How do I make going to college possible for me?

Parent Cafe
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<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I have been lurking at this forum some time and decided to ask help from you parents here. I'm a rising senior, female, my ACT score is 33 and SAT 2150, GPA 3.9 and I will probably be a valedictorian. My school is smallish and rural and doesn't offer AP's. I don't have any nice EC's, I haven't started or invented anything and I don't have any leadership positions. I work part time and that and helping at home (we have a small farm) takes up most of my free time. I do play varsity basketball but I'm a very average player. I'm a good student although a bit lazy. I usually learn quickly and I have always found schoolwork easy. I'm not super smart but I'm confident I could do OK at college. The problem is that I come from the low income family and I'm not sure how to make going to college possible for me. Most of my school friends are not planning to go to the college and those who are, come from the wealthier families than I, so I don't really know how these things work.</p>

<p>Our EFC is 0 so I suppose it means I will be able to get at least some aid. My grandparents have promised me 5000 $ for college and my parents say that they will be able to give me about 1500 $ a year. I have about 1000 $ in savings but most of my income goes to my car insurance and gas and other things that I need. I have also spent some of my earnings to nicer clothes, electronics and amusements so I think I will be able to save some more next year if I cut those off.</p>

<p>I have always dreamed of becoming a doctor but I have been told that if I want to have any chance to become one, it will be very important not to have much, if any, debt after college. I think I'm considered to be a first generation college student because neither my parents or my step dad have gone to college. But I'm not totally sure because I think my paternal grandparents are both highly educated. I have never had any contact with them and my biological father is a high school drop out so I don't know if that counts.</p>

<p>I'm from Midwest and from the state that doesn't have many colleges and even our flagship isn't very reputable.</p>

<p>What kind of strategies I could have to go to the college as cheaply as possible?</p>

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<p>I can’t even think of a midwestern state with a flagship U that isn’t good.</p>

<p>Check for scholarships for high achieving, low income students. Others here will post, but Questbridge and Gates are two (I don’t now if you meet the qualification for either of these). </p>

<p>Your state might also have scholarships for low income students with high stats…such as yourself. You should look into those.</p>

<p>You might want to apply to a couple of reachy schools…that meet full need. Especially if you come from an “underrepresented” state, you might gain acceptance. </p>

<p>University of South Carolina offers the McNair Scholarship to out of state students. The application is their honors college/scholarship application and it’s a doozie and due early, as is the application to the university. The Pogue Scholarship and the Robertson are also excellent awards (UNC Chapel Hill, I believe).</p>

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<ol>
<li>with your stats, you would get good merit aid at some schools. look for schools with guaranteed merit based on stats…an example is University of Alabama, where i think you already qualify for full tuition (and its oos costs are a bit lower than some schools anyway). look for schools that have rolling admissions and get your applications in early!!! then you will have some admissions in your pocket.<br>
2.i am not as familiar with schools that offer good financial aid but in your case you would want to look for schools that say they will meet your need, without loans etc…vanderbilt is an example of that, and even the hyp’s could be in your set of applications (of course they are very selective so no guarantee of admission)</li>
<li>look at the post about schools offering good merit aid.</li>
<li>your stats are very similar to my sons
he got very good merit aid from
all schools in alabama (UA, Auburn and UAB)
tulane
upitt
utdallas
ursinus
urochester
rhodes</li>
</ol>

<p>now a plug for uab… you would get full tuition at uab, they have good financial aid (need based) have a great science/tech honors program (which gives you paid phd level studies after undergrad) and is an excellent school for medicine. after tuition is paid you would have about 10K left for room and board per year (hopefully covered by need based)</p>

<p>also look at the Byrd scholarship for your state… it gives you 1500 per year for 4 years</p>

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<p>Apply to University of Pittsburgh. They have some generous scholarships for OOS students.</p>

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<p>agree thumper, son got full tuition</p>

<p>will you be a nmf? that may also present more possible schools</p>

<p>ruralgirl feel free to pm if you want info on alabama schools</p>

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<p>The Blackwell Medical scholarship offers a full tuition scholarship to Hobart and William Smith and guaranteed admission to Upstate Medical University, in NY, as long as meeting yearly requirements. The scholarship is for students who are first generation, or URM or from a rural area. The minimum requirements are a 3.7 and a 1250 V/M SAT or 28 ACT. The scholarship deadline is Jan. 1. </p>

<p>It’s worth a shot to apply. You’re rural and first generation and your scores are above the minimums. Good luck.</p>

<p>Here are some links for more info.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.hws.edu/admissions/blackwell_scholars.aspx[/url]”>http://www.hws.edu/admissions/blackwell_scholars.aspx&lt;/a&gt;
[Blackwell</a> Scholarship Program](<a href=“http://www.flhealth.org/body.cfm?id=534]Blackwell”>http://www.flhealth.org/body.cfm?id=534)</p>

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<p>I think you should put some high reaches in there such as ivies, Stanford, and top liberal arts colleges that offer great financial aid. You have an unusual profile for some of those schools- work part time and on your family farm. Not many kids will have that. It sounds like those things prevent you from having an extensive list of EC’s. If your school doesn’t offer AP’s, you won’t be penalized for not taking them. Of course these schools are reaches for everyone, but you could potentially get excellent financial aid if admitted.</p>

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<p>ruralgirl - how far from you is the nearest post-secondary school - university, college, or community college?</p>

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<p>Are you interested in any women only colleges? Smith and Mt Holyoke would give you good money.</p>

<p>you should apply to some reach schools that give 100% of need based aid without any loans. Vanderbilt is such a school. There are some others. </p>

<p>Since you have the stats for good merit scholarships you should apply for a few of those schools that will give you ASSURED big scholarships for your stats. Those can be your financial safety schools IF they give BIG scholarships - like full tuition and more.</p>

<p>Since you want to be a doctor, then all you need to go to is a decent school. Any decent school can prepare you for med school. You need top grades and a strong MCAT score. You don’t need to go to an elite school for that.</p>

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<p>I second looking into women’s colleges. Wellesley meets 100% of need with no loans for families with incomes under $60,000. My D got accepted with a lower ACT score, & we’re also from the midwest. I think our location might have helped because she was waitlisted at a couple of top midwest LACs that I thought were matches for her.</p>

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<p>You should DEFINITELY apply to some of the top schools, if you are interested in their programs. As first generation college, low-income, high scores, rural, work on the farm… you have lots of things that these colleges would like to see add to the diversity of their campuses. Definitely look into applying to QUESTBRIDGE - that will help you get your applications in early. Even if you are not matched with a school, you will have an early start to your applications and may receive great offers.
Your farm (if owned by parents) may complicate financial matters for PROFILE schools - which is why you should apply to some state schools that offer some of the automatic scholarships also.</p>

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<p>

Pitt is private. Not sure if it matters in-state or OOS, but maybe. I know Tulane has some scholarships that are Louisiana only, although of course they are well known for generous merit aid to all qualified students.</p>

<p>Anyway, to the OP: There are a lot of great suggestions above. Another I will suggest is Truman State in Missouri. It is a public LAC, has very good academics and high quality students, and with your stats I believe you would get enough to cover all your costs, or very close. They would also let you know quite quickly about admission and scholarships. Take a look.</p>

<p>BTW, it doesn’t matter if you are an average player or a star on the BB team. The fact that you are on the team is what matters. Don’t downplay yourself. Very few kids are good enough to get recruited for sports, that isn’t an issue. It is the doing that counts, especially that you were able to maintain such high academics with work, family chores, and BB. That should be what the schools see.</p>

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<p>The typical merit scholarship is not going to be enough for you, unless it is coupled with serious need-based aid. (Speaking as a parent whose very high-statted kid would NOT have been able to afford college with even a $30K per year merit award, which is a very big award, I find that many CC parents simply do not understand the limitations of merit aid for those with a really low EFC. And before someone mentions loans, no one is going to loan $15K per year to a kid whose family makes less than $30K, even if taking out that level of loan were a good idea, which it isn’t.) </p>

<p>The financial aid situation of your family may be somewhat up in the air. Your parents say that they are willing to give you $1,500 per year, but what is going to really matter is what the COLLEGE decides their EFC should be. Private schools in particular have their own institutional methodologies, and people with farms and family businesses can get wildly disparate results. For that reason it is absolutely essential to cast a wide net in applications, and to run your family’s figures through some of the online calculators. Check out Amherst’s, for example. (Amherst and Williams are the kind of school you should be considering as reaches. You would be diverse for them, and they have great FA <em>if</em> they take you.)</p>

<p>You really must include not only your state flagship, and some schools with the potential for serious merit money, but some need-blind schools that have generous need-based no-loan or low-loan aid, which means the most selective schools. The various special scholarships that people have suggested are excellent ideas also, as is Questbridge. Make sure you thoroughly investigate Questbridge!! And you REALLY ought to apply to some of the top women’s colleges: Smith, Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, Bryn Mawr. They are almost certain to be admissions “bargains” for you. (I’d hesitate on Barnard simply because living in NYC is so expensive.) Pomona is another excellent school with superb FA. Again, a reach for you, but not a crazy reach, and if you get in they will give you the money.</p>

<p>A kid with your stats from a rural area who is first generation and has worked on the family farm will be very attractive to a lot of good schools with deep pockets. I remember a kid a few years ago who had very high stats (higher than yours) but “no ECs” because he worked on the family farm. He’s now at Stanford.</p>

<p>Your personal economics will be different in school. In college you will probably be able to get a work study job, and you will not need a car, so you should have a couple thousand to throw into the mix towards your COA. Most likely, that will cover your personal expenses including books and travel. </p>

<p>BTW, I think that Pitt is a good idea, as well as some of the other state schools that offer big $$ for outstanding OOS students.</p>

<p>I forgot: TAKE AT LEAST 2 SATIIs in OCTOBER!! Most of the most selective schools will want to see them. If possible, take 1 from the science/math spectrum, and 1 from the humanities/social sciences. Classes you took last year and did well in are the best bets. Get a prep book and take some sample tests to figure out which ones to aim at, then prep for the tests starting now. Good scores will reassure colleges that your rural school provided a sufficiently good background for you to succeed at their school.</p>

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<p>Pitt is public, but it does offer good money (including full tuition scholarships) to well-qualified out of state students.</p>

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<p>You are right, I had it confused as far as the public/private thing with another school.</p>

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<p>You sound like the ideal candidate for Questbridge. Your stats and the description of your school sound almost exactly like those of my nephew. He applied through Questbridge and is now happily studying at Vassar on a full ride. The application process is a little more difficult than normal but the payoff is totally worth it!</p>

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<p>What about flagships at states where your state has reciprocity? For example, we live in Minnesota, and our kids would pay in-state tuition at University of Wisconsin (in fact, that was my D1’s safety – she was admitted, but got good merit aid from a small LAC that she preferred, and we could pay the difference). So look into what states you have reciprocity with and check out their flagships.</p>

<p>Remember that some of your financial aid from the schools discussed on this forum would probably come in the form of loans. Flagships with reciprocity are likely cheaper overall (about half the price of many of the colleges listed here), so if you can get some merit aid and grants, you may come out of college with a lower loan balance. But if I were you I would apply to a variety of schools. With an EFC of 0, you should be able to get most application fees waived. Also, don’t forget that travel costs to schools that are far away factor into your costs. Not to discourage you if you get some great scholarship offers, but just something to think about.</p>

<p>I don’t think anyone has mentioned University of Tulsa. They have very generous scholarships. One of D’s low income friends has a full ride scholarship there (she is a Nat’l Merit Scholar, though, and you didn’t mention that in your post).</p>

<p>[Institutional</a> Undergraduate Scholarships - University of Tulsa](<a href=“http://www.utulsa.edu/admission-and-financial-aid/undergraduate-financial-aid/Scholarships/Institutional-Undergraduate-Scholarships.aspx]Institutional”>http://www.utulsa.edu/admission-and-financial-aid/undergraduate-financial-aid/Scholarships/Institutional-Undergraduate-Scholarships.aspx)</p>

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<p>“I think you should put some high reaches in there such as ivies, Stanford, and top liberal arts colleges that offer great financial aid.”</p>

<p>I agree, but be careful, all these are CSS profile schools which may count the value of a farm as an asset. The only way you’ll know is to apply and see what the financial aid packages bring. Think about some generous FAFSA only publics such as UVA and UNC. Both reaches of course. You might have better luck with a LAC (Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wesleyen, Wellsley, Smith, Bowdoin, Davidson, Middlebury, Colgate, Vasser etc.) as they are trying to build a community and you have several hooks.</p>

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<p>Everyone is giving good advice. I’ll try to give a little Financial Aid 101 tutorial, just in case ruralgirl doesn’t know all the acronyms.</p>

<p>A college awards need-based aid to students the college believes need financial aid and merit-based aid to students the college wants to entice to attend. A few very selective colleges say that they will award enough need-based aid so that all admitted students can afford to attend. Most colleges do not say that; they will “gap” students, offering admission but not enough financial aid so that the students can afford to attend.</p>

<p>Need-based financial aid almost always includes loans. Even if a school offers you loans, you should think hard about whether to take them. You will eventually have to pay them back!</p>

<p>Notice that need-based aid depends on how much the college says your family can afford, not how much your family says it can afford. Colleges in general expect families to make considerable financial sacrifices to send children to college. Although financial aid offers sometimes differ dramatically from college to college, there are two main methods used to determine financial need, FAFSA and CSS Profile; an individual college will use one or the other. CSS Profile counts the value of financial assets-- such as farms. So if your family owns a farm that is valuable on paper, but doesn’t have a big income, CSS Profile schools might not offer you much need-based aid.</p>

<p>Ruralgirl, the first thing you need to figure out is a ballpark figure of how much colleges will think your family can contribute to your college expenses. As many families will attest, financial aid offers can sometimes differ wildly, but you should be able to get a feel for whether your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is something near zero or something near $20,000 per year.</p>

<p>Some schools offer full tuition for students with your stats. Investigate that. Many schools that are not the most selective will offer a good combination of aid to someone with your stats. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>She said in her first post her EFC was zero. Is there some reason you think she doesn’t know what she is talking about regarding that?</p>