My sister took out the direct loan and she’s on scholarship. I guess I’ll just have to stay hopeful!
You should get some SUNY apps in as soon as possible. SUNY New Paltz, Purchase or Albany are great options. You have $14,000 (parent contribution plus loan). You need $9-10K more for a SUNY.
You can work over the summer and winter breaks ($2K). Apply for scholarships for promising students in your community. You will have a better chance for those than with the national scholarships you find on the Internet. Ask your guidance counselor for help.
Consider Howard University in Washington, DC for one of the full tuition awards. You have good grades. Can you try the SAT again in December to raise that score to 1350? Catholic University in DC is another with full tuition awards.
Consider applying to your sister’s school. Colleges like siblings and may offer you a similar package. If you are an academic fit for that school, make an appointment to talk to their admissions office and explain your financial situation.
Howard no longer provides automatic scholarships. All of their scholarships are now competitive
You are on Long Island. Is there a SUNY that your can commute to. You will be full pay at Baruch in addition to having an expensive and long commute.
What’s your EFC?
Have you run the NPC’s on your colleges?
Right now, most are unlikely to be affordable.
Apply to Bing, Albany, Geneseo and New Paltz and their Honors college plus Baruch.
St Lawrence, Hobart and William Smith, Marist may have good scholarships if you increase your test scores-
Retake the SAT (register immediately I think late registration closes tomorrow!!!) and study the most you can before thst.
You need to put some SUNY schools on your list. $8500 + $5500 ( loan) gives you $14000. You can earn another $2500 by working. You need an additional $6000 +/- to attend one of the colleges. The universities- Bing, UB, Albany, Stony Brook… cost a little more.
Try:
New Paltz
Geneseo
Oneonta
Oswego
Plattsburgh
Brockport
You may get some merit money at Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh and Brockport
It looks like you would qualify for the Presdential Scholarship for $5000 a year at SUNY Oswego. This award, plus the $14,000 you would have from your parents and a student loan, plus some money you would earn at a job… would make the school affordable.
Can you commute to SUNY Stony Brook? Farmingdale? Old Westbury? Not sure of the majors in these last two… How about commuting to Queens College (CUNY)?
I did not want to apply the SUNY schools because do like their locations and my parents don’t believe they’re good enough, so applied CUNY instead. live on western side of long island it is not far at all from house! will look into SUNYs more though.
While your parents may feel that SUNYs are not “good enough”, can they afford to pay for the schools that they deem are “good enough”?
At the end of the day, you will have to attend a school that your parents can afford or not attend a school.
What is your intended major?
Business marketing or communications
Especially important is the fact that your parents have several children, so it’s not just your school that has to be affordable.
Why do your parents feel that SUNY is not good enough? If you live in Nassau County you should be able to commute to Queens, Hunter or Baruch. I believe Queens College has dorms.
SUNY would be better than a truck load of debt! That is the first business decision you need to make.
My daughter’s college ran an 8 week lunch series of life and personal finances. At the end they were given the book A Woman’s Guide to Personal Finance by Lightbulb Press.
See if your library or local used bookstore has a copy.
The issue here is that you can afford to pay about $17,000 a year for college ( $8500 + student loan + job) but the schools on your list are very expensive and will expect you to pay more. The way I see it… there are 2 options. Attend SUNY or CUNY… or apply to schools that will give you enough merit to bring the cost down. If you are accepted to the schools on your list… my guess is that they will be unaffordable. NYU, BU, etc are probably not going to give you $50,000 + a year to attend.
^ yes, with your current list you run the risk of having no affordable choice in the spring.
Look into colleges that offer merit (some were already listed on this thread), apply to Geneseo, Binghamton, Albany, New Paltz, and their Honors program ASAP (deadline may be soon).
Baruch is my number one safety choice! I would not be disappointed if I had to go, but my dream is BU. I think I’m just going to apply to four CUNYs and hope I get lucky with the private schools.
With a 32% acceptance rate and your SATs being slightly below the average Baruch is more of a match than a safety.
Boo, Baruch is not a safety for you maybe a match. Even then all of the kids who live in NYC with your scores will get a priority before you.
While you may get in you do not have the numbers for the honors college. By the time you pay for the commute and just the time in travel, all you will be doing is going back and forth.
What IS your unaffordable EFC? I can tell you…it’s highly likely Boston University will expect you to pay your EFC…plus more. BU does not guarantee to meet full need for all, and they don’t. So…your unaffordable EFC should be viewed as a minimum amount your family will be expected to pay.
If your parents are married, not self employed, and don’t own real estate other than your primary residence, the net price calculator on the BU website will be pretty accurate…as will the others.
BU will be unaffordable. It simply won’t be. It’s got poor financial aid and sees your EFC as the minimum you’re expected to pay, they often tack extra costs to it. Forget about it. Run the NPC and look at that number. It’s likely to be in the 40,000s or higher. BU isn’t happening. (If you haven’t applied yet, don’t waste the application fee).
Baruch is a match to low match, not a safety.
Colleges with good merit aid might be Simmons and Agnes Scott, both in big cities (Boston and Atlanta, respectively) and both women’s colleges near lots of big colleges. You can also try St Michael’s, which is by UVermont. Hiram, Gustavus Adolphus, Drake might have sufficient merit aid.
RUN THE NPC on all the colleges listed on this thread.
Apply for Honors Program/college at all colleges.
gives primarily need based aid. You will be expected to pay your unaffordable EFC.
does not meet full need, but you might get some merit aid there. Still…I doubt it will come in at the price point your family says they can pay.
Regular Decision:
NYU does not meet full need for all. The school costs bout $70,000 a year to attend. Don’t count on it being affordable.
as noted above…your unaffordable EFC will be the minimum you will be expected to pay. And it’s a pricey school.
are you a NMF? If not, don’t count on getting merit aid from USC. And in terms of need based, you will be expected to pay your EFC.
Safeties:
You might get enough merit aid to make York affordable,
You have already been given advice about the NY public universities. They will expect you to pay your EFC. So will St. John’s.