Financial Aid needed! Chances for Princeton, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Pitt, OSU, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Any help from anybody would be much appreciated! Financial aid is a big problem my family faces in the college application process, so I was wondering what my chances were for some top schools with incredible FA, as well as a few others where FA could be good or bad. I have a lot of solid EC’s that I am extremely passionate about (mostly pertaining to volunteering and community engagement in some way), really awesome life experiences, and good test scores, but my GPA and rank are a little scary for my reach schools. Thanks so much!

White male from Ohio, very rigorous school
UW GPA: 3.77 (this scares me a lot haha)
Rank: Top 6% (also scares me a little, I’m like 14/251)
ACT: 35
AP’s: Mostly 5’s and a few 4’s, will be taking 6 AP’s senior year
SAT Subject Tests: Bio 770, just took USH and Literature recently
Awards: A few local photography ones, AP Scholar with Distinction I think
EC’s:
-VP of National Honor Society (consumes my life, I plan volunteer opportunities in area, variety show, blood drives, etc. but it is my favorite EC)
-Class Treasurer, Principal’s Leadership Council
-Founder and President of School’s Outdoors Club (hiking, climbing, skiing, seining, community engagement, etc. very large club)
-Field Experience Trip with School to western US national parks (inspiration for Outdoors Club, plus I am Wilderness First Aid certified)
-Treasurer of Chinese Club
-Travel to China with local university (took classes in China, taught locals, have taken 5 years worth of Chinese classes but my school doesn’t have AP Chinese, I hope to further study it in college/return to China)
-United Way YFDC (we raise money and donate it to local youth nonprofits, lots of fundraising)
-Ohio Attorney General Teen Ambassador Board (focus on problems with teens in state, create action programs to help with problems like addiction and stress)
-Volunteer at local hospital’s ER (fellow volunteers mostly senior citizens and they have taught me a lot about life)
-I have shadowed numerous surgeons and other medical professionals
-Varsity Cross Country, Track, and Indoor Track (good but not at the recruiting level lol), consumes my life
-Head of Marketing Committee for upcoming Dance Marathon for charity at school (run all social media, branding, outreach, etc.) ALSO consumes my life
-I play piano for nursing homes and hospitals, and I love photography (have won local awards), I run an aviation photography group

My absolute favorite school is Princeton (amazing FA!!!) as I think I want to major/concentrate in a science major and minor/certificate in a humanity (pre med track), but I fear that my GPA is a huge turn off for them. I am stuck between Princeton EA, Dartmouth ED, or Northwestern ED (love them all). I am confident on my matches and safeties including Pitt and OSU (there are a lot more) but am unsure on how FA will turn out. As I hope to one day attend medical school (combined with low income) we are on a tight budget haha so any advice/chancing is much appreciated. Thanks again.

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I’d go with the EA for Princeton solely on the fact that they do indeed offer amazing financial aid. I have the pamphlet lying around somewhere and I believe that if you make less than $60,000 a year, Princeton will give you a full ride. Don’t worry about your GPA and class rank; your ACT and ECs are amazing. Remember to take some time to really write an unique, excellent essay.
Best of luck.

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Your class rank is fine – there is a big bonus for being in the top 10%, which you have. After that, they look more at how tough your classes were.

Have you run any EFC or NPC calculators?

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@HPhelpbot123 my handful of B’s came solely from Math courses and Chemistry, would that not look so great on the application? I did fine in Statistics and Bio however
@AroundHere we ran the NPC calculators for a few schools including Northwestern (it was good but still iffy), OSU was in the same ballpark, and Pitt and most of the out-of-state state schools weren’t great and would rely on scholarships lol

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Were those math and chemistry courses high level (AP/honors)? If so, getting a four or five on the AP Chemistry & Calculus final is more than good enough.
If you are super worried about your GPA & class rank, make sure to keep your grades up through the first semester of senior year.

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@HPhelpbot123 They were all Honors level courses, and I am taking AP Calc Senior year (we aren’t offering AP Chem this year). Even if applying EA/ED will colleges still look at my first semester grades? I have already started to prepare for Calc so I will probably do a lot better.

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@seaotter17 I would NOT rely on scholarships to fund schools where the NPC is telling you the price is too high. Scholarships from outside the school may reduce your financial need and financial aid eligibility. Also, in terms of the money that is out there to be earned, more is given by the federal government and the colleges themselves than by outside scholarship foundations. Most importantly, do not apply ED to a school where the NPC is returning a price you can’t afford. It is a waste of time to commit yourself to the ED agreement when the odds of actually being able to go there are low.

Run the EFC estimator on the Collge Board website. It will return both a IM EFC (Profile) and FM EFC (FAFSA) estimate. When you run an NPC, if the price is at or below the appropriate EFC, that is a college that is being more generous with you. An NPC result that is higher than your EFC is a college that is “gapping” you. Gapping is very common, but if you’re gapped you need the smallest gap possible.

Out-of-state public schools will probably be your worst financial bargain. Replace those schools on your list with schools with schools that are more likely affordable.

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What state and national recognition have you won?

Do you check any boxes for FirstGen, URM, etc?

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That’s fine GPA wise. For instance, I have all As/A+s but my GPA is only 0.04 higher than yours. Nothing to worry about. Your course rigor and test scores will make up for any perceived lackluster GPA. They do indeed look at your first quarter/semester grades if they are available. Some high schools (like mine) will show your current averages in each class to the college on your transcript when you apply early action this fall.

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For matches and safeties, take a close look at the likelihood of getting merit-- not FA–from them. Pitt will be tough as top 5% is generally required, and you are just outside that. OSU and Miami offer merit and since you are in-state, you’re looking at lower costs right from the start. You might look at U Maryland (some competitive full tuition scholarships available). Some privates (offhand, thinking of U of Scranton, Marquette, Xavier) offer up to full tuition awards to high stats candidates.

You mention that Northwestern’s NPC is “iffy.” Check Dartmouth’s and Princeton’s. If any of them appear to be affordable, then go ahead and choose one to apply early-- but verify that you are permitted to apply elsewhere to meet potential scholarship deadlines.

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Princeton does not use your freshman grades when recalculating your GPA. Will omitting 9th grade help or hurt your GPA?

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don’t worry, you’ll be good… and yeah, OSU is a guarantee for you

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@AroundHere I agree it seems as though out-of-state publics certainly are not going to be affordable haha and thanks for the great advice! I will definitely spend more time examining in-state options

@ClarinetDad16 Besides AP Scholar with Distinction and the few local photography awards I don’t have any other form of state/national recognition (although the OAG teen ambassador board may qualify as being a form of in-state recognition since there was a lengthy application process for it…) I am not an URM and both of my parents were able to attend college so I don’t have any real hooks (unless low income/father is a veteran/both parents own and run a small business stuff somewhat counts?)

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@LuckyCharms913 Yeah I really loved Pitt but as I am right outside the top 5% I probably won’t get any merit from them (which is incredibly frustrating lol). Northwestern’s NPC was pretty good, just not exactly what we considered ideal (my family agreed that we could afford pretty much afford it but at the same time we’re still thinking over the eventual costs of med school…) but I will definitely run it for Dartmouth and Princeton’s. I will probably choose the most affordable to apply early for; however, I feel that my best chances lie in Northwestern ED (just going by acceptance rate and accepted students’ stats in the forums) whereas Princeton just feels impossible to get into

@fauve actually omitting 9th grade hurts my GPA a lot (most of my B’s were Sophomore year…)

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Have you considered U Alabama or Temple? You’re eligible for full tuition at both, leaving more for med school (if that’s truly your goal). Also might be somewhat easier to achieve a top GPA (vital for med school) than at a Top 25 school.

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@LuckyCharms913 I haven’t considered either yet (although I have visited Auburn and really liked it) but I will definitely look into both of them

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Bump

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Not sure what you are bumping for. The best way to find out whether you qualify for enough financial aid at these or other schools is to run the net price calculators rather than to ask here.