Hi, before starting this I just wanted to say thank you for actually reading this. Every time I try to bring things up to the school counselors, they only listen to my every 5th or 6th word. This is a pet peeve of mine.
If you have read any of my previous threads, you would know that I come from a family that is extremely manipulative. I want to be free of their clutches the moment I graduate so that they cannot use their money to manipulate where I go to school, where I live, or what I major in.
Some of them have gone as far as saying they expect me to go to CC or one of the local uni’s. I do not have the strength in me to survive living at home while getting my undergrad and grad degrees. I go months at a time without speaking to members of my family for my own sanity.
GPA: Just below a 3.8
State: Michigan (Oakland county)
SAT: Really really bad. It wouldn’t get me anything when it comes to merit aid. I’m taking the ACT in September.
First generation college student (only to some schools): My grandpa is the only person who has gone in my family.
Prospective Major: Molecular and Cellular Biology or Microbiology
ECs: None. I am not allowed to participate in them. I have tried for years to get my family to let me but they just don’t want to. They believe that I need to study or they just don’t want to be bothered by driving me. I’m not even allowed to get a job until I have walked across that stage in June 2018.
Income after taxes: $50,000 (its just my mom and I)
I can’t remember what my EFC was, but I think it was somewhere near $20,000. I just cannot see any of these people paying that for me.
I want to apply for scholarships, but I do not have any really standout skills. I want to avoid essays because I personally do not believe that I am that great of a writer. I can get my point across, but there is just nothing spectacular about it. I cannot play sports for the life of me so that is out. I will not film myself or act because I am extremely socially awkward when on film/around crowds. Lastly, I am a TERRIBLE artist. Art foundations at my school is considered a joke and an easy A and I couldn’t even get an A in it.
I couldn’t get my stuff in on time for Questbridge.
- You don't want to DO most of the things that would garner you significant merit aid...and you don't have an SAT score that is going to help you either. The folks awarding scholarships require applications for ones with large monetary awards. They don't just pull names out of a hat.
- You need to start looking VERY carefully at deadlines. If Questbrige would have been an option with an EFC of $20,000, I doubt it would,have been), then missing the deadline was not in your best interest.
- If no one is paying for you to go to college...you need a full ride. Those are NOT common. They are usually awarded to the top applicants to a college. The most generous require a rigorous application process that includes interviews, and ESSAYS....sometimes multiple interviews and essays.
- Most outside scholarships have a need component. With a $20,000 EFC...you likely would not be viewed as low income.
- What is your mom's before tax income? If your EFC is $20,000, then her gross income is in the $75000 a year range...or she has assets....which is it?
So…what are your choices?? You say you don’t want to be in your parent clutches after HS graduation.
- Get a full time job...doing something. Rent a room in someone's house...hopefully for not a lot..or on exchange for doing something like babysitting or yard care. Then work...and save your money.
- You can apply to community college...or any college...but you WILL need your parent cooperation in completing the FAFSA form...and the Profile if needed. If you complete a FAFSA, you will be eligible for a portion of the Direct Loan based on your enrollment. So if you can manage 1/2 time enrollment as a matriculated student, you will get half of $5500. Apply that to your college costs...and earn the rest at your job.
- The year you turn 24, you will no longer need your parent info to complete the fafsa.
- You need to retake the ACT and SAT and get decent scores. Otherwise, it's not just paying that will be an issue, it's getting accepted!
If you want to be “free of their clutches” you will need to figure out how to be self supporting.
What is your mom’s gross income
What are you going to do with the biology major? What is your career goal
Someone else on here told me to look into Quesbridge. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it out about it until about a week before the deadline. I couldn’t get all the papers in order and sent in that time. Their website wasn’t too clear on whether or not my EFC was too high to get aid, but I don’t doubt that it could be too high.
She is very close to $75,000 before taxes.
Nobody in my family is willing to let me work right now/during summer vacation. I will try to bother them again around this time next year. If they still pull their crap, then I have no other option but to start working after I get moved into a dorm. I can’t commute because I am not allowed to drive.
24 could put me well into my masters. Wonderful.
I will retake the SAT/ACT. I had 15+ questions left in some of the SAT when time ran out which gave me such a low score.
When I mentioned scholarships, I was looking more for just random small ones that I would actually have a chance winning with. I have applied to a few things in the past, but I didn’t win. I suspect it had something to do with my non-emotional writing style. Nowhere did I say that I didn’t want to apply to outside scholarships.
Outside scholarships are just tough to get. They probably are lower percentage selection than admission to HPYS unless it’s a scholly tied to a demographic that limits applications (i.e. Military, depenedents of corporate employees, etc.)
I finished my first masters until I was almost 28 and made squat until I was 30. Life has turned out fine. Never forget the tortoise and the hair. Persistence pays off.
You won’t be able to get into a dorm unless you’ve paid for the first semester, so you have to figure out the money thing first. The best aid comes from the colleges. What are you getting on practice ACTs? You need a 32 or above to qualify for the largest grants.
In your initial post you said your family expects you to go to cc or the local college, but in post #4 you said you can’t commute because you aren’t allowed to drive. What’s your mom saying about what she wants you to do after high school? Does she want you to attend college? Will she help pay? If they expect you to attend a local college, how do they expect you to get there? Is there a local bus? If you don’t qualify for a scholarship, would any extended family let you live with them while you attend school?
There are many outside scholarships without a need component, however, I don’t see what can make OP eligible to one yet. In addition, they are mostly very small and not renewable.
I haven’t started taking them yet. I just got the red book in the mail this week. I am just getting over a stomach bug so I will probably put more time and effort into it once I am over this bug.
Its more my grandparents who expect me to go to a local uni or CC. To be honest, I really don’t understand their reasoning. I have a trust fund from my great grandma and it has about $11,000 in it. They told me you will get that trust when you turn 18 and you can learn how to drive with that. My mom wants me to use the trust to get driving lessons too. It is really stupid because they refuse to teach me and I’ll probably kill half my trust just getting lessons.
Everyone in my family wants me to go to college. My grandparents told me that they will have no part of paying though. Every time I ask my mom about this, she always dodges the question. She hasn’t said no though.
We don’t have a public transit in my area. I think they want me to use the trust again for a car.
My mom wouldn’t kick me out (she claims), but I don’t think it will be good for me mentally to keep on living here. I don’t think my mom cares what I do. I did ask her if it would be okay for me to leave MI and she didn’t seem to like that idea.
@mom2collegekids I want to go into pharmaceutical research and development. My backups are Biophysics or Biomedical engineering.
Sounds like some research and discussion needs to happen.
Do you know the rules of getting a driver’s license in your state?
In our area (NJ) we have very clear rules. First you learn the written rules and pass a test. Then you get your permit, and pay around $350 for 6 hours of driving lessons with an instructor. After those 6 hours (total, spread out) you need a certain number of supervised (by your family members) driving hours. THEN you get a driver’s license.
It sounds to me like going to a CC or commutable university is a good choice. Sure, you don’t want to live in your Mom’s clutches, but the more debt you acquire the harder it it going to be to move out of her house. A bit more tolerance for a few more years and you will be in much better shape.
I’d also start looking around for jobs. I find it difficult to believe anyone can force you to not get a job. If that is in fact the case, then you have plenty of free time this summer to acquire test taking skills and/or volunteer places 
You need to do everything in your power to study systematically and methodically for the sat or the act. Many colleges in Michigan will offer a full ride for top scores. So will some oos universities. But you need the scores.
So, start working on that - 'question of the day’s, Khan academy, all the prep books you can get from your school library.
You will not need 11k to learn to drive. If you can’t have a job this summer, make learning to drive a priority. The ability to not be constrained by public transport is huge with regards to being independent of parents in future.
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None. I am not allowed to participate in them. I have tried for years to get my family to let me but they just don’t want to.
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Well even if you had a high test score, that alone would kill your applications for anything other than automatic merit.
CC and transfer is probably your best option here.
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- Most outside scholarships have a need component. With a $20,000 EFC...you likely would not be viewed as low income.
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Just an FYI I had an EFC of 17k in 2015 when I was applying to outside scholarships, and still won a large number of need-considering and even heavily need-dependent scholarships. But I also had the GPA, test scores, and a very uncommon set of ECs so there’s that.