@Mom2aphysicsgeek Yes I realize that but it will put some distance between it. They will consider my UVM record and especially if I get all A’s it would be better than trying to transfer now I guess
My mom’s not gonna understand the CC thing, we completely ruled them out and would seem like a downgrade. One of the main reasons for choosing UVM was because we knew I was going to have to transfer or something later on, and transferring to a good school from UVM would look better than from a ranked 500s school. The As would have more weight because UVM isn’t ranked that low. Going to a community college would defeat the purpose because if my mom thought it was a good idea I wouldn’t be at UVM now
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I think your sister needs to graduate on time, she might need to major in physics and minor in math or something, but your family can't afford for her to do a fifth year. If you can't afford the last year she will end up without a degree.
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The same goes for you, if you plan on double majoring in chem and physics.
Where do you think your sister is going to get a big enough scholarship from?
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I agree. Sister needs to change her plans and graduate on time. She’s not going to get a scholarship to pay for that 5th year.
I think many of your family’s problems are due to some naive thinking on parents and students parts.
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What is a good resource for federal scholarships?
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There are no federal scholarships. There are federal grants and you already got those.
@mom2collegekids Do you know about any competitions for undergrad aid or something? Like for example there’s the Goldwater scholarship but Idk where I can find a list of other similar ones
An A at UVM will not be considered far superior to an A in the same course at an other school…in terms of transfer.
@poppyguy You need to sit with your mom and actually READ UMich’s transfer page. It states explicitly that they consider “the quality of high school credentials (including grades, strength of curriculum, and standardized test scores) during the transfer review process.”
FWIW, if you look at the transfer credit agreements for courses, they have a list for CC’s in Miami. I chose one of the Miami CC’s: http://www.ugadmiss.umich.edu/TCE/Public/CT_TCESearch.aspx The list is similar to UVM’s http://www.ugadmiss.umich.edu/TCE/Public/CT_TCESearch.aspx in terms of math and physics (the only courses I glanced at.)
I strongly recommend talking to admissions officers about the reality of being admitted and whether or not UVM or a FL CC would make a difference. You are banking a lot of $$ on UVM pulling weight where it may not exist. Your mother is not an admission’s officer. Her opinion is not going to make a difference.
You are dealing with a complicated situation because of all your constraints (financial aid, transferring, mother’s concern for external reinforcement/rankings, your HS grades, your SAT score).
Let’s leave your sister’s situation alone for now.
You could run the Net Price Calculator on universities such as UMass Amhers, UDel, UMaryland-BC, UIowa, Indiana U, UMinnesota Twin Cities, Temple. Which ones are cheaper than UVermont ? (don’t look at how much money they give, but at your net cost).
The Goldwater isn’t “undergrad aid”. You’re talking about fellowships. They’re for seniors. Freshmen don’t have a shot unless they’re published geniuses. The Goldwater doesn’t fund college anyway.
You’re looking for grants/scholarships and not finding anything because they don’t exist.
Right now, you basically have the maximum financial aid you can hope to get at a public OOS university.
Either you accept a Florida university or you look at LACs (which by definition aren’t well-known to the general public, even if they’re highly reputable, especially for grad school). Add to this the universities listed above in the two links I provided.
For instance, you could apply to Wheaton (MA), Earlham, Lawrence, Beloit, Gustavus Adolphus (beside St Michael’s 
) - you’d get the “geographical diversity” boost and the “male applicant” boosts. All of those are solid schools.
Or, as a man, you can apply to Wabash, which has a very strong record but isn’t too difficult to get into because not many young men wish to study in an all-male atmosphere.
Be realistic though: FSU is a reach (you’re in their bottom 20%), UMichigan is not going to happen (you’re in their bottom 1%).
So if your mother won’t consider FL universities (that you can get into), you need to find universities you can “sell” to your mother as being “as good or even better than UVermont” yet cost less.
@poppyguy Are you actively involved in research? Goldwater is incredibly competitive and is based on UG research participation. It is also only $7500 for 2 yrs. That still leaves a HUGE gap. This is a grasping-at-straws approach to funding college.
I just ran the U Mich net price calculator with $60k business income, no assets. Also with $50k income.
It asked about home equity as well. I put that two students are in college.
First time the Pell grant was about $1,600 second time it was around $3,000
Maximum grants and scholarships from UMich were $40,000
So it seems either your parents’ income was lower or they did not report the rental income/property.
Most accurate post in the entire thread.
https://goldwater.scholarsapply.org/yybull.php
There are 260 Goldwater scholarships. Each institution can nominate up to 4 students. Scholarships are for juniors or seniors and pay about $7,500 a year.
Right now your parents pay $24,000 and you pay $5,500 per year for UVM.
Your sister seems to have most costs covered with grants and workstudy and loan? But only for four years.
@MYOS1634 Ok I will use the Net Price Calculator, thanks
I will go over with my mom about what state schools are acceptable to her also. Idk about LACs but I didn’t consider it before so I’ll look into them I guess
And yes, I guess that is the main point. Is there a list of “cheapest schools” or something? Because I can show her the list and ask which schools she thinks are ok
@Mom2aphysicsgeek No but I plan to get involved later on. I asked if there’s anything similar to that because I saw that one was competitive
@mommdc Yeah I mean I really don’t know anything about my parent’s finances tbh, I think it’s around 60k but again I’m not 100%. Idek exactly what my parents own other than the house mortgage and stuff either, maybe I’m getting stuff wrong. I just have no idea because my parents never tell me anything. Which is what makes things so complicated because my mom wants to stay in charge of everything but her focus on prestige with my stats is like incompatible or something
At the same time she doesn’t want to help me look at cheaper colleges so I’m trying to find answers myself now
@mommdc For my sister yeah I think so but she has to ask again about scholarships. She said she already asked and they said the school will stop the grant but there are a few UMich scholarships and they made it sound like it was feasible. Also can she possibly apply for the Goldwater since she’s a junior now? Or is it really impossible to get
I don’t know, your sister should talk to the head of math/physics department about applying for Goldwater. Nomination deadline is in January I think. But if she got it I think she would only get it for senior year.
In my opinion, you are doing this backwards. You are looking at rankings first…when really you should be looking at your application profile. This means you need to realistically look at your HS grades, your SAT scores, and then your college GPA.
Folks who have read my posts know this story. My husband started at an Ivy. It was not a good fit. He subsequently went to two different community colleges where he completed his core course requirements. His CC had an articulation agreement with a number of four year colleges…which meant that he would be acceoted and his courses from the CC would transfer. For his final 2 1/2 years (he did a co-op program or it would,have been two years) were at a school that I’m quite sure is ranked well below 300. Well below. But it had an excellent engineering school. He got his degree, and some excellent work experience via that co-op program, and has had a very successful and lucrative career as an engineer.
He did it the smart way, he took courses first where he knew he would be successful AND where his courses would transfer. Then he finished his degree.
And it had to be affordable…no trust fund to pay the bills!
Here is my free advice. Get yourself to one of the CCs in Florida. Take your core courses, and get all A’s. Have a conversation with the transfer advisor regarding where the CC has articulation agreements in FL. Finish your degree there.
This will be the most cost effective way for you to attend college.
Sure, apply to some of those other schools. Maybe you will hit the lottery and get accepted.
But also be very realistic about your college debt, and your costs…and your ability to actually get acceoted to,some of these schools.
If the net-price calculator contains any merit scholarships (Presidential, Distinction, whatever) that are awarded for first-year students, it will not be valid. Unless the school promises to meet 100% of need, it is not accurate. NPCs are not a good tool for you unless you’ll be considered a first-year student by the school.
@thumper1 Thanks for the advice. The thing is though I don’t want to transfer multiple times honestly so I think I will maybe just consider convincing my mom about the schools I can get into
Also the thing about CCs is what if I can’t get all A’s for some reason? Then even though I saved money how would I get into a good school. I feel like Vermont being ranked in the top 200 versus an unranked CC at least has some tiny benefit if I don’t get all A’s
@purpleacorn Oh ok so I shouldn’t use the NPC then? We never used it so Idk anything about it really
Once more, I’m going to say…an A grade from University if Vermont isn’t going to score you more points than an A grade in the same course from some other school. It’s just going to cost you more per credit to get that A.
Schools are going to look at the courses you take and the grades you get in those courses. You don’t get any extra points for the name of the college…sorry…you just don’t.
@poppyguy You cannot apply for Goldwater. You have to be nominated by your university and they can only nominate 4 students. It is unlikely that a transfer student would be nominated over all the other students at the university. Professors nominate students they know well and who have been actively involved in research. (Has your sister been doing research?)
@thumper1 Uh what about if it’s like MIT or something? Aren’t the courses themselves just more challenging at “better” schools?
And the whole purpose of choosing UVM over the other school was so I would have better opportunities to transfer and stuff, I didn’t realize that it didn’t matter at all. That really sucks. I mean people still go to higher ranking schools for some reason right? Otherwise everyone would go to a CC. My mom thought it would actually be better for me so that’s why she made me go