Im a senior in high school having trouble deciding what to do.
I have a 2.5 GPA and an ACT as of right now 19. (I know this is pathetic, I goofed off)
I also take a math that is not accepted as a 4th math for a number of schools, so I only have 3 math credits.
I have dreamed all my life of going to a school with the big open grassy fields with great football brand and a tight friendly community. There’s nothing that beats a big beautiful “state” school atmosphere.
My situation: I live in Tennessee, and here there are only two schools that really fit that dream. Which is UTK and Vandy, two schools that I cant get into. So, I have looked elsewhere (Miss St. & Ole Miss) in pursuit of my dream school and realized how expensive it is to go out of state.
With this all being said I’m an 18 year old that is about to make a very big decision.
Could I survive life if I put myself in 100K+ in debt after graduation in order to go to an OSS?
Whats your stance on my situation?
Recommendation to a specific college?
Try applying for scholarships and make sure to apply for financial aid/ fafsa, so you are not so limited on your choices if you do get accepted. The good thing about applying out of state is that a lot of colleges look for out of state applicants because they offer more money. Best bet, don’t let money completely guide your decision but also be smart about it. Ask yourself if it is really worth putting yourself through debt for a very long time so you can go to a nice school for four years? California state schools like CSUs have great schools, state run, and can have that atmosphere you’re looking for. They’re worth checking out.
^^^^I completely disagree with @Samnmi’s recommendation of the CSUs which would be an extremely expensive and tough venture.
INCORRECT
The majority of OOS public schools target their instate students because the taxpayers of those states fund those schools. Your stats are not significant enough to get merit aid for OOS schools. You don’t need more debt.
Re California schools. There are no financial aid/scholarships for OOS students. CSU’s are full fees to OOS students.^^^^ You would not qualify for instate tuition for any of the 4 years. Plus, as a non resident, your GPA, at 2.5, requires an ACT of 35 to be considered for admission. See page 12: http://www.calstate.edu/sas/onestopkiosk/documents/AdmissionHandbook.pdf
Your best bet would be to go to a CC, build up your grades and transfer to your instate options. (Your options for loans are limited since you can only borrow $5500 freshman year, $6500 sophomore year, and $7500 for junior and senior year. That means your parents would have to qualify for huge loans to fund your education.) Don’t go into needless debt. It’s not worth it.
Agree completely with aunt bea. Go to cc, get your grades up and transfer to your instate option. $100k in debt is absurd for a BA even if you could convince your parents to cosign for that much debt.
No, it’s not worth it. But don’t worry, you’re not allowed to take on more than $5,500 of debt for your freshman year. And I hope that with such a high school record, you wouldn’t saddle your parents with such huge debt.
However, since you’re a senior now, you still have time to retake the ACT - register TODAY (deadline!!!) for October’s ACT and prep hard. That means every day, using old test materials, prep material, and reviewing eachmistake carefully. If necessary, take a tutor to ensure you don’t goof off, forget to do it, or get stuck and give up.
Bringing that score to a 21 or higher will do you a lot of good in terms of college choices.
Second: some colleges, usually private, may give you better scholarships if you apply from OOS, but only if you “bring something to the table”. Have you distinguished yourself in any way?
Third: what’s your parents’ budget for college? Have you talked to them to see how much they’re able to pay? By the way, they may not want to invest too much in your college education considering what you’ve done with your high school education, so you better kick your butt into gear and bring nothing but A’s and B’s this semester.
Get back to this thread with your answers so we can suggest colleges. Before we know your budget, though, we can"t suggest anything else than community college then transfer to UTK.