I agree with the community college recommendation. Your desire to start at a four year school this coming fall is tempting you to limit your options significantly, and to pay more for one of those limited options than you would have to pay if you could get into a school that meets full need. When I listed schools that meet need and have favorable transfer acceptance rates, you asked about your chances at such schools, and I really didn’t have enough information to assess that. Based on what you just said about your college coursework and grades, I think you have a great start on being a strong transfer candidate, but having some more lower-division classes under your belt from a US community college would solidify that further.
I’d say, either live with your brother and take classes at a nearby CC (which Pell will likely cover even though you’ll be paying OOS tuition), or find housing with other students in Salt Lake City and take CC classes there, which will put you on a path to transfer into the U of Utah (or Utah State, etc.) as an in-state student the following fall (and you can also apply to full-need-met schools elsewhere). Living with your brother is probably preferable, but SLC is a relatively affordable and safe city so that could work too, and at least you’d have an in-state public default option for transfer. Then apply to a range of full-need-met schools as a transfer for fall 2022, including Berea where you could apply early in their rolling admissions cycle, and others from the list I gave you above. I think you’d have a very strong chance of ending up paying less for a better education than if you rush into something this fall just to get into whatever semi-affordable 4-year school will still take your application.
American colleges will generally honor the diplomas even if the exams were cancelled, as long as it was awarded. So you might be able to get some gen ed credits from that and in any case colleges will be able to assess your secondary school grades (ie., 80% in the US isn’t very good, but it’s topnotch for a French-patterned school).
Your 1st year of college will provide another example of academic strength. A year of straight A’s (A’s and A-'s) from a US community college would further strengthen your record.
Work alongside your classes and participate in something on-campus and you’ll have a pretty good application.
Come back in December when you have your CC grades and we’ll see how to help you get into a meet-need college.
Do include Berea on your list: it’s a high-quality college dedicated to high-achieving, lower income students. Its application is not on CommonApp and probably opens in July but you’d be a better candidate with a US CC transcript.
If you are under 18, have your parents give legal guardianship to your brother, which immediately makes you a resident of MA, and transfer to UMass Amherst (but it’s not cheap - it’s about 30K/yr in state). Or live with him, finish an associate’s degree at a community college in MA, and then transfer to UMass Amherst for your last two years. You’re in-state tuition for community college after 6 months, and after 12 months for state college and state U.
If you are over 18, Salt Lake Community college will give you in-state tuition after 6 months of residency. You could theoretically get through an associate’s degree in a year, if they’ll accept some of your credits. You can then transfer to the U of Utah, which is in a beautiful location in SLC, has a great business school, and gives merit money to high GPA students, I think up to about 8K/yr towards tuition. SLC isn’t a bad place to live at all, is about 50% Mormon, as is the U of U, but the rest of the state is heavily Mormon. But it seems to me that if you’re going there just for money, you might also consider public flagship state U’s in the south and southwest, that MIGHT offer significant merit money.
If your brother is able to house you, I’d move right now to him in MA, get your state ID immediately and have him put a utility bill in your name, work there for 6 months (tons of jobs available now since so many people have been choosing unemployment over working), start community college at in-state rate while living with him and take as many courses as you can, year-round, to rapidly finish your associate’s degree, then transfer to UMass Amherst to finish your undergrad. It’s a great school, has an excellent business school, is in a lovely location. This is probably your easiest, least expensive path to your undergrad degree, and being near your brother, for support, is priceless. Plus the Boston are has a significant Lebanese Christian population - Utah doesn’t.
Hey, thank you. I’m considering the community college to UMass Amherst pathway. It might be a bit pricey but I think it’s doable. I probably won’t qualify for in state tuition in Massachusetts. It’s one of the hardest in the country. Other than UMass, I’ll be applying to other colleges, such as possibly University of Utah and other out of state colleges. I also might apply to different private universities that I can get good aid from.
However, my brother might move out in August which could complicate things. It’s making the future look really uncertain for me. But I guess with community college, the really late application deadline makes it more flexible for me.
Would your brother move to another apartment in the same city (= transportation issues to get to the CC if he’s all the way across town) or would he be moving to an entirely different city?
Community colleges allow students to enroll almost at the last minute. So, if your brother is sure he’s going to move to another city, you can just register at whatever cc is near his new home.
To be eligible for the resident tuition rate, the applicant must be able to indicate residency (physical presence) and twelve months domicile in Massachusetts with intent to stay prior to the date of entry into the state college or university (six months for community colleges).
This is really the same as Utah. Tuition is about the same, overall, in MA as in Utah. More importantly, you’d qualify for health insurance (Medicaid) in MA, but NOT in Utah. Utah has not expanded Medicaid to able-bodied single adults. So you’d have a health insurance issue in Utah.
If your brother is moving out of MA in August, yeah, that’s not gonna work for you. Do you have any other relatives anywhere in the US who can serve as a base for you?
I read somewhere that you need to be completely financially independent in MA for a year to gain residency. The definition of domicile differs between states. I do have relatives in a few different cities ( Orange County, austin, houston) but my mom doesn’t support the idea of staying with them.
When you say your brother may “move”, what do you mean? Change apartments/neighborhoods? Move to a new city? Go to another state? Another region in the country entirely?
That quote was from the MA state’s website. 6 months for community college, 12 months for 4 yr college. If you were going to go anywhere to establish residency, TX and CA are both excellent choices.
What options do your parents support? Unless you plan to make your life in Lebanon, staying at AUB (I assume) is not a good idea. And the sooner you move to the US, the sooner you can apply for citizenship. MA, CA, TX are all great options. Unless your mother has very valid concerns, it would be foolish to ignore the opportunity that having family connections in CA and TX offers, because they both have excellent state schools with cheap tuition.
As for transferring to a US school that would give you a lot of financial aid, it’s possible, but you really cannot depend upon this. Better to pick a state, come here now, get an ID, register to vote, get a utility bill in your name, get a job, and work (on the books, of course). Then hopefully finish your associate’s degree in two terms of community college in January and over the summer, and transfer to a state U to start in the fall, and finish your undergrad in two more years - you could even go straight through, doing 3 semesters a year by attending in the summer, too, and be done even earlier.
It doesn’t matter so much where you do your business undergrad. The best state U undergrad business program in TX or CA would be perfectly fine. Then you work for two years, then you get your MBA from a name program, like Wharton, Harvard, Chicago, etc. You’re then equally attractive to any employer, when compared with people who did their undergrad at tippy-top private schools.
I’m at the Lebanese American University (LAU). I didn’t register nor deposit for the fall term.
My parents’ preferred options would be me living with my brother, or finding a dorm in Texas / California in the same city as my relatives. She doesn’t support me physically living in their home. I’m going to Orange County on July 23 and possibly staying there if it ends up being the state of my choice. She said I should go for a cc in California. I don’t mind that but it will end up being REALLY pricey. I don’t think they can afford it. I have to also be independent according to California state residency laws for in state tuition purposes. I could get in state tuition if my parents moved in with me I believe. That could happen but I also am not sure it will.
NC has a very good very affordable CC system, with easy transfer to 4yr institutions to complete your BA/BS degree. It’s possible you could attend CC for 2 yrs, acquire NC residency, and finish your last two years at a 4yr. In-State tuition is very affordable in NC, and NC has several universities that would are very good for Economics and/or Accounting.
The key would be ensuring you do what it takes to earn state residency during your two years attending CC.
If you move to California and begin a CC immediately (without your parents there), you will be charged non-resident tuition for not only the CC, but also any public university in California. You will be classified as coming to California “for educational purposes” as a non-resident and will pay OOS fees of $65+K at a UC and $42K at a CSU.
If you don’t arrive with parents, to establish residency, you need to independently get a job, maintain a residence (at market rates), in your name, without the help of relatives, and pay California state taxes. You cannot attend a CC or any public college until you have been in California for a year. Your wages from your job must match your expenses.
The Residency Determination Officer, at whatever public university you intend to transfer into, will require every receipt for rent, utilities, transportation and daily living. If something doesn’t match your income, you will be rejected for in-state tuition.
The Residency Determination Date is considered the first day you arrive to California +366 days after that date.
Funds from relatives (or barters/discount rents) will change your independent status to dependent status. Meaning that someone else is paying for you and you will not be considered independent.
If you arrive to California, and initially stay with relatives, then decide to prolong your visit, you will be considered as a dependent student as of the date you arrived to California. Residency status will continue to classify you as OOS.
California would be more hospitable to your college aspirations if your parents lived there but without them it’ll be near impossible for you to 3stablish residency for tuition purpose.
Is your brother considering moving because he got job offers? Does he have a choice? Can he take your situation into account (ie., where you can most easily get residency for tuition purpose)?