@austinmshauri From what I see and hear many of the community colleges aren’t that great in the area. That’s why I was looking more at universities.
What’s wrong with the community colleges?
@austinmshauri I hear they are not academically challenging. My sisters attended some of the ones in our area and didn’t have good experiences and from what I’ve seen on the internet.
We’re your sisters able to transfer to 4 year schools? What did they study? Some majors may be better than others.
@austinmshauri They never finished because of personal matters and because they didn’t like the schools. My sister was an early education and my other sister I believe was undecided.
I guess I’d go visit the schools and talk to professors and students in the majors you like.
@austinmshauri How about attend a school such as Wayne State or UofM-Dearborn and then transferring in the spring or summer to MSU?
I think I’d go visit the schools and talk to professors and students in the majors you like. I’d be careful about transferring from one 4-year school to a 2nd with plans for a 3rd. Eventually your aid will run out. You want to be done before that happens.
It won’t look bad to transfer from a 4 year to a CC and then to MSU? Will admissions look at that weirdly at MSU? I’m hoping the summer courses I’m taking this summer will drastically raise my GPA and even being at a CC for one semester should also raise it to possible (according to my math) a 3.49 GPA. So with that in mind, is it possible to only take one semester at a CC and then transfer for the spring semester to MSU?
Have you checked how your current credits transfer to each school you are looking at? Also will your FAFSA/aid be different if you are basing it off a different custodial parent? Did WInthrop just use FAFSA/your mothers income?
Are you taking summer courses in SC? If you’re using financial aid to pay for those be very careful. You may run out of aid before you get your bachelor’s.
@kelsmom can explain financial aid for Pell Grant recipients, but I think the gist of it is that you get 12 semesters. One year at your previous school in SC is already 2 semesters. If you’re using Pell for your summer courses that counts too. Attending a 4-year school near your dad’s home in MI for your 2nd year then transferring to a 3rd 4-year school in MI could cause you problems if all your credits don’t transfer. How would you pay if your aid runs out before you finish? The benefit of an associate’s degree is that in state 4-year colleges generally take the majority of the credits.
I think your aid for next year will be based on your mom’s income if you lived with her more days than you lived with your dad. Once you move to your dad’s your future aid packages will be based on his income. Is he low income too?
@Sybylla I haven’t looked into all the schools about credits transferring besides MSU and when I looked on their site Winthrop wouldn’t even come up as an option which I found weird. And my financial aid shouldn’t be that different since my mom and dad make around the same income.
@austinmshauri Yes, I am taking summer courses in SC. But I am not using financial aid (I’m paying out of pocket). And also my dad makes about the same as my mom so it shouldn’t drastically change my financial aid.
Both of those things are good. Unless the colleges have rolling admission I don’t see how you could transfer to a 4-year in MI this fall.
Does MSU have articulation agreements with any of the cc’s near your dad? If you can go to one for a year it will reduce your total debt load and give you an opportunity to raise your GPA.