He’d get little to nothing from MiamiO without higher scores. This kid needs large merit since parents are only paying for room and board.
[QUOTE=""]
math abilities are strong and I can imagine him majoring in engineering or business. Last week he started considering pharmacy and his older sister is trying to convince him to study medicine. In the past he wanted a career in professional sports industry or possibly sports journalism (but he doesn't like to write). This has been a challenge for me because I'm not sure where to guide him to attend.
[/QUOTE]
His father and I have planned to provide $60,000 for his college education. We also will pay for cell phone and transportation expenses during college. He will not qualify for any financial aid. I think he will probably earn around $10,000 in one time scholarships from local sources. He will have saved around $10,000 of his own money before his freshman year and be able to earn more during college. He is very motivated to minimize his loans during college. He sees the advantages of minimizing debt and avoiding it if possible.
He has a 4.0 unweighted GPA and attends a rural public high school in Ohio. He has taken the new SAT with a score of 1350 and will probably take the ACT in the spring. He took the PSAT but his score was not high enough for National Merit. H
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
He needs to prep and retest. His new-SAT is about a 1270 old-SAT which is about an ACT 28-29
To get better merit he needs higher test scores.
The $60k from parents will pay for room and board for 4 years. He needs tuition scholarships.
[QUOTE=""]
I think he will probably earn around $10,000 in one time scholarships from local sources.
[/QUOTE]
Maybe…but don’t count on that. Many local sources also look at need. and really that’s a lot from local sources. Rarely do we see kids get that much from local offerings unless the student has some sort of “in”. More likely, he’d be lucky to get $2k-5k
@Heiditree I’m glad you were able to convince him to take a practice test. Now he knows that while 31 is an above average score – he didn’t score well enough to garner the type of merit aid he desires. So perhaps he’ll be willing to put in the prep hours to truly ace the real ACT.
I can’t stress enough that he should practice by taking retired ACT tests and NOT by taking practice tests found in Baron’s, Princeton Review, etc. (all the prep book publishers). Using the retired tests allows him to become comfortable with the structure of questions, begin to see possible patterns, learn to clues to solving, etc. The retired tests can be downloaded and printed at ■■■■■■■■.com. Use strict timing when doing a practice test.
I heartily recommend the Erica Meltzer reading book as my daughter’s score moved from 31 to 36 in reading after studying the book and taking multiple practice tests.
My daughter was pretty motivated to improve her score given that she wanted to go OOS on our in-state budget! I would encourage her by reminding that she could never earn the value of her merit scholarships with a part-time job or with local scholarships. For instance, her 33 ACT and high GPA allowed her to receive Michigan State’s Honors College tuition grant (about $24,000 each year), a study abroad scholarship ($5000), and a professorial assistantship (working with a professor conducting research and earning $3000/year for 2 years). It totals over $107,000 over the 4 years of an undergraduate degree. She was also accepted at University of Alabama and received the Presidential Scholarships which waives tuition (about $27,000/year). She is in their Honors College and been invited to apply to a number of interesting programs and fellowships. The value of the Bama scholarship is about $108 over the 4 years.
Her payoff for lots of practice tests and studying of strategies in the black book and Erica Meltzer book was over $100,000!
I really believe that your son can do the same – if he is willing to work at it!