<p>With 3.9 GPA and 27 ACT she would qualify for an automatic full tuition scholarship at Troy University. If she can raise it to 28 ACT she would qualify for full tuition at SE Missouri State or Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). (All have nursing schools.)</p>
<p>There are other schools where where she will have a shot at competitive awards, but these automatic awards make for good safeties if you like the school.</p>
<p>If she lives in “ACT Country” It is entirely possible that she didn’t take the PSAT - especially if her counselor could predict from other standardized test scores that she wasn’t likely to score in the NM semi-finalist range. There still are schools where only a few students are encouraged to take the PSAT.</p>
<p>^You are probably correct. I know my own S did not take the PSAT (and he should have, he got a very good ACT score - quite frustrating but I didn’t know enough at the time.)</p>
<p>It’s wonderful that you are helping her, but be aware that she may have her own agenda too. I’ve been burned a few times when I was overzealous in trying to give some children and families a lot of options. Peer pressure is strong, and many times these kids will choose to go locally rather than take chance or adventure at schools that have no name recognition to them.</p>
<p>She could apply to an associate’s degree nursing program at her local community college and commute there. That will likely take her 2-3 years (they’re two, but sometimes a little extra because of the prerequisites. But since she has AP classes, that’ll shave the time down). After she finishes that program she will be a nurse with an RN. She could then go to a four-year college with a BSN program, and work part-time as a nurse while she finishes up.</p>
<p>According to you she didn’t take the test for one of the AP classes, so that’s only 8 courses - AP classes don’t get you credit unless you take the exam. Maybe one of her other APs was English lang. So far she’s got APUSH and two others, so assuming she passed, that’s 9 credits. Assuming she passes all 5 next year, that’s another 15, so 24 credits. That’s not even a full year at a CC, so all of her gen eds won’t be out of the way.</p>
<p>College is not improbable for her - she’ll probably just have to do it the way most people do, i.e., going to a community college that she can afford first.</p>
<p>I do also suggest trying to get those ACT/SAT scores up for merit. UAB has great nursing but University of Alabama (the main campus) also has a nursing program and has guaranteed merit awards. If she could get her ACT up to 30, that’s 2/3 tuition. A 32 is full-tuition.</p>
<p>Howard University also awards tuition and fees to students with a 26-28 and her GPA, and they have nursing. If she was able to edge her score up to a 29, then she would get tuition, fees, and room.</p>
<p>Once she knows the colleges/universities that she will be applying to, she can check out their policies about CLEP credit. If the AP exam that she missed has an equivalent CLEP exam, it may be worth her time to review the material and take that exam so that it can be used for credit at the college/university where she ends up. Community colleges and Public Us often are very generous about accepting CLEP credit. She might be able to wipe all of her Gen Ed requirements out that way.</p>
<p>Based on what you wrote about her parents income, she probably only be eligible for the PLUS(parent) loan.</p>
<p>Also, make sure that you read the “fine print”. Just because someone “qualifies” for something, it does not mean that they will actually get it.</p>
<p>If this is the route you are going, make sure that she gets her completed app in ASAP for the next application cycle (she should be gathering recommendations now).</p>
<p>She should probably retake ACT/SAT to get a better score because </p>
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<p>What you have to be prepared for is the possibility that the 27 is her best score (i wouldn’t count on her getting 100% with this score). If it is, any OOS student who applies with a similar gpa and a 28 on the ACT has the potential to knock her out of the box and diminishes her chances of getting a top award.</p>
<p>The 4 of you (you, she and her parents) are going to have to develop a bottoms up approach for compiling the college list. She needs to have a true financial safety, that offers the program that she wants and that she would be happy to attend.</p>
<p>The net-net is this; how much are her parents willing to pay of borrow for her education? It does not help her cause if she gets a full tuition scholarship, if the parents cannot afford or are unwilling to pay room, board, fees, books, etc which can easily be between 10-15k.</p>
<p>I am in agreement with every one else, that she needs to have a good community college on her list, where she can save money for the last 2 years.</p>
<p>Our CC is $1800 per semester tuition. 4 semesters there plus two years (if she can can get out in 2 years) of a moderately priced 4 year school (let’s say 22k per year, tuition + room/board) totals $51,200.</p>
<p>If she can get a tuition scholarship somewhere, she should be able to pay less than 12,800 per year room and board (the $51,200 divided by 4) - so less than to go away plus the benefit of being away and not having to worry about which transfer credits count, etc.</p>
<p>The CC may be her best choice simply because it is playing the lottery for her getting any scholarship money anywhere else. Right now her stats do not guarantee her anything. THey just aren’t high enough. ANd though we can talk about Central Mississippi U and any number of schools where she might have a shot, she may not want to go there all by her lonesome. Believe me, the peer pressure get heavy during the senior year. She;ll want ot go where a number of classmates go. She isn’t going to get sufficient financial aid even if she gets into a school that meets full need, and those are selective schools for anyone, And merit scholarships are not easy to get. Even getting into a nursing program is no sure thing. She will have to take what she gets, and she may not get anything she wants. The community college and hospital programs stand the greatest chance of accepting her and being affordable. From that point, she can work upwards to see what other options she has on the plate. My guess is that she will get accepted to some state schools, but not get enough money to go there, and the push will be for her to find a cosigner for outside loans. THat’ s the usual pattern in these cases.</p>
<p>So, get that local option in the bag, including courses of study other than nursing if nursing is highly selective. If she can get all of her base requirements done at CC, she can work, and pay her way there, borrow up to maybe $9500 the first year with Staffords, stash it as I explained earlier and have about $20K available to go away to college for the last 2 years, along with what she can borrow then. Still will be a short fall, but less, to go away to a state school. If she does well, maybe she’ll pick up some grant money on the way, but again, that is a maybe.</p>
<p>If she can find a 4 year school that she can afford, yes, that is preferable, but that is not so easy. Again, look at the Momfromtexas thread which will give you pointers for some such school as well as some school suggested here and any her counselor might be able to recommend as possibilities for generous scholarships.</p>
<p>She should visit her local CC, and talk with the transfer advisor there about the articulation agreements (formal transfer agreements) between that CC and the colleges and universities in your state that offer her major. At the very least, the transfer advisor should be able to pull up a list of coursework that is guaranteed to transfer to the public universities in your state. There even may be a website where your niece can check this information at home.</p>
<p>Also might want to consider that many nursing programs do not directly admit students as freshmen – only after certain required courses are completed can students apply, and not all are accepted. </p>
<p>Here is the problem: your niece may apply to any number of 4 year schools, get accepted to them but get NO financial aid and NO merit money either. That would mean all she would have is up to $9500 her freshman year in loans, if a parent is turned down for PLUS. That, and what she has saved, what she can earn, and what her parents can scrape up and pay will be it. So what could she afford for that? You mention commuting 4 hours for each round trip to the nearest 4 year local school. What would that cost in terms of commuting expenses, tuition, supplies? The advantage there is that she would not have to pay room and board, and could get a little more from her parents for expenses as they come up. Not much time for a job when you have a 4 hour round trip to get to school and back. But what is likely to happen is that she’ll find friends there where she can stay some nights, then maybe a job and then a room…and she’ll be living there. THat’s what I usually see happen.</p>
<p>But the other alternative is to deplete your cc resources, work part time, save the money, borrow and save what you don’t use, and then maybe have enough to transfer and stay full time at a state school.</p>
<p>I’m much less pessimistic than CPT. Your niece qualifies for the automatic full tuition scholarship from Troy University. She has a good chance at other automatic scholarships if her scores increase a bit. Also any time one school will give you an automatic scholarship, there are others where you will have a chance at competitive ones.</p>
<p>I agree with your analysis that 2 years of community college is not going to save any money compared to 4 years at a university with a full tuition scholarship. The big question is can the family afford the non-tuition expenses for 4 years? Surely the parents can contribute $5K/year or so, and then your niece could augment that with her own earnings and/or loans.</p>
<p>Lots of parents can’t chip in “$5K/year or so”. This student needs to assume that her parents won’t be able to pay one cent. From the description of the family situation, it looks like they may not even be able to guarantee her a roof over her head if she lives with them.</p>
<p>There’s absolutely no reason for a family making $120K/yr to not at least contribute $2000/yr to college, that’s a straight tax credit so it costs the family nothing.</p>
<p>The challenge with your analogy, you haven’t stated how to come up with the balance. Even on the off chance that she could snag a full tuition scholarship, where is the 12k for room and board coming from? Student can borrow 5.5k in a Stafford loan freshman year. The other 4k will come into play only if the family is not considered credit worthy for a PLUS loan. What happens if they are deemed credit worthy? You have stated your self that they cannot afford to pay anything, so how are they going to come up with the 7k.</p>
<p>My hat is off to you as far as being proactive and trying to find away for your niece to have the “going away” to college experience, but again do nothing with the cooperation and buy-in from her parent (unless your family is going to foot the bill for anything over the full tuition scholarship).</p>
<p>It is her parents that will have to fill out the FAFSA (and the CSS profile or institutional aid application)</p>
<p>It is her parents whose income will have to be verified using tax forms</p>
<p>It is her parents who ultimately be responsible for paying the bill. Please do not “spend” other people’s money unless they are on board with how the money can be spent.</p>
<p>If your niece completes the associates degree at community college, she would have a greater chance of all of her credits transferring, because she would be transferring the degree, rather than the credits accumulated over 2 years if she does not complete the degree.</p>
<p>The instrumental word here is “if”. IF your niece can get enough money to pay her way to go away to college, that’s fine. That may not be an alternative. Can’t tell until the acceptances arrive. Full tution is not easy to get. She needs to cover the situation where she does not get enough money to go away to school. I agree fully with everything Sybbie says.</p>