Hit Me Quick With Scholarships Please!

Paying for College
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Hi all of College Confidential! I am in dire need of applying for all the scholarships that are available, but I am terrible at finding any. You guys don’t know how much you’ve already helped me in this anxiety-ridden college application process, but now I dipping in the money section. My prospects aren’t too awesome (see below), but my family makes too much money to qualify for a large amount of Federal Aid. My entire family has grown to have a “handle it yourself” mentality, since before my grandfather’s time, and it is showing, as my parents aren’t trying to pay any pennies for my college. If you guys could help by posting any scholarships you come across that you think I might fit into, I would love it! As for college, I am applying to Cornell University (wish me luck), University of Florida, and Deleware State; all for Agriculture. My determining factors are as follows below:

Race: Black/African American
Household Income: 1$30,000 (from one parent, but in married household)
Gender: Male
Status: First Generation College Student (parents went but never succeeded)
GPA: (this will be at the end of my Senior Year): 4.44 Weighted, 3.9 Unweighted,
ACT: 29 Composite (29 E, 31 R, 28 M, 28, S) Retaking next month.
Senior Course Load:
General Biology 1 and 2 (Dual Enrollment at Community College)
General Chemistry 1 and 2 (Dual Enrollment at Community College)
Cultural Anthropology (Dual Enrollment at Community College)
Honors Government and Economics
Spanish III
(My school doesn’t offer many honors, AP, or IB courses, only dual-enrollment at the nearby community colleges, so I have taken 13 classes there, with 10 A’s, 2 B’s, and 1 C.

ECs
Not many, my school is online and has no actual clubs, other than NHS.

NHS Officer (as of this year)
Over 100hrs volunteer work
Youth Usherboard Leader at Church (Since 8th Grade)
Placed on the Community College’s Dean List (district wide)
1st place in high school science fair freshman year.
Full-Time Food-Service Job, with an option to move up to management (I had to turn down to focus more on school)

As I said, just hit me with anything you find! I’ll definitely appreciate it and give it a shot! I, as most of the senior class this year, am hoping to get into college debt-free, as we don’t roll around in gold coin like we used to.

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Is your household income $130,000 a year? Will your parents contribute anything at all towards college?

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What are the financial parameters that your parents have set for you (in other words, how much are they willing to pay)
Are they firmly standing on not paying anything? IF yes, then you will have to commute from home. Unless you plan on commuting from home, with what you said about your parents willingness to help fund your education, the concept of being debt free is unrealistic. The key is not taking on any more debt than the federal loan limits (approx $27k)

Run the Net price calculator for Cornell. It does not seem like it is going to be financially feasible for you to attend.

Are you in-state for U of Florida? IF no, then it is unlikely that you are going to get significant merit at those schools.

I would recommend tossing an application at FAMU at NC A & T (it may be harder at NC A&T because of percentage of OOS that they are allowed to take) and all of the HBCUs that offer agriculture.

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@twogirls and @sybbie719 thanks for the replies. My household income is $130,000 a year. My parents are significantly in debt though, as they went to college on scholarships, but the scholarships were dropped once they both got bad grades. Both ended up not finishing (my father was very close to a Bachelor’s, but it still missing a few credits. On top of this burden, we have much more. We live in Arizona, so commuting is not an option. But we used to live in Kentucky, and still, have a house that is being leased there. When the house was initially bought, the market was low, but now it has gone up, and my parents want to keep the house, and continually rent it, so they can be set for life. However, their last tenant did a real number on it, so these last few months we’ve been having to pay the rent for our house in Arizona, and the mortgage payment for our house in Kentucky, until we can secure another tenant. All this and the ever constant flow of bills has given my parents the mindset that they can’t contribute more than $3,000 to my college education. Cornell’s NPC has me left with around $20,000 a year, while U of F has me with paying $28,000 a year, but U of F is my dream school so I have a great question about FAMU. I noticed they do have a full-ride scholarship which I qualify for based on my ACT and GPA. I don’t mind going to this school, but how easy would it be for me to transfer from here to either Cornell or U of F to finish my Master’s Degree? If I go to U of F, I would major in Horticulture, if I go to Cornell, I would for sure go for International Agriculture. WIll there be more financial AId or Scholarship money available now that I am entering a graduate program? Or would it be the same? Thank you guys so much, sorry I write a lot!

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Owning a rental house will not help. It is considered an asset with income, even if the prior tenants did damage.

You do not transfer to graduate school, you apply after getting a degree. How ‘easy’ it will be will depend on your performance in undergrad.

I don’t think you’ll get a lot of money at UF. As stated above, the financial structure at UF is to have very affordable tuition for instate students, and then to reward residence further with Bright Futures. There are also a lot (tons) of local scholarships that the best students get from their communities that chip away at the cost.

I think you should start dreaming closer to home. The Arizona schools have some good scholarships for residents. Some of the WUE schools (Colo State) have good ag programs. NM has a lot of attractive options.

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Unfortunately, the net price calculator is not going to be correct given your situation. The home in Kentucky is an asset (because it is not your primary residence) along with any rents collected in 2016 (prior, prior). Your EFC for Cornell will be more than 20,000.

If your parents can only afford to pay $3000 then neither Cornell or U of Florida are financially feasible options. Even with a full scholarship to FAMU you will pay the $3000 on travel and misc expenses needed for college.

Graduate school is not funded the same way that undergrad is funded. Masters programs are usually funded by loans (there may be some but very little merit money). As a grad student, if you are credit worthy, you will be able to borrow the cost of attendance as a gradplus loan. Keep in mind that Cornell’s grad program is designed for people who have experience working in the filed, your work experience will be part of the admissions process.

On a side note, you may be better served not working in international agriculture, but working on sustainability, farm, etc that may be eligible for public service loan forgiveness in the future.

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@twoinanddone Hmph. The problem is, I am wanting to go to school for Horticulture. No school here in Arizona even has a major in said Horticulture (which makes sense, because how are you going to learn how to grow veggies in the desert). For the Transfer let me rephrase that. I have almost 50 dual college credits from dual enrollment, most in pre-requisite classes. If I go into, say FAMU as a transfer student, to finish the rest of my prerequisites, then transfer to U of F, will I be able to receive more financial aid now I that I am a resident in Florida?

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OP, as I said in my post on your other thread (where you said you wanted to major in Agriculture or International Agriculture and Rural Development), ASU has an AG & Life Sciences Department. https://www.ag.arizona.edu/

ETA: and then there’s this - https://cisa.asu.edu/degree/applied-biological-sciences-sustainable-horticulture

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No, it is generally difficult to get state residency for any of undergrad once you start as an out of state student under age 24.

I believe Utah and Mizzou do have a path to resident status if you work and stay in state for the summer, though. But how do you pay for the first year? You can’t get a federal student loan for out of state tuition. The max for freshmen is 5500.

Your stats are excellent and many HBCUs offer big merit. Try going to college board big future search. Under major, pick horticulture and under diversity pick HBCU. Scour the admissions website for any match schools for scholarships.

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the reality is this;

Your parents can only afford to pay 3k. The most that you can borrow as a freshman is $5500. this will not cover the total cost of room and board, even if you do get a full tuition scholarship.

I agree that you should toss an application to University of Arizona and apply to some of the scholarships there. You can dream all you want but at the end of the day, you need some affordable options or you may find yourself having no where to go.

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The dual enrollment courses do not make you a transfer student for undergrad. You used the term ‘masters’ in post #3

One level at a time. Can you use those 50 credits at UF? Most likely. They are very generous in accepting credits but you aren’t going to be able to afford it.

There is a program like study abroad where schools allow you to take courses at another school for a semester or year. It is very possible that you could go to U of Az or ASU and major in agriculture but do a semester at UF and take those specialty courses. My daughter goes to Wyo and they offer this. She can go to any school on the list and pay the cheaper of Wyo tuition or the other school’s tuition, so if she picks a school where she’d get instate tuition, boom, saves money. See if any of the Az schools participate. The exampled used during the presentation is if a student at Wyo wants to major in marine biology, it is possible to major in biology at Wyo, do a semester or year at a school near the ocean and pay the same tuition the student is paying in Wyo (which is extremely reasonable). All financial aid is available too.

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So start looking at options here at ASU? Got it. I have seen their program, and I didn’t like it too much, but I will definitely take a second look. So no scholarships then?

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Not at any of the schools you have listed. Even at FAMU, you are not an automatic lock
It does not make sense to have a list of schools you can’t afford to attend

What are you really liking to do with your agriculture degree. I know you say international agriculture, but I think you think it sounds sexy or impressive. What would you for real for real line to do?

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@sybbie719 Sexy or impressive? You must have misunderstood my true intentions. The program I have chosen is not one that pays well, nor one that receives high acclamation, but one that truly devotes itself to benefiting others. (this is partially what I will include in my essay, to some extent), Ever since I was younger, I’ve always wanted to help others. I love gardening, and I love food. Seeing people in others countries starve because they have no means of producing their own fruits and vegetables (whether it is due to the arid land, barren soil, or just due to over-farming), breaks my heart, yet I feel that giving these people money alone, or food won’t supply all these needs, unless they receive a lifetime supply of meals. Nonetheless, I seek to major in International Agriculture to not only investigate and research this different types of growing environments and cultures but to also develop ways these peoples can grow the same fruits and vegetables as other places with more hospitable environments. I don’t know what ship you guys are on, but I’m trying to end the Global Food Shortage! If we genetically modify plants or develop new farming techniques, then the vegetation that once grew in these wastelands (specifically speaking of sub-Saharan Africa, and Central and South America), can once again flourish. So there you have it. I am not actually all that picky about schools. I just happened to research the best schools for agriculture, and those few came up. I’ve been to Florida before, and the state is beautiful, and I’ve heard so many awesome things about Cornell. On top of this, I met a Florida Alumni at my job, and they said they’d gladly write me a letter of recommendation, to further add to the Gator Influence. If someone has a program for Horticulture or International Agriculture (or some form of farming that has many study abroad opportunities), that is cheaper or gives more aid, and is as renowned as the above, I’d love to hear it! As far as my passion, it is pretty set in stone, but the schools are all up in the air at the moment. Thanks.

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You need to look at this from a perspective that there is more than one route to take you from point A to point B. Majoring in international agriculture is not the only path. You can study abroad, join the peace corp after graduation , work for a NGO, which will still help you to achieve the same thing

You also need to take the airplane mentality of putting on your own oxygen mask before assisting others. While your heart may be in the right place wanting to feed others, you need a feasible plan on how to do this.

Unless you Florida Alumni is a major donor, who is going to fund you, his/her writing a letter on your behalf will not do much to get you admitted (and even less in getting you the funding that you need).

If you don’t like the programs at Arizona State, then you need to look at the programs at the University of Arizona (which has their own school of Agriculture)

https://cals.arizona.edu/students/majors

You are sounding like Gretchen from Mean Girls trying to make fetch happen. While it may be a sad reality, you must move on from Cornell, because your family can’t/won’t fund it. Cornell is not going to give you additional aid so your family can fix up their house in another state in order to get it back on track for rental income. It will be a really tough road to bring University of Florida down to 8k/year.
Unfortunately you are not the first student that will have to let the dream school go, but take solace that you know now instead of next April.

ETA: it is important that you not repeat your parents by being a student who is full of potential but cannot finish the degree because it was not affordable. Make it your goal not to continue that cycle!

Again, make plans for schools that are affordable for your family or where you are guaranteed considerable merit $$.

Right now direct costs at University of Arizona is almost 16k/year (including room and board). tuition alone is 12k. You need to seriously look at the possibility of your getting merit $ to bring the price tag down.

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@sybbie719 Oh well. It was a good thought.

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There are many students who want aeronautical engineering and moan that their school doesn’t have it. Well, most AE’s are really mechanical engineers anyway, with just a few extra classes. That’s what I’m suggesting to you with Ag rather than horticulture. Take all the basics at Az, then do an internship at Disney where they have the sustainable crops program, or some other opportunity with an ag company. Take a semester at UF and take those 4-5 classes that aren’t offered at your home school. Have you looked at Iowa or Iowa State? Both have some nice merit scholarships.

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I would strongly suggest you retake the ACT, and the SAT. If you can get your ACT score above 32, your prospects for merit aid will improve.

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@twoinanddone I haven’t looked at Iowa yet, but I will. But the school I mentioned earlier (FAMU) has said they will give full-ride scholarships automatically with room and board (and meals!) if you have a 29 or higher (which I do) on the ACT, and at least a 3.5 GPA (which I hope to maintain), so I will apply to go there. It’s not necessarily the best school, but you all have let me know that the school doesn’t matter as much as I thought it did. Not having to pay for college seems good enough for me!

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And I’m pretty sure FAMU has cross registration with FSU. FSU is a Land Grant university.