<p>I live on Long Island, have a 93 UW average, and a 95 W average. I'm a junior, and I'm taking my SAT in May, so I can't give that information now. Seeing the OOS cost, and how my parents have never saved money for a college fund for me, and have a hard time just paying for my sister when she's only at a community college now, the only way I could go to UCONN is by getting a scholarship. Sadly, only thing I have to go for me is my grades (which are nice, but not great =/), extra-curricular activities, and only around 30 or so community service hours. Should I bother apply?</p>
<p>The SUNY schools are nice, but I'm not really excited about going to one. And what's the point of making sure I kept my grades up, if I can't get it to pay off with a school i'll enjoy going to? >.<</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation. I don’t have any siblings in college, but my parents haven’t saved any real substantial money for me to go to college with. All my parents have is their retirement savings. I’m also an out of stater and got admitted to UCONN with no scholarship or aid offered from the university. This is what my folks told me: “Take out as many low interest loans from the government as you need. We are not paying thousands of dollars that we don’t have out of our own pockets.” So, paying for school is my responsibility. I can’t tell you what your folks’ll tell you, but just be prepared to apply for as many scholarship programs as you can. Write plenty of essays and enter many contests. If you feel that you can’t or won’t be able to pay back those loans when you graduate, maybe its best to stay in-state or apply to schools (out of state, too) that you are sure will offer you substantial financial assistance.</p>
<p>If you are concerned about money, SUNY Binghamton really is a very good school with excellent placement rates and starting salaries, that is why it is consistently rated a good value. Another highly rated SUNY is Geneseo.</p>
<p>We think UCONN is a great school and affordable for in staters but obviously more pricey for OOS’s. Every family has to make decisions based on what their circumstances/finances are. Just because it maybe seem more exciting to go out of state, graduating with alot of debt may not be worth it. Check out your state schools and at least include them on your list. It will give you options to choose from at decision time.</p>
<p>First, you need to keep up your grades even for the SUNY schools. If you end up going to a SUNY, you want to go to the best one (academically and the one in a location you want to be in). Big difference between Geneseo and Binghamton and some of the others. So the grade question shouldn’t be an issue. Your grades and test scores are also the key for scholarships. So keep studying!</p>
<p>Second, if there is NO money saved for college, then you really do need to look at this realistically. I found a great website, [Student</a> Loan Search - Federal and Private Loans | SimpleTuition](<a href=“http://www.simpletuition.com%5DStudent”>http://www.simpletuition.com) - it is a private loan finding website, but what I like is that it also tells you what you can expect your monthly payment to be and for how long (usually starting after you graduate). Might be a real eye opener for you.</p>
<p>My D got into UConn (also from Long Island) and it is her top choice out of the schools she has already been accepted to, including SUNY Albany and SUNY Buffalo. She is waiting to hear from Binghamton (kind of a reach), Delaware and American (which is probably going to be out of reach due to economics, and she knew that from the get-go). I go back and forth all the time about SUNY vs. OOS public – it really depends on the school because I want her to go to the best school she can get into yet not be in debt forever. And we have a nice chunk saved.</p>
<p>My advice is to: get the best grades you can and apply to a variety of schools - SUNY, OOS publics, privates. Academic safeties and schools that will be the least expensive (SUNY). With great grades and high SAT/ACT scores, there is merit aid at many schools - just look through CC and you will see how much merit aid students are getting! Work with your parents to fill out the FAFSA and CSS profile (wanted by some privates) and then see where the cards fall re: acceptances, aid, scholarships. </p>
<p>In additon, start applying online for private scholarships now! Even as a junior. FastWeb is just one site. Your guidance department can probably tell you about more.</p>
<p>You may also consider community college for a couple of years and then transfer to SUNY 4-year or somewhere else.</p>
<p>It’s great that you are thinking about this now. You need to be realistic. But, please keep studying. Will give you the most options. Good luck!</p>
<p>My daughter who is from NY applied to Uconn last year with the same exact GPA as you, 93 UW and 95W, she had a lot of leadership ec’s and a 1310/1600 SAT 1970/2400. UConn offered her a very generous 12,000 scholarship per year. The scholarship helped bring down the cost of tuition to not much more than a SUNY. She preferred UConn to the SUNY’s, she is not of fan of upstate NY. She ended up at a different university which also offered her a scholarship, although a smaller one. UConn can be a good alternative to the SUNY’s if you get a scholarship, study for the SAT’s and keep up your EC’s and hopefully you will have some options. It is definitely worth applying.</p>
<p>We are from Long Island and my son got into both UCONN and Geneseo…we are waiting on Binghamton and a few others…
Geneseo’s financial package was good.
I am waiting to see what UCONN will offer.
We are also waiting on Gettysburg…they claim to meet your financial need, so we will see…
Kalokozoo…Do well on your Sat’s and take AP’s its helps alot…</p>
<p>Our D was offered the 1/2 tuition OOS (12k) scholarship. We toured the campus already last Spring, but today, she’s going on an overnight visit w/ a friend who is a student there already. She’ll sit in on a couple classes tomorrow too.</p>
<p>My wife and I think UConn offers a great value for the level of students it attracts. It compares well w/ other private schools to which our D has been accepted - Stonehill, Quinnipiac - as far as average SATs, freshman retention rate, graduation rate, etc., yet those schools would cost 18-20k in tuition instead of 12k. We’re still strongly considering our own in-state school too tho - URI, which wasn’t as generous w/ in-state scholarships (just 3k off 10 = 7k). So we feel that for an extra 5k, UConn probably has a better rep than URI. Hopefully this weekend, D will get a feel for “is it for me?”.</p>