I am in need of some serious advice in regards to my current situation as a high school senior. Firstly, I decided long ago that I complete my undergraduate studies at an in-state university. I came to this conclusion after seeing that the out-of-state tuition rates for a lot of public universities would be about twice the price compared to in-state. Thus, I applied to the top three universities in my state as an early applicant, University of Tulsa, Oklahoma University, and Oklahoma State University, all of which accepted me. My parents insist that I should be able to attend college for free, or at least at a low cost and they are unable to provide me any sort of financial aid for my education. I understand where they are coming from with this and I have been trying to find a means of doing this for about two months. Now, let me state the facts of my financial situation: my EFC is 0, I am one of eight children, GPA is 3.3 UW, 24 ACT, 4 AP classes total, no EC’s besides working since 9th grade, and very little service hours. Thus, my main issue which each of these schools is finding a means of paying for my education without relying on merit-based financial scholarships. I am, however, retaking the ACT this April and will be studying for this test rigorously to improve my chances of receiving the general scholarships at these schools. (I have provided the links to these scholarships below by their respective schools). My main choice, TU, is a private university and the price of tuition is twice as much compared to the state universities I mentioned. However, I have fallen in love with this school for reasons such as its proximity to my family, which live in Tulsa, it’s comparatively small student body (about 3,000), and most of all it, it has a level of sophistication well above the other universities in Oklahoma ( urban dictionary refers to it as the “Harvard of the midwest” lol.) TU, I feel, is my best choice because I will be able to thrive better in my home city, the small student population will also help me feel more comfortable, the academic rigor is higher than that compared to OU and OSU, and I will have greater research opportunities available (plan on attending medical school). I know that I will do great at either of these schools but I am desperate to attend TU because I feel that, overall, it is a better school to place on a medical school CV.
- My main reason for this post is to find advice in regards to my financial situation and how I should effectively reduce the price of college.
Thank you in advance for any constructive advice!
Don’t worry about Medical School. A degree from any of these schools with a TOP GPA, and a great MCAT score will be fine.
I’m going to be honest…unless TU throws a ton of money to you, it is not affordable. The school is expensive as you noted, and they do not guarantee to meet full need.
Re retaking the ACT in April…you won’t even have the results before you need to make a matriculation decision by May 1. Will these colleges even accept the April ACT for,scholarship consideration for the 2016-2017 academic year?
At this point, you need to wait and see what your actual financial aid turns out to be.
If it is not sufficient to attend these schools now…here are some options…and you would not be the first to need to do this.
- Can you commute to a community college? If so, go there and get your general education courses out if the way. It will be less costly. Then transfer to one of your four year public universities to finish your bachelors.
- Work full time and attend college part time. Yes, it will take you longer to finish your undergrad degree....but you won't be the first student who has had to work his way through college this way.
Have you gotten Financial aid information about what the state schools are willing to give you? I understand your interest in the private school but it seems unlikely to be realistic for you. You might want to meet with your high school guidance counselor and together come up with a financial aid plan. Try to exhaust all possible scholarships. There are some that are obscure, others that earmark students in certain regions, others you have to compete for. But even with success, a private school is unlikely for you. I would say to not under-estimate the credit given to students for working to help support their families. It isn’t an EC but it is very important-as important when colleges look at credentials–but you have already applied so that advice is meaningless-except as it applies to scholarship applications. if you want to go to med school, don’t collect debt at the undergraduate level since med school is expensive.
Yes, each of these universities will accept the score from any ACT taken prior to April 31. Also, I just received my scholarship award from TU which is only eleven thousand.
Thank you for the advice, great insight. So far I have only received financial aid information from TU which is only eleven thousand. I have already been looking at various scholarships like you mentioned. For example, I applied to the Gates Millennium Scholarship earlier this year.
Well…wait and see what your financial,aid is from the other colleges…and prep for that ACT well.
But really…how will you KNOW your financial aid situation before May 1 with an April ACT testing? You won’t.
Multiple threads combined
Why, then, are you retaking the ACT if you don’t want merit aid?
Merit aid is based on test scores and GPA and is not based on your finances.
And as far as medical school is concerned, you’re look at fees of $200K to $300K and there are no grants or scholarships. It’s loans and your own monies.
Wait to see what offer you get.
Can you copy/paste the NPC results from your schools?
Can you live at home if you go to U of Tulsa? That will save $10,000 at least. What is the $11k from Tulsa? Does it include your Pell grant and loan? Is it all a grant from the school? It actaully sounds like it is the $5800 pell and $5500 loan, and youll get that at each of the schools, so it is really nothing extra from Tulsa. Are there any Oklahoma grants for low income residents?
How much is each school?
@“aunt bea” I understand that retaking the ACT contradicts with my statement of seeking alternatives to merit-based scholarships. I am simply taking the ACT again to improve my chances with merit-based scholarships, although my main focus this late in high school is to find alternatives to merit-based scholarships.
@twoinanddone TU requires all freshman and sophomore to live on campus. The letter I received today simply states that it is an academic scholarship award, it does not mention anything about the pell grant or any sort of loan. Also, yes there are Oklahoma grants for low income residents, I am now looking into these, thanks.
Sorry @mom2collegekids, what are the NPC results your’e referring to?
Good if it is a scholarship. Then you will also qualify for another $5800 Pell grant and can take $5500 in student loans (at a minimum; you might also qualify for Perkins loans but that’s up to each school). So at Tulsa you are up to almost $23k. How much do you need. While living on campus is preferred, sometimes they’ll make exceptions if they only way you can attend is to live at home.
On each college website, they have a Net Price Calculator. Run each one with your parents financial info and paste the results.
When you have a full Tulsa financial aid package, scholarship, grants, loans, work study, etc., if it looks like it is doable minus the room and board, then talk to them about the requirement to live on campus. Oftentimes schools that have that requirement are willing to waive it for students whose parents live within a certain radius of the school. And even if they don’t have that as an option, you can always appeal to them to make an exception.
@mom2collegekids The University of Tulsa direct cost is 50,000. My total grants and scholarships amount is 24,600 which I believe includes my 11,000 scholarship. Here’s a link to this years scholarships at TU although they do not list the specific amounts, https://admission.utulsa.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/university-undergraduate-scholarships/ .If the total of 24,600 does include my current scholarship, it leaves a gap of 25,400 for me to find finances for and I have been advised by my parents to not take out any loans.
The University of Oklahoma direct cost is 23,700. My total grants would come to 12,400 after Oklahoma’s Promise and various grants. The scholarship awards are not included but here’s the link to this year’s general scholarships at OU, http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/recruitment/scholarships/ScholDescription_15.16_res.pdf
Oklahoma State University has a direct cost of 23,300. My total grant come to 14,400 including the Oklahoma’s Promise and various grants. The scholarship awards are also not included but here’s the link, http://financialaid.okstate.edu/sites/default/files/PDF/In-State%20Scholarships%2016-17.pdf
@twoinanddone Here are the exact figures and I know that beggars can’t be choosers, but I would thrive better if I lived on campus while at TU.
@ThomasRipley
You don’t want to take out loans. Where do you think the gap between your aid and the money you receive from the colleges will come from?
Do the net costs you put above for the OK public universities include the $5500 Direct Loan? Do,they include your Pell Grant? If not…you are very close to having enough to attend these schools.
TU is unaffordable.
@thumper1 yes the net costs above include the pell grant.
Well if the Pell is included…then even with the $5500 Direct Loan, you would still be short almost $10,000.