<p>I made a couple of threads like this but I didn't get many schools out of either of them so, I'm trying again!</p>
<p>I think I go to a rigorous private school. Most people have the impression that we're smart kids (I hope so anyway. Hehe.) I'm Black and my Great Grandmother immigrated from Venezuela to Trinidad & Tobago then both of my parents immigrated to the US! I should be a first gen. college student but I'm not sure. Confusing family situation.</p>
<p>Academics:
GPA: 3.4 (Lame freshman year. My mom lost her job and my sister who still lives with us had a baby. TONS OF STRESS!! Maintained a 3.7 since then!)</p>
<p>SAT: 1st Time: CR: 630 M: 470 W: 600; 2nd time: CR: 640 M:460 W:590 (I want to get that up to a 2000 with some intense math prep this time around! I have 4-5 months until my next test day)</p>
<p>ACT: Haven't actually taken yet but I estimate a 30 right now. (I get this from a practice test I've already taken)</p>
<p>Classes: Mainly Honors for the past 3 years with 2 AP Tests this year. I'm taking 4 APs this year (!) the rest are Honors again.</p>
<p>Honors: Maryland Princeton Book Award Nominee, Ranked 29th in the nation for Level 3 National Grand Concours (National French Test), French Honor Society, and 2nd Honors since sophomore year.</p>
<p>ECs:
*Softball for past 3 years
*President of Film Club
*Plan to work with Day Camp that my school holds.
*Attended March for Life with my school
*Helped with Freshman Orientation and Open House for the past 3 years.
*Help with a technology Youtube channel my friend is the main person on.</p>
<p>So far on my list: (I need help sorting these out too.)
Reaches:
Michigan
UNC
William & Mary
Duke
George Washington
Georgetown
High Match/ Match:
FSU
UDel
UMD
UMBC
High Point
Elon
Loyola (MD)</p>
<p>I'm having a little trouble finding safeties... Hehe</p>
<p>Some Technical Stuff: My mom recently got a new job but its not paying as much as her old one. Before her new job she’s making 19,000 a year which means 0 EFC. I’m not sure how my dad is on money but my half-sister goes to school in-state for about 4K (?) and UNC Charlotte and is graduates next year. My 2 younger half-brothers will be college age while I’m still in school and I’m not sure about their college plans right now. The youngest ot of the 2 may just stay close to home or go into the military it looks like right now.</p>
<p>Go to each school’s web site and check the net price calculator. Most out of state public schools are not very generous with need-based financial aid. Are there additional in-state public schools that you would consider as safety candidates?</p>
<p>What schools are appropriate for you may depend on your intended or possible majors.</p>
<p>There’s no point at all to putting together a school list that’s going to get blown out of the water if it turns out your dad makes too much money for you to qualify for financial aid . . . and he isn’t willing to pay your tuition. Some schools won’t take your dad’s income into account, but others will.</p>
<p>So figure out your finances first . . . then we can help you figure out what schools to look at.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus: I knew I forgot something! I want to major in either Criminal Justice, Political Science, or Psychology with a minor or double major in history.</p>
<p>The public schools that I put down are schools that my mom feels like she can cover with her new job and accosting my dad to put some money down. With the exception of UNC and Michigan, I think. I plan to apply for a ton of scholarships as well and I’ll be saving up all of senior year.
The only other in-state publics that I know I’d probably get into are Towson, Morgan State, Coppin State, and the University of Baltimore, none of which has really piqued my interest unfortunately. I’ll rethink Salisbury and Towson though. Thanks!</p>
<p>You may want to check each school on how they would treat his income and assets for financial aid purposes. If they expect contribution from him and he is unwilling to provide that (or even provide you information to fill in financial aid forms), then that can be a limitation on what schools can be affordable.</p>
<p>@dodgersmom: I’ll try to reach my dad as soon as I can! Don’t worry my dad isn’t rolling in dough but he doesn’t make as little as my mom either. He also has 2 kids and a housewife that he’s the primary supporter for but, he does try to send as much money as he can for my high school tuition now.</p>
<p>My dad works as a truck driver that stays pretty close to home (he lives in NC might go as far as SC or VA max.) if that helps anyone with his income.</p>
<p>Yeah, right, that’s the way the Net Price Calculators are set up. It does NOT mean that the schools won’t ask for dad’s income later.</p>
<p>Ask your mom what your dad’s income is and how much she expects he’d be able to contribute toward your college expenses. She’ll know (or have a pretty good guess). :)</p>
<p>My mother’s being completely unreasonable and refuses to give me any information that I need from my father. She actually screamed at me. What should I do?</p>
<p>Check with the schools you’re thinking about to see if they consider applications for non-custodial parent waivers, and how often they give them out.</p>
<p>So for my financial situation I’m just going to say that I’ll send in a non-custodial parent waiver so that only my mom’s financial situation will be applicable.</p>
<p>Then talk to your dad when you’re able to. I would not assume that you can get a waiver in these circumstances. Generally, the non-custodial parent has to have been completely out of the picture for years (or there have to be other extraordinary circumstances) for the student to be eligible for a waiver.</p>
<p>In the meantime, start looking for schools where you’d qualify for merit aid. (If it turns out, after you speak to your dad, that you’d be eligible for need-based aid as well, then you can add those schools back onto your list.) Focus on the ACT, take some practice tests (actual retired ACT tests, not imitations), and see what kind of scores you get. If you can do well on the ACT, you don’t need to both retaking the SAT. I’ll PM you with links to the practice tests you need.</p>
<p>Given your income (or what you know about it at this point) and your family background, applying through [url=<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/index.php]Questbridge[/url”>http://www.questbridge.org/index.php]Questbridge[/url</a>] might be a good idea. The application process is kind of confusing, but there’s an entire CC sub-forum that deals with it, and you can also email Questbridge directly if you have questions.</p>
<p>@dodgersmom: Thanks so much! There are some pretty prestigious schools on Questbridge. Do you think I’ll have a chance of being accepted by them?</p>
<p>I know its probably unwise making a list now but, how would you guys rank the schools that I have as far as Reaches and Matches? I don’t feel like any of them are quite safeties but I’m on the fence about UMBC being a safety or a match.</p>
<p>Do you guys have any suggestions for cheaper schools that I would be able to get into with my stats?</p>
<p>Questbridge is a longshot . . . but, still, some kids do get accepted through Questbridge every year. No reason you couldn’t be one of them! </p>
<p>Be forewarned that the application is brutal - several essays and a very early fall deadline. But the general consensus among the applicants seems to be that once they’ve done the Questbridge application, everything else is a breeze.</p>