My parents make ~50k per year. Will the colleges that I’m applying to favor/take into consideration of my low-income? Also, will qualifying for Pell Grant boost my chances in college admissions? Lastly, are there any other colleges within my match/reach that you guys think I should apply to that FAVOR my low-income status?
Stanford (REA)
Cornell
Dartmouth
Brown
UPenn
NYU Stern
Wash U in St. Louis
UVA
U of Mich
Northwestern
USC
Columbia
UCB and UCLA (and other mid-tier UC’s)
Here’s my full application if you want to evaluate further:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1818642-stanford-rea-rd-cornell-brown-dartmouth-ucb-ucla-etc-p1.html
Thanks!
Yes for the UC’s if you are a resident. No, if you are not a resident.
@auntbea Are you talking about for the low-income or Pell Grant, or both? And do you know about the other schools as well by any chance?
I don’t understand do you want the income issue to be a hook?
Or do you want a university to not see it as an issue?
Because as far as I know as long as you didnt write an essay about your income situation the aid dep. is different from the admisions dep. Admissions probably wont know your income status at need-blinds
Most universities are need-blind for admissions (which can either be good or bad based on the situation, probably not what you wanted to hear though). Some of the colleges on your list do give financial aid but that’s considered after you get in so I wouldn’t rely on your financial situation for admission, especially to the top tier schools like Stanford or Brown. I don’t know of any schools that give low-income students an advantage since most are looking to build up their academic reputation. Sorry if this isn’t what you were looking for, but it would be greatly appreciated if you could chance me back!
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1820147-but-srsly-what-are-my-chances-of-getting-into-stanford-ps-will-chance-back.html#latest
Good luck with college apps!
Yes, the California schools will look at your income so be sure to fill out FAFSA in January, and the Cal grant before the March 2nd deadline. (FAFSA and CAL GRANT are two separate applications. Do not miss the deadlines!!!)
This is, of course, only if your are a California resident.
As for Pell, nope, it won’t make a difference in getting you in. It’s really not that much money.
I know more about the California schools:
Stanford will look at income and if you are a tippy-top student, with what they want, then they will fund you. Stanford is a reach for everyone. They are very specific about how they generate a new freshman class. Assume you won’t get in. My 3 children were legacies with excellent stats and EC’s-none got in. Son was waitlisted, but he decided not to pursue it since he got into another school.
USC is expensive but if you are a national merit “finalist”, and low income, you stand a good chance of getting close to full funding. (Notice I said FINALIST) Son was offered ½ tuition as a NM winner. That was $20K (cost to attend was ~$62K-he obviously didn’t accept that).
OOS public schools have lousy financial aid if you are not a resident.
NYU is $72K, no financial aid or very poor financial aid.
UofPenn won’t give anything either.
How did you generate your list? Didn’t you use the NPC on the websites?
@Adrianlane Yes, I’d like for colleges to see it as a hook. I didn’t write my essays about my low-income status because I had a better and more raw-emotion driven topic to talk about. That being said, will my desired colleges still not take into consideration of my low-income?
@auntbea Thanks for the notice! And as for Stanford, I know that if I do somehow manage to get in, I’ll have free tuition. But will my CHANCES for, let’s say Stanford, be boosted in any way because of my situation?
This list is really finalized yet to be honest, I only put down the colleges that I’d like to go to the most based on my major (business… or undeclared not sure) and the school/campus/social life itself.
Nope, Stanford will not consider your income too much unless it’s related to a hard luck story (you worked in the central valley of California, picking grapes before and after school, working in a farmworker’s clinic dealing with pesticide related diseases and being a recruited athlete with perfect grades/SAT scores) or something to that effect.
@auntbea Thanks. Last but not least (sorry for the burden haha), will any of the colleges in my list possibly take my low-income status negatively? For example, I heard that WashU in St. Louis doesn’t like to admit low-income students as much (just a rumor).
From what I understand, @ClarinetDad16, Penn offers aid based on what they think the person needs, not what the student may need. They do not offer merit aid.
@ayyyyyyy, They are not supposed to limit aid to low-income students; I would think that would reflect negatively on them and should not be the case with someone with high stats. We had several students at my school get “flown in” on WUSL’s dime. They paid for flight, meals and overnight.
For UMich, low income students will receive generous aids if accepted, but not really considered as a hook.
Each university has different standards about what they consider low income, so YMMV as far as how much aid you receive. Being Asian will help you at some, hurt you at others, and make no difference at all at the universities that don’t consider it (UCs, UMich)
When did the median family income become “low income”?
@TooOld4School According to a report from 2006, Asian had disadvantage in admission at UMich as they have the lowest admission rate and highest admission stat among other ethnic groups. The percentage of African American students dropped by half after the ban of Affirmative Act, while the percentage of Asian students remains unchanged.
I don’t think $50k is low income. The colleges on your list may give need-based aid to that income level, but i don’t think it necessarily impacts their admission decisions because it’s the median for US families. Make sure you have a couple of safeties on your list that are truly affordable in case the financially generous schools don’t pan out.
@“aunt bea”
A student with the op’s financial profile will get a lot of financial aid from Penn. click on the link and it will show how much on average based on the income range.
I am not sure what your reply meant.
@billcsho its very difficult to compare pre and post common app statistics for UMich as well as pre and post 2010 figures. Asians make up a tiny proportion of Michigan’s population - by the ACT report about 2% for 2105. UMich had a 14% Asian freshman class. In 2006 it was 10.7%. In addition there is the ‘2 or more races/other’ category which are primarily White-Asian and White-Black non hispanic kids (about 3% of 2015 class) . In the old days this category did not exist.
The percentage of Asian kids has risen significantly, and even more if you include the some of the multi-racial kids.
UMich does not give a breakdown by in and out of state. More black kids will attend UM with the replacement of DPS with charters, and I expect the percentages to rise slowly over the next decade because of better K-12s.
@TooOld4School When we look at the student admission distribution, it has little to do with the state population distribution but the applicant pool. The fact is the admission rate is lower for Asian while the admission test scores and GPA are highest for Asian.
There are limited statistics for in and out state applicants available if you search the almanac.
@billcsho - are you proposing that Michigan should simply accept and try and enroll all the highest test takers from its applicant pool? No value in diversity in all aspects? Geography, income, ethnicity, athletics, arts, majors, etc…