McDaniel college in MD may be worth a look, it is one of the CTCL.org schools (colleges that change lives). If your D can boost her math score she would likely be offered some merit aid. Some of the other CTCL schools might be worth a look also.
What county are you in? Your county’s community college can be her back up plan. Read through their website, and speak with the transfer counselor to find out which MD colleges and universities have guaranteed transfer/articulation agreements with that CC. For individual course transfer and more advice about recommended pre-transfer coursework, spend some time reading through http://www.artsys.usmd.edu/
For some links to MD state financial aid programs, see http://mdgo4it.mhec.maryland.gov/ Here is the link for information about need-based aid. http://mdgo4it.mhec.maryland.gov/pages/MoneyForCollege/CollegeStudents/NeedbasedgrantsCollegeStudents.aspx
Here is a link about grants for future teachers: http://mhec.maryland.gov/preparing/Pages/College411/federalfinancialaid/teachgrant.aspx
Happykid completed her AA degree at Montgomery College in Rockville, then transferred to Towson for the last two years. She had a merit scholarship at MC that covered tuition and fees for 60 credit hours, which would have covered the tuition and fees for may of the AA programs. When you look at information about your county CC, don’t forget to investigate any merit-based and need-based aid that they offer. Towson did a good job of meeting her financial need and the need of her friends. I don’t know if that was just lucky, or if the financial aid office has a policy to do what it can to help kids out. Ask around at your daughter’s high school, and find out what kind of experience the graduates there have had with aid at the various MD publics.
Wishing you all the best!
We live in MD too. Myself and lots of people I know went to community colleges in this state and then transferred after finishing our two years (some got their AA). With your family income level, your daughter’s tuition likely will be covered by financial aid for the community colleges and also the final two years with the state flagship college, so don’t let her give up her dream because you just think your family may not be able to afford it. Ask people to help her fill out the financial aid package later this year (her HS high school counselor office should have this type of workshop around this time of the year). My daughter’s high school got someone from the MD state financial office to make a presentation on how to afford college in Maryland, and it has quite bit of good info. With some work-study program in the college and summer jobs, you daughter can really attend college with incurring much debt. Also some schools’ financial aid office may first deny the financial aid (or only fund partially) package, if you persist in going to the office showing your need, many times, the student would get full tuition covered.
Many of the community colleges in MD actually have agreement with state 4 year colleges for guarantee transfer if the students can keep their grade at certain level (probably 3.0). Again, this is just a backup plan, and your daughter still can apply first to see if she can get any merit scholarship from a 4 year university.
And yes, for us that went to the community college route and then transfer to the 4 year colleges, we ended up not very much from our peers who went straight to the 4 year colleges, some even were in the very top colleges.
By the way, being a full time student and and full time worker can also be done in MD. Community colleges like Montgomery College, Prince George’s Community College, Frederick Community College have lots of young adults attending evening classes (or attending day time classes and work evening shifts). UMUC (UMD’s sister school for working adults) have tons of good programs, and its top students usually find a well paid jobs after graduating.
Everyone above has given you good advice. One thing to be cautious about is parent loans. You probably are not in a position that you should do that, even if they would give them to you. Make sure when colleges are touting their affordability or you see their FA pictures that parent loans are not part of the deal. Best.
Please note that guidance counselors vary greatly in their energy, passion, knowledge, and willingness to help the students.
Do not just rely on the information you get from your child’s guidance counselor. Verify with another source you trust. Is there a student from this same school that graduated in the last two years that you know and can ask college questions?
Some counselors are overloaded with too many students and don’t have time to go the extra mile. Some are only knowledgeable about the college path that 90 percent of your high school seniors take. So if that path is local community college for two years, then transfer to local four year college, that might be how your counselor pushes your child.
Ask other parents who are sending their kids to college if the counselor is trustworthy and diligent. There are strict deadlines for college admission paperwork and the guidance counselor recommendation letter. Find out now how your school requires you to place a request for transcripts and letters. Is there a Fee? Some schools place a restriction on how many colleges you can apply to, since every application increases their workload. How far in advance do you have to make a request?
You don’t want to get your counselor mad at you, so always be kind and generous with gratitude.
There is something called a brag sheet, and you can use it to help teachers and guidance counselors when you ask them to write recommendation letters. It helps to tell them details about the student, their academic stats plus extracurricular activities and any awards. You list accomplishments and interests, along with future plans for career. You should get your child working on the brag sheet now. List things starting with ninth grade.
You should get your child thinking now about which teachers to ask. With so many seniors, the teachers will have lots of letters to write. You want to give them four weeks notice before your college application deadline. You want the teacher that “gets” your child, the one who understands them and appreciates their academic interests. It can even be a class your child did not make the best grade in, but put forth great effort, made great improvement in during the junior year, or just the class where they were super passionate and added great discussions during the class.
Keep asking questions in this forum, this is a great resource. There is hope, there are options, and there is still time to make college happen for your child.
For every fee you learn about, always ask if there is a waiver. And you may still have time to document the ADHD and receive accommodations. This could increase the SAT score to make your child eligible for more scholarships. Let your child think about this, but she needs to decide quickly. You must have a doctor’s diagnosis and there is a process that takes some time and diligence to get approval . I would let your child decide, but you need to tell her the Math Score needs to come up some to get the best chance for scholarships.