Without considering my financial aid, $22,000 + federal loans should be enough to cover my first year, assuming I get the same aid my brother did - which I should since our situation is worse than it was when he applied. Working while being a full time student is something I already know I’ll have to do.
And isn’t any school that’s not a safety school a “maybe”? Of course I’m taking chances… Why shouldnt I?
T30 were dream reaches that I came on here to ask about.
While the schools I’m intent on getting into will not be safeties for me, surely I have a fighting chance of getting in…? Why wouldnt I pursue them
Sure…apply to some of those reach schools. But please understand your budget.
$22,000 plus $5500 is $27,500.
Boston University has a cost of attendance of $72,000. That’s a $45000 difference. The likelihood of you getting $45,000 of aid at BU is small.
Same with Tulane.
Your EFC will be very low…but that had nothing to do with need based aid awards at schools that don’t guarantee to meet full need.
Did your brother get a Pell Grant? If so, you probably would get one as well. But even adding the full $6095 Pell to that budget only takes you to $33,000 or so. Where is the other $35,000 plus going to come from.
YOU can’t take loans out in that amount. You will either need a qualified parent cosigner (and as unemployed folks, it’s not likely your parents will qualify) OR your parents will need to take these loans. Does it make sense that your unemployed parents would take over $30,000 a year in loans for you to attend college? Really?
Please consider looking at a variety of SUNY schools. They have the potential to be affordable.
If you don’t have a job…get one…now. Wrap your gap year activities around earning some money.
You need to be a LOT more flexible in your college thinking. Otherwise, you could very well end up in the same boat as last year…acceptances that are unaffordable coupled with rejections.
So…try…try to find affordable and admissions probable.
Your GPA is low for Oswego and really low for New Paltz. Have you applied to either? We’re in Downstate New York and know students with higher stats than yours who were rejected from both. They aren’t safeties.
Are you still interested in engineering? You don’t need a private/elite/name brand school for that. You just need an affordable ABET accredited program.
If you use all of your mom’s college savings and the $10k that you might get from an uncle in your first year, how will you pay for the next 3 years? You can only borrow $5500/year. Even full Pell would only bring your funds up to ~$11k. How would you pay the rest?
Why not SUNY Buffalo? It’s a little easier to get into than Binghamton, but its STEM programs are actually higher-ranked. Their esports team is making headlines. https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/esports-programs-growing-in-popularity-at-colleges/71-552106103 And if you live near Oswego and/or New Paltz (confused how you could mention both of these as local to you, when they’re more than 200 miles apart…?), then Buffalo would presumably be farther from home than Binghamton.
If Syracuse was/is on your list, then U of Miami might be another to look at - similar stat profile and almost-full-need-met financial aid. I don’t think esports are a big thing there though.
I’m guessing the mom lives near one SUNY and the dad lives near the other, maybe?
University of Miami does not meet full need for all accepted students. This kid needs about $40,000 in need based aid to attend that school and that’s just for the first year. Even with an EFC of $0, it’s unlikely the school will be affordable…just like Syracuse was NOT affordable last year for this applicant.
This student really DOES have options that would work. He or she just doesn’t seem to want to look at those options.
I think what people are trying to help you understand is that a focus on hardships will not help you in the college admissions process, and you’ve started a few threads which come across as if you think they will/can/should. You also need to have a financial plan to get you to graduation, not just through the first year.
When I first joined this site 2 or 3 years ago, there was a kid who got into Harvard posting. It only came out later in the conversation that his family was homeless and he’d lived in a car for half of HS, but he somehow managed to get top grades and test scores. There are countless other stories similar stories out there that adcoms come across every admissions cycle.
I am not making light of your situation because I know it can’t have been easy. I’m absolutely certain my grades would have suffered if I were in your shoes, so my hat is off to you for doing as well as you did, but realistically, your story is not going to sway admissions at highly competitive schools that you are someone they’d want over thousands of other kids with better grades, test scores, and who can give them a better idea of who they are and what they are about than what you’ve shares with us. All we really know is that you are from a lower income family that qualifies you for application fee wavers, were caught in a nasty custody battle years ago (neither of which are unique), but are able to travel around the country playing esports during a gap year and have an uncle who will give you $10K for college. There are a lot of low income college hopefuls out there who would love to be in your shoes. You’ve also been told a few times in previous threads that being gay isn’t a hook.
Let your guidance counselor handle any discussion of hardships and how they may have impacted your grades in early HS if they deem it appropriate. If you didn’t have those things to talk about, what would your essay be about? And how are you going to pay for your college after your first year when your mother’s $12K and your uncle’s (assumed but not confirmed $10K) are gone? Loans start at $5500 first year and max out at $7500 third and fourth year. Add a few thousand $ per year from a job. Even if he gave you $10K a year for four years, where’s the rest coming from? Have you used the net price calculators to see how much schools you are applying to will cost based on your parents’ assets (not just income)?
People are trying to help you. Time is running out and you need to come up with a realistic plan that doesn’t just assume a best case scenario that the $ will materialize for you. If you don’t, you could end up not being accepted to any schools you apply to that you can afford, and if you don’t get enough financial aid to afford them, it’s effectively a rejection.
There are potentially affordable options out there for you and you still have time to apply to some of them before the window closes for another year. Keep your eye on the end goal of graduating and not just being admitted. Best of luck.
“There’s nothing wrong with those schools, but I’m not going to attend them if I know I can get into higher regarded schools.”
You got in to higher ranked schools, but, despite your background and circumstances, they did not give you enough aid to make it affordable for you to attend. Why do you think that was? Why do you think it will be different this time around? Have you thought about how you are going to pay for years 2-4 if your loans are limited?
If you’re going to do a “Hail Mary” application, do it at a Need Blind/Meets Full Need college.
@thumper1 - I’m definitely not saying Miami is guaranteed (or even likely) to be affordable. Just that it’s possible it could be. It’s likely going to be similar to Syracuse which wasn’t affordable last year so… yeah. All I’m saying is that in the universe of private U’s with engineering and relatively generous financial aid that OP could have a decent shot at getting into, Miami is in the best-case-scenario category along with Syracuse. (Tulane too, but the STEM offerings are a lot more limited.) This whole category is likely to be financially unrealistic but… run the NPC’s and see. Still likely better than VT which won’t offer need-based aid at all for an OOS student. And yes, the two-homes explanation makes sense, didn’t think of that.
Oswegos average GPA is a 3.5, thanks to my junior and senior years, my GPA is a 3.3/3.4 (87.69). Considering that their average ACT is a 24 and my superscored ACT is a 33, I don’t know how that wouldnt be a no brainer admit. Additionally it’s an in state SUNY.
As stated before, I’d be spending a lot of time working while in college. And iirc, if I can perform extremely well during my first 2 semesters (year), I could apply for some scholarships before returning for the next set of semesters?
Also, the low aid I received last year was completely my fault. I procrastinated and didn’t submit my FAFSA until mid January. Then there was an error with Syracuse and they didnt get my financial info until late March. The aid from colleges should be better this time around since it’s first come first serve and I’m doing this on time now. Right?
Don’t count on this to fully fund your second, third and fourth years of college. Especially at colleges that cost $70,000 a year or so…but even at the SUNY schools. Additional scholarships for continuing students are usually things like departmental awards, and they MIGHT be a couple thousand dollars.
Wrong. Your need based aid is based on your financial aid application forms and the school policies on awarding need based aid. If you didn’t get sufficient aid from Syracuse, for example, last year, what makes you think you will get sufficient aid THIS time around. The only first come/first served aid are SEOG and Federal work study, which have limited funding per campus.
The financial aid forms were available for submission on October 1 for the 2019-2020 school year. If you haven’t already submitted your forms…it’s possible that SEOG and Federal Work Study money is already used up.
Just want to let you know that I know many people who graduated from SUNY’s and all are very successful in their careers. Most went onto graduate schools too. Think about the importance of getting a college degree rather than where you get that degree. Good luck.
Have you and your dad run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of the places on your list? You need to do that to get a better notion about affordability.
What is your plan for next year if you don’t get in anywhere that you can afford?
With divorced parents…the net price calculators might not be accurate. Both parents will need to provide financial information…and they are not married. So…view the NPC with caution.
I thought you said your GPA was 3.0 or below. If it’s 3.3, that’s pretty good. Engineering is a competitive major though, so getting into the major won’t be as easy as getting accepted to the school. Have you had at least 3 years of math and science? Your courses and rigor will be important. What’s your STEM average?
Yes, I underestimated my GPA last time. It was a delightful suprise to find it was higher.
And yes, I’ve taken Math and Science each year. Although I didn’t reach Calculus in high school, I took the college administered algebra and trigonometry courses offered at my schools.
As for science, I took up to Physics.
Not sure what my exact averages were in each course each year, but they should be similar to the GPA’s provided each year, with them being C’s and low B’s during my Fresh and Soph years and A’s during my Junior and Senior year.
Younneed to be more flexible on this college choice thing. I can’t see that there is any difference between this year’s application…and last year’s…except your ACT score. But like i said…you need to find out how thncolleges view these scores when taken AFTER high school graduation.
While you underestimated your GPA on this site, the Colleges got it correct based on your transcript.
Re: your family situation. It seems that once your lawsuit was over, and you went were then living with the “challenging” parent, your grades went UP. I fail to see how this situation would help your application.
You need to pick a broad range of colleges with some very realistic admissions expectations…but sure, apply to a few reach schools…because you never know!
But frankly, unless there is something missing here, I don’t see a “hook” or a special circumstance that would make any college overlook your course selections, grades or standardized test scores…which BTW are fine for many, many colleges!