@intparent I’ve been doing a few NPCs and I don’t know what my mother makes haven’t seen her since my sophomore year, I assume she is probably still making minimum wage though. And no they don’t have any assets. So I’m guessing they won’t be accurate?
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Not to mention I am black so there are tons of scholarships that gets added on to the other enormous about of scholarships there are out there.
I also don’t see how USF is not a safety school their out of state tuition is only 17k? That is extremely low. And I have a chance that since my test scores are so high and my GPA is improving that they could reward me 100% need even tho they only do that like 30% of the time
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Please run the school’s NPC…and other schools’ NPCs.
I think you may be expecting too much in way of merit, and expecting too much because you’re black.
No I ran the NPC a while ago and it was somewhere under 20k like closer to 15k i believe. I don’t quite remember the numbers. And I don’t expect anything because I’m black. I just said there are more scholarships I could apply to and receive because of my ethnicity.
Ok, then use College Credit Pus at Wright State. Try to work and save, but also otake 1-3 ne of those; a good combination is 1 full session +1 session A and/or 1 session B
https://www.wright.edu/sites/default/files/page/attachements/SP16-Dayton-Lake-Courses.pdf
Possibilities (lots of pages, but really not that many choices)
Photography
Chemistry of our world (or, if you’ve already taken chemistry in HS: Intro to General Chemistry)
Greek and Roman Culture
Classical Myths
Intro to HUman Communication
Intro to Mass Communication
Intro to Interpersonal Communication
Intro to Programming
Sustainable Earth
Beginning French 1&2 [equivalent to French 1, 2, 3 in HS]
Intermediate French 1&2 equivalent to French 4 and AP in HS
Pick small classes, where the professor will know you and will be able to write a supplementary recommendation in addition to the ones written by your HS teachers)+ Make sure they don’t overlap with the cool Honors version ofered in the Fall ( so if you’re interested in "Biology of Food, you see itis offered Fall/Honors: take that one).
And then this Fall, add one or two of those to your schedule:
://www.wright.edu/sites/default/files/page/attachements/SP16-Honors-Courses.pdf
While in New York, have your sister visit a few of the CUNY schools (City College, [near Columbia], Brooklyn, Hunter, probably Lehman). You might be able to get instate Tuition after a year or after moving there for a GAP year. The instate/City tuition is about $6.5K and maybe you can roomate with your sister.
As mentioned before, look at a few of the HBCU. I think you can get a full ride with a 3.0 GPA and your high SAT scores (FAMU, Prairie View A&M, etc.).
Well, a couple of things.
- A lot of the colleges that give the best aid require the non-custodial parent to provide financial information. So you either need to get your mom to fill out the forms, or get a waiver from each college that requires it (you might see what your sister did, she would have had to provide this info if she was at a top college in recent years). Don't wait until the last minute to request the waiver if that is what you are going to do. If you know how to reach her, you are usually expected to try to get the info filled out.
- Since she is also low income, it likely will have little or no impact on your financial aid package. They won't expect her to pay if she hasn't got any money. But they still want that non-custodial form or to grant a waiver -- otherwise they won't process your financial aid request at all.
So I think you can run the NPCs with just your dad’s info, and you will still probably get a pretty accurate idea of your costs.
You might want to make sure you understand what “meets need” and “need blind” mean, too. A school that “meets need” is saying that they will try to give you enough grants and workstudy so in combination with your federal loans and Pell grants (if you get it), you can afford to attend. Note that it is THEIR definition of what they think you should pay, and it is usually somewhat higher than your FAFSA EFC. The best scenario is that you get into a meets need school, and they give you enough aid so you can attend. BUT, the schools that meet need are harder to get into (one reason is that a lot of students want good financial aid). Your GPA is going to hurt you, and your URM status probably won’t make up for it. Still… you might pick out some of the meets need schools that are the lowest ranked, and run the NPCs to see how they look. They are going to be your best chances for admission.
You also need to note if schools are ‘need blind’ or not. If they are need blind, they will accept you regardless of whether you need a lot of aid. (But unless they also “meet need”, they probably won’t give you much aid, and you may not be able to attend).
Run your NPC for Ohio State, too. You may find it is the best deal. Getting out of Ohio may be your preference, but four years of an education you can afford is important. Freshman do have to live on campus the first two years, though – I think they give a few exceptions for students who live close, but it sounds like you are not that close (the reason I bring that up is that tuition for in state students is only $10,000 per year). There are some diversity scholarships available, too: http://odi.osu.edu/scholarships-and-grants-home/scholarship/ One is just for Ohio residents, so could be a good possibility.
Do you know your class rank? You can tell what each college’s accepted student profile looks like by looking at the Common Data Set (Google for each school) for what the class rank percentages are. Like Ohio State, 95% of the students are in the top 25% of their class, and 99% are in the top half.
You really have to find one school that you KNOW you will get into, you KNOW you can afford, and you are willing to attend. That might not be Ohio State (acceptance is not a shoe in given your GPA).
@MYOS1634 I’m already applying for my english class to take at wrightstate and thinking about my calc class not quite sure.
@intparent Well my sister and I have different moms and her mom died while she was attending Yale. And I’ve looked at ohio state and I just really think it’s far fetched. Certainly my test scores are great to attend but my GPA kills me with the best scenario being like a 3.3 max. I will look into thought.
@Jamrock411 my sister will sadly be graduating med school and leaving to Tennessee as she just got matched with Vanderbilt university! Congrats to her haha.
Does your school rank? Ask your GC for your class rank if you don’t know it.
Congratulations to your sister. That represents incredible work and an achievement most premeds never achieve. 
As for you, Ohio University would be a better choice than tOSU. As I said above, if your essays, recommendations, and grades show you love learning and that the earlier grades are an anomaly , you may even get tonight their honors college.
For now, explore every option suggested in your thread. Run the NPC on each website, fill out the ‘request info’ form.
ok…it’s important to look at details when looking at Net Price Calculators
USF
Academic Year: 2009-10 <<<<====== OLD DATA on the NPC!!!
Estimated total price of attendance: $29,740
a. Estimated tuition and fees $15,390
b. Estimated room and board $8,750
c. Estimated books and supplies $1,500
d. Estimated other expenses
(Personal expenses, transportation, etc.) $4,100
Estimated total grant aid:
(Includes both merit and need based aid) $11,874 <= Full Pell + Full loans
Estimated net price:
(Price of attendance minus grant aid) $17,866
$32,024 is the COA for the 2016-17 school year (each year will be higher)
So for this coming school year, the net price would be: $20,150
Now, you may think that your net cost of $20k per year is “cheap,” but you don’t have the means the cover that $20k per year. Your parents can’t pay it and you can’t pay it. You can hope for some merit, but there is no assurance that you’ll get $20k for each of your four years. In fact, that is very unlikely.
For a school to be a safety, you have to know FOR SURE that you have all costs covered. You can’t just assume that you’ll get merit to cover that huge gap. It is VERY hard to get multi-year outside merit.
OP, I think it’s wise if you try a few reach schools too, but definitely know they are reach schools. Try U Rochester (where my son goes). Try Case Western (I know others going here). Try U Miami (FL) and Wake Forest (ditto about knowing students - I work at a high school). If you can get some good recommendations and keep your grades, etc, high, PLUS write a good essay and seem impressive in interviews, one of these might work out for you.
Then keep your sights set on some of these other schools recommended (Nova Southeastern, Ohio, and the oodles on given lists) Don’t diss them. One of those is your most likely best bet. The vast majority of students I see end up loving the college they go to even if it wasn’t their first choice. Those who do well take advantage of all their college offers. Those who make it to med school come from a variety of schools. In each case, they did well with what they had where they went.
Here’s Nova Southeastern’s website - they have a med school there too:
I think you’ve got a reasonable chance of things working out well if you come at this intelligently with your apps and stay positive with your final choice.
Best wishes to you.
@Creekland I looked at admissions for U rochester, which is a great looking school, and it said on collegedata that they don’t consider academic GPA?!? Is this true? If so that looks like a great school to apply for, for me personally. Although I feel like the website has it wrong.
@Creekland Also Nova southeasterns is on my list just because of the cost out of pocket for me on their NPC was 10.8k Part time job plus loans that’s not too bad right? I don’t know how much 10.8k actually is, because of loans and such.
@intparent I’m pretty sure my school does docile ranks, or not official ranks. Also my school rank will be terrible because I go to a semi-competitive catholic private high school. Honestly it’s basically about half the school are normal kids then the other half are brainiacts, for my grad class that is. So I would guess I’m probably around 4th docile? I may be saying it backwards trying to say in the top 40% based off GPA. SAT score I’m the top scorer. But at my school among the top 50% the average ACT for example is like 25-27 which for a high school is actually pretty good I believe. There are like 10-15 kids who got 30+ just on the act. I think like 3 or 4 kids got national merit, which I didn’t even know we were going to take the PSAT and missed out on that, sadly.
Well… I don’t know any schools that are “grade optional”, unfortunately. Although I suspect your decile isn’t that bad. That is actually an important piece of info. The GC is asked for it in their recommendation. Colleges use it as sort of s check on your GPA. If your school grades tough, then a lower GPA can still be a high decile. Don’t guess at this number, find out where you are now.
U Rochester probably looks at GPA and class ranking, but you’ve got a special situation going where you only started to focus more recently and have proven you can do well now that you’re more academically focused. You and your GC will need to make that clear - and recommendations from your teachers or CC class profs ought to help. Definitely interview.
URoc is known for finding (some) gems out of their oodles of apps and is well known for giving out decent need-based aid for students. It will depend upon CSS profile.
I’d feel they are worth an app, but don’t fall in love in case it doesn’t work out. They are getting much more selective now than they were in the past. It is an excellent school.
URoc’s SAT/ACT scores seem to have been perennially comparatively high. In my garage-sale college guide (1999) they are listed as higher than UMichigan’s, for example.
It’s not that their SAT/ACT scores used to be low. It’s that their acceptance rate has gone down a bit these past few years. Like many other top of the line schools, they have oodles of applicants to choose from and it can be guesswork as to who they accept and who they don’t.
I like to think they could overlook a poor beginning and be quite happy to admit someone who has been doing well in more recent years even if the GPA is lower overall compared to most students. I love to see students who have become focused academically. However, they probably have several in that category and one never knows who they will say yes/no to when answers come out, esp when significant $$ is part of the picture. From my son’s experience (peers, etc), I know they have accepted some who have proven themselves and still need major aid (which they get). I’m glad they do. It’s one more thing I love about the school.
(Other schools sometimes do this too, of course. URoc shouldn’t be the only reach app.)