<p>Note that biochemistry might be part of some other major like chemistry or molecular biology or biology.</p>
<p>Be aware that chemistry and biology do not appear to have the greatest job prospects, so it would be a good idea to keep debt down.</p>
<p>I realize Biochem may be titled differently, or even just offered as a concentration/option/submajor, etc. Yes, I’m trying to keep my debt at a reasonable level (zero would be nice, though) so I’m not shackled down and in a tough situation job-wise. I would also like to pursue a more advanced degree if possible, so limited debt would be helpful in this situation as well. Luckily there are quite a few fully funded grad programs; I hope I’m lucky enough to be admitted to one (or more) after my undergraduate years are through.</p>
<p><<<<
My parents will not contribute funds to my education. Even if they would, we have a ridiculously high EFC & a low income (therefore making it impossible to pay, even if I get an all-but-EFC-scholarship).
<<<<</p>
<p>Sorry to hear this but you should have put this in your first post because your first post suggested that you would have a very low efc and need a school that gives full aid. </p>
<p>A school like H or Y would not give you full aid because obviously your parents have assets that are driving up their high EFC…even tho income is modest.</p>
<p>Sounds like you need a full ride merit scholarship. THAT would be based on your STATS, not your income/EFC.</p>
<p>Since you have a high EFC, you wont get work study since once you add the full ride to your EFC, you wont have any need.</p>
<p>You can take out a 5500 loan because full rides dont really cover everything.</p>
<p>What are your stats? </p>
<p>I have a 4.0 GPA so far, but don’t know my ACT score yet (hopefully I will by tomorrow). On practice tests I was always above 30 (sometimes as high as 34), so I’m hoping to score somewhere between those two numbers. That qualifies me for quite a few scholarships from the full ride/ full tuition thread.</p>
<p>Note that even for a need met school, part of the aid will be in a form of loan.</p>
<p>@billcsho, except for full need-no loan schools right?</p>
<p>@billcsho and @NewHavenCTmom </p>
<p>none of that applies to this OP. she will have a high EFC, so full-need schools (with or without loans) do not apply to her. She has little need and has a large unaffordable EFC.</p>
<p>She needs a near-full-ride MERIT scholarship so that a $5500 loan and a part-time job (full time summer job) can cover incidentals and any uncovered costs.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids
It is funny that the OP put down low income in the title but did not mention the high EFC until later. That changes the game completely.</p>
<p>Right, that’s what confused me! I thought when she mentioned high EFC in a later post, it was a typo</p>
<p>Gotcha @mom2collegekids </p>
<p>OP’s first post is very misleading. It first mentioned those schools that offer need based aids while he/she is not even eligible to.</p>
<p>
Oh for goodness sakes, @billcsho, this is a 17-year old we’re talking about! She came here to find out if she qualifies for need-based aid. And her misunderstanding was not unreasonable . . . the general assumption is that a “low income” family will be eligible for need-based aid. She now knows that’s not the case for her family, and she’ll pursue merit-based scholarships accordingly.</p>
<p>And, yes, @NewHavenCTmom, you’re correct that loans are not part of the financial aid packages for qualifying families at the [“no</a> loan”](<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php][b]"no”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php) schools. @billcsho was mistaken when he suggested otherwise.</p>
<p>^ I am not mistaken. I am simply not referring to “no loan” schools. Northwestern is one of those has higher than 5% admission rate (~13%) and meet need, and yet, it put loans in the financial aid package. I am pointing it out that schools may meet need with partial loan. From the OP, it sounds like he/she is looking for a less competitive school that meet needs. Look for merit aid is a totally different game.</p>
<p>Can the OP share what state or region - as travel costs to and from school even with full merit or significant merit can drive up the cost. So that is another factor to consider. </p>
<p>And agreed. Most people do not really understand the difference between merit and Financial aid, EFC, Assets, etc. I give the OP props for starting earlier, trying to learn and gathering info.</p>
<p>Well, I guess we don’t have too high of an EFC according to the net price calculator at Harvard’s website, but there’s no chance I’ll be accepted there. I was just curious to see how much it would cost- which is about 4,000 plus a work/study. Other universities calculated EFC to be ~25,000 (which is why I said we had a high EFC in the first place). </p>
<p>Now after hearing everyone’s input here, though, I think the best route is probably merit based scholarships. I’m so nervous for my ACT results…</p>
<p>@MaterMia I’m from the central US, northern half. My parents said that they might help pay for travel costs if I go to an OOS school, maybe.</p>
<p>you can’t go by H’s NPC because H,Y,P, and S give super aid. Other schools dont have the endowments to give aid like that.</p>
<p>If your EFC is $25k, you need to expect that. (why is your EFC that high with a modest income?)</p>
<p>Since you say that you cant get into H, you have to deal with the aid formulas at other schools.</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>Ok some random tips for you.
1.) Give us a region or state - so we can help identify good merit possibilities.
2.) You need to also take the SAT - some kids do naturally better on one test than the other.
3.) Take both - or at least the one that you scored the strongest again, maybe three times. Lots of schools superscore the SAT and some even superscore the ACT. This means they combine the best score from each part into one superscore and use that for admission and/or merit scholarships.
4.) You can improve your scores by taking practice tests - time yourself. Learn how to pace yourself through the tests.
5.) Think about now - which teachers you will ask for rec letters. Ask them now. You need at least one science, math maybe history teacher - strong core subject.
6.) Applying for merit scholarships is a lot like playing roulette. A few are automatic - many others are subjective on a “whole person review.” You may need/ want to apply for as many as ten of these. That can get expensive. Will your parents pay for this$60 average app fee and then plus sending test scores, maybe SAT and ACT. Can be about $100 per school altogether on average.<br>
7.) State schools - need at least one safety back up - and apply there. Find out if your state schools give any merit. Pick the one that may give you best financial package and works with your major.
8.) Knowing some of your other stats might also help others with advice. Female? Male? Minority? First Generation college? What EC’s do you have?
9.) If you like chemistry - have you thought about chemical engineering? Better job prospects.</p>
<p>Just some additional thoughts for you!</p>
<p>OP, your EFC is likely to be the LOWEST amount your family will be expected to pay at schools unless you find a school costing less than that or you get huge merit awards covering the cost . You can run some NPCs at some schools that you know and see what they come up with as to what they would expect your family to pay. </p>
<p>If you and your parents cannot come up with those amounts, you need to look for much less expensive schools and those with merit money that you have a shot of getting. Look at the list of schools on this forum with guaranteed awards and see if you meet the threshholds. Also ask your GC if there are some local schools that are good to grads of your high school with your stats. My son was not a high stat kid, but still got a full tution award from a local private which would have made commuting there less than even going to the local CC since the tuition would have been a zero. </p>
<p>I find that a lot of these no loan schools are a bit hypocritical in that policy, since many of them have a large student contribution that they require , and they give out some pretty danged big Work study awards. For low EFC families., where else is the kid getting the money other than those student loans? It’s a foregone conclusion where the kid is going to go and if they call financial aid and say there is no way, the loan options is going to be given so quickly, it’ll make your head spin. Some of those work study awards make me pause when it comes to low income kids going to a rigorous private school when they are not used to that kind of academic rigor. I didn’t want my kids working first term in college. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids that 25k figure is only at a few schools, I guess. I have found others that figure it to be about a 10k EFC.
@matermia I read through your tips, which sound very helpful. A few responses:</p>
<p>5) the majority of the teachers at my school are retiring/moving after this year, so asking them may or may not be wrong. I actually have no idea where one of my rec letters is going to come from since the teacher I was planning to ask isn’t going to be employed at my school next year. I could ask them now, but that might be weird (I’m not sure). </p>
<p>7) There are two state schools I won’t mind going to, but they only give out about 1/5 cost scholarships (unless they have other scholarships not listed online). </p>
<p>8) female, first-gen by some definitions (my dad got a 2 year degree, so only some schools would consider me first gen). I’m involved in FFA, math team, library club, National Honor Society (NHS), and Technology Student Association (TSA). </p>
<p>9) I have thought about engineering and am actually going to an engineering summer camp this year to see if it’s something I would like.</p>
<p>Absolutely ask for recommendations now - that’s not weird at all!</p>
<p>And don’t waste money actually taking the SAT - just do a free practice test if you don’t like your ACT results, and see which works better for you.</p>