I Need Serious Help...

College Search & Selection
1

Hey CC,

I need help finding a college that will be a great fit for me financially and academically. My family is not well off financially, and with my father being diagnosed with cancer this week, my college plans have to be altered significantly. I will be getting no help from my parents financially to attend college (not even cosigning loans), meaning that I need to find universities that will meet all of my need.

I’ve tried talking to my parents about college, but they blow it off. They honestly don’t care, and want to see me attend a Community College.

Please, help me find some colleges that can change my life… (In state or out of state. I live in NY.)

My Stats:

GPA UW: 3.3
GPA W: 3.6
CSU GPA: 3.7

SAT: 1930
CR: 640
W: 630
M: 660

*My GPA during Freshman year was decent. Sophomore year was ok. This year I worked hard to get a 3.8/4.3. This means that I have a solid upward trend, if that counts.

Courseload:

Freshman:
-Global 9 Honors
-English 9 Honors
-Biology Honors
-Geometry
-German
-Orchestra
-Media Art (Graphic Design)

Sophomore:
-English 10 Honors
-Global 10 Honors
-Chemistry Honors ** Did rather poorly. (78)
-Trigonometry ** Did awful. Voluntarily retook course. (66)
-German
-Orchestra

Junior:
-AP US History (91/100.3)
-AP English 11 (89/99)
-Trigonometry (89)
-Physics (94)
-IB German (94/104) (Student of the year in this class, even though I’m technically not in IB.)
-Networking (95)

Senior (Upcoming):
-AP Gov
-AP Econ
-Pre Calc Honors (Finally doing great in math again)
-AP Physics
-AP Lit
-IB German
-Orchestra
-Computer Science Course (Teacher Assistant)

EC’s:
-Track & Field Athlete for 4 years. (1 JV / 3 Varsity) (Indoor & Outdoor Seasons)
-Cross Country Athlete for 3 Years. (Team Captain)
-German Club
-German Exchange Program during next year.

*Self taught programmer and Web Developer… I’ve coded several popular online games, which had 680,000+ monthly pageviews during peak popularity. Made ~$7,000 in the process. I know the principals of Object Oriented Programming, database access, good practices, ect.

-Coteaching a Computer Science course next year.
-President of the Computer Science Club.

Awards:
-Beacon Award (Physics, Junior Year)
-IB German Student of the Year (Junior Year)

Volunteer Work:
-Coded the website and content management system for a local political candidate from scratch. Volunteer for the campaign on a weekly basis.

Other:
Major of Choice: Physics
Minor: Computer Science
Income: Low… EFC is 0.
Ethnicity: White

2

i would definitely try to go in-state to reduce transportation costs, to get in-state pricing, and to be closer to your family, especially now. try Syracuse University (reach), SUNY College at Old Westbury (safety), CUNY Baruch College (low match), or basically any other CUNY (match).

this article might help you find some schools! the colleges listed are kind of selective, though, so just be warned:
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/colleges-that-meet-100-of-financial-need/

this article lists the cheapest colleges in new york for in-staters:
http://www.collegecalc.org/lists/new-york/most-affordable-in-state-tuition/?start=1

also, try https://colleges.niche.com/ to estimate where you fall (based on gpa and test scores) within the range of people rejected, accepted, or waitlisted. making an account takes like 10 minutes and i use mine literally every day.

i’m very sorry about your father. i hope everything turns out better than it looks right now.

3

Stay in NY. You can’t afford anywhere else. Your stats won’t gain merit aid and you’re unwilling to go the CC route so you’re stuck.

4

First, I’m sorry about your father. It does sound like you need to stay relatively close. Your grades and SAT scores are fine. In fact, with a 1930 you’re at the 90%. Even so, they’re not quite high enough for most of the big merit scholarships many places. If you identify schools where you’re in the top 25%, you should do well with aid. What’s most impressive is the outside computer programming you’ve done. Play that up. Many schools encourage you to send apps, etc. you’ve developed as part of the application. I think that is your strongest calling card. I also don’t know what part of NY you’re from, but here are some suggestions on schools to investigate:

SUNY Stony Brook - the son of a good friend is a CS major there. Getting lots of aid. Loves it. If you get invited into the honors college, all the better. (Not sure of the criteria)

Macauly Honors College (NYC) - IF you could get in here, this should be very financially affordable. A bit of a stretch, but worth going to one of their open house recruitments and learning more if you’re in NYC area.

SUNY Albany - my D got offered lots of merit $$ and honors college from Albany. Your stats should place you above the average applicant.

SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Binghamton

Stevens Institute of Technology - in NJ right by NYC

Temple University - Philly

RPI and WPI

Are you planning on taking SAT again? Did you try ACT? Will you take any subject tests? You might consider the German subject test.

Good luck.

5

Do you live in NYC? The CUNYs make great options.

6

I’m sorry about your dad. Your parents are probably very stressed right now. It’s great that they’ll let you live at home and commute if you need to because some parents won’t.

NYS residents who qualify for the federal Pell grant (up to ~$5k/year) also qualify for the NYS TAP grant (up to ~$5k/year) if they attend a NYS college. (Make sure to file the FAFSA as soon after Jan. 1st as you can and go to the NYS HESC website to apply for TAP). Students who qualify for Pell can qualify for a Work Study job (they’re given on a 1st come, 1st served basis) and are generally good for spending money and incidentals. Run the FAFSA4caster to see if you qualify for the Pell grant. Also run the Net Price Calculators on school websites to get an estimate of what they’ll cost.

All students can get the federal student loan (~$5500/year). If you work summers, get the full Pell and TAP, and take the federal loan, you may be able to afford a sleep away SUNY. You’ll graduate with ~$27k of loans, but that’s not terrible. However, if you have a cc and/or 4-year SUNY near you, I’d consider commuting to cut down on your debt. Low income students have to be especially careful of debt because they don’t have the safety net that students from higher income families have.

7

Given that your dad’s diagnosis is so new, it will be a while before your family knows about the possible treatment plans and his overall prognosis. It makes sense to look at affordable options within NY or in nearby states in case you want to be able to get home easily and quickly. You also should think through the possibility of taking a Gap Year. That will give you an alternate plan to follow if you decide not to leave home at all just yet.

Because money is going to be an issue for you, go spend some time in the Financial Aid Forum. Read through the threads that are pinned at the top on the subject of merit-based aid. Your grades are well in range, but you probably would need to pull your SAT score up a bit (or get a good score on the ACT). Several of the people who post in that forum are expert on NYS state aid (TAP & HEOP) and can help you with those issues.

Wishing you all the best.

8

Taking a gap year is absolutely out of the equation for me. I can’t live in this household after senior year and supporting myself while going to college would be darn near impossible.

Here’s my plan:
-Use my ~10 college fee waivers to apply to schools that will meet 100% of financial need.
-Attend the school that is the most selective and economically affordable.
-Have ~$7,500 in savings by the time I begin college to cover travel, book, and other misc. fees. (Currently at ~$3,000) This was all self earned through work.

9

If they want you to go to CC, that would mean living at home, right? So I think you are saying you don’t want to, not that it is impossible. Are there any SUNY’s within commuting distance? It would be cheaper than living on campus. And it sounds to me like your parents could probably use a hand with chores, any siblings, etc.

10

Your 10fee waivers are for common app right?
You’re right to target 100%need schools for those. If I were you I wouldn’t put cs as a minor, but German. Colleges are always trying to fill their language classes and you haveavesignificant achievement .n it. Look into st Olaf (you get a boost for geographical diversity) Dickinson and Goucher (where stusy abroad is mandatoey and where tpyd qualify for merit).
Add of course SUNYs, especially with the FA plan dedicated to stem majors .