finished junior year today, and as such I have a pretty good idea of where I stand on my rankings and such. Seeing that this is so, I would like to start narrowing my choices of colleges, as well as add new ones (year did not go as planned). Here is a little about me:
-GPA:3.26
-ACT:27
-Underrepresented minority
-First Generation student
-Volunteerism/community service:50-100 hrs (plan on more)
-Work: 1 year at grocery store
-Low income (EFC~0)
-3 AP classes so far (4 more next year): AP Psych, Ap stats, AP physics, AP fed gov, AP english, AP european history, --APUSH (only APUSH Psych and Physics were taken this year)
-Honors classes: 4
-AP Scores: AP bio: 5; AP psych: 5; APUSH: 4
-Tonight I am going to costa rica and volunteering at a turtle research station (self funded, possibly good hook for essay?)
-Top 15%-25% at school (percents bot accessible unless requested from counselor)
-Interested in becoming High school Biology Teacher (double major in biology and secondary education)
-The schools I am most intensely looking at right now are Loyola University Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (bot instate), University of Iowa, Indiana University, ASU (Arizona State), University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
What do you think, do i look good for most of the schools on my list? And if you would, try to suggest some schools that would be a good fit for me, considering my scores, gpa, and financial situation. Thank you in advance.
Take off all of the OOS publics. They won’t be affordable.
Run the NPC for UIUC, Loyola-Chicago, and another ILL public.
I’m concerned that you will have NO affordable schools based on that list.
Run the NPCs for DePauw (not DePaul)…and Loyola Maryland.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ indicates that you meet the automatic full tuition scholarship threshold for several schools (Alabama State, Arkansas - Monticello, Howard, Prairie View A&M). You may be able to cover the remaining cost with a Pell grant, federal direct loan, and some work earnings. A higher ACT or SAT score may add more scholarships to consider.
For other schools, check their net price calculators to get an idea of need-based financial aid.
@mom2collegekids Well, I left out a few details that may help a bit for affordability. I plan on applying for the MTIP grant (5000 for minorities who wish to become teachers), the TEACH grant (5000 for teachers who will teach in diverse low income schools), MAP funds (5000 for all Illinois students), so cost is more or less covered for UIUC ( LUC is so expensive though, I would still need a bit more aid). Do you think stat wise I could get into the schools I listed?
Are these grants assured or competitive? If competitive, you may not get them, so make sure that you have safety plans that do not require getting the competitive grants.
Look at the Common Data Set for UIUC, http://www.dmi.illinois.edu/stuenr/ section C9. Your ACT is near the bottom part of their applicant pool and, assuming your GPA is not in the top quarter of your class, so is your GPA. That’s a solid reach. Also, it looks like your total scholarships don’t cover the $30K to attend, even with a Pell Grant and Direct Loan.
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plan on applying for the MTIP grant (5000 for minorities who wish to become teachers), the TEACH grant (5000 for teachers who will teach in diverse low income schools), MAP funds (5000 for all Illinois students), so cost is more or less covered for UIUC ( LUC is so expensive though, I would still need a bit more aid).
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that may be fine for the IL instate PUBLICs. It is NOT enough for those OOS publics, so take those off.
As for LUC, run the Net Price Calculator. My concern though is that WHATEVER aid you’d be awarded from LUC (besides the Pell grant) would be taken away once you got those OTHER grants.
Do this for LUC…run the NPC with your parents. Then with the results call or visit LUC with the NPC results in hand. As them what will happen if you get those OUTSIDE grants. Will they reduce THEIR aid or not.
Also run the NPC for DePauw (not DePaul) and Loyola Maryland. Loyola Maryland has a lot more aid to give and promises to meet need (at least the last time I checked, it did)
Bump (I was out of the country for a while and want to continue where I left off)
@“Erin’s Dad” I didn’t state it, but I do plan on taking the ACT again before scores are do, and my GPA is actually in the top 20% of my class, so if I got a higher score on the ACT I feel I would be a match, plus the school I want to enter at UIUC (education) and is not nearly as competitive as CS or Engineering and has a ACT range of 25-28 last time I checked, so I think even without re taking I would be pretty well off.
Can anyone suggest schools in Illinois that I would fit in at financially and statistically? If I can help it I would like to stay in Illinois.
You should look at University of Southern Indiana. It’s a small, but good school. Tuition is already pretty low, and you may be elligible for scholarships.
@ChiefMonger He’s OOS for USI. How would he afford it? OOS tuition may “seem” low, but it’s not low for a low income person. The cost after merit would be over $20k, and he wouldn’t get aid for most of those costs.
He’d be better off attending an ILL public where he’d get IL state aid as well.
0 EFC
GPA:3.26
-ACT:27
Looks like he might get some of the OOS portion off, but he’d still be on the hook for 120% of tuition plus room, board, books, etc. Fed aid isn’t going to cover that
What are some of the least expensive IL publics? Biology is a staple at colleges…and of them will be fine for a bio teacher.
Four-year publics in IL
Chicago State University
Eastern Illinois University
Governors State University
Illinois State University
Northeastern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
University of Illinois system
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Springfield
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University-Quad Cities
I’m trying to remember which of these (other than UIUC) another IL parent recommended at being quite good
yet lower cost.
For each of the schools suggested by mom2collegekids, google the Common Data Set for that school, and scroll down to section C, where you can compare your stats to those of the admitted students. That’s how you figure out which schools are reach, match and safety.
Talk to your teachers, especially the younger ones who aren’t too many years out of school and are from your state. Find out where they went to college and how they liked their programs. Ask for their advice and recommendations.
@Thisdudehere Do you get healthcare thru your state or does your parents’ employer provide? If the state of IL provides your health insurance, then you may need to stay instate to avoid the added cost of a couple thousand to buy health insurance outside IL.
Is there a public Univ that you can commute to from home?
How much FOR SURE will you get from IL state grant? Is $5k assured???
You’ll get:
5700 Pell
5500 fed loan
11,200 <= that’s not going to cover much
plus…
maybe 1500 work study
maybe 1000 SEOG
maybe 1000 Perkins loans
maybe another 3500 in fed aid
plus…
$5k in MAP aid <= is this assured?
Still very short to cover a school where you “sleep away.”
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I plan on applying for the MTIP grant (5000 for minorities who wish to become teachers), the TEACH grant (5000 for teachers who will teach in diverse low income schools),
MAP funds (5000 for all Illinois students),
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How easy is it to get those MTIP and TEACH grants?
That MTIP amount is not assured:
The number of scholarships made through this program, as well as the individual dollar amount awarded, are subject to sufficient annual appropriations by the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor.
The TEACH grants are “up to $4000” per year.
@mom2collegekids
I just recently learned that Loyola does not participate in the MTIP program, so those funds can be scratched off from any financial aid package from Loyola (UIUC participates though). The 5k in MAP funds is almost assured, for it goes to those first have have high financial need. As long as I fill out my FAFSA as soon as possible I will be good. The TEACH grant is not very hard to get, but the commitment that it requires (5 years of teaching low income high need) sees a lot of people fail to meet the commitment and convert the grant to unsubbed stafford loans. There is one public I could commute to (Western Ill- Quad Cities), but it is a very new school having opened in 2012, and is still very rough and unproven.
My healthcare is covered through the state as of now, but as soon as my brother turned 18 they dropped him, so I figure they might do the same to this winter. I think this was probably because the program was only for minors, so I will likely have state covered healthcare under a new program since my mother moves jobs a lot. One of the larger costs at Loyola is their healthcare plan, which under certain circumstances one can be waived out of.
I also just remembered that my mother said that if she gets a lot back during tax season (she normally does) she might be able to throw some my way, so depending on how good she does, I could have possible an extra 1k-2k a year.
@thisdudehere In another thread, another person posted this…
SIU-Edwardsville has a well-regarded School of Education, gives merit and has special funding for $0 EFC, and is in a much more attractive location than many of the other directionals. SIUE used to be a commuter school, but it has become more residential over the last decade.
https://www.siue.edu/financialaid/scholarships/institutional.shtml
You should consider applying as a back up school.
Talk to your mom about insurance. You can’t get insurance waived at your school if your mom doesn’t have you covered thru her job. If she can’t afford to add you (which could cost her a couple thousand or more), then you will have to purchase the school insurance.
It is very unlikely that Loyola will be affordable. You can try and see, but it is a financial reach for a 0 EFC, particularly one w/o top stats.
more about SIU-Edwards
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Edwardsville is a nice area and town, too. Plenty of places to shop and eat, hang out, and St. Louis is only 15 -20 minutes away, I think. My husband went to school there, way back when, and loved it. He lived on campus in a university-owned apartment. One of my D's high school friends, a year older than her, just accepted an offer there for nursing school because they offered her a full ride scholarship. <<<<
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At a minimum, you should apply as a safety.
You do know that you’ll get fee waivers for your apps, right?
SIU-E would be a good safety and you may be admitted to the Honors College.
However, since your EFC is zero and you’re URM, what about St Olaf College? It’s looking for underrepresented minorities and meets 100% need, it’s excellent for biology and has education, it’s nationally ranked for the quality of teaching, and while your GPA is low for them, the ACT would be okay. Run the Net Price Calculator, but I think you’d be a student they want to attract, so I’d recommend you express interest (fill out their “request info” form, clcik on anything they send you, email them with questions that don’t have answers on the website already), and then apply.
You can also try Illinois Wesleyan, Drake, Earlham, Gustavus Adolphus, Lawrence, Beloit (the latter ones not in IL but in the Midwest). If you can leave the Midwest, Denison and Muhlenberg would likely be interested, too. Run the NPC for each of those but if the websites don’t ask for your test scores and GPA, assume it doesn’t include merit.
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