<p>***
Now as for tuition+other expenses, we’re looking for under 20K with some good scholarship opportunities</p>
<p>And I will probably get FA (from FAFSA right? Being a first-gen applying is very confusing sorry), but my parents are depending on merit too is all. ***</p>
<p>FAFSA does NOT give Financial Aid. FAFSA doesn’t give you ANYTHING!!! </p>
<p>You are greatly misunderstanding financial aid.</p>
<p>FAFSA is just an application that gives you an EFC number to determine whether you qualify for federal aid. </p>
<p>If your EFC is above the threshold to get free federal aid then you won’t get that aid.</p>
<p>Free federal aid is for LOW INCOME families. Is your family low income with little assets/savings?</p>
<p>If you don’t qualify for gov’t grants, then at most schools you’ll get no free money at all. At most schools you’ll only be offered a small loan ($5500) and work study (about $2000). </p>
<p>If you can’t afford the OOS publics on your list, take them off…unless you’ll likely get a big merit scholarship from them. </p>
<p>Colorado School of Mines wouldn’t work for you. You won’t get scholarship money from them and you won’t get the aid that you would need.</p>
<p>***we’re looking for under 20K with some good scholarship opportunities</p>
<p>but my parents are depending on merit too is all.***</p>
<p>??? That sentence is unclear. What do you mean by “is all”?</p>
<p>Do you mean that your parents will pay $20k per year or do you mean that you think you can afford a $20k per year school if you also get scholarships?</p>
<p>How much will your family pay each year? From that amount, we can better advise you. </p>
<p>If your parents can’t pay much and you need most of the $20k to come from scholarships, then most of the suggested schools will NOT work.</p>
<p>For you to get merit money, you have to apply to low ranking schools where your stats are high for the school (stats should be in the upper 5-10% for the school). For schools like UMich and Mich State, an ACT 29 is not high enough for merit money.</p>
<p>how reliable are the US News school rankings? Are the ok to go by? ESF and Mich. Tech both have pretty bad scores on there but I feel like they’re both still good schools.</p>
<p>Many colleges have lowish rankings because they don’t have strength in many majors. However, if such a school is strong in your chosen major, then it can be fine for you.</p>