Non-traditional, parent student... I need help! (Reposted in the right forum)

Transfer Students
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<p>Hello all. Hopefully you all can help me. I know this is long but I really need some help! I am pretty well versed on selecting schools based on financial aid variables, but it's choosing a school that is right for me that I am having a lot of trouble with. I'm not worried about my stats or chances or whatever because I'm too far from the finish line to really know what my transfer GPA will be, and I never took any HS aptitude tests or anything. I'm a working adult and many years have passed since I got my diploma, so my transfer application will be evaluated differently anyway. I'll give you my background, and hopefully you all can help me. I feel sort of overwhelmed.</p>

<p>I am a 25 (26 in March) y.o. single mother of a 3 year old. I'm currently working on my A.S. in Paralegal Studies and my Associate of Arts degree. I am beginning my search early because I like to have an idea of the direction of my goals, as well as because between work, full-time school, and my son, I need all the time I can get to make sure I make the best decision.</p>

<p>I live in Florida currently, and I despise it here, absolutely detest it, and I'm determined to move up north, closer to my family and where my kind-a weather's at. I'm attending a respected-for-the-Southern-region community college. The states I'm looking in are CT, DC, MA, MD, NY, PA, and VA. What I am looking for is a smaller school (well, I'm accustomed to UF, so really anything less than like, 30,000 students is pretty small for me... UF has about 45,000), but most preferably a liberal arts college or private college that will allow me to develop a close relationship with my professors. A large(r) population is all right as long as my professors are accessible to me. </p>

<p>I understand that at many of these schools, there is not a large sized (or any) peer group for people my age, and that's okay with me. I am more concerned about getting the most for my money and an awesome education, the best I can possibly get. Greek life is totally not my scene, and I'd prefer not to attend a school where there is a lot of partying and such, but that's a plus and not a deal-breaker. Other pluses are good public schools in the area for my son, who will be in elementary school by that time, and safe and quiet surroundings with nature/outdoor-based activities for us to participate in together. Lower costs of living are in-between mandatory and important, as I am a single mom, but if the school is in an expensive area with public transportation that allows me to commute in from a lower-cost-of-living area, that's totally fine (I know Boston is supposed to be crazy-expensive). Schools with part-time options are great but not mandatory. I am not cutthroat or competitive in any way and would prefer an environment where my classmates are supportive and helpful, not ripping pages out of my textbooks or trying to sabotage a research project... that would make me really anxious and stressed. I'm just smart, and driven, and want to make the most of my abilities, not prove how much better I am than everyone else.</p>

<p>I'd like to major in Public Health, Health Science, Allied Health, Human Bio/Bioethics, or some other program with similar focus (NOT Health Administration - I want a strong bio and or chem/pharm core with <em>exploration</em> in the other aspects of health care, such as ethics, economics, law and policy, etc). I am also looking at schools that offer a Student-Designed Major program. It is important that I am not pushed aside or put on the back burner just because I am not a grad student or the professors are too busy with their own research to really put much effort into their teaching. If it matters, my end goal is to get into a top 50 law school and get a dual JD/MPH degree. I'm not really sure how to tell what the quality of undergrad health/science departments are or how these schools will fit with the aforementioned criteria. These are the schools I have looked into thus far, and so if anyone could help me out, or suggest others (and why) I would be most appreciative. Sorry that this is so long, but I really need the help because my education is a huge investment and life-changing experience for not only me, but my son as well.</p>

<p>U Virginia
College of William and Mary
U of Richmond
James Madison U
Swarthmore College
Villanova U
Dickinson College
George Washington U
American U
Johns Hopkins U
U Connecticut
Connecticut College
Boston U
Mt. Holyoke College
Skidmore College
Cornell
NYU (not sure how I feel about NYC... will most likely abandon this one)
Syracuse U
Ithaca College
Rensselaer Polytechnic
U Rochester
Hobart & William Smith Colleges
Union College
UMass - Amherst
Northeastern U
Tufts U
Brandeis U</p>

<p>My "absolute" safeties are in-state schools that I have no doubt I could be accepted into: UF, Stetson University, and U of South Florida, if I can't get in anywhere out of state.</p>

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<p>Scratch gwu and american off your list. The cost of living is high and anywhere affordable will be unsafe and/or have crappy schools.
I’m also a non-traditional parent student (30), married though, who has lived in DC and surrounding suburbs for 5 years.</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot. I also posted this in the college search forum and that same sentiment was echoed by someone over there, as well as my mom (who said I wouldn’t like DC but couldn’t tell me why, just that she knew me as her daughter and that I just wouldn’t like it). Did you look for schools in areas other than DC?</p>

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<p>I couldn’t look at schools out of the area due to wife’s career. Once I got into Maryland (gwu was backup), we doubled down and bought the house, but that’s only because our combined income (mostly hers) and my ability to stay at home for the first year after our daughter was born has allowed us to afford into a safe neighborhood with good schools (actually about 100 yards from elementary school). </p>

<p>If I were in your position I would have cast a much wider net like your are doing. In fact schools in the midwest like UIUC, Iowa, or Purdue (though they don’t take aerospace transfers) would have been great choices for me. Daycare in the dc area starts at ~1000 a month for home based, with typical licensed centers starting at 1200. 1 bedroom apartments in anywhere decent start at 1600.</p>

5

<p>Those that have a decent sized graduate student body, are likely to have housing and resources that you can use. If you select a school that does not, it means you are pretty much on your own on those things. I would look on grad student blogs to check out what’s out there in terms of day care and other things you will need for your child.</p>

<p>You say you have the financials under control. Many of the schools you have listed do not meet 100% of need for all or even most of the students, and those that may make that guarantee often do not for transfer students or non traditional students with special needs (like a dependent). If money is not an issue for you, then, that’s one thing but if it is, that is a major focus.</p>

<p>You have UMass and Holyoke on your list, but not Smith which has a program for students like you that is well known and highly regarded. You might want to check it out. </p>

<p>It might be a good idea to look closely at those schools very close to where family lives as that can be a valuable resource with a child in the picture.</p>

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<p>If you can swing sufficient financial aid, Bryn Mawr always has a “class” of what they call McBride Scholars, created for older, adult students who for whatever reason, did not complete a bachelor’s degree right out of high school. McBride Scholars also have the option of taking classes either full-time or part-time. </p>

<p>Bryn Mawr is a small LAC in a suburb of Philadelphia, but it’s all women, so I don’t know if it fits your bill. It is, however, in a consortium with Swarthmore (and Haverford), so you could easily take classes there if you chose to. And as far as competitiveness, nobody is allowed to talk about grades (part of the grand philosophy of the school), classes are small, and both the student body and professors are very supportive.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the input guys! I can’t believe it is so expensive to live in DC… my eyes almost fell out of my head. $1600 a month could get you a three bedroom house in a nice neighborhood, where I live. Incredible. Daycare is like, $500/mo tops. Craziness!</p>

<p>As far as the schools that don’t cover 100% need, I am obviously not going to be applying to all of those schools on my list - those are all of the schools that had the academic program that I wanted and that I am considering. I can only choose one school, and because I don’t really have a “top” choice (there are a bunch of places I’d <em>love</em> to attend) I plan to accept whichever one offers the best financial aid package. I’d like to save the majority of my debt for law school, obviously, but at the same time have to balance that with my desperation to get out of this soul-sucking state (my personal feelings) and a strong undergrad education and small class size (I hate feeling like a number). My EFC is zero, which is great if a school is truly need-blind, but not so great in other aspects, too. This is exactly why I’m casting a wide net, as another poster put it. I don’t think there’s any real way to predict which school is going to give you the best financial aid package, especially with such variables as non-traditional age, a dependent, a transfer, no SAT/ACT scores, and so on. I am accustomed to living on about $8/hr, so I am pretty much a master at living frugally - I had one job in which I made $10.25 and had no idea what to do with the extra money, so I just ended up saving it. As long as most of my academic need is met, taking out a few small loans would be okay, I think.</p>

<p>Also, I have not factored housing into my decision at all. From my time living in Gainesville (where UF is) I guess I’m pretty much just used to finding somewhere close to campus and walking, using my car only when necessary. Now that I think about it, on campus housing would be awesome, I just know it’s pretty rare for schools to have housing in which children are allowed. </p>

<p>Jonah will be in elementary school (he’s 3 right now) by the time I transfer, so daycare is not an issue; however, he does have special needs as he has sensory integration and communication issues. We have a program here called Early Intervention, in which children with disabilities enroll in public school at age 3 and spend their entire school day with specialists and occupational/behavior therapists working with them as they engage in a pre-k curriculum. Is anyone aware of any state-run programs similar to that in CT, MA, MD, NY, PA, VA? I am not sure if he will continue to need special services as he gets older, but right now that is information that I do need to know. I was planning on looking into that on my own, but if anyone has any leads, that’d be great. </p>

<p>I am really considering focusing mainly on an all-woman colleges, as they seem to be much more understanding of a student-with-a-dependent’s needs.</p>