How will this be a safety if the family is contributing $0. Where will the $20K to $22K come from?
I ended up calculating it and my EFC should be $0 
I am currently working and will reply to the rest of this thread soon.
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Stanford, Brown = very very low chance based on merit (scores/act/gpa/etcā¦). But demographics might help
Which safeties have you gotten into?
I havenāt to be honest I am a bit lost in the college admissions process, as my school is never completely transparent with academics etc. I will be sure to do this when reevaluating my college list based on the responses in this thread.
I am a junior (HS) so I wonāt complete the FASFA until next fall. I did like a ācalculatorā and it gave me an EFC $0. Youāre right that sounds even worse and I donāt think I want to put myself in that position next spring. Gotcha, I appreciate all the insight you provided.
I am now looking into Emory. Thanks!
Right, so those three are pretty unrealistic for me? Well, I am glad someone told me before I got stuck in it haha. The reason my grades are low was because of two Cās freshman year, during that time I was coming out of a traumatic situation, where I was physically abused and living homeless in California stuck with my mother. So considering that situation, adjusting to a new environment, school, and new people, as well as being deathly afraid of experiencing my trauma again. Those all affected my grades. It was really rough for me and still my mother continues to fight for custody which has huge impacts on me when she is in town.
I will look into more Privates that will meet all my needs. Thank you!
It sounds like you would qualify for Questbridge. You should plan to apply to their program for HS juniors: QuestBridge | College Prep Scholars Program The website currently has last yearās information; this yearās application will open in February will be due in March.
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Thank you! I appreciate it. After thinking through a lot of the responses in this thread I feel like a lot of stuff I wrote down last night is quite unlikely for me. UMN is pretty low on my list, Itās my default in case I donāt get any of the other colleges I want. I am going to go ahead and scrap UMICH, FSU, and UW. My EFC is $0. Anything but the UMN to be honest. I donāt want to be stuck here. Itās just my default.
āWhat if schools ranked 80-130 are the ones that meet your budgetā
If I like the school, and the education is great Iād rather go debt free (as much as feasibly possible LOL.) than go to like āYaleā or something and be like 250k in debt. Also Iād much rather avoid the Ivy League as I donāt want to deal with ivy mentality.
āWhat if schools in suburban or smaller areas are the ones to meet your budget?ā
Iād rather stay away from suburban or smaller areas however Iād still like to consider them regardless. My preferences for colleges are just purely preferences. When it comes down to it I need to make the best academic and financial choices for me.
āWhat if schools that meet your budget are not the ones you currently recognize as being āprestigiousā (even if in reality they are prestigious to companies that hire you after you graduate.)?ā
That is all that matters to me then. As long as it is recognized by companies that will hire me, Iāll take it. Thatās all I want really. Iād rather not go to any Ivies.
āWhat if itās a smaller school, a Liberal Arts College that meets your budget?ā
If this college offers the same amount of opportunity in my professional career and my academic career while attending the college as any other big wig college, I donāt mind.
Iād accept any affordable offer from any college that offers the same degree of opportunities and academic opportunity as the UMN, if it checks off my list.
Thank you for the recommendation for Fiskeās Guide to Colleges 2020, Iāll take a look the soonest I can. :D<3
I am just a junior so I am like a year or so early, but itās good to narrow it down and hammer out these grades. Especially if I need to retake the ACT.
I appreciate all the insight and advice, this gives me a lot of perspective when continuing with my college applications journey.
Thank you.
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Theyāve since been marked off my list! Thank you!
yes I do qualify for need based aid, my EFC is also $0
My parents are divorced, they donāt have real estate and donāt check off the rest you mentioned.
I am a junior so these are all āprospectiveā safeties.
@rokuraaa ^^^
I will probably end up applying to both if I like Emory, I donāt know much about the university actually.
Yup, a junior, I can take a look at Questbridge. I explored that as an option freshman year. Thank you for your input.
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It sounds like you have a difficult situation with your parents. Are both parents going to be willing to fill out financial aid forms for you? A lot of private schools use something called the CSS profile to determine aid, and most want both parentās information. It is possible to get a waiver for the noncustodial parent if there is no contact or there has been abuse, but that isnāt guaranteed.
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I am not sure if weāre low income, I know the economic status of the area we are in is generally low income, so is my school. My family has absolutely no means to contribute.
Iām a junior, they are prospective safeties!
I am no contact as she is very manipulative and triggering to me, but this is a difficult situation. However mother is very low income (still homeless i think) but I think i could get her to cooperate but it will cost my mental health, will weigh my options.
Will look right now, thank you!
Admission wise - she listed it.
I wasnāt talking about finance but I addressed that when I said: Assuming your EFC is $0, then you should apply to 100% meets needs schools
But even UMN is out for the OP in the sense of $$. Everywhere is - unless they live home or get into a 100% meets need school and itās possible but theyāll need to be flexible on their desires of location and location type.
my net price per academic year if i attended Stanford would be 5k.
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So $5K is workable - because you can get a $5,500 loan first year.
You said you donāt want to be $250K in debt going to Yale. Donāt worry - the government limits you and the most you can borrow is in the high 20 thousands. To borrow more, your parents would have to take on the loanā¦
I sent a link in the previous message of 100% meets needs colleges. Thereās actually three lists in there - you should focus on those schools.
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thank you!!! I appreciate it, also yeah I plan to work or else I go crazy without it
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