I only applied to 8 schools. I couldn’t afford to do ED and I wasn’t prepared for EA, and i couldn’t afford the cost that 15 applications would require. I applied to:
Northeastern (rejected)
boston u (Rejected)
emerson college (waitlisted)
upitt (Accepted, unaffordable)
upitt bradford (Accepted, afforable, but dont wanna be there)
penn state (accepted, unaffordable)
CMU (decisions havent come out yet, but it was my “What if”/high reach and i will likely get denied).
duquesne u (accepted, unaffordable)
and community college.
i have a 1330 SAT and 3.91WGPA. i thought i had a better chance of getting into NEU/BU based on stuff i read online (Before i joined CC) and i’m crushed i didn’t get in. i retook the SAT last december and did Worse than my first try due to illness and other extenuating circumstances. i don’t know what to do now except attend upitt bradford and transfer after 2 years, but i really wanted to go to a large college in the city and that is the exact opposite of that. i don’t want to be wildly unhappy for two years but i’m not sure what to do. does anyone have any advice? if there’s nothing i can do in the meantime, what should i do to have the best shot as transferring? anyone have any match schools that i could transfer to? how does the May list of colleges who miscalculated yield work? i’m really struggling with this whole process (my family isnt very experienced with the college process, im their oldest kid, and HS Counselors have been no help as i went to an online public charter school because my local public high school is so bad and the counselors probably have 300 kids each. my graduating class is over 1000.) what should i do?
I am guessing you are a PA resident? Did you submit financial aid forms? How unaffordable are Penn State and the other “accepted, unaffordable” colleges, i.e., gap between what your family can pay and your net cost?
@publisher i am looking to study communications. right now leaning towards journalism and field reporting but i am also considering the production side of things. and @calgal yes, i am a PA resident. the unaffordable schools cost 20k+ after 5500 federal loans.
I don’t get it. If Pitt and Penn State are unaffordable then most schools will be unaffordable. They are pretty average in their costs. What would you consider affordable?
@yourmomma i would consider something in the 10k range after the 5500 loan to be affordable. i can’t take out loans where my parents would be responsible (like a parentplus loan) because im going into an iffy field as far as after-college employment goes (communications and journalism). plus they have other kids to put through college in a couple years.
Did you apply for financial aid? Merit aid? If affordability is a significant problem then you’ll have to be flexible where you’ll be willing to go. Find the place with the lowest net cost and enjoy yourself. Which means upitt Bradford may be the one. If not that, then maybe a year or two at your local community college to start.
i applied for financial and merit aid. my stats are not high enough to get merit aid at state schools. our fafsa EFC is about 3k, and 20k+ a year would be just under half my parents income. considering PA public Unis are the 2nd most expensive in the nation i would say affordability for these schools is a significant issue for a ton of people (which can be seen if you head on over to their respective threads) and the cost would hardly be average.
would anyone have any recs on better “match” schools i could transfer to within a year that give good need-based FA? or how the NACAC list works in terms of FA and even finding/accessing it?
@yourmomma PA public schools are notoriously expensive for in-state students and offer them poor FA. We often see students from there with few affordable options.
OP, I’d guess you didn’t run net price calculators on your schools before applying. Each college has a calculator in their website that shows your likely aid.
One option is to take a gap year and apply to some schools that meet need. Schools like Holy Cross or Dickinson might work. But I don’t think you can be super picky, since you need a lot of aid.
i ran NPCs but my parents encouraged me to apply to the in-state ones anyway. they actually want to make penn state work but i dont see the sense in having 100k debt by the time i’m done.
im not sure what i’d do during a gap year besides work, i can’t afford any special gap year international programs or anything, and im not sure how much success i’d have retaking the SAT with a tutor. i feel like it would be lonely and isolating and just put me off track for another year. with cyber-schooling i’ve been at home 24/7 for all of high school and have very few social connections or experience. i’m not sure i can handle putting off college another year.
@dygibbs The PA state-related schools (Temple, PSU, and Pitt) cost about the same for residents. Our actual state schools (I’m a PA resident) with housing, run $25-30k per year. The state-relateds cost more than that.
i’ve never seen it. i wanted to go to a school that’s big, with a lot of resources and internship connections (that’s why boston and northeastern was my dream, the 18 months of co-op experience with likely job offers after graduation would’ve been insane). so the small rural school isn’t really what i wanted out of college. i am scheduling a visit and i will try to schedule an interview with the department head either online or when i go up to see what kind of connections they have and whether or not it’s worth it. but considering my major, big city connections are really necessary. @InfiniteWaves
I’m guessing Bradford being in a pretty depressed town would be an explanation for a ‘why not Pitt Bradford’.
Are you first gen? URM? From a rural or urban area? (Like North Philly or Bald Eagle…)
Sow your parents can give you a maximum of 10k which is a lot (they probably realistically can’t afford more than 5-6k ), you have the 5.5k federal loan. What about Pell? pheaa?
Do you have a job? Since you’re homeschooled, could you start picking up more work hours including during the school day (when there’s less competition from other High school kids)?
Do you have savings?
@infinitewaves: I am a PA state, too. With Temple, it may have provided another opportunity of getting scholarships, and the Fly in 4 grant ($4k/year).
i’m not first gen. one parent has a 2 year degree and another parent went to a 4 year college and did not finish. i’m white. i’m from a rural area considered “in crisis”.
i got the max pell and applied for PHEAA which does not release until may.
i don’t have a job or savings. i wanted a job, my parents are very overprotective and me having a job/savings would have likely taken away any aid schools would have given and raised our EFC. i may be able to make working full time over the summer work.
honestly i think what i need most at this point assuming i dont get off the waitlist anywhere or find a better match school on the NACAC list is solid match schools i can transfer to my sophomore year. i would be willing to take on more financially my sophomore year than i would with 4 years ahead of me.
While that may be true, in the overall scheme of college costs they are middle of the road. You have your $60,000-$70,000 schools, your $20,000 schools, and the $30,000-40,000 schools. Looks like OP applied to some in each category.
Which obviously makes it important to run the “Net Price” calculations on the schools you’re interested in and work the financial aid as best as possible.
I would certainly contact Pitt and Penn State financial aid office to see if you have everything covered or can find a few more dollars. Once you explain the situation, I think they will try to be helpful.