I live in Atlanta, Georgia and I want to go to school in Florida but my mom won’t let me go there. I used to live in Florida and I just want to go back to where I am from. I am a good girl with a 3.6 GPA. Also my grandparents live in Florida and they’ll help me when im in college. My mom is my only family in Georgia. I am planning to get a job and split the cost with my mom. I need help convincing her that going to school in my hometown with my family is my dream. Any suggestions?
A lot depends on your planned major and what your stats are. Is your 3.6 weighted or unweighted? Have you taken the ACT or SAT? What did you get? I ask because going out of state is very expensive but there are merit scholarships that you can get with good GPA’s. If you can show your Mom that it is in budget, she might be more flexible.
What schools are you looking at in Georgia and what in Florida?
3.6 is unweighted and I took the ACT last year got a 28 but im taking it again soon. I have been applying for alot of scholarships. I have been looking at the University of Miami, university of Florida, and university of tampa. In Georgia I have looked at Georgia state and West Georgia.
Take a look at the cost to attend the schools that interest you. You have to pay out of state tuition vs in-state in Georgia. Run the Net Price Calculators for the schools and discuss how college costs will be paid. Mother alone or financial help with tuition? Is your mother planning on you commuting from home or living on campus? Be sure to add all these costs. Does she have a particular school in GA in mind? What school (s) do you want in FL?
(Suggest move to diff forum.)
Sorry - cross posting
My planned major is biology.
Find out the reason behind her wanting you to go to college in GA. It may be that in-state tuition will make the GA public colleges affordable. If that is the reason, it is hard to argue unless you can get scholarships (not loans) that completely fill any financial gap.
Your argument would be stronger if you can show her that the Florida schools are less expensive than the in-state Georgia publics.
University of Miami cost over $66,000 a year. It requires the FAFSA, and Profile. And if your parents re divorced, the non-custodial parent Profile. Where will YOU get $33,000 if you split the cost?
University of Tampa is $40,000 a year or so. It uses only the FAFSA. But again…split the costs? Where will you get $20,000?
University of Florida is about $43,000 a year for an out of state student. FAFSA only. Again…where will you get $21,500 of your share if you split the costs?
You don’t mention your dad? Where is he?
What do you plan to do with a bio degree? Most decent jobs in bio require going on to med school or some kind of graduate degree. Depending on what you choose, that can be pricey, or really delay paying off large student loans. It would be far more practical to take advantage of your in-state options. You can move to Florida when you graduate. And Georgia is close enough to visit and spend time there. Maybe you could stay with a family member there and work there for a summer or two.
Raise the ACT to 29 and you can get a full tuition scholarship from Florida A&M:
http://www.famu.edu/index.cfm?Scholarships&DistinguishedScholarsAwardScholarship
If she’s paying for it then she decides. If you are paying for it then you should have the right as an adult to make that decision.
With the Hope scholarship, you can get 90% of tuition paid for at a public college in Georgia. It doesn’t really seem to be a matter of convincing unless you can find comparable options. If you can find a college where you can get a full tuition scholarship in Florida (like Florida A&M) or you can get a merit scholarship and live with your grandparents, then maybe costs would be similar and your mom would agree.
If you can get your ACT superscore up to a 30 you would likely qualify for instate tuition at FSU which is one of the best deals around. Good luck.
Having a dream is good.
Having the money to finance it is another thing.
My guess is that this is largely a matter of money-- staying instate is likely to be much more affordable than going out of state.
I just wanted to point out that even if you end up going to school in Georgia, you can always look a for a job and move to Florida after you graduate. College is only 4 years (hopefully) - you have the rest of your life to move back to Florida.
Have you checked out Valdosta State in southern Georgia? It is very near the Ga/Fl border. How far is that from your Florida family?
The Hope Scholarship in Georgia is going to be hard to beat with Florida OOS tuition. Not impossible, as several posters have mentioned. So focus on studying to raise your ACT score.
And do check for Georgia colleges that are closer to your family in Florida.
@powercropper, have you ever been to Valdosta, or Valdosta State? Ick on both accounts. It doesn’t matter that it is close to Florida. Even if the OP has a car, it’s not like they would be going to visit family or the beach on any regularity. The OP needs to get a job to split college costs with the mother, Valdosta would be difficult to get a job simply because of its size. OP, what part of Atlanta are you in?
The OP will have a fall break, a Thanksgiving break, a Christmas/winter break, a spring break, and depending on the school…maybe a break around Easter. OH…and the summer break.
Would it be possible to go to college in GA and visit family in FL on all of these breaks? Oh…and get a summer job in FL for the summers (maybe the FL family can help,with this).