College recommendations for low-income student needing full ride

College Search & Selection
1

My daughter is a junior. We have just filled out the 2018-2018 FAFSA. EFC = $0, and is expected to remain so throughout college.

My daughter is eligible for Questbridge and College Horizons, and will be pursuing those programs.

She was attending a Native American boarding school and was first in her class as a sophomore, with a GPA of 4.0 unweighted, probably 4.6 weighted. No AP classes available, only honors - she has taken all honors core classes. We have experienced a catastrophic fire and homelessness during the last two years. She is homeschooled now, and about to begin a vo-tech program in IT.

Hooks: low-income, Pell-eligible, first gen, URM (enrolled Native American with cultural ties), 4.0 GPA, 29 ACT as a sophomore, probable National Merit finalist, regional diversity (rural Oklahoma), paid employment as her extracurricular plus tutoring elementary children, disabled widowed mother so significant household responsibilities (e.g. she does the shopping and takes the bus to do so, she pays the bills.)

She is trying to find college matches. We already have a safety in Haskell Indian Nations University, though the director of admissions thinks she will be bored and it doesn’t have the programs she wants.

What she’s looking for: undergraduate degree only (no grad or professional school.) Computer science program required, music program highly preferred. Women’s colleges are fine, research universities are fine, LACs are fine.

She says she will go anywhere that she can attend as close to free as possible. She’s trying not to take out loans, but will do co-op, paid internships, work study. Essentially she wants to work her way through but I don’t think she needs schools like Berea.

Suggestions?

Thanks.

2

Berea is a work college, and there are others here is the link http://www.workcolleges.org/node/30

Miami University (Oxford, OH) http://miamioh.edu/ Absolute must (if I were the parent) for application list if tribe is Miami.

University of Toledo offers great OOS merit aid, awesome co-op program and good CSE http://www.utoledo.edu/

3

@Helen13

with a 4.0 GPA and 29 ACT, judging from this list:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

she qualifies for a full-ride from Florida A&M – tuition, fees, room, meals, and laptop
http://www.famu.edu/Scholarships/New_Scholarship%20Criteria%20Flyer_2015-2016%201.pdf

i think she gets a similar deal at Prairie View A&M
http://www.pvamu.edu/faid/home/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/

if you are a member of one of the following tribes:

Arapaho, Hidatsa, Missouria, Sac and Fox, Arikara, Jicarilla Apache, Omaha, Dakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, Iowa, Otoe, Lakota Sioux, Southern Cheyenne, Kickapoo, Pawnee, Nakota Sioux, Comanche, Kiowa, Ponca, Santee Sioux, Crow, Mandan, Potawatomie, and Winnebago

then you would be eligible for in-state tuition at Nebraska, and likely eligible for the Native American Heritage Scholarship, which could potentially award up to a full ride.

I would probably contact them anyway to see if they have any other advice
https://admissions.unl.edu/specialized-information/native/

Oklahoma State seems to have scholarships for Native Americans

maybe New Mexico
http://aiss.unm.edu/pages/scholarships.html

4

You daughter has a good profile. The only weakness I see is her ACT. Otherwise, she will have a lot of great options. Best and competitive colleges are the ones who give out a lot of money. Given she is academically capable, I strongly suggest that she try to prepare and retake the ACT. If you have to spend a few hundred dollars on ACT tutoring or material, it is well worth it.

5

Some students are better at the SAT. Most colleges accept a score from either test. Khan academy has free online personalized practice for SAT.

https://www.khanacademy.org/sat

Often there are resources for low income students to get free tutoring for the standardized tests and most libraries also have free study guides. Low income students can get waivers for fees so ask the high school guidance counselor about getting a waiver. You may not think it is too hard to pay the registration fee for the test, but there will also be fees to send scores to colleges during application process, too - so waivers really help and should be pursued.

6

If you believe she will be a National Merit Finalist, she needs to take the SAT to complete that competition process.

7

Good questions to take to the Financial Aid Forum. Read through the threads at the top of that forum, especially the one with current information about automatic scholarships.

She also should look through the list of test optional institutions at fairtest.org in case her scores don’t go up much. The women’s colleges will probably like her a lot because of her diversity, and most of them do offer test optional admissions.

8

An updated list is at http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20798968/#Comment_20798968 . However, check college web sites because they may have changed even since then.

Other merit targets (again, check college web sites in case of changes):
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/ (competitive)
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ (if National Merit)

On the need-based financial aid front, you can check the net price calculator at various colleges to see if they will be affordable. Note that even the best financial aid schools will expect some student contribution (a few thousand dollars of work earnings and/or a federal direct loan of up to $5,500). The best financial aid private schools tend to be the most selective (many in the Questbridge list). Check your in-state public schools as well.

On the Native American scholarship front, there is University of Minnesota - Morris and its American Indian Tuition Waiver ( https://policy.umn.edu/morris/amindianwaiver ), but it does not cover room and board, so you would have to investigate whether that can be low cost enough (possibly after other scholarships).

9

Your daughter is a perfect diversity candidate, especially if she can raise her ACT only a few points. Look to the well funded private schools (Ivy’s, Vanderbilt, CMU, etc.) and apply through Questbridge. Rural NA with a hardship story plus a woman in tech/engineering is very compelling. Good luck!

10

If your daughter wins National Merit Scholarship, she may have chance for getting full ride at the University of Alabama; a number of engineering students I know do.

11

Lafayette College claims to meet need without loans.

12

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probable National Merit finalist,

[/QUOTE]

What makes you think that?

13

The women’s colleges may be a great idea

14

Your daughter is a great candidate. Try meets full need colleges. @MYOS1634

15

Google “schools that meet 100% of demonstrated need.” There are 60-ish schools that do

16

Have her try the SAT to see if she scores higher in addition to another attempt at the ACT.

17

Take a look at this list, which details whether the “100% meets need” includes loans or is no-loan.

http://blog.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/blog/colleges-that-meet-100-of-student-financial-need/

18

Dartmouth recruits Native Americans…you can apply to next years fly in program.
https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/visits-programs/dartmouth-bound/native-american-community-program

19

^I think OP’s daughter will be on firmer ground for Dartmouth if she raised test scores a bit. Their fly in program is awesome though.

20

Full tuition waiver info. for Miami University:
“The Myaamia Heritage Award Program is designed to be a full (four-year) undergraduate college experience for enrolled citizens of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma or members of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc. who meet all entrance requirements for admission to Miami University and enroll as Oxford campus students.
The Myaamia Heritage Award Program includes the Heritage Award (a waiver of instructional fees available for up to eight semesters) and educational support from the Heritage Program Coordinator and Myaamia Center staff.”
http://miamioh.edu/miami-tribe-relations/programming-support/myaamia-heritage-award-program/index.html

Miami also offers a Summer Scholar program which is a great way to see if the school is a good fit. Financial assistance is available. http://miamioh.edu/admission/high-school/summer-scholars/application/index.html