I was thinking FSU. My S21 will be attending. He was accepted into the Honors Program and OOS tuition waiver. COA is around $18k plus expenses. Similar story. High GPA. Aced the English/Reading sections on the ACT but is math challenged. Composite 31 and no C’s on his transcript got the OOS tuition waiver. Essay got him into the Honors Program.
Definitely do Questbridge. Let them tell you no, not a guidance counselor. You can’t hit a home run if you don’t swing the bat.
Again, I am not real familiar with Questbridge, but I am really surprised a guidance counselor would say not to apply when it seems like almost everyone in counseling seems to push submitting a FAFSA.
The OP’s guidance counselor may have a reason or reasons not shared in this thread.
Anyone have thoughts on Berea College as a possible safety? I know almost nothing about it (yet), but it is pretty highly ranked (#33, above Centre College’s #52) on USNWR for LACs, and my D’s ACT is well above their 75th percentile.
Berea is very good academically, but it must appeal to your D…does it? Free tuition comes with the requirement that all students work 10-15 hours per week (there is a wide variety of jobs to choose from). Have her take a look at these quick facts: https://www.berea.edu/about/quick-facts/
Also, I spoke with the GC today, and it sounds like it was a misunderstanding. In fairness to both of us, the original conversation was almost a year ago and very quick, when we crossed paths on our way in/out of the school one day. I am correct that she didn’t know much about it at the time. She was echoing the concerns I’d expressed based on the questions I said were on the application and suggesting “maybe it’s not meant for people like you.” I admit that I probably took it the wrong way because I already had that concern. Since then she has learned more about it and agrees with you all that it’s probably well worth it to apply. She also feels confident my D can bring her scores up in M/S on the ACT and said she would give some tips if my D gives her more info on what strategies, if any, she has been using to study and while doing the test. Said she’d schedule a meeting with her to talk about that as well as a college list. So all of that is making me feel better today.
@Mwfan1921 Gosh, I had no idea - it almost sounds too good to be true. And really, why isn’t it a more well-known school? Is there a catch? I never hear anything about it. My husband just suggested it after hearing about it from a friend.
Working 10-15 hours a week is pretty typical for work study, isn’t it? It seems like that’s what one of my other kids had in his aid package, but I could be wrong.
I am not very familiar w QB but how can it not be for someone that has a single digit EFC?
It’s probably not too well known because it primarily serves Appalachia and Kentucky (I think about 3/4 of the students are from that area). I will call @MYOS1634 as I think she is pretty familiar with Berea, its strong academics, and overall culture.
Now I don’t know if I can be of any help, but I was a Questbridge kid who matched with Davidson this year… I haven’t started at Davidson yet, but I went through the Questbridge process by myself and I can totally answer questions if you need
Congrats on FSU Honors! My S21 is attending FSU as well. He will be doing his First Year Abroad at the FSU study center in Florence Italy.
FSU is still not on everyones radar nationally. That is changing as they move up the rankings #58 this year and #19 in public universities. The new President just left his Provost position at Harvard to take over next month.
What are the requirements for an OOS waiver at FSU? I respect their school spirit and they have lots of strong programs. My S22 is also considering Purdue and SMU.
https://admissions.fsu.edu/first-year/scholarships/
Also if you do the first year abroad you can get in state tuition for the rest of your degree
But note that many colleges with good financial aid expect students to contribute a few thousand dollars per year from their own work earnings, so many students on financial aid at many colleges will be working that much anyway.
Are the Berea students paid for their work, or is it just a credit to their bills? Work study money is paid to the student, and they can pay the school or buy stuff for themselves, but if they don’t work, they don’t get that ‘work study’ money that is on their FA award. At Berea, I believe they are required to work.
The best way to prepare for the ACT Science section is to do a lot of science sections from retired ACTs that are legally in the public domain. Practicing interpreting the data is what makes you fast and accurate, since it will all be familiar. A year or two out of date Official Guide to the ACT will be cheaper, have 5 tests in it, and there is a thread on Reddit which will have links to legally in the public domain ACTs, that you can print off for her to use for practice for the math and science sections. My kid must have done perhaps ten science sections, and got a 36 on the Science section.
Kid used Brooke P Hanson’s Best ACT Math Prep Books Ever series, worked really hard at it, and got a 34 in math. He said that if he had already had Calculus, he would have done better, because having had Calculus would have enabled him to do certain problems faster.
I would recommend Benedictine College. They are a small, Catholic, liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas. They accept applications up until the day school starts. Even though they are Catholic, 11% of their students and 30% of their staff are not. They have a very strong curriculum in both humanities and stem. They give every student a scholarship to cover room and board, and also give out large merit scholarships. Hope this helps!