<p>Hi, Im 18 and a senior in high school and my parents were telling me last night that they won't cosign for me, because they think I will drop out and leave them with a big bill. Even though I get good grades, and Im the only person to pass my AP chem test they still think I am stupid and gonna be a failure just because my GPA isn't a 4.5. I'm going to apply for scholarships but I am horrible at writing (I got a 400 on the writing part of the sat) math and science are my strengths. So I think I will have to relay on student loans. So I was wondering if I need a cosigner. I plan to go for dentistry so CC is not a choice since most dentistry schools don't like them.</p>
<p>You don’t need a cosigner for federal student loans. But they are very limited - - the Stafford is $5500 for a semester. You will need a cosigner for private loans.</p>
<p>I also think you should re-think your bias against community colleges. If you spend two years at a community college and then transfer to a four-year college, you still have a bachelor’s degree from a four-year college. If anything, this practice is more common than it was a generation ago.</p>
<p>It’s true that it’s not as much fun to wear community-college insignia merchandise as it is to wear a Vanderbilt sweatshirt, but I don’t buy the argument that going to community college limits your future career options. Do you have data on this?</p>
<p>Where did you get this notion that “most dentistry schools don’t like them”? That’s just flat out wrong.</p>
<p>If you do well at a CC and then transfer to a good 4-year college, graduating from there with a high GPA, you will be in fine shape for admission to dental school. In fact, you will have the same chance as if you had attended the 4-year college for all 4 years. And you will have saved a ton of money, in the meantime!</p>
<p>Seriously, you need to get over this bias against CCs. They may well be your best chance at an affordable college education. Whether or not you have a co-signer – and you absolutely will need one for any private loans beyond the Stafford loans – you really can’t afford to take on more loans if you’re planning on dental school too.</p>
<p>btw, the maximum Stafford loan amount is $5,500 for the freshman year, not semester. And $31,000 total for an undergraduate.</p>
<p>
Oops. My bad. Glad you caught that. Don’t know where my head is at today.</p>
<p>I agree that you need to get over you feelings about CCs. Med and dental schools won’t care if you take your gen ed at a CC.</p>
<p>Med schools and dental schools don’t care if you start at a CC…</p>
<p>What are your Math+CR scores for the SAT?</p>
<p>You do NOT want big loans for undergrad because you’ll need big loans for dental school. You won’t be able to afford big dental schools loans AND big undergrad loans.</p>
<p>How much will your parents contribute each year?</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>What are your stats (include SAT breakdown) and your GPA?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>On holiday, perhaps?</p>
<p>Sorry, just couldn’t resist…:D</p>
<p>Sorry I was busy and forgot that I posted this
but anyways I read an article that said dentistry schools don’t like there requirements filled out by community colleges. It was written by a dentistry student (I think)
I don’t really have bias I just read an article.
I’m going trying to go to Towson or VCU since there both in reach (Don’t like UMBC and probably won’t get into UMCP)
and I was wondering if you could guess how much I will get from financial aid</p>
<p>About me:
Highest
2nd attempt 540 Reading 610 Math 400 Writing
3rd attempt 510 Reading 640 Math 360 Writing
only got to study a little taking one in October and will study alot
3.06 weighted GPA 2.92 unweighted
Dad makes $80,000 but my mom is unemployed and get disability something
(no extra money for college)
Majoring either in Biology or Biochemistry
My parents just told me they will cosign and that they were just mad at me
18 turning 19 in April
have a brother that will attend CC (same grade) at the same time
I have work release (I know bad choice but I thought i’d go crazy if I went through another full day)</p>
<p>And I was wondering if financial aid helps you more when you go to a more expensive school like VCU (because of out of state) then it will if you go to a cheaper one like towson.</p>
<p>Btw I will only consider going to VCU if I can get at least $10,000 off from financial aid and scholarships</p>
<p>You should try and take the ACT - you may score more favorably with that test.</p>
<p>I would caution against going to a school that will financially require you to take out more than the Stafford loans each year. You need to plan how much it will cost to get through dental school as well.</p>
<p>Financial Aid doesn’t generally increase if you go out of state … that is the whole point of in-state schools – they are more affordable because supposedly your parents have been paying state taxes and it is a benefit to stay in-state for the undergrad. OOS schools, especially publics, don’t have the funds to help much with grants or scholarships. (Your Stafford yearly limits are basically fixed no matter where you go, instate or OOS.) </p>
<p>Besides, a 3.0 GPA and middle of the road SATs (with a very low Writing) is <em>not</em> going to garner merit scholarships.</p>
<p>So the issue here is less if your parents will cosign now - it is whether or not you should take on that much debt (Staffords <em>plus</em> private cosigned loans).</p>
<p>If you are going to pursue dentistry school you should look for the best quality school which allows you the least amount in loans. You will likely need loans if you pursue dental school so get through undergrad inexpensively.</p>
<p>VCU is not going to give OOS students FA and your stats are probably not high enough for merit (if they give any)</p>
<p>Since you have dental school to borrow for, it’s silly to take out co-signed loans for undergrad. Besides…your parents may only qualify as co-signers the first year or two and then get rejected for years 3 & 4 because their credit gets hurt with co-signed loans on their records. At that point, you’d be a junior and have no means to pay. :(</p>
<p>you need to borrow as little as possible for undergrad since you’ll need to borrow for dental school. Forget about schools that will require fed loans AND co-signed loans…That is TOOOOOO much debt.</p>
<p>Who cares what some dental student wrote in some article. Dental schools don’t care if you start at a CC. Frankly, your bigger concern SHOULD BE that your stats are modest (especially your GPA) and if you continue with that kind of performance, then no dental school will consider you even if you go to a good university.</p>
<p>What is your home state?</p>
<p>Is it possible that what dental schools don’t like is students who attend four-year colleges, but take their pre-dental science classes (which I assume are biology, chemistry, organic chemistry and physics?) at community colleges or other open-enrollment colleges?</p>
<p>My wife faced this issue when she applied to medical schools a generation ago. She had graduated from a fancy, name-brand, selective university, but she hadn’t been a pre-med. She took her pre-med courses after graduation in night school while she worked during the days. A few medical schools (snooty, prestigious ones) wouldn’t accept her pre-med courses because they were from an open-enrollment night school. But a lot of medical schools did accept her course work, and she attended medical school at a leading public university.</p>
<p>Here’s why I ask. This seems very different to me from the case of a student who begins her undergraduate career in community college because she isn’t made of money, and then transfers later to a four-year college. I think–though I’ll admit I’m not an expert–that very few dental schools would hold that circumstance against you. And if you’re concerned that your community-college classes in biology and chemistry won’t receive respect because they’re community-college courses, you can, of course, take more advanced bio or chemistry after you transfer to a four-year college. That ought to address the don’t-get-no-respect problem.</p>
<p>My neighbor took calc, chem, & assorted other science courses while a student at UMich. Apparently, this is common practice for med & dent school hopefuls in order to preserve a high UM gpa. This young lady was accepted to UM’s dental school … AND … she is going for free compliments of the U.S. Army. She has to be a dentist for the army for a few years after she completes dental school, but she figures it’s more than worth it. She did have to go through basic training before beginning dental school … she’s no jock, and she did fine.</p>
<p>My friend is a CC chem prof. She has had several students go on to REALLY good 4 year schools (Georgetown, MIT, UM, Tufts).</p>
<p>I forgot to mention this, but I was also planing to get my dentistry school paid through the US Army.
And my parents have really good credit and make sure their credits always good. Will just my loan really make it bad?</p>
<p>I guess I shouldn’t go to VCU then…</p>
<p>I’m thinking about going to a CC, but will it cost more to go out of county, but still in state.</p>
<p>And I can at least get some small scholarships right?</p>
<p>" And if you’re concerned that your community-college classes in biology and chemistry won’t receive respect because they’re community-college courses, you can, of course, take more advanced bio or chemistry after you transfer to a four-year college. That ought to address the don’t-get-no-respect problem."</p>
<p>I think thats a good idea.</p>
<p>Is it possible that what dental schools don’t like is students who attend four-year colleges, but take their pre-dental science classes (which I assume are biology, chemistry, organic chemistry and physics?) at community colleges or other open-enrollment colleges?</p>
<p>I can see that happening. My son’s GF audited her orgo classes in the summer at a CC, so she’d be sure to do well in those classes at her regular university. </p>
<p>*
And I can at least get some small scholarships right?*</p>
<p>We have no idea whether you can get small scholarships. They are very hard to get and your stats are not high enough to compete well against other candidates. </p>
<p>When it comes to winning even small scholarships, you will be competing against students with 3.75+ GPAs and SATs of 2000+</p>
<p>Also… outside scholarships are often for only one year.</p>
<p>your writing SAT is especially low. Is English not your first language? Your writing score is in the 18 percentile. Your math is 83 percentile, and your CR score is 62 Percentile (which is also low).</p>
<p>Anyway…even if you plan on having the Army pay for your dental school, you don’t know yet whether you’ll change your mind about dentistry or the Army, and you don’t know if you’ll do well enough as an undergrad to get into dental school, so it’s not a good idea to take out a bunch of loans as an undergrad.</p>
<p>There is about a $30k limit total for undergrads for a reason.</p>
<p>Yes English is not my first language. and I thought a sat score over an 50 percentile was good, I’m not trying to go to great colleges my aim is at Towson, UMBC, and Frostburg.</p>
<p>As for dentistry I am sure I will not change my mind, my aunt is a dentist and she’s pretty rich and she has here own office, so she can even choose her schdule. Not only that I have a strong interest in biology and chemistry. I didn’t study at all for my Ap Chem test and was the only one to pass the test. I would have liked to go to medical school, but my cousin goes their and he says its like hell, on top of that many surgeons/doctors work an average of 72 hrs a week. So I’d rather be a dentist and have a flexible schedule. If not I will defiantly go somewhere else in the medical field.</p>
<p>Also my cousin (another one) got 100 less on the CR and 150 less on the Math section, but he got $5000 in scholarships.</p>
<p>Also towson is only about $8,000 a year. My parents said they will also rent me an apartment nearby.</p>
<p>It’s a great time to reconfigure how one interacts with parents. Be respectful and ask them what they want to see over the next school year. They may come back with a huge laundry list of things – and some may not be possible for you to meet. But you can still listen in a mature fashion and promise to work on those issues that seem to worry them the most. Even if they don’t want to change their minds on the loans, they can start to see and speak to you as a fellow adult (you have to lead that change by acting like one). </p>
<p>Next, I sure hope you will learn a whole lot more about career paths than MD or DDS. I don’t want anyone working on my mouth who is in that career path just because it pays well! There are lots of people who work as a nurse, X ray tech, radiology specialist, physical therapist or physicians assistant who don’t need as many years of schooling and who are doing needed work at a respectable pay grade. Some later decide to go onto medical school – others enjoy quitting at five p.m. and having some other great things in their lives. </p>
<p>I really liked the book “How to pay for college without going broke” by Khany. It can really help you and your parents understand how to navigate the system. MAny times parents are very afraid. They see that college is $20K+ a year and that is terrifying. Most don’t know that much of that can be broken down, spread out or reduced in many ways. What is tricky is that each expense path is individualized. What one family pays will be different than what another family pays.</p>
<p>And my parents have really good credit and make sure their credits always good. Will just my loan really make it bad?</p>
<p>Each year that your parents’ co-sign a loan, their credit rating takes a hit. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>2nd attempt 540 Reading 610 Math 400 Writing
3rd attempt 510 Reading 640 Math 360 Writing
only got to study a little taking one in October and will study alot
3.06 weighted GPA 2.92 unweighted</p>
<p>I thought a sat score over an 50 percentile was good, I’m not trying to go to great colleges my aim is at Towson, UMBC, and Frostburg.*</p>
<p>A SAT score that is “over 50 percentile” is NOT good for someone who will be eventually applying to dental (or medical) school. There is a correlation between SAT/ACT performance and DAT and MCAT performance. Many would argue that to expect to do well on those tests a student should be scoring (at least) in the 85th percentile on the SAT/ACT.</p>
<p>Towson</p>
<p>Test Scores
Middle 50% of
First-Year Students Percent Who
Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 490 - 580<br>
SAT Math: 490 - 590
SAT Writing: 500 - 580 </p>
<p>You probably will get accepted to Towson, but your scores aren’t likely high enough for merit scholarships. Those who get merit usually have scores within the top 25% of the school. While your math score is high for Towson, your reading and writing scores are low. </p>
<p>*
As for dentistry I am sure I will not change my mind, *</p>
<p>You may not change your mind, but if your college GPA and your DAT exam score is not high enough, you won’t get accepted.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to be negative. My H’s niece was a top student in high school and had very good SATs. She majored in math as a pre-med major. She graduated with a 3.7 GPA. She didn’t get into any of the med schools she applied to. So, at this point, you can’t know that you’ll get accepted to dental school especially since your stats are low.</p>
<p>Also my cousin (another one) got 100 less on the CR and 150 less on the Math section, but he got $5000 in scholarships.</p>
<p>Did your cousin have a higher GPA? Were these private scholarships? From where? Were these one-time only scholarships? It is not typical for a student with a 440 in Reading and a 490 in Math to get scholarships unless they weren’t only academic related. </p>
<p>Towson is in Maryland. Do you live in Maryland? </p>
<p>If your parents will pay for Towson (tuition, room, board, books) then that would be a good choice for you. I’ve forgotten if you’ve mentioned how much your parents will spend each year.</p>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>