@Lagging That’s true but the atmosphere at the CC near me is and negative. I know this because I’m currently taking my Calc class there now and I hate it. Just getting into college the first place was a big thing for my family, being a first gen college student (I’m not sure if my sister counts, I don’t think she does am I right?) and a minority, which I heard helps a lot. But like I’ve said I’m just looking for a list of decent schools no matter the price to just look at.
You can certainly get into many colleges but having a list of places to look “no matter the price” just isn’t a good idea. If it’s a school where you’re competitive for merit-based aid or if its a school where they offer good financial aid then it’s worth considering. There’s no point in looking at schools you can’t afford, it’s just a waste of an application fee and time.
@Creekland Thanks for the college. Ideally I don’t want to go to a super small college like 1k-3k students but if I really like one I will. I haven’t looked at the one you recommended so I don’t know the size. But if i had two schools i’d definitely chose the 5-10k over the 1-3k if that makes sense.
@Lagging I understand that but the one thing I have right now is a bit of extra time. I’m on spring break relaxing about to hop on a plane and visit my sister in New York and have fun and I thought I would look at some schools while watching netflix. All I wanted to achieve the past 72 hours which now I have 24 left of.
Don’t yell and read what’s in posts #4 and 19.
You were suggested Ohio University, Nova Southeastern, Earlham, Hiram…
URM and high SAT score mean you get to apply to schools for B+/A- students with a B average (I’m assuming you’ll have a 3.2-3.3 or so when you graduate if you manage to stay around 4.0., when those colleges assume 3.5-3.75 UW for maximum financial aid.)
A few more to look into:
UScranton
St Michael’s
Ithaca
Ursinus
Muhlenberg
Elon
UNC -Wilmington
Eckerd
New College
St Edward’s
People aren’t advocating community college (except as a last resort, because it’s better to go to CC than not at all if you want to become a doctor :p). But yes it would not be right for you.
So your choices are:
- lower-level for academics, larger in size
- higher-level for academics, smaller in size
Run the NPC for every single college. Cross out any where the result is higher than 18K for total cost of attendance (tuition, room, board, fees, books).
Personally I’d compromise on size first, since colleges feel larger than high schools (campus, buildings) with lots of activities if they’re residential.
You would do well at Wright State and it would NOT be subpar in preparing you for med school. You know they have a med school there, right? You know they do research there, right? Those are opportunities. Let’s face it. You messed up your HS grades and put yourself in this position. It sounds like your sister did not. She made her way. You can get there but you have to take a different track. This will be your chance to prove yourself.
USF out of state cost of attendance is $32,000 – you can’t just look at tuition, you need to look at room & board, fees, etc. And if your health insurance doesn’t provide good coverage at whatever college you choose, you are often required to purchase the student health plan, which doesn’t show up on their cost of attendance web pages – another $1700 or so, depending on the school.
Will OP be able to afford Earlham?
What about Hiram, Wittenberg, Otterbein, University of Findlay, as the sticker price for tuition is cheaper and OP’s test scores would actually be in the top percentage, I think. I think… Obviously, OP needs financial aid in form of grants and loans… with just a 3.1, may not get much in the way of merit, but it’s possible you’d get a little just for your test score. But maybe not… these schools have free apps, so doesn’t hurt to apply…
Also:
Bowling Green State
Ohio University
Kent State
I never said I wanted to be like my sister @“Erin’s Dad”
No, but you may be assuming aid works in the same way as for your sister, Which would be natural. But it doesn’t work because Yale has ‘super aid’ even among colleges that meet need, and most colleges don’t meet need.
Because your GPA and test scores don’t match, your situation is complicated.
I remember an African American boy from a very low performing district who got into Case Western with great scholarships and similar stats. He had a great explanation for his low-ish GPA and straight A’s in the most demanding classes offered at his school for junior and senior year, plus some dual enrollment program or summer in college program.
You do need to prove your ability since your earlier performance I’ll cast a doubt on your work ethics - I think you said you live in Dayton, does your school district pay for you to be dual enrolled at uDayton ? If you could get A’s in college classes it’s really show your ability and would partially offset your GPA.
Hwalker17, congrats on the great scores and the upward trend in your grades. I don’t blame you for not wanting to go to a CC. I believe you can do better - better school, better fellow students, better opportunities. You’re getting some great advice on this forum: take it to heart. We’re all rooting for kids like you and wish you the best.
@MYOS1634 Thankyou and I wasn’t yelling I was emphasizing. I have those colleges that they recommended but the reason I put that in all caps is because nobody was wanting to answer the question that I asked trying to side track on to other things.
@MYOS1634 not nobody but the few people who were going back and fourth with me on this thread.
Yeah, don’t get sidetracked. Read everything carefully, check out the links.
For every single school, run the NPC and fill out the ‘request info’ form.
Can you take summer classes for free? Because the more classes you have, the more they dilute your earlier bad grades. If you can dual enroll at a local cc or university for free, do it (one class per session?) if you can’t take summer classes at your high school.
@MYOS1634 Also isn’t 18k/yr a lot?
Well, you better start working and saving… Since you’re a junior, you have this summer and next to work and save, plus a few hours a week from now until high school graduation.
You’ll get 5.5k in federal loans and 5.5k in Pill grants. You’ll need 5k more from work earnings to cover room and board plus books if you get a full tuition scholarship. If you don’t get a full tuition scholarship (which is quite possible since most want 3.5) you’ll need more.
Run the NPC 's and you can decide what’s too high but you won’t find any school below 16k for cost of attendance and most will be in the 18-25 range. You can choose to cross out any school that comes in at more than 16k coa on the NPC but that I’ll leave few schools.
About 60 colleges report meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need. A few super selective schools like Yale and Stanford are not the only ones.
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/09/14/colleges-that-report-meeting-full-financial-need
The least selective of these schools include Trinity College (Hartford), Connecticut College, and Holy Cross. These colleges apparently have average entering GPAs of about 3.6UW. That’s still much higher than the OP’s, but with his strong upward trend and excellent test scores, he might have a shot (with strong essays, good LORs, and an otherwise well-prepared application package.)
If you visit nearby Earlham and like it, then you ought to like Trinity, Conn College, or HC. They are very good small liberal arts colleges. Any one of them ought to position you well for med school. Earlham itself is very good too (and less selective), although its need-based aid might not be quite as generous. Run the online net price calculators.
@MYOS1634 It does for Wrightstate and Sinclair since UD is private they didn’t join this program called College Credit Plus. So I can take classes but I’d have to pay for them myself.
@tk21769 thanks for the link.
OP, we are talking about the NPCs a lot. I think you said you live with your dad, have a 0 EFC, and neither parent has remarried. Does your mom have much income? Do either your mom or dad have significant assets? I am asking because the NPCs are less accurate in those situations. You are really going to have to focus on cost as a top criteria, and this info makes it clearer whether the NPCs will be accurate for you.