@Mwfan1921
I’ll have to recalculate the GPA then.
Next year I’m taking:
AP World History
AP Human Geo
AP English lit
AP Psychology
Pre-calc
Physical Training
Spanish 3
Physics
How hard do you think that the PSAT is? I’ve taken it before but never the NMSQT/PSAT exam.
@UniMDTop-Choice In addition to Questbridge, you can look into the following program.
They offer scholarships for the top 600 (!) scorers (that was about 20% of the entrants this year), and it’s a fun program to get involved in.
My DS2 was in a team this year through his school. If you’re interested, you can ask a teacher to be an adviser. I don’t think the teachers have to do a whole lot except some signup stuff. You still have your entire junior year to get involved in this or something similar.
Regarding your courses: Does your school offer AP Comp Sci A? Do they offer honors version of precalc or physics? I see that you’re now in Honors chem and doing ok, so honors physics should be ok if offered. For a CS program, they do look for rigor.
You are lucky to be in MD: UMD and UMBC are in state for you ; UMBC may be a bit less competitive, but still a very strong university. I think they both offer good aid for in-state , low-income students.
UMD offers special summer programs K-12 students (I don’t know where you are in MD and if this is feasible - but just thought I’d put it out there.)
https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/4741
They’re not expensive, but you can reach out to the organizer and see if they offer some financial aid for those programs.
If OP’s parents can’t contribute to college costs, OP’s budget will be their Pell grant (around $6.3K today) plus the $5,500 Federal Direct Student Loan for first year students. So, OP will basically need a minimum of a full tuition grant…not sure that is in the cards at UMD or UMBC. OP, can you live at home and commute to either of those schools?
@momprof9904
thanks for the detailed response!
I’ll definitely look into the scholarship!
My school doesn’t offer AP CS classes(I did a whole campaign/survey asking for the classes but they couldn’t add them because of COVID and difficulty paying teachers)
My school also doesn’t have honors Physics or Pre-Calc, I’m not sure why(they don’t have any AP science courses either)
To make up for this I’m doing some classes in Dual Enrollment on the CS track. During the summer I’m going to take the first class.
I’m really lucky to be instate and Im glad that the schools have good CS programs too! and I’m planning on doing a summer program for cs next summer in UMD or JHU.
Yep I can definitely live at home. I’m trying to see if I can be as competitive as possible for the Banneker-Key scholarship and other scholarships in UMD but you never know for sure.
Maryland has additional state grants for low-income students who are residents. See:
https://financialaid.umd.edu/types-aid/aid-maryland-residents
Excellent! It’s great to see you’re taking these initiatives!
Sorry, I am not knowledgeable enough. Calling @MYOS1634 @milgymfam and @MWolf
Thank you for suggesting people!!
First, look into Questbridge. There’s a program for juniors.
The senior year program basically requires you to complzte your application early and if you’re selected, you get a full ride (tuition, fees, room, board, books, transportation) for 4 years.
But even if you’re not you can be considered for ED or RD at different colleges.
Run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) on 3 Questbridge partners of your choice: these are among the most selective but also the most generous colleges.
UMD is indeed extremely strong and well known for CS.
What’s your schedule like next year?
Is there no precalculus honors at your school because few students reach that level or want to take the class?
What about calculus?
If there’s no AP science class offered, would your district pay for you to take a science class through dual enrollment ?
Take a look at free programs at Bowie State University.
June 21 Computer Programming for the Under-represented (CPU) Camp is a summer program for middle and high school young men that provides innovative technology education to young men in the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas.
Cost $ Free. LocationVirtual
See Honors program scholarship. https://www.bowiestate.edu/admissions-and-aid/financial-aid/types-of-financial-aid/scholarship-opportunities/bsu-scholarships.php
Also see Morgan State programs for youth
Students attend Mathematics, Actuarial Science, and Computer Science classes. Applicants are selected through a competitive application and interview process, and applicants who are accepted into the SAAMS Program are rewarded a stipend. Students experience program-related field trips and professional development sessions.
As others have said, definitely look into questbridge and start the process early. Your family income is actually quite on the high side and your score on the low side (for now), but they have a junior year program and then the big application that you do between junior/senior year. My daughter wasn’t selected for junior year but was for senior year, so don’t be discouraged if you have no luck the first time. If it comes to be that you end up without affordable options (I know I’d could’ve easily happened to us, even with generous merit scholarships) and you have to start at a community college, make sure to apply for a Jack kent cooke transfer scholarship- they’ll pay up to $55,000 for each of the last two years (3 actually, if you lose some credits in the transfer).
A 1070 PSAT at the beginning of 9th grade taken without prep is not really bad so don’t sweat it. You should look into preparing for the PSAT this fall. As someone mentioned look into Khan Academy online but you should see what free resources are available locally. You can check with your Guidance office at school and maybe check a local library as there could be free prep classes available this summer. If all else fails see if you can get a hold of the Official SAT Study Guide with practice tests in the back. Taking a few practice tests and especially replicating the test experience will be very useful to getting a better score and more indicative of your true ability.
@UniMDTop-Choice You said you’re within commuting distance of UMD. Are you in PG county or Montgomery County? Community colleges usually offer SAT Prep - varies from one county to another. Maybe you can use your dual enrollment status to see if you can enroll is such a course at the local CC - can’t hurt to ask ,and there may also be special programs available for local high school students.
Here’s something I found : free virtual SAT tutoring; it’s some startup project from Khan Academy. Worth checking it out
Next year I’m doing AP World History Ap Englosh Lit, Ap Psychology, Ap Human Geography, Pre-calc(there is no honorable but this is a year above the average 11th grade math class in my county), Physics(I’m not sure why my school doesn’t offer honors for this), Physical Training, and Spanish 3.
Not sure why there is no honors pre calculus but their is a AP calculus AB but I can only take that senior year.
I may take a science course through Fual Enrollment but I still have to ask my parents about that.
I’m definitely looking at the Questbrodge scholarship, do you know how competitive it is?
Thank you for all your advice so far!!!
I’m definitely looking at Bowie State but more so as a safety, but if I get the scholarship I would definitely take it. Their summer program seems interesting though, I’m going to have to tell my parents about that too and about Morgan state.
Thank you so much!!
I’m definitely going to look into the scholarship if I go to Community College, my main goal is to come out debt free.
And I’m also looking at the Questbridge scholarship too.
Thank you for the encouragement!
I’m really striving to do good on the PSAT next year and I’m planning on studying really hard during the summer so I can do better. Khan academy is going to be my best friend when I’m finished!!!
I’m on PG county and I do think that my community college does offer SAT prep classes so I have to look into that, I think my dual Enrollment status can let me take it for free but I have to double check.
While I am not a HUGE fan of focusing on colleges as a sophomore, it is never too early to think about college affordability. So it is great that you are making plans for being able to afford college. Your GPA and other activities are great, and you should definitely keep those up.
Since your GPA indicates that you are pretty strong academically, strategic test prep will be very helpful for you. You don’t need to learn the material, you need to learn how to take these tests successfully, which is far simpler. Any program which lets you take practice tests is real time constraints, and then goes over strategies to do better, will work for you.
Having high GPA, having strong activities, and being low income, opens up a good number of scholarships. Specific scholarships for CS are mostly aimed at groups that are underrepresented in CS and engineering. As a first-gen from Africa, that would likely include you.
If you keep up your GPA and activities, as a first-gen, you also could have a better than average chance at admissions to full need met colleges, though this is something to think more about as you wrap up your junior year, so not just yet.