Those BS/MD programs need to be added to your list of long shots.
Are you instate for Ohio? If so…add Ohio University to your list.
@thumper1 they already are, I know they’re not safety’s. I was just saying I have a wide range of schools picked out.
Yes I’m instate for Ohio.
You indicated that you wouldn’t work hard if you knew you couldn’t go to your dream schools like Stanford. I just pointed out that thousands of students work hard and aren’t at Stanford. Many kids can work as hard as humanly possible and won’t get into Stanford. And their lives aren’t ruined.
Life isn’t fair. My kids could work as hard as you and they weren’t going to certain schools because I couldn’t afford it. Schools aren’t penalizing you. They’ve set rules about financial aid and you have fit into them.
I actually think you could qualify for a non-custodial waiver because your father was deported and isn’t allowed back into the country, and you don’t have contact, but I don’t think you should base your high school work level on that. There is no guarantee right now how anything will be in 4 years when you actually apply.
A friend’s daughter had a dream school, Harvard (this was 25 years ago). She was the 4th daughter and her oldest sister really helped her gun for Harvard. Best grades, best test scores, great recommendations, good ECs. And she got into Harvard. Yeah! But she got a full ride to MIT (again, back when different rules about FA were in place). She came from a modest income family. It was a big difference in money. She had a big decision to make, and she went with the money at MIT. She has a great career.
Ohio State will let you attend tuition-free if you qualify for a Pell Grant, which it sounds like you would, if things are the same in 3 years when you are a senior. $6k from your mom plus some Pell and a student Direct loan and a summer job could cover room and board and books. So keep your grades up and work hard so that admission is assured there.
Beyond that, the Harvards and such - two choices. One, start trying to let your dad know that you may not be able to get nay financial aid form a school at all if he doesn’t do the non-custodial profile form. Your mom won’t see it, it’s totally separate…you have 3 years to work on that, with help from your uncle or your mom or whoever.
If that fails, you can ask for a waiver of his information from each college you apply to that requires it. They may or may not grant it, and the waiver will probably ask for a guidance counselor or similar third party to verify that you aren’t in contact with him. Some schools may grant that waiver, some may not.
Best thing you can do now is get great grades, high test scores and do things that you love so you have a very strong application when it is time.
@OHMomof2 The goal is for me not to have to take out any loans in college, but thank you. Me and my mom are not totally against it. I really have no way to contact my dad unless my uncle helps.
@OHMomof2, How is OP going to simultaneously ask her dad to fill out the CSS and her GC to certify that she has no contact with him?
@austinmshauri OP can ask the aforementioned uncle to see if dad will do the forms. GC is certifying only third party contact, I suppose. But most waiver forms I’ve seen don’t require “no contact”. They require an explanation of some kind.
http://finaid.cornell.edu/sites/finaid.cornell.edu/files/Noncustodial%20Parent%20Waiver%20Petition_3.pdf for instance asks hoa many times there’s been contact, it’s not yes/no. Same with https://finaid.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/1819NoncustodialWaiver.pdf
Emerson:
- I think these are pretty typical.
I’m not suggesting OP should lie or ask the GC to. Contact through a third party may or may not be disqualifying but that’s up to the school.
Is dad a US citizen?
@Sybylla No he was deported because he’s an African citizen and does not have citizenship in The U.S.