<p>I am a average student who is well rounded and very involved in my community but my grades are low because I have taken a lot of hard classes. I just wanted to know what schools I would recieve a lot of scholarships/need-based aid from in Illinois(I live here), Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana..Here are my stats:</p>
<p>Gpa:3.45 (but will be a 3.5 after first semester)
ACT:25....26+ hopefully..I get my scores back soon
Have only taken hard ap/honors classes, 4 years of spanish, 4 years of orchestra, have also taken ap us history, ap biology, ap calculus, ap language, & ap literature.
will have 5 years of math total
will have 6 years of science total
extra curriculars: student council, class president, nhs, key club, upward bound, class president, involved in my church, more than 500+ voleenteer hours, tennis, track, working during school....I come from a low income first generation family....</p>
<p>I am just really confused in my college search because I want to study psychology and U of I-Urbana Champaign, Northwestern, and University of Chicago have some of the best programs in the nation and give out a lot of aid but sadly my stats are not good enough for these schools :( I want to transfer to one of these schools hopefully so I was wondering what other schools could I get into and would get a lot of aid and/or scholarships? I also want a school that isn't too big and small classes but a good sense of community and involvement...Chicago schools really appeal to me because of the city life but since a lot of people commute one does not get the traditional dorm life and tuition is sooooo expensive I don't think I could afford it and would like it too much unless it is NW or University of Chicago(hopefully grad school!) :)</p>
<p>Thank-You so much for taking the time to read it and any thoughts or comments are very much appreciated! :)</p>
<p>Your first place to start is in Illinois…SIU, EIU,WIU,NIU,ISU. They will probably be the cheapest option. Look at the net price calculators for each school. Here is the NIU calculator.</p>
<p>There are a number of small private schools in Iowa that are fairly inexpensive and after merit and need based aid may be about the same price as your instate schools. Check out Central College and Loras College.</p>
<p>Truman State University in Missouri may also be an option. You will qualify for some scholarships so the final price may be similar to your instate schools.</p>
<p>Even without scholarships, Truman State’s OOS COA is a bit lower than that for in-state directionals for Illinois residents (unless you can commute to the directional). </p>
<p>I agree with the Truman State suggestion, but I also think you should check out Bradley University in Peoria. It’s just 3 hours from Chicago and the students who attend love it. Additionally, they give great need and merit based financial aid. Not too big, not too small – about 6000 students.</p>
<p>If you want to be able to enjoy Chicago, but also have a smaller school with a sense of community, you might look at some of the LACs in the suburbs that have rail lines to downtown. Elmhurst and North Central come to mind. They are expensive, but you have a shot at getting grant aid that would bring the cost into a reasonable range.</p>
<p>ok thank-you! & I just really want to go to a college where I will have to pay like $10,000 and less a year hopefully! I heard that Ashford is good with aid? And I want a college where if I work hard enough I can get into U of I-Urbana Champaign, U of Chicago or UW-Madison for my grad school and phd.</p>
<p>Be careful with Ashford…it is owned by a for profit education company. You want to go to grad school at UIUC, NU, UW. For profit undergrad schools have ZERO credibility with the faculty in PhD programs…the people admitting you to their program. You will certainly hurt your chances by going to Ashford.</p>
<p>You would be better off doing 2 years at a community college and 2 years upper division at, say UIC, over Ashford.</p>
<p>Run the net price calculators at all of those schools…UIC, Truman State, Central, Loras, Lake Forest, Elmhurst, etc and see what happens.</p>
<p>thank-you all so much for your help!
So, would my stats be good enough for Lake Forest and do you know how much on average their financial aid package is?
Any other colleges?</p>
<p>A school’s “average FA package” isn’t going to tell you much. Go to each school’s website and find their “net price calculator” and put in your info to get an idea.</p>
<p>I come from a low income first generation family</p>
<p>I just really want to go to a college where I will have to pay like $10,000 and less a year hopefully!</p>
<p>Has your family said that they will pay $10k per year? If they’re low income, coming up with $10k per year might be impossible. Talk to your parents so that you know for sure how much they can pay each year.</p>
<p>Your FA package will already have loans in it so you won’t be able to borrow any uncovered costs.</p>
<p>Albion College in Michigan has a great Psych dept. and is a stop on the Amtrak train line from Chicago. A fine LAC and you could probably get in. Worth a look.</p>
<p>People on this site can only guess what colleges you might be able to afford. You will have to find ones that you can actually afford yourself.</p>
<p>You need to go to all of the online net price calculators for the schools mentioned (and others that you are interested in) in this thread. You will provide data on your GPA and ACT. You will need to get other information from your parents…income, tax data, etc. Once you enter all of this data into the net price calculator you will see what kind of merit and need based aid that you will receive. It might look like this…</p>
<p>Total Cost of Attendance = $35,000
Need Based Grants = $10,000
Merit Based Scholarships = $10,000
Student Self Help (Loans/Work) = $5,000
Family Contribution = $10,000
Unmet Need=$0</p>
