Should i apply ED??

Applying to College
1

I apologize for the length but I just really really need some help

Alright so I really just need some honest advice on my college situation right now.

I’ll give some background information about myself before I delve into my dilemma:
I am a female at the end of my junior year of high school and I am first generation (my mom is from Iraq and my dad was from the Caribbean). Since 8th grade I have moved around to seven different schools and two states because of financial issues. I want to major in Neuroscience and eventually become a neuroscientist or neurosurgeon.

Here are my current high school stats:
-4.8 weighted and 3.97 unweighted GPA as of now (I am taking seven APs next year and I took 5 this year)

  • I got a 31 on my ACT ( which I took for the first time in March and plan to take again in June and hopefully raise it to a 32/33)
  • I got a 2030 on my SAT (I understand that this is considered low but I definitely prefer testing with the ACT)
  • I am class president, I play varsity girls basketball and lacrosse, I am in National honor, science national honor society, I participate in science olympiad, I am in interact club, future business leaders of America club, pre-med club, and I coach a youth team at the local sports complex.

Unfortunately, the highschools I attended my freshman and sophomore year offered very few APs to underclassmen and I took as many as I could (which was 1, while also taking all honors classes). This year, when I moved to a new school, many more were offered to me so I took 5 AP classes (which was the maximum number I could take), 1 dual enrollment, and 1 honors class.

As a senior I will be taking 7 APs so my gpa will most likely be around a 5.2/5.3 after my first semester.

so here’s my problem:
Ever since 6th grade I have wanted to go to Johns Hopkins University to major in Neuroscience. However, over the past few months, Notre Dame, Duke, and University of Miami (for proximity and this is my backup school) have caught my attention.
I was planning on applying ED to Johns Hopkins until my mom made it very clear that she cannot afford more than $11,000 a year for my education And most of these schools will be 60k+ without any financial assistance.

So now, I am afraid that if I apply early decision to Johns Hopkins and they do not offer me enough financial aid I will be blacklisted because I will be forced to break the binding agreement.
On the other hand, I realize that admission rates are much higher for ED at Johns Hopkins than regular admissions. But, I’m afraid that if I apply regular admissions to all of these schools I won’t get into any of them? I understand that the smart thing for me to do would be to apply regular admissions to these 4 schools (because I would be more than happy to attend Notre Dame, Duke, or Johns Hopkins) so I can compare their financial aid packages, but I’m terrified that because they are all so selective, I won’t get in unless I apply ED.
BUT if I apply regular admissions my gpa will be well over a 5.0 because of my first semester courses as a senior, so that may increase my chances at all these schools when I submit applications in early January

So my overall questions are:
-In your opinion, based on my situation, should I apply early decision to Johns Hopkins or regular admissions to all 4 of these colleges and why?(based on my financial need and the likelihood of me being accepted to these colleges)
-of these schools, which would you say has the most prestige and sense of community? Could you please rank them in your opinion?

Thank you to whoever decides to help me with this problem because I really need advice and am terrified of making the wrong decision

2

Try using the net price calculator at each school to get an estimate of financial aid and net price to see if it is likely to be affordable for you. ED schools and safeties should be comfortably affordable.

If your parents are not together, then you need both of their cooperation for financial aid at many schools. At such schools, both of their income and wealth will be included, so be sure to take that into account with the net price calculator.

Your price limit realistically is:

  • $11,000 if just using your parents' contribution.
  • about $16,000 if you take a federal direct loan or work to earn some money for college.
  • about $21,000 if you take a federal direct loan *and* work to earn some money for college. This is a stretch budget; you may want to be more conservative, particularly with expensive medical school as a possibility.

Your stats are high enough that some schools will give automatic full tuition to full ride merit scholarships. See http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ . These may be safety candidates for you.

3

Is your father of African descent or Hispanic? This will help. In all honesty your goal should be a 33/34 on the ACTs and do not send in your SATs unless you have to. English on the ACTs is very easy to study. I am not sure I understand your GPA. Forget weighted for anything other than UC schools. unweighted do you have almost all As and A-s? Did either parent go to college, if the answer is NO that will help as well. Do you know the GC at your school well enough that he will be able to tell your story in his recommendation? If not, get to know him. However, try to come off as a super candidate, NOT apolgetic for not taking APs. At my school no one takes APs before Junior year and people have gone to great schools

4

Thank you for your advice! And yes I’ve only ever had all As and neither of my parents went to college and my dad is of African descent and is Lord knows where.

5

This will be a problem for any school that requires the CSS Profile Non-Custodial Parent information. You can ask for a waiver, but getting it is uncertain and probably not very likely. Without either the waiver or his cooperation, those schools will not give you any financial aid. Even if he cooperates, if he has significant income or assets but will not contribute, you may not get enough financial aid.

You should start building your list with schools that you can afford on merit scholarships, or sufficient financial aid that does not require your father’s information (schools that use only the FAFSA form, or which explicitly state that they do not use non-custodial parent information).

6

You are an extremely strong candidate in my opinion, especially if you can get the ACT up just a little. Have you looked into Questbridge? Also, you may be the type of candidate they want to fly out on diversity initiatives. You have two hooks, being first generation and a UMR through your dad (I assume you mean black and not South African white or middle eastern), your mom is considered white. A number of people who were posting here in March and April had similar hooks and ended up accepted at several ivies with almost full tuition. You may want to look through old threads and PM some of them. The only problem from a need based issue is your dad since they normally ask for non custodial parent income. However, I think there is a work around that, I am just not familiar. Also, depends what your mom’s income really is, do the NPC on JHUs web site and see what it says, do it on some other web sites as well as NPC can vary by school (friend’s awards varied by 10K). Just because she says she can afford X does not mean the colleges will agree (although you will be surprised sometimes you will get more).

Usually people with a lot of need may want to compare offers. I would apply to many places not just JHU or Duke. Have you visited? Look at Rice (give merit), Tulane, and the ivies and lots of other places. Are you eligible for fee waivers?

7

Apply for FA and apply ED. But understand that it is more competitive when you need FA.

8

Not at need blind schools

9

Because of the uncertainty of the father’s effect on the financial aid situation, it is likely a bad idea to apply ED to any school which requires his financial information.

10

What’s Questbridge?

11

Google it but you should definitely learn about it. The fact that you do not know is an indication that you have not been getting a lot of advice about competitive colleges (not trying to be obnoxious). It is a program that helps kids from economically disadvantaged families apply to college. It is extremely competitive but something you need to look into.

12

Basically, Questbridge is a ranked ED application to up to 8 colleges (generally highly selective ones). Admission is supposed to come with full financial aid or scholarship.

http://www.questbridge.org/for-students/ncm-college-match-process
http://www.questbridge.org/partner-colleges/overview-listing

However, both parents’ income is used to determine whether you are from a low enough income family to qualify, though there may be an exception if you have not had contact with the non-custodial parent for an extended period of time:

http://www.questbridge.org/for-students/ncm-who-should-apply

If you do get the exception to the non-custodial parent requirement and are qualified, then Questbridge is probably the way to apply ED if you want to do so, since most other ED applications would have too much financial aid uncertainty due to the non-custodial parent situation.

13

I agree with suggestions of quest bridge and looking for automatic full tuition scholarships. Your dad’s situation makes things VERY tricky.

I think applying ED is ok because you can break the contract if it comes out to be more than 11k/year, but make sure that you can break the contract, and I think questbridge is a better option. Also beware that JHU has a reputation of being extremely cutthroat and not so great for pre med, especially in majors like neuroscience.

14

Agree ^^

I think the decisions we make when we are 12 should not be what influences us at 18. I think there are lots of great opportunties but I would look for a supportive and collaborative environment if possible

15

I generally don’t think ED is a great idea if you need financial aid and if you don’t have one overriding top choice. I’d apply to a number of schools and see where the best intersection of fit and finances turns out to be.