So basically I have no idea where I want to go for college?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Well, I have an idea but my stats are no where good enough to get accepted THEN get money to go there</p>

<p>Basically my GPA is 4.0+ weighted, probably 3.7-3.8 unweighted
Ranked top 5% in class (12/486)
Very rigorous schedule, senior Schedule:
AP Calculus
AP Biology
AP Physics
AP English
AP Psychology
Honors Spanish V</p>

<p>And here comes the part that kills me:
SAT 1810 (620 M, 590R, 600W)
SAT II: 680 Chemistry, 670 US History
ACT: 28 (32M, 29R, 26W, 26S)
Will be retaking ACT and SAT in December </p>

<p>Extracurricular:
Kid to Kid 9th Grade-(Drug and Alcohol Awareness Group)
National Junior Honor Society
National Honor Society
Football- (9-10)
Track-(9-10)
Future Business Leaders of America-(3rd at Regionals), (10-12)
Science Olympiad-(11-12/2nd at regionals) Senior Captain
Academic Challenge Team-(2nd at states) Co-captain
Spanish Club-(11-12)
World Quest (11th Grade, 1st at Regionals, Junior Captain)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work:
Volunteering at St Joseph Medical Center</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
Top ten percent award
High Honor Roll (9-12)</p>

<p>Basically I do want to go somewhere prestigious but I need money since my parents are unable to afford anything really, with having to put six kids through college
I am of minority status if that helps</p>

<p>I applied to an array of colleges such as Tulane, Michigan State, George Mason, Temple, Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Duquesne, and Im thinking of Lehigh</p>

<p>Are there any colleges that you think would see me of fit? I plan on majoring in biology, my residence is in PA, and I do plan on getting into medical school (hopefully a prestigious one by intense work in college), I also want to do some research in my undergrad, but my test scores may prevent that, any ideas?</p>

2

<p>I applied to an array of colleges such as Tulane, Michigan State, George Mason, Temple, Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Duquesne, and Im thinking of Lehigh</p>

<p>Yikes…</p>

<p>Since you’re instate for PA, you’re not going to get financial help from Rutgers, George Mason or Mich State. Those publics don’t give their limited aid to help OOS students with their high OOS costs. </p>

<p>What minority are you?</p>

<p>Have you figured out what your likely EFC will be?
Try this…</p>

<p>Quick EFC - this is a rough estimate<br>
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | QuickEFC](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Quick EFC - Finaid) </p>

<p>your biggest issue is going to be affording college. Don’t apply to anymore OOS publics unless you’re certain to get a big merit scholarship from them.</p>

<p>You need to find affordable schools. Duquesne doesn’t meet need and will likely gap you.</p>

3

<p>^ Finding out your EFC is important. Having 6 kids in your family is only mildly relevant because the expectation is your family will pay for college out of current income, savings and loans. Wanting to go into med school makes it that much more important to keep your undergrad costs to a minimum since you will almost certainly end up with big loans there. Try crosschecking schools that don’t use the SAT ([Optional</a> List | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]Optional”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)) with the list of schools meeting need ([Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet the Full Financial Needs of Students - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/paying-for-college/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students.html]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/paying-for-college/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students.html)).</p>

4

<p>Great suggestion by Erin’s Dad to focus on test optional schools. I think Wake Forest is one, and it is a great school.

</p>

<p>One thing has zero to do with the other. The profs you would ask to do research with won’t know squat about your test scores, and won’t care. They will only care that you appear smart, sincere, and curious. They might not be anxious to let you in the lab as a freshman, though. Many want you to get that first year under your belt, and demonstrate you are a good student. Some don’t have even that restriction though, and let freshmen in the lab if they like them.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the help guys! As for the score optional policy I did send my scores regardless of whether or not it was required, since I do not believe my scores are terrible just bad, and they were most likely in the Middle 50% and I didnt want to have to chance it with Teacher Recommendations. Also as for EFC, my number came to around 1500?</p>