OOS for UM but not UIUC, right ? Or do I have that wrong ?

If so - if you’re in state for UIUC, I would think you can get in but less likely at Michigan. Plus how would you pay for Michigan ? You’re better to go to a college that will pay for someone like you such as Alabama to name another big school. Or others in the South.

I’d stick with UIUC and then add a safety such as Illinois State or SIU. And then some privates that meet full need.

Smaller LACs like Dennison, Franklin & Marshall, Connecticut College - if you’d be ok with a small school. These are strong schools but not quite the top. Have your parents fill out their net price calculator. You might find they pay a lot. For bigger schools maybe a U Miami or Boston U. Check their NPC. Rochester too.

I would not mention you are away from home often…that’s me. Others may say to put in the additional info section…not as an excuse but a challenge you’ve overcome.

Good luck.

Im OOS for UMich.

Also regarding the income situation—my dad recently won part of the lottery lol. So he’s saving a sum of money for my college tuition. But I was wondering if my family’s income will affect my chances.

Your chances. No. I suspect you won’t get in based on your gpa but maybe I’m wrong

But if you can’t afford $260 or $280k them how can you go?

For a degree like history, in most cases, where you go will matter little.

I would still add a safety like SIU or Bama or Ms State or WVU etc. (low cost for you).

Sure you can spend a lot and that’s a choice your dad will make.

Btw if u fill out the NPC his finances will be included too. So that might impact any aid.

Good luck

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Lsa average is unweighted GPA 3.9 with 32-35 act at Michigan. So a reach being oos but everything else looks good.If you went to a cps selective enrollment school that could help but they are mostly in the top 7 in Illinois.

Do you have your green card now?

Did you apply EA to both UIUC and Mich?

Your dad’s lottery winnings will impact your financial aid, have you completed FAFSA yet? If so, what’s your EFC, and what can your dad play each year for college?

UIUC is a match, U Mich a reach. Do you have at least one affordable safety? Have you been accepted anywhere yet? Where else have you applied?

I would not write about frequently missing school.

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Maybe. This student might qualify for an auto $0 EFC with a very low income. At the very least, the simplified needs test. @kelsmom can explain. If that is the case, assets won’t be counted.

But Michigan uses the Profile as well, and there is no auto $0 or simplified needs test for that school.

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Good point.

However, UIUC does ask for asset information for low EFC/EFC 0 students as both Illinois Promise (full ride for EFC 0) and Illinois commitment (full tuition for families making less than $67.1K) also require the family have less than $50K in assets….so if lottery winnings are greater than that, then OP won’t qualify for those programs, which provide the majority of need based aid that UIUC grants.

Financial aid for very low income students who are accepted to UMich is excellent. As @thumper1 mentioned, the lottery winnings are likely to impact aid. I encourage you to talk to the financial aid office to discuss this situation. If the winnings were received in 2021, they were reported on the 2021 tax return. The money in the bank is also reported, as an asset. There are some things that the financial aid office can do to make things better for you. You’ll want to file a special circumstances appeal to have the winnings reviewed. If the winnings are from 2022, you’ll want to know what will happen to your aid for sophomore year.

You may need to contact each school for a review, depending on the EFC on your FAFSA. With very low income, assets may be ignored on FAFSA, so you might not be affected. But depending on the amount of winnings, your EFC might be artificially high due to the impact on Adjusted Gross Income for the year that the winnings are reported. This can reduce the amount of or keep you from getting the Pell grant. Many schools will remove the amount of winnings from the AGI & instead add them to assets (unless the money wasn’t spent, in which case they allow the money in the bank to be the way the winnings are accounted for). For a low income student, this can make all the difference.

Please don’t be afraid to talk to aid offices about this. They may tell you that they will review, but not quite yet. Keep track of what they say, what information you need to submit, and each school’s timeline.

OP should run Michigan’s NPC to get a cost estimate.

Michigan used to provide a high level of need based aid for OOS families making less than $90k per year, but that specific program is no longer in effect. (Michigan does meet full need for in-state students).

I didn’t realize that they aren’t advertising the OOS program anymore. Thanks for pointing that out.

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A definite bummer when they stopped that program several years ago (I confirmed via phone call)…it made U Michigan not possible from a financial perspective for some of the limited income students I work with in Chicagoland.

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