You are right. I don’t know which he has. But if he’s filed an immigrant visa application, he can also apply for and receive a social security number, even if he doesn’t yet have permission to work. In any event, working one’s way through college is tough even when one qualifies for in-state tuition rates. He says he doesn’t.
I agree with this. I hope OP comes back and tells us the situation with Visa and path to citizenship. IMO it’s tough to state with any type of certainty of achieving citizenship in the next two years, and if OP turns 21 before becoming a citizen/permanent resident it’s a whole different ball game.
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Based upon what you’ve written, I’d agree with you. It’s not a college I was aware of.
Umm, no, Trinity Washington is NOT diverse. It’s about 85% Black and Hispanic, and less than 3% White. It is FAR from “diverse”.
I feel the OP has shared enough about his immigration situation, and most importantly, he is working with an attorney. However well-intentioned we may be, I don’t know that any of us is qualified to opine on his chances to get permanent residency or citizenship.
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I understand your intent, but I can assure my legal status in this country is fine. I am not lying about the context I provided. I do not want to contribute specific details about my status in the US.
I have a good attorney and can ensure they are not lying to me. I also can legally work in the US as I am doing so right now.
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Do you think I could transfer to a top institution from Trinity Washington? Is that an option?
The problem with transfers is that they get lousy financial aid. And in all honesty it’s quite possible the classes wouldn’t be as rigorous as the classes at Montgomery.
Can you indicate where you applied?
Did you use Questbridge? Apply to Pomona? Or are your stats not in range for those?
Changing status (from international to domestic) will make all the difference in the world.
Try and read this whole thread:
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I am pretty sure I can work legally in the US, as I am doing so right now. The only reason I am unable to receive in-state tuition is because I live in DC (Not a state). Not because of my immigration status. Also, I am a girl.
My stats are not within that range. I found out about my immigration status less than a year ago, so I did not feel the need to work hard in high school (big mistake) because I assumed I would receive enough need-based aid to attend college (again a big mistake). Even if I got all A’s this year. It is senior year. Bringing up a GPA drastically at this point is impossible.
I have a 3.65 GPA (9 AP CLASSES, MOSTLY HONORS COURSES AND FEW REGULAR CLASSES)
1110 SAT (I am terrible at standardized testing due to my severe anxiety so I applied test optional to all my schools)
My counselor advised me to apply to all the schools I did (most gave me no aid.) I applied and got into AU, GW, SLU, George Mason, Salisbury University, Marymount University, Alfred University, Itacha College, and Long Island Uni (mostly affordable colleges). Colby College rejected me (no surprise to me). I just received my financial award letter from Itacha, and they gave me 45k annually so that school might become an option. I would still have to find 13k but if I work and get private loans it could be doable. I am just unsure if Itacha is a good school for me. I applied with different career goals and am unsure now what they would do for me now in terms of IA/IR.
In-state tuition for UMD is 10k, so I likely could afford it. I am going to talk to the college counselor at my school, even if she previously gave me terrible advice since I have no other counseling option. She thought American (my top choice) would give me institutional aid, now I am stuck in this scenario because none of the top schools I got into gave me aid she assumed they would.
AU cut aid drastically but in any case no FA ever gets over full-tuition, so it’d have been too expensive anyway.
Don’t DC residents automatically get a 10k discount for OOS universities, so that Montgomery would be free?
However it may be worth it for you to take a gap year, bringing up all your grades to A’s to finish strongly and “show promise”, then apply to a different list.
Are you URM or ORM? (Kim, in the thread I recommended, was also ORM.) Do you want/need to stay on the East Coast or would you move if there are affordable colleges elsewhere?
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I am sorry to hear of the surprise in your immigration status, that must of have difficult. It’s tough when you have limited funds and have to apply as an international student.
How would you qualify for in-state tuition at U Maryland? Do one of your parents work there? Or do DC residents get special discounts?
Is the $13K net cost at Ithaca just room and board costs? You will have to budget for travel to and from, incidentals, as well as health insurance (unless you are covered by your parents policy that is equivalent to Ithaca’s).
Is the gap year option appealing to you at all?
I am a URM. Montgomery would be cheap but not free. I would still owe 5k but I could figure that out. I am still considering that as an option. I wish I could bring my grades to all A’s but due to the pandemic and my parents losing their job, doing well this senior year academically would be impossible for me. I have been basically working full time just to help my mom pay the rent. Graduating is the goal right now so unfortunately good grades are not an option.The gap year option would only work if I had good senior year grades I think and I do not right now.
I would have to move there. I am unsure about your question related to Itacha since my financial award letter simply took the total direct cost and took away enough so that the net cost is 13k. I am unsure where that money they gave me is allocated towards. The gap year option is appealing, but I am unsure if it would even work. My senior grades are pretty bad and it might be better for my chances to spend two years at a college before I transfer so the top colleges do not consider my senior year grades.
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It’s most likely your parents would have to move to Maryland, but look closely at U Maryland’s residency requirements.
https://academiccatalog.umd.edu/undergraduate/requirements-application-procedures/residency-information/
For Ithaca’s offer, start with what tuition, fees, and room and board cost…those are direct costs. Then subtract all grant/scholarship money to get a net cost. Don’t subtract any loan amounts. Then you have to plan for other costs like above: incidentals, travel, and maybe health insurance. You can attach an image of the fin aid offer (black out identifying info) if you would like us to help.
The concern about doing community college (do you know how much that would cost at Montgomery?) is that transfers don’t get good aid (unless you transfer to a meet full need school). And if you are still an international student come transfer time, the aid (and chances of admission) are reduced…so if you enter CC in Sept 2021, you will be applying for transfer in spring of 2023 (start at transfer school in fall of 2023), when you may or may not yet have citizenship/permanent residency. Taking a gap year gives more time for your path to citizenship to become clear.
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I think your analysis is likely correct. If your GPA drops significantly, your chances of getting into a school that would give you the aid you need is going to be low. If you received enough aid from Marymount, go there, major in politics or economics, do well, and hustle for opportunities.
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I’m leaning toward your best bet being Montgomery, doing well in your classes there, then transferring to a 4 year MD campus if a “better” school doesn’t work out with transfer and aid. “Better” is in quotes because UMD is hardly a bad school. It’s a terrific school, but for what you want to do there are some in DC that could be better if you can get in on a transfer with enough aid (odds are low, but not impossible if you do well, getting recommendations, and have a good story to back yourself up).
Figure out the deal for DC residents at Montgomery (call them or email them).
Contact your teachers, explaining youre having trouble due to the pandemic, would they give you a delay to turn in x (big paper or graded hw)? Do they offer extra credit or know of remedial actions you could take?
When you say your grades are bad, do you mean Cs or D/F? Would you be able to drop any D/F class and take them over the summer?
(Gap year) ->Montgomery → transfer to Spelman would also be good (they have a diplomat in resience whose job is to nurture future Foreign Service people).
Do you speak a language beside English (native, heritage)?
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It won’t let me embed media posts in here but the financial letter includes all costs (ec. health insurance, room & board, etc…) The estimated cost to attend is 21k but with the 8k subsidy I get because I live in DC it will be 13k.
Taking a gap year is a great idea. I will talk about it with my mom because if I do transfer by that time it will be highly likely that my path to citizenship is clear.
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I agree, it seems like CC is the best option right now. The odds might be low but if all fails I have UMD which is still a good institution and much better than my options right now.
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