<p>I really want to go to UMiami: its my dream school and top choice, especially for wanting to major in international business. However, weighing in at about $50,000 I'm not really sure if thats a dream that can come true. Tulane comes in at a very close second (virtually tied) I already know I'm not going to receive any need based aid, but I feel as if I have a fairly impressive resume. I have a 3.9 (unweighted) at one of the top 5 public schools in Connecticut and is ranked at about 1,050 in the country. My SAT's are projected to clock in at around a 1950. I have gone on a mission trip every summer for the past 4 or 5 summers and last year I organized my own mission trip to go to Jamacia (there was no program: I contacted a foundation directly and set up my own trip. I then raised money to bring down 2 iPad Minis, a computer, a wireless router, as well as a couple of other things) where I taught kids for two weeks. I have tutored kids in the city every opportunity I have gotten. I am editor and chief of my newspaper and I have also been a part of the wrestling for the past four years and am also a member of a local youth group. I have a job on the weekends and have also become fluent in Spanish. As far as speaking for who I am as a person, I am a hard working, committed, and determined kid from a small town who has had to deal with the loss of a brother and feeling rejected by the community at large (standing out and feeling different and unaccepted for my sexuality). How would they approach me as an applicant?</p>
<p>Have you try their NPC? [University</a> of Miami - Net Price Calculator](<a href=“http://public.cgcent.miami.edu/AttendanceCalculator/]University”>http://public.cgcent.miami.edu/AttendanceCalculator/) & [Tulane</a> Admission: Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.admission.tulane.edu/aid/netpricecalc.php]Tulane”>http://www.admission.tulane.edu/aid/netpricecalc.php)</p>
<p>I have, but the calculator doesn’t take into account any of my accomplishments etc. Based solely on paper it shows me getting about $15,000 in scholarships but I’m hoping there has to be something else I could do? I feel like possibly an interview would be beneficial</p>
<p>Since you haven’t given an actual SAT score are you a junior in HS or a senior? What’s the projection based on? You seem like a very earnest, hard-working young person, that’s how I think they will approach your application. That’s not very helpful is it?</p>
<p>How much merit aid do you need to afford these schools? How much has your family said they will contribute each year?</p>
<p>Visit the scholarship pages at the schools’ finaid websites and see what they offer based on the qualifications you’ve posted.</p>
<p>I just took my first SATs and I got a 1700 but I’m expecting that to rise to a 1950 after some prep work. I can really only afford about $25,000 a year. If they’d view me as earnest and hardworking, how would that alter how they look at my application? I am a junior but I may graduate early.</p>
<p>I would strongly suggest that you NOT graduate early. I would,suggest that you stay in school, and bolster your standardized test scores, take the SAT spring of your junior year with the idea that you can retake in the fall of your senior year. Also, staying IN school gives you the opportunity to take some additional AP courses at your high school. </p>
<p>What would be the advantage for you to graduate early? I’m not sure this would help your college applications at this point.</p>
<p>You need to get the best possible SAT scores possible. You need to take an aggressive course load and get excellent grades. That is the way to get excellent merit awards. If you wish to spend only $25,000 a year, you are trying to get scholarships in the $25,000 to $30,000 a year range. You will have to be a TOP applicant to garner that amount of merit aid from Miami or Tulane.</p>
<p>In addition to your dream schools, I would strongly urge you to find an affordable school that you would like to attend. This could be an instate public in your state. I’m from CT, and University of CT is an excellent school. You might also want to look at the SUNY schools which are close to your price point even as an OOS student.</p>
<p>I’m going to be frank…no matter how hard a worker you are, you need to improve that SAT score to be a contender for significant merit aid.</p>
<p>I really want to graduate early because how I feel where I live…its awful. I don’t want to go on a long rant but its basically just feeling rejected and isolated as well as made to feel less than. Hearing things like “you need to improve that SAT score to be a contender for significant merit aid” is perfect because that’ll give me something to work on. I take two APs (AP English and AP US) and I will be taking 3 next year (the addition of AP Spanish. AP isn’t offered until senior year). My weighted GPA is about 4.15. What would be the disadvantage to graduating early? I only need three credits. UConn is my third choice (my sister goes there and I’ve checked it out. I would be perfectly happy there). Obviously, part of the allure of Tulane or Miami is the weather which is something else that means a lot to me (ever since I was little I wanted to move south), as shallow as that sounds. Its hard to keep warm up here when you’re only 110 pounds!</p>
<p>It is not that you are at a disadvantage by graduating early, but rather that there aren’t clear advantages to graduating early.</p>
<p>If you graduate early, with your current GPA and projected SAT score, it will be hard to get the kind of merit money that you are looking for. If you graduate early, take a Gap Year, and (among other things) raise your SAT score above 2000 (or get an equivalent ACT score), you will have a lot more options for merit money. You also might find that your college list changes if you aren’t having to make decisions about it right now. Graduating on schedule likewise gives you more time to raise your ACT/SAT score, and more time to think about your college list. It also could allow you to take AP courses that interest you and to participate in school activities that you like.</p>
<p>If you are truly fed up with high school, there really is nothing wrong with graduating early and then either heading straight off to college or to a gap year. However if you goal is to maximize your chances of admission at College A or University B, you need to focus your plans appropriately, and staying in high school might make the most sense.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest you try the ACT instead of the SAT. You might be more of a “fact oriented” student, based on your GPA, and the ACT can favor that. If you can manage to get a 32+ on that you would have a good shot of getting at least $25K in merit money from Tulane. I don’t know enough about how Miami assigns merit money to comment on them. But at Tulane, even with a 31 or 30, you would most likely get something.</p>
<p>I am actually quite the fact driven student! I was assuming that because the SAT played to my strengths (vocab, English, reading) that I would do better on it.</p>