<p>This happens a lot more than people would think. It is up to the parents to provide college, and if they decide that they will not pay for her to have an “away experience” or for her to go to a private college, that is their perogative. That is not considered neglect or abuse. </p>
<p>You niece has commuting alternatives. She can work and go to school which is really what the majority of Americans do to get their college degrees. The Stafford will pretty much cover community and state college tuitions. If you live in the same state, and are willing to give her a room, she can expand her options to what is around you as well.</p>
<p>As for merit money, there is no thread better than Momfromtexas’s about free ride scholarships. As soon as she can get her working papers, she should be getting a part time job to cover some of these expenses. My kids worked during their high school years as did my cousin’s son, and they did just fine in terms of grades and college.</p>
<p>Look at Loyola in Chicago, I think her stats are good for some merit aid, specially if she can get a better ACT score. She may be able to live at home (not ideal for some kids but ok for others).
There is also DePaul but I don’t know about their merit aid.</p>
<p>She does have a job and is saving everything she can. She is not afraid of hard work or working her way through college. She just needs help on knowing what her options are. Every response on here has been helpful. I hope that if she can get full tuition, she can take a loan for partial room and board expenses and then I pray her parents will pick up the rest somehow. I’ve talked to them a few times but they just don’t understand yet that she won’t be able to take out unlimited loans in her name.</p>
<p>We are willing to take her on visits and help her in any way we can. </p>
<p>We do have a good community college but I think that’s a last resort due to the little amount of aid available for transfer students.</p>
<p>The total loans available to her will probably be 4 years of federal loans totaling $27K. Parent income is high enough that additional Perkins loans are unlikely. That means the only other loans available will likely be loans for the parents to take out-- PLUS loans. </p>
<p>If you think her parents will bridge the gap with full tuition, she needs to focus on the testing. Has she taken a practice SAT? Some kids do a lot better on one than the other. </p>
<p>Oh, and she should dual enroll or take AP classes senior year. State schools can be particularly good about accepting dual enrollment classes and she may be able to knock out a semester or year of costs.</p>
<p>Consider LaSalle. A pre-med student from our high school with similar stats is going there with at least free tuition from merit and he said after a visit that he’s in love with their Honors College. Other schools gave him money, but LaSalle was his best financially. It brought that school onto my radar for suggestions.</p>
<p>If taking AP or dual enrollment classes, don’t take credit for the pre-req science classes (don’t even do dual enrollment for those classes - AP is ok to do - just don’t accept credit). It could come back to haunt her if she follows through with pre-med. Other classes are fine.</p>
<p>If she gets in the mid 30’s ACT, re-ask and other schools come into play.</p>
<p>Pitt (a suggestion from earlier) doesn’t state it on their website, but generally to get merit aid one needs a 33+. They’ve been edging those numbers higher each year as the competition for merit gets tougher.</p>
<p>I was going to suggest going the ROTC route…my son has a friend who was able to get a full ride ROTC scholarship and is now in med school on the military’s dime as well…he will have a long period of service when he finishes, but he is fine with that. If she is at all interested in this option, she needs to start with her GC now so that she can get all her ducks in a row.</p>
<p>“27” in relation to her very high GPA indicates that she did not prepare for ACT, at least not as seriously as for her classes tests / exams. Her chances will improve greately with 32+ and she needs to apply to schools that are known for good Merit packages. Re-taking over and over without additional prep. seems to be waste of money and time, IMO. My own D (pre-med). was on full tuition Merit award in UG, but she has received very different amounts at each school. While Merit award was not her criteria #1 for choosing, it just happened that she decided to attend the one that gave her the most (we were very thankful). Look for state and also some private colleges.<br>
Her job whatever it is and if she is able to get any position at all will bring a bit of pocket change, nothing serious to contribute to cost of her education. Her most important job that can seriously contribute is to get her ACT higher and to choose the UG with the best Merit package.
I would not recommend CC as they have very limited resources (not sure if they even have Merit awards) and might not be the cheapest UG option at all. Best wishes to the very hard working kid, medicine definitely needs these type!</p>
<p>Parents are together. Mom is my husband’s sister, who lets husband make all the financial decisions. Neither of them attended college. </p>
<p>I truly appreciate all the advice given. I will talk to her about all the options given.</p>
<p>She has been taking more practice tests. We only have the one score and she was terrified for that test.<br>
Hoping the second went better due to less nerves. When do they get the April scores?</p>
<p>ACT of 28 will get her the $15,000 per year scholarship at UA Birmingham, but that still leaves about $10,000 per year of other costs for an out of state student.</p>
<p>the rest of her costs probably won’t be $10k…and if she applies early to UAB, they might throw in some extra money. She will probably have to work part-time for pocket money and work summers to help with gaps, but this would work. </p>
<p>UAB is very good for the health sciences…it has a high ranking med school on campus. It’s in a big city, so nearby jobs are available. Five Points is a popular hangout and there are lots of shops and restaurants there for student jobs. It’s within walking distance.</p>
<p>There is also a major airport within a 5 minutes from the school. </p>
<p>She needs to get her ACT or SAT as high as possible. Another option is Miss State …very generous to OOS kids.</p>
<p>Unless her scores really jump, I would say that her stats are more likely suited for nursing than med school. The ACT is a predictor for the MCAT, and her present score doesn’t bode well for the MCAT. But, nursing is a great career and she’d have the option to become a Nurse Practioner. </p>
<p>UAB also has an honors nursing program which is VERY good. I’d look into that.</p>
<p>Il Aunt- applause to you for being such a great Aunt and sister in law.</p>
<p>Two quick suggestions- are there other siblings? Sometimes there are comments which go down better depending on the source. If your SIL and BIL did not attend college, they may perceive questions from you as being critical or judgmental… whereas there may be another sibling or cousin in the mix who can be a more neutral go-between. And someone else in the mix who may be able to write a check for a test fee or application now and again- spread the misery across the family, y’know?</p>
<p>Second, try a quick search of her local newspaper (if it’s online and has a search function) for local organizations which sponsor local kids. I’m not suggesting scholarships- although that’s certainly possible even though the local ones are small potatoes given the amount of effort required. But more like Community Chest or religious organizations which have a war chest for small grants. I was on the board of one such organization for a while- we had a donor who had attended college via the GI Bill and was super generous when he heard about a kid who might not make it to college due to finances. He wasn’t mega wealthy-- but could always be counted on for a few hundred dollars a couple of times a year for different kids. He paid travel expenses, application fees, lab fees, other things that financial aid wouldn’t cover. So my point is there may be an organization in your nieces community that can help bridge the gap between what she needs to get launched.</p>
<p>Thanks for an inspiring story- your family is lucky to have you.</p>
While this is great, make sure that these earnings are not sitting in the bank when it comes time to fill out the FAFSA. Otherwise, they will assess that at a larger percentage than if it is in a 529 account.<br>
Others, please chime in on the best way for her to save for college costs. Can she set up her own 529?</p>
<p>“She has been taking more practice tests.”
-My advice is to focus on math. Others are not very possible to improve. Take timed math practice test and go over every single mistake, understand what you did wrong and what is correct way to do the problem. Then do it again. As long as she is familiar with format of other secitons, it is not practical to expect improvemet in score. Reading just reflects the way one reads. English is more or less your grammar, science is a bit slower reading section, there is no science in science section of ACT. Math is different because most of material is from middle school, it needs to be re-freshed. Math could be improved considerably in very few hours.</p>
<p>I agree with Miami’s tips about going over math practice tests. However, I strongly disagree that math is the section that a student can most likely improve.</p>
<p>For the ACT, practicing the SR section will help a student learn how to read the charts to find the answers. </p>
<p>Practicing the English sections will help a student do better there as well. My son tutored his best friend in the English section and that kid’s E score went from a 23 to 32. There is room for lots of improvement in that section. This kid’s composite went from a 25 to a 31…which gave him free tuition to his flagship. </p>
<p>For the SAT, learning Vocab words can help a lot. Also studying idioms and other grammar rules, which is why practicing those sections and reviewing wrong answers and why they were wrong is so important.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t make any judgement about a student’s suitability for med school based on “low” SATs.</p>
<p>I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that if this family doesn’t prioritize education financially, they don’t prioritize it in other ways. SAT scores, particularly CR and writing can be hugely influenced by things like how much a parent read to their child, how much they’ve been exposed to literature and read on their own, how savvy they are about presenting strategies, whether they signed their child up for an SAT prep course, etc . . </p>
<p>I work in an environment with lots of people whose parents weren’t able or willing to support their education. Many of these kids worked hard in high school, got good grades, but needed the experience of college to close the gap in their scores. I don’t see any reason to assume that this girl who is clearly motivated and hard working won’t do the same.</p>
<p>If she wants to go to nursing, and then go to med school from there, great. Or if a nurse is actually what would make her happy, but I don’t see any reason why a bright motivated 17 should be told to “settle”.</p>
<p>Are there any schools where she could commute? From home, if her parents would be okay/support that, or from your house if you are able/willing–and live in her home state?
Cutting out the room/board/dorm will knock costs down a lot. I’m thinking state schools.</p>
<p>Any school where she’d have to fly/drive long distances will add expense and logistical issues, unless your sister-in-law will help with that.</p>
<p>Re: Pitt–I wouldn’t bother unless her scores go way, way up. My D had stats a notch or two up and was offered 10k/year, which made the cost around 25k/year (including travel, board, room, books, etc). Even with full tuition, Pitt’s living costs would be higher than what she can borrow. I don’t think they or anyone else offers many ‘full rides’ anymore–and the ones that do are highly competitive!</p>
<p>She’s in a tough spot if her parents make a good amount of money, she will not get much/any grants & it’s hard to get merit that gets costs down to 6k-8k year (amount she could borrow/earn working part time).</p>
<p>A state school where she’d be able to graduate a semester early due to her APs might be the most economical…</p>
<p>Was just checking out the ‘working’ colleges another poster upstream gave a link for.
Check out Blackburn College–it looks like your niece might be able to qualify for significant merit there with slightly higher ACT. And it is in Ill, though not near Chicago–still, potentially easier/cheaper than someplace she’d have to fly. Don’t know anything about Blackburn, but worth checking into.</p>
<p>I was curious, as the other ‘working’ college often require a student to be low-income (ie, Berea) or else they are actually pretty pricey & offer little merit/ financial aid apart from the on-campus required/paid job (ie, Warren Wilson). But Blackburn sounds interesting!</p>
<p>There are other siblings of her mother but maybe only one who could give any money at all towards a test. It’s hard to ask people for money when they see her dad spending money on himself that could be spent for this purpose. </p>
<p>Agree that the math is the area the needs the most improvement (24). She had reading of 30, science of 27, English 26 and a 10 or 11 in writing. My S (34 in math) could probably help her as soon as his APs are over. </p>
<p>We do know that she should not have funds in her own personal account at year end. </p>
<p>She may have to adjust her career goals - I think there are a lot of career options she hasn’t thought about yet, still in medicine but a little more financially feasible - but I am not willing to have her give up her dream at this point. </p>
<p>We do not have any state schools she could commute to. The schools in Chicago would be at least 90 minutes each way on a good day (traffic) BUT you all have made me add to my list of ideas a school where there is family she could stay with in lieu of room and board. There is an excellent candidate but no idea if they would be willing. I would have her move in with me in a minute but her parents are minutes away; no monetary benefit to her living with at our place.</p>