This is my first post on here, so my apologies if I forget to include anything.
Hi, I’m a junior in high school planning to major in Computer Science or Chemical Engineering (so far undecided) but I don’t have the best idea of what colleges to apply to. I’m white, I live in New York, and my mom lives off of disability benefits (11,007 dollars a year for my mom; father’s not in the picture). I want to get into the best college in or near New York I feasibly can with minimum loans. I’m willing to go three or four states away if the college is really a perfect match.
I suppose I’ll start with the bulleted info…
- 2040 SAT score
- 35 ACT score
- 93.20 unweighted GPA
- I've taken AP World History, AP Language and Comp., and APUSH (but I doubt I've earned higher than a 3 on the AP test)
- Next year I'll be taking AP AB Calc, AP CompSci, and AP Chemistry
- Most of my other classes are and have been honors
- I've been working most of this year at a trampoline park as a party host and a "Jump Patrol" (basically lifeguards for trampolines who say "no running" about 90 times a day). I work about 14 hours a week. All the money I've earned I'm saving up for college.
- Currently I have about 70 volunteer hours
- Sadly I have essentially no other EC's, but I hope my number of hours at work (which will be much higher over the summer obviously) will excuse that slightly.
- I'll be the second in my family to go to college after my 1 year older brother.
- My parents both dropped out of high school, but my mom went back to school and achieved her associate's.
- I also plan to work throughout college
Basically, I just want a respectable college with a nice community/campus willing to help me with financial aid/scholarships. I definitely want the best school available to me, but again I don’t have any money to spend that I don’t earn myself. For example, I was looking at RIT but I read on here that they were inaccessible for aid and had an awful community. I want to avoid accidentally going to a college like that without advance notice, and in truth I just need help narrowing my search. Could you guys help me out?
I’ll do my best to answer any questions for clarification, etc. Thanks so much!
A reach can be Columbia. NYU is supposed to be awful with financial aid too. A friend of mine chose to apply to Columbia over NYU mainly because of the FA aspect. A friend of mine who wants to transfer to RIT also is hesitant about money. It’s smart of you to look at the financials early.
Possibly look into NYU Poly (they’re different from actual NYU so the financial aid packages may be better), SUNY’s, CUNY’s, RPI, Cooper Union, and Rochester.
You could probably apply to some publics like the SUNY and maybe some privates like NYU in hopes of financial aid. Publics in New York will be more convenient in price and easier to get in. Apply to privates that are slightly weaker than your stats for aid. I’m not sure about specifics but u may be able to use college search tool on this web. Consider the parameters I pointed out, but I have no clue whether the schools I suggested are remotely similar to your stats, consider also talking to your counselor and fellow students and asking around.
Good luck! Luckily most publics don’t care much for EC and you can explain t situation to privates
Oh and don’t send in sat score unless mandatory the act score is just epic
Btw work is a good EC
Hahahaha thanks I was shocked when I finally got the score back last week. And thanks for the info, I’m hoping I’ll be able to swing a private like NYU with the extra money they have to throw away on a kid like me.
Since you’re in-state, you could get good merit aid from SUNY Stony Brook and CUNY CCNY, the 2 stronger science/engineering schools in the NY public university system. Definitely apply to the Macaulay Honors program for CCNY (if you decide to apply). It guarantees a full tuition scholarship, a study abroad grant, and a Macbook Pro.
Also, you should be focusing on schools that meet demonstrated need and schools where you qualify for full tuition or full ride scholarships.
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2014/09/15/colleges-and-universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need
Look for colleges on that list that are in the Northeast and have strong comp sci or mechanical engineering programs.
You must have some safeties on your list. Apply to a good range of instate colleges that are sure things.Include Stoney Brook and Buffalo at least for especially good depts and you could get a great package. Also there is the NY STate stem package if you agree to work instate for 5 years. Also NYU has been reported to give full packages to instate low income people so it could happen. However you have to prepare in advance to walk away from unaffordable packages. NYU also gives ruinous terrible packages to many.
For aid the privates will require income and asset info from both parents, so when you say father is out of the picture does that mean deceased? If not what is situation? Also the schools will want to know how you live with 11k. If assets are also low you should very much look at the Questbridge program. For Seniors, the College Match application opens at the end of the summer. It is additional work and essays but it brings colleges to the attention of the selective partner schools and it gives the student an opportunity of a full scholarship covering everything or if they don’t ‘Match’ the partner colleges still cover full need if you get accepted. Instead of limiting by distance think of travel time.
Dont’ make judgements on colleges from people who didn’t go there. I’m sure RIT isn’t awful for a great deal of students when it has what they want, or what is referred to as a good fit. Don’t make decidions on what other people may get in aid, only your personal financial situation and package matter. You can run the Net Price Calculator for each college, locate it on the webstie or google ‘NPC X college’.
If you info is accurate you will likely be eligible for
Pell 5,770 max
loan 5,500
TAP
amd whatever a uni awards you
The OP has an older brother who just been through the process. Where is he and why isn’t his college a good match for you?
You have to determine this by fit. Visit a lot of nearby colleges and see what you like
Maybe Stevens Institute, in Hoboken? NJIT or Fairleigh-Dickinson might offer you a decent aid package, also.
With your scores, Fairleigh Dickinson will give you a full tuition scholarship.