School Suggestions

Transfer Students
1

Hello. As of now, I am a second semester Freshman at a small school in New Jersey. It is not a community college, but a public liberal arts and professional studies institution made up of 6,000 undergraduate students. At this school, my major is Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. The business school at the college itself has the AACSB accreditation.

That all being said, I am a commuting student, and to be honest, this school is just not for me. Aside from this school, I was accepted to NYU, Fordham, University of Miami, The College of New Jersey, and University of Delaware. (I was accepted to all 6 of the schools I applied to.) My reason for not attending NYU and Fordham was price. UM was too far for me at the moment despite a generous FA package, and TCNJ was not worth the $, and nor was UDel. I had received a $10,000 scholarship at my current school, as well as a pell grant which all-in-all covers my entire tuition, so in a sense, I got a full ride.

Now, I have no idea which schools I should look at. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My stats are here:

High School Cumulative GPA: 3.9 or 3.875… Somewhere in this ballpark.
College GPA so far: 3.925
ACT: 29 (32 E, 28 M, 30 R, 24 S, 30 W)

High School Courses:

Freshman - Honors World History, Biology, Algebra I, Physical Education/Health, Drawing, Honors English I, French II

Sophomore - Honors French III, Honors US History I, Algebra II with Trig, Physical Education/Health, Financial Literacy (Online), Honors English II, Geometry, Chemistry

Junior - Pre-Calculus, Physics, AP English Language, Entrepreneurship, Physical Education/Health, Honors French IV, Honors US History II

Senior - AP Economics (Online), AP English Literature, Calculus, Physical Education/Health, AP Statistics, AP French, AP World History

Extracurriculars/Awards/etc:

  • ~50 Volunteer Hours (Tutoring, Campaigning for Local Candidates, etc) -A part of the drawing club during my freshman year -Joined a soccer league outside my school (sort of recreational): Member since Kindergarten to Sophomore Year -Student at a nearby drawing school (Third Grade-Sophomore Year) (Would have still been enrolled but it shut down) -Member of my state's Teenage Republican club (I volunteer/intern without pay for local candidates; this past year I worked with the Republican mayor and council candidates on their campaign - WE WON!) -Member of DECA -Counselor of a camp (run by my school) for children with special needs -National Honor Society -French National Honor Society (President) -Founder/President of Republican Club at my School -Own my own eBay Business -Honor Roll (Large Number of Times) -Teach French on Wednesdays after-school with my French teacher to elementary school children in town. -AP Scholar with Honor

Also completed 3 Mooc Courses.

  1. Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade (Taught by professors from Mt. San Jacinto College)
  2. Teaching Character and Creating Positive Classrooms (Taught by professors from Relay Graduate School of Education)

I completed my third class with distinction, but I was unable to obtain a certificate since I had to pay $49.

  1. New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs (Taught by professors from University of Maryland, College Park)

Also, this past semester, I volunteered for Donald J. Trump’s campaign. I traveled to Trump Tower and made a number of phone calls at the phone bank (as well as from home). Additionally, prior to his campaign, I made phone calls/volunteered for Carly Fiorina’s campaign. Her campaign was during high school, though.

College Schedule (so-far)

First Semester:
(Each class = 4 credits)
First Year Seminar Class (Success in Business Major)
History (College does not accept AP credits)
Macro (College does not accept AP credits)
Math with Applications (Half probability, Half calculus)

Right now, second semester:
(Each class = 4 credits)
Business Law I
Social Issues
Management Statistics
Astronomy (Science gen-ed)

I am a member of the “Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society” since I achieved Dean’s List during my first semester as a college student.

State: New Jersey
School Type: Public (VERY competitive, one of the most notable public high schools in my state)
Ethnicity: White; Jewish
Sex: Male

My college essay was phenomenal, I must say. I would try to send it in to the school’s I apply to as an extra statement. It talks about a number of health diagnoses I had/still have, and how I managed through high school and how it affected me, and how I overcame these effects.

That’s me. So, what school would I have a good shot at? What selective schools do I have a formidable shot at? A lot of deadlines for the fall semester are coming up already, so I may wait until spring so I am more prepared. :slight_smile:

2

bump

3

I am leaning towards either UVA or Tulane, so if someone could chance me, that would be great. :slight_smile:

4

Given the current political climate you may not want to publicize this.

5

I don’t think UVA or Tulane would necessarily penalize him for volunteering for Trump (I could see a bigger issue if he were to apply to one of the extremely left-wing liberal arts colleges).

Anyway, I think you have a great shot at Tulane. UVA is a bit of a crapshoot if you’re out of state.

6

Wow, you honestly think I could be rejected because of my political views? It’s funny, when I applied to schools like NYU, I had no problem getting accepted. (Despite having the multiple Republican organizations I took part in) Although I did not have “Trump” on my application at the time, I am shocked to hear it would affect my chances.

In no way, shape, or form is it reasonable to reject someone because of who they supported for the presidency.

7

You stand a decent chance at Tulane. They do take a fair number of transfer students each year. If Miami was too far, Tulane is ever further from NJ. You also won’t get any merit aid as a transfer student.

You won’t get into UVA as an OOS transfer student.

8

Transfer students don’t get much aid, so where you apply depends on your budget. You received the Pell grant which suggests you’re low income. If your parents can’t pay much, you might be better off staying where you are and graduating with no debt.

How much can your parents pay per year without borrowing? Tuition at NJ’s small publics is ~$14-16k/year, so I’m estimating you received a Pell grant of ~$5k. You can borrow ~$6500/year and you can probably earn ~$3k if you work summers. That gives you ~$14k/year. You need another ~$12k/year to be able to dorm. If your parents can’t pay that without borrowing, you need to find a college that offers need based aid.

9

The more I research Tulane, the more I realize how unaffordable it is. They do not seem to be the greatest with aid.

Additionally, yeah the Pell Grant was approx. $5k. My father was a dislocated worker at the time, and he is usually the “breadwinner” in my household, so in 2015-2016, my mom was only working. He is back to work now. But we do have a decent amount of $ in savings.

I have no problem with loans since I do not think I will have an issue paying them off. (But of course, the smaller the loans, the better).

And the more I think, the more I begin thinking it would be best to transfer perhaps next spring semester instead of fall, or after next year altogether, since a lot of school’s deadlines have already passed for the fall semester. That being said, what schools would you suggest for me? For just my Junior and Senior year, I would not mind $40k in loans, or $50k if I decide to transfer during the next spring semester. (So, $20k per school year).

The more merit aid, the better of course. :slight_smile:

Thank you, @mnm111 and @austinmshauri

10

You can’t borrow $20k. You can only borrow $7500/year as a junior and senior.

What’s your parents’ gross income? Since your dad is working your EFC will change. How much can they pay per year?

11

Have you seriously considered Rutgers? Your state’s flagship university would be a good place at an affordable price.

12

@austinmshauri Ha, see, I am so ignorant when it comes to financial aid. So do you think it would be in my best interest to transfer during either fall or spring of my Sophomore year? I am not too sure about the gross income since my dad JUST started work.

@mnm111 I have, but the deadline to be considered for merit aid was February 1st. And I am sort of leaning towards going out of NJ since I am just looking to try something very different and outside of my comfort zone.

13

How much can your parents pay per year without taking out loans? When/where you should apply depends on your budget.

14

Tulane isn’t that bad with aid… I don’t know what your EFC is or your exact financial situation, so I can’t tell you how much you’re likely to receive, but they’re actually one of the better schools when it comes to aid (short of the ones that meet 100% of your financial need). I also haven’t found them to be worse with transfer aid than incoming freshmen – several students I’ve worked with have received decent packages from them. In addition, they do offer merit scholarships for transfers.

15

@autinmshauri Honestly, I don’t think much at all. I’m sorta on my own when it comes to school. My dad hints that the max he would want me to have in loans is $~60k max. That’s really all I know because he’s sort of private when it comes to finances.

@thetransfercoach Really, because when I did their net price calc with general (extremely general haha) estimates, it did not seem so promising. Would I be a contender for merit aid?