I NEED CASH

Paying for College
1

<p>Basically, my parents' income does not qualify me for any sort of need-based aid, so I'm depending on potential merit based scholarships from private schools I will be applying to. I'd really appreciate it if you could chance me for the possibility of receiving major merit scholarships (i.e. full tuition) from USC, LMU, Pepperdine, Pitzer, and Scripps. Any advice would be great! Thanks!</p>

<p>Current Grade: rising senior
HS GPA (school weights weirdly): 4.2459
UC GPA: ~4.44
Class rank: 7/661 --> 98.94th percentile
Ethnicity: White (Iranian-American if that makes any difference...)
Gender: F
Prospective major: Biochemistry</p>

<p>IN STATE</p>

<p>SAT I: will get score on June 26th, expecting somewhere between 2200 and 2350
PSAT - Sophomore: 198
PSAT - Junior: 218 (76 CR, 70 M, 72 W)
SAT II: US History - 800, Math II - 790, Bio M - 760</p>

<p>GRADES:</p>

<p>Freshman:</p>

<p>Algebra 2 - A/A
Chemistry - A/A
English 9 - A/A
World Cultures/Media - A/A
Spanish 1 - A/A
P.E. - A/A
Health (online) - A</p>

<p>Sophomore:</p>

<p>AP Bio - A/A
AP Euro - A/A
Honors English 10 - A/A
Honors Spanish 2 - A/A
Math Analysis - A/A
P.E. - A/A</p>

<p>Junior:</p>

<p>AP Calc BC - B/B
AP Enviro - A/A
AP Lang - A/A
AP US History - A/A
Honors Physics - A/A
Honors Spanish 3 - A/?A</p>

<p>Senior (prospective):</p>

<p>AP Stats
AP Physics C
AP Lit
AP Gov/Honors Econ
AP Spanish Lang
Ceramics</p>

<p>AP Exams:</p>

<p>AP Bio - 4
AP Euro - 5</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:</p>

<p>Founder and President of Charitable Hearts (non-profit organization assisting relief efforts in times of natural disaster) since junior year
Co-President of Human Rights Watch Student Task Force junior year, President senior year. Member since freshman year.
Animator (basically a teacher) of a Bahai children's group since sophomore year
Member of WonderWomen club (raising awareness for women's rights) since sophomore year
Member of Shelter Helpers (community service related to animals) since sophomore year
Member of Best Buddies (providing companionship for our school's disabled students) since freshman year
Peer volunteer tutor for math, science, English, history, and Spanish since freshman year
Summer intern at local pharmacy since sophomore year.</p>

2

<p>hey pretty rounded application!
i’d say you have a great chance at scholarships</p>

3

<p>Tea straw…where are you getting your information?</p>

<p>To the OP. While it is possible you will get good merit aid at these schools, I’m not positive you will get full tuition at any of them. None of these college have guaranteed merit awards in any amount based on your stats (which are wonderful).</p>

<p>But you would be a contender for merit awards at a number of other schools…guaranteed ones…</p>

<p>I would suggest you add some of those to your list.</p>

4

<p>Look at the pinned threads at the top of this forum.</p>

5

<p>Since you gave your UC GPA, I’m assuming you’re in-state. Can your family afford the cost of a UC if you are living at home? If you are living in a dorm? The latter is around $30k a year depending on campus; if they can swing that cost, then you will be able to manage at privates without a full tuition scholarship.</p>

<p>Pitzer only offers a $5k/year scholarship for those with no financial need, and those scholarships are competitive. The school won’t be affordable for your family. USC does offer some merit-based full tuition scholarships, but they are extremely competitive. If your PSAT score qualifies you as a National Merit semi-finalist then USC gives you half tuition if you’re admitted. Don’t know about the other schools. Are you only considering schools in the greater Los Angeles area? You don’t see many students considering both Pepperdine and Pitzer–very different cultures at the two. </p>

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<p>Great stats, however, these schools are full of applicants with great stats. </p>

<p>Your PSAT is low bubble to qualify for NMF in CA, but there is a possibility. That will be your best shot at a significant merit award which as noted will get you 1/2 tuition at USC. </p>

<p>If you limit yourself to the LA basin you will not get the most value for these stats which you have worked so hard for. Be sure to look at some schools that will give you significant guaranteed awards as safety options. </p>

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<p>The problem is my parents are basically forcing me to stay in LA and commute to school, so my choices are pretty limited. It sounds like I’m not going to get full tuition anywhere then, so UCLA is my best bet right now. Are my chances of getting in okay?</p>

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<p>

See <a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof13.htm”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof13.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Though I agree that OP has the numbers for merit money, when it comes to big awards, like full tuition, even half tuition, it’s very difficult to snag such awards. One my kids had a very high,near perfect SAT, but his top non in state public school award was $30K, which was very nice, but was only half the cost of the school. Sobering realization there. </p>

<p>You don’t cast a line, sit and wait for a bite where there are no fish. If the biggest merit award is indeed $5K and the OP knows there is no need as defined by college fin aid formulas, a school with those offerings is inadequate. Find out what the biggest dollar amount of merit awards is fro a school. Current info is important and one might have to out and out ask Admissions. There was a time Pitzer had generous awards, but full tuition is tough to get. </p>

10

<p>Ask your parents what the game plan is if you’re not accepted to a school within easy commuting distance. If you live in Los Angeles, you know what traffic is like. Driving to UCLA from, say, Beverly Hills wouldn’t be horrible, but there are no promises that you’re going to get a parking permit. If you need to take public transportation, that’s going to significantly cut into your ability to take part in group study sessions at night and other academic activities (and obviously some social ones, too. :slight_smile: ) At the very least you’ll need to apply to other UC schools, where obviously you can’t commute. And commuting as an undergrad to USC won’t be any picnic either. </p>

<p>I would be surprised if you’re not admitted to UCLA, but I wouldn’t want to bet your future on that. There needs to be a backup plan. Possibly LMU (again, traffic…). The Claremonts are too far, ditto Pepperdine (unless you live in Malibu, in which case all of the others would be a horrible commute).</p>

<p>Take a look at Occidental, as well. Would Caltech (a reach) be of any interest? You mentioned Scripps–many womens colleges (except for Wellesley) offer significant merit aid. Would somewhere like Bryn Mawr or Smith work?</p>

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<p><<<
The problem is my parents are basically forcing me to stay in LA and commute to school,</p>

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<p>What does that mean? Does that mean that they will pay about $15k for college and nothing more…no matter where you go? </p>

<p>or…does that mean that if your remaining costs are 15k somewhere else, then you can go elsewhere/?</p>

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<p>It means that they’ll only pay $15k a year, and it has to be for a school in LA.</p>

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<p>^CSULA! It’s COA for commuter is $15,610.</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>This student is beyond csula…one of the lowest csu’s. CSULB would be better.</p>

<p>frankly, for someone living at home, a csu should not cost nearly that much.</p>

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<p>why does it have to be in LA???</p>

<p>does LA county count?</p>

<p>what about LMU</p>

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<p>There would be better CSU choices for a commuter with the OP’s stats than CSULA–Northridge, Fullerton, Long Beach. But the commute for those might be horrendous. </p>

<p>crystal19, as I’m sure you’re aware, the cost and location constraints are very tight.</p>

<p>*UCLA would be affordable, but is not a safety. Plus there’s the commuting issue (depending on where you live, of course).</p>

<p>*LMU will be affordable IF you get the Presidential and Trustee scholarship. Try asking on the LMU board and the Parents board to see who’s gotten one of those lately and with what stats. Plus there’s the commuting issue (figure on an additional $1k a year for parking permits plus the costs of having a car)</p>

<p>*Pepperdine would be affordable with one of their scholarships, but unless you live in Malibu the commute would be horrendous. Not that there’s been much rain in SoCal, but it takes just one good storm and then access to the campus can be readily cut off because of a road closure. </p>

<p>*Occidental isn’t affordable even with their top scholarship. </p>

<p>*Caltech won’t be affordable if you are generally considered full-pay elsewhere. </p>

<p>*USC might be affordable, but it depends on if you make National Merit or beat the odds and get one of the full-tuition scholarships. Plus admission is not guaranteed. </p>

<p>And that’s it for anything vaguely within commuting distance. </p>

<p>Do talk through these scenarios with your parents. </p>

<p>You might also want to see if there are any full-ride possibilities outside of California. Your stats are strong, there may be possibilities out of state where your parents wouldn’t have to pay for anything. But that is only something to consider if you decide that the options you have under your parents’ rules are unworkable for you. </p>

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<p>Pepperdine and many other private colleges require freshmen to live on campus, so there is no point in speculating about commuting.</p>

17

<p>^^^^</p>

<p>I suspect that the commuting req’t may be for religious reasons. If so, perhaps a waiver is an option at schools that require students to live on campus.</p>

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<p>crystal19, as I’m sure you’re aware, the cost and location constraints are very tight.
<<<<<</p>

<p>I agree, but it sounds like the parents dont trust a situation where their D would live away from home.</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids‌ Only LA, as in anywhere within reasonable commuting distance from Beverly Hills. My parents are dead-set against me leaving the house, and I unfortunately don’t really have a choice in the matter due to cultural constraints.</p>

<p>I will definitely look into LMU and the scholarship situation there further. If anyone has had any prior experience with LMU, please share! Same with USC…</p>

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<p>Are you a valedictorian? You could compete for a full ride* at CSU Long Beach: <a href=“http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/students/presidents_scholars/”>http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/students/presidents_scholars/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>*The meal plan would only be covered if you do make NMF, but it should be cheap for you anyways, considering your budget.</p>

20

<p>Many schools that require kids to live on campus give an exception for kids living at home.</p>