<p>I'm a very confused junior. One moment I think I know where I want to go to college, the next moment I have no clue. So I want to go into Athletic Training as an undergrad, then go into physical therapy school. Now Physical Therapy school is going to cost quite a bit of money...is it worth going into debt during my undergraduate years? I won't qualify for financial aid, little if any at all, but money is tight these days. The one school I have in mind is University of Iowa - fantastic wrestling team. I'm a big fan of wrestling. But sometimes I think, should I go to a Cal State (I would choose UC, but no UCs offer athletic training) for undergrad instead of elsewhere to save money? San Jose state would be my top choice because it offers Athletic Training and if I want, I can commute. Also I'm not sure if I want to stick around home or if I should go far away for the "college experience". And would I be selling myself short if I choose to go somewhere like Iowa or if I go to a Cal State? Will I regret it in the future when people ask me where I go, instead of saying something like UCSD I say SJSU? And I do plan on continuing wrestling and jujitsu in college, probably in a club as that is cheaper than going to a gym. </p>
<p>My stats:
Chinese female, CA resident
Around 2000-2100 SAT, 31-33 ACT (will take these in Jan/Feb)
GPA: 4.02 W, 3.82 UW (roughly)
Rank: Top 10%...doesnt get more specific
APs: Physics, Calc BC, Chem, Stats, Bio
SAT 2s: Math (800), Physics (700), Chem (later this year)</p>
<p>*Now Physical Therapy school is going to cost quite a bit of money…is it worth going into debt during my undergraduate years? I won’t qualify for financial aid, little if any at all, but money is tight these days. </p>
<p>The one school I have in mind is University of Iowa - fantastic wrestling team. I’m a big fan of wrestling. But sometimes I think, should I go to a Cal State (I would choose UC, but no UCs offer athletic training) for undergrad instead of elsewhere to save money? San Jose state would be my top choice because it offers Athletic Training and if I want, I can commute.*</p>
<p>No, it’s not a good idea to go into debt for undergrad when you’ll be borrowing money for grad school for physical therapy.</p>
<p>The good news is that if you score as well as you’ve projected, then you could get a full tuition scholarship at a number of schools. There are schools that will give full tuition scholarships for an ACT 32 or SAT 1400 (M+CR). </p>
<p>So, after you get your scores, we’ll be able to give you better suggestions. If your scores aren’t high, then you will likely have to go to a Cal State since cost is an issue.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’ll probably repost this sometime in Feb, after I get my scores. </p>
<p>Also about Cal States, aren’t they impacted by the budget cuts, so would it be hard to graduate in 4 yrs?</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Yes, it can be hard to get the classes you’ll need at Calif publics in the required sequences.</p>
<p>So…that’s why I was suggesting that if you do well on your SAT or ACT (take BOTH), then you may be able to get the scholarships you’ll need to go OOS (out of state). </p>
<p>Of course, if your EFC is lowish (and affordable) and you have high stats, you may also get accepted to a private that meets need without loans.</p>
<p>*I won’t qualify for financial aid, little if any at all, but money is tight these days. *</p>
<p>But, because you said the above, that suggests a highish EFC that’s not affordable, so your best bet will be to get good scores and apply to some schools that will give you assured scholarships for your stats. </p>
<p>You can also apply to some schools with competitive scholarships, but to be on the safe side, you need to apply to a couple of schools with big assured scholarships.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure I can hit 1400 for SAT (crit reading and writing brings me down, but my math is high enough) and 32 for ACT. </p>
<p>I remember browsing through here and coming across a list of schools with huge scholarships…by any chance do you know the link?</p>
<p>There are actually several links… I’m not sure which one specifically if for HUGE scholarships…</p>
<p>Do you mean the link for automatic guaranteed (assured) big scholarships? </p>
<p>There are links for scholarships, but many are competitive - so no guarantees of getting one. </p>
<p>Here is a new link that was recently started for automatic scholarships… <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>Here is a link for another one…the earlier pages may have outdated info (since many schools change their scholarships each year), so look at the more recent pages for info.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/211927-institutional-merit-based-scholarships-full-tuition.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/211927-institutional-merit-based-scholarships-full-tuition.html</a></p>
<p>*I’m pretty sure I can hit 1400 for SAT (crit reading and writing brings me down, but my math is high enough) and 32 for ACT.
*</p>
<p>Get some practice books. Read the beginning sections to help you improve the CR section. Then do the practice sections.</p>
<p>Here’s a tip…when doing the practice sections…whenever you have to guess between 2 or 3 possible answers, mark that question. Then, when you later check the answer key, look how you did on your “guessed answers”. If you guessed right, read WHY it was right (so you can learn from that!). If you guessed wrong, read why the OTHER answer was the better answer (so you can learn from that. 
)</p>
<p>The writing section is easy to improve, but it won’t help with scholarships at most schools.</p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Thanks, I’ll work on that this week, hope it will help!</p>