<p>I am very uncomfortable discussing my educational past, but I really need the advice from a community like this to help me not settle for something less I may be capable of.</p>
<p>I'll start off with I am a HS dropout, it was a decision I made because there was sickness in my family and I had to choose what I felt was more important to me at the time, obviouslly family. I left school, I helped get my mother through tough times and when I turned 18 I got my GED right away. The next semester I enrolled in the local community college and had to start off with basic algebra I from placement and have finished the highest math course offered by the school, Pre-calc II. Actually, here is a list of completed courses with grades.</p>
<p>Algebra I - A
Algebra II - B
Intermediate Algebra - A-
Precalculus For Business I - B
Precalculus II - A-
Eng Comp I - A
Eng Comp II - A-
Intro to Business - A
Macroeconomics - A
Microeconomics - A
Business Law - A
Principles of Management - A
Principles of Marketing - A
Microcomputer Applications - A
Financial Accounting - A
Intro to Chemistry - A
Intro to Psych - A</p>
<p>My college website calculates that as a 3.81 GPA and 53 total credits, but it is including courses that probably wont transfer (alg I, etc.)</p>
<p>I am nearing transfer period and I would like to try to get into good reputable schools, but I feel like I am setting the bar low on myself by going to a local state school (UMass). I am interested in schools east of Michigan(including MI) that have good business programs. Note I have not completed any foreign language nor do I have any SAT scores to show possible transfer schools and that worries me. My work past is minimal, worked for 9 months of my life and I'm 20,volunteer work is nonexistent, all in response to needing my extra time to care for my mother, who I may add is doing better now. I have been receiving financial aid from my Community college that usually pays for the full tuition, I am unsure h0w exactly that will translate to a 4-year university, I doubt I'd also get a free ride, again that is why I'm here. Also I notice people listing their application status for 10+ schools, are you guys actually shelling out $50 per application or is there something I am missing?</p>
<p>If I left anything out of importance let me know.</p>
<p>I can speak from experience concerning tranfser application fees. There are tuition wavers available. There are a number of recognized institutions that provide a form for your most recent college to approve. </p>
<p>Your current, or most recent, school will have to verify your income. To qualify one needs to make under a set amount of money per year - this’ll vary based on the number of people per household. In my case, I used a NACAC waver (google it, your rep at school may or may not be familiar with it) and my fee was waived at every school that I applied to. </p>
<p>PM me if you have any more questions about this.</p>
<p>Let me start off by saying that 1) Very impressive grades and 2) You’re a very generous person for being there for your family and sacrificing a lot.</p>
<p>Now, this should help a little: Because you have 53 credits, I doubt the college you wish to transfer to will look into your SAT score. It depends on that particular university. Foreign language is however required in the majority of business majors (I am a business major: requires 3 courses). You can try to get one of them in before deciding to transfer or take them at the next university. </p>
<p>For fee waivers, talk to your financial aid counselor or contact one of the schools you are interested in to get info about certain waivers, etc.</p>
<p>I suppose I was a little vague in asking for advice earlier without listing schools on my mind. I really would like some guidance on ‘tiers’ of schools to consider, are any of these viable options? And any write-ins?</p>
<p>UNC-CH (I have no problem waiting to establish residency if it gives me a better shot)
Clemson
Bentley (local)
Dartmouth(Ivy yes, but I thought it was worth mentioning as it tends to be overlooked)
BC (local)
UMich-Ross business school</p>
<p>Well 18,000 plus applicants did not overlook Dartmouth last year for about 1000 spots in the smallest ivy class. </p>
<p>Bottom line, you will need SATs, and good ones, for the private colleges. So unless you’re prepared to do well on it, you should stick to colleges that don’t require it.</p>
<p>Your other issue is state colleges where you’re not a resident are unlikely to give you any financial aid past the Federal, which at best will pay for maybe a third of the cost at those schools. So your in state publics or public colleges your state has an alliance with may well be your best financial bet.</p>
<p>We could be much more helpful if we knew how much need based aid you qualify for and how much you feel you can afford to pay. You should run the aid calculator on this site or College Board’s to see what you qualify for.</p>
<p>Yes, (almost) all the private schools I applied to asked to see my standardized test scores after 2 years in college. The exception was a test optional school, but I sent my score anyways. </p>
<p>Remember that the family contribution is ultimately decided by the colleges themselves using their own methodology. Also, state schools aren’t known for being financially generous for out of state students.</p>
<p>You have a great GPA, but you may find that you need a standardized test. I suggest figuring out if you do better on the ACT or the SAT.</p>
<p>2 other private college exceptions are Cornell and USC.</p>
<p>I’d say with the low EFCs, avoid OOS publics except for UVA which meets need for all and focus on the schools that meet 100% of need for transfers–there are not many.</p>
<p>There are most likely other private schools that don’t require a SAT score for transfers. However, you would have to look up the transfer requirements for each school. You may have more opportunities with a lower standardized test score taken this year, than not having a score at all.</p>
<p>Yea, I’ve been googling about SATs this last hour, I’m affraid to take it without preperation and blow the $45. Is it really that bad? with the classes I’ve taken so far do you think I could get a decent score?</p>
<p>The ACT has a reputation of being more what you learn in school, while the SAT tries to trick you. The ACT is considered to be “tricky” because of time constraints. An advantage to the ACT is that there has always been score choice. (If you bomb the ACT the first time, and take it a second time, you can submit only the second test’s score.) The SAT now has score choice, but some colleges are apparently refusing to honor it. Also, most schools will accept the ACT in lieu of SAT IIs. Some people do about the same on the tests, while others do drastically better on one than the other. Y</p>