@blackspiderman Understand. But, I also don’t know anyone that “negotiated” back in my day. That is a new thing for your generation. First Generation students get a lot of advantages; but you don’t need to make excuses. Just read the fine print and check things before you hit “send”.
^ Actually first generation students get very few “advantages.” At specific colleges it can lead to getting a boost in admissions but that’s only about 80 colleges out of 3700 and that boost doesn’t make up for the disadvantages piled up since kindergarten. Most people in this situation simply don’t know what they don’t know.
OP, it’s OK. Sit tight. Wait for the package to arrive, post again with the information and we’ll help.
Do apply to lots of other colleges that are affordable (2 affordable safeties, 3-5 affordable matches, then add the reaches.)
What major are you interested in? What’s your EFC? Your stats?
@sunnyschool There was no fine print, that’s what I’m trying to say. There was no such information provided on the college website. Therein lies the problem. One would need prior experience to understand not to submit the enrollment deposit early, because it’s not information that colleges want to provide because they lose money, I believe. I think my excuse is valid.
Great…but again this has nothing to do with first generation. I don’t know any of this, but I went to college (and graduate school).
@MYOS1634 Thank you for your kindness and understanding. I’m interested in CS, my EFC is 1563. What stats do you require?
@sunnyschool Yes…yes it does. Your parents had experience applying to college, so they were able to guide you through the process. I don’t have that privilege. Like I said, it’s prior knowledge that I would have had if I wasn’t first generation. Again, I’m not trying to take blame away from myself for this mistake. I’m just trying to explain why I made this mistake. I assume full responsibility, and it was foolish for me to do, but I’m providing my reasoning for why I lacked the knowledge.
Your GPA, if you took APs or dual enrollment or IB classes (which ones), and your SAT score.
@MYOS1634 My GPA is a 4.2 on a 4.0 weighted scale (we do not do unweighted).
I have taken 3 APs in the past, and I’m taking 4 currently.
The past APs were AP World Hist. (4), AP U.S. Gov (5), AP Lang + Comp (5).
The current ones are: AP Lit + Comp, AP Physics 1, AP Calc AB, AP Spanish Lang + Cult.
My SAT total was 1410, my ACT was a 32.
Each school has a net price calculator on their website. Did you run your family”s numbers through the net price calculator? Where were u accepted EA?
Ok that’s very good - you have a good shot at lots of meet-need schools. They’re the most generous with financial aid, most often being cheaper than your state’s public university, however they’re also the most selective.
If the school you applied to is FAFSA-only (and not CSS Profile), it likely doesn’t meet need. Meaning it doesn’t care if your family can pay $1,500 or $15,000, they just quote you a price, give you some scholarship based on your test scores (mostly), and if you can’t afford it, not their problem.
Basically you can aim for any school, so, with your EFC, your best bet is to attend a top CSS Profile school (unless your family owns lots of assets in real estate, stocks, bonds, etc.)
Where have you applied?
@sybbie719 I did run it through the calculator and the amount remaining was very high. Roughly 27k. The calculator only asked for EFC and if I was not a resident, though. I’m applying to UW-Madison.
@MYOS1634 The college I accepted admission to is in the reply above. I checked a U.S. News list, and none of the ones I applied to do meet need according to them, and most of the schools on that list weren’t feasible. Well, guess I’m screwed.
What state are you a resident of?
Did you apply EA to any other university?
@MYOS1634 Resident of Illinois. I applied EA to all my other universities (I declined the offer to my state school, because they accepted me into a major I didn’t want). The other university that I like in comparison to Wisconsin is Purdue, but I haven’t heard back from them yet.
@blackspiderman FYI - I applied to 6 Big-10 schools in 1985, including UW-Madison. The application was one simple piece of paper. My experience is not going to help my kids with their applications. You just paid in-state or out-of-state back then; there was no FAFSA, CSS, Common App, etc. It was simple and you could fill six out in one day and be done with it. The only slow part was using a typewriter. There weren’t essays or recommendations for these schools, either. EC"s were not really a factor in admissions. There was no ED/EA to big state schools. And there were no “offers” to negotiate…you either accepted or declined and paid in-state or out-of-state tuition.
Case in point, I’m still confused about ED vs. EA and which is binding, etc.
Then you need to apply RD to a whole bunch of meet need universities.
You’re not screwed, you discovered this NOW and not in the Spring! 
And with your EFC being so low, you can apply to universities through CommonApp
and check “fee waiver”.
What major are you interested in?
What state do you live in?
UWMadison is a public university. All public universities are (supposed to be) dedicated to their residents. OOS applicants are supposed to be cash cows. So, basically, if you don’t have money, they’re not going to give you any. The exception is if you’re from Minnesota, which has a reciprocity agreement with Wisconsin.
First, apply to your state’s flagship and its honors college (unless you live in Illinois, in which case things are complicated due to the bankruptcy, but do apply to UIUC anyway). Do this ASAP.
You can also apply to UMN Twin Cities, since they have good merit scholarship (UW doesnt).
Edited to add: I posted this before seeing your reply above.
In that case, you need a whole new list.
Purdue is NOT going to be affordable either.
Get a Princeton Review’s Best Colleges and/or Fiske guide from your school’s library and/or the niche website.
Fill out the Request Information Form TODAY for each college I list below. This counts as “interest” which is a factor for selective schools.
Apply to Northwestern or UChicago (depending on which is your best fit: one is more social and preprofessional and is part of the Big10, the other is more intellectual/cerebral/quirky and proudly weird). Both have excellent financial aid even though it’s very hard to get in. All their majors are excellent.
For other recommendations I’ll need more details about what major you’re interested and how you define yourself (beside Spiderman :p).
Since you are not a resident of Wisconsin, it is safe to say that you will not be attending. As an OOS student, you will have no basis for an appeal. When you ran the net price calculator and it said you would pay 27K, were your parents ok with it?
You already gave a good idea as what they can afford to pay. You need to find some in state options or schools where you can get good merit or that meet 100% demonstrated need. @mom2collegekids , is Alabama totally off of the table?
^UAlabama won’t be affordable for his stats, s/he’d only get a partial tuition scholarship and s/he needs a near-full ride. State flagship is already off the table. Meet-need schools will be best in that situation. Hopefully @blackspiderman isn’t interested in Engineering as their choices would be very limited but rather in CS or similar fields (guessing from the fact UIUC turned them for their first choice major, which UIUC tends to do for CS and Engineering instate applicants with scores below 33 ACT).
It’s going to be a tough Winter Break with lots of essay writing but we’ll be here to help.
This student has a shot at schools that meet full need…maybe. But many…many of those schools have very low acceptance rates and very competitive admissions. They should not be viewed by this applicant as a sure thing.
This student needs to also look at other options in Illinois beside the flagship. There ARE other public universities in Illinois.
The OOS cost of attendance at Wisconsin is near,y $50,000 a year. This student will get a partial Pell Grant, about 4,000…and a $5500 Direct Loan. That $9500 is guaranteed. Maybe Wisconsin will give some need based aid…but This student needs an additional $40,000 or so in aid to attend this school.
Oh…and the net price calculator indicated a net cost of $27,000…which is way more than is affordable for this student.
At this point…just wait and see. But in the meantime…hoping your other applications are for affordable colleges.
However some colleges that are close to “meet full need”, like Beloit, Dickinson, Muhlenberg, St Olaf, St Lawrence, Denison, Rhodes, Sewanee, Connecticut College, Trinity College… are low matches to good matches AS LONG AS s/he shows interest starting today (filling out “request info form”, opening every email sent and clicking on one link, etc.) and until s/he gets a portal to click on.
OP said their applications were UIUC, which s/he turned down, and Purdue, which won’t be affordable. So, s/he needs to apply to a lot of universities over the break. There’s no choice. We can help with the list and we can help with the essays, if @blackspiderman returns.
The issue with Illinois is the bankruptcy, which has severely curtailed opportunities and scholarships at the public universities.
We need to know @Blackspiderman’s preferred majors before we can advise on the best choices.
OP should start by running the NPC on the college listed above.