Throughout the course of my academic years in high school I have been homeless multiple times living in shelters in Chicago. My mother struggles to raise five children on her own. Unfortunately I let my circumstances effect my grades. I suffered from,depression and that effected me greatly, especially during Junior year. Despite all of that I refuse to give up and I’m dedicated to pursing a college degree. But I don’t believe I have a chance of attending a University because of my low GPA which is currently a 2.5. And my ACT is a 20. I plan on retaking the ACT in October and I am taking challenging courses and maintaining good grades. Im also retaking classes that I failed last year. I’m also involved in Keu Club, Student Council, Scholarshic Bowl, and Matheletes. But Im unable to volunteer cause of babysitting siblings. I’m wondering if I still have a chance of getting accepted to a university? I want to major in Communications/Media. I’ve applied to Loyola university in Chicago, Missouri University, Michigan State University, Western Illinois University, and Ball State University, and Pennsylvania University. But I also wanted to attend a university in New york, does anyone know any in New York I can apply to? And do I have a chance at any universities?
Talk to your high school guidance counselor. That is the person that can best tell you where 2.5 gpa’s from your school are accepted.
Of course you can attend but not unless you work closely with an advisor from your school who can help guide you, serve as an advocate for you. Before investing your and your guidance counselors time, you should decide if you need to or want to stay in NY or not. You can’t go to Loyola and stay in NY and there is no reason to waste time applying to schools outside NY if you know that is not a realistic option for you.
Many colleges have programs specifically to help kids in your circumstances. I am guessing your guidance counselor is not so helpful but that might be the first place to begin. If that proves to be less than helpful then go to the library (or even the college/guidance office) and look at some of the big college reference books (Princeton Review, etc.). I think you should try to stay in Illinois at least to begin with. Once you find a few colleges that you might be interested in (smaller, state schools might be good) contact them and explain your situation, I’m sure they’ve seen it before and might be able to assist you in your application process.
Good luck and be proud, you’re desire to go to college is strong and that will get you there.
Consider applying to Indiana State University, Southern Illinois in Carbondale, and/or Columbia College in Chicago.
You have a decent chance of being admitted to those, esp. if you bring your test score and GPA up, even a little.
Western IL is on your list and i think you might have a good chance of being admitted there.
Best of luck to you and your family!
I also recommend you check out from the library, AMERICA’S BEST COLLEGES FOR “B” STUDENTS. Many colleges listed and discussed are for C students, too.
There is no Pennsylvania University. Do you mean Penn State or UPenn?
Pennsylvania university is usually Penn State :x
Do any of these schools give good aid? How is this student supposed to pay for these schools???
@ChantaeG run the net price calculators on each schools’ website. I don’t see how any would be affordable.
Well, if you mean Penn state and you have the budget, you’d have a shot at psu Greater Allegheny, and after 2 years if you did well you could transfer to Penn state main campus. You also have UC Blue Ash then University of Cincinnati. Of course there’s the famed California community college system to transfer into csu’s …
I’m assuming OP could qualify for financial aid, and is planning to apply. If not, he or she should.
Ball State and Indiana State both give reduced tuition to IL students. (OP is in Chicago.) So do many others, that will be around the same cost as in-state.
SIU-Carbondale is in-state for OP.
OP is likely to be admitted to the schools I listed.
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I’m assuming OP could qualify for financial aid, and is planning to apply. If not, he or she should.
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Yes, of course there is an assumption that the student will apply for FA. the student will likely have a 0 EFC.
That just means that the student will get a $5700 fed grant and a $5500 student loan.
HOW is the student supposed to pay the remaining costs?
@BeeDAre Are you aware that most state schools give LITTLE aid???
Just to give you an idea of what Ball State would give this student with a 0 EFC…
BTW…I couldn’t find anywhere on Ball State’s website an indication that IL residents get an OOS discount. It’s not listed in the COA page or the tuition page. Edit…just found it…it’s $11k
Estimates for the 2014-2015 Academic Year
Your published cost of attendance:
Tuition & Fees + $24,610
Room & Board + $9,246
Ball State University Direct Cost $33,856
Estimated Personal Expenses
Books & Supplies + $1,260
Other Expenses + $3,670
Total Cost (including Personal Expenses) $38,786
Your estimated grants and scholarships:
Federal Aid
Pell Grant - $5,730
SEOG - $500
Total Grants and Scholarships $6,230
Your Estimated Net Price $32,556
And if the student takes out a $5500 loan, then her net cost is about $27k.
How is this student supposed to come up with $27k???
Oh yeah, Ball State mentions taking out a Parent Plus loan for the balance. Do you think that would work for this student? I don’t think so.
Edit…even with a reduced tuition of $11k, this student would still have an unaffordable net cost after aid.
Going to a community college is the best option
Community college is a great option here. Some CCs also offer scholarships. You can also earn your degree at your own pace. Set up an appointment at your local community college with an admissions person. Bring your transcript. Explain your situation and what you are trying to do. They have seen others in your situation and should have a handle on what works best. It may a combination of work study if your income or assistance is needed at home. It may be finding off-campus housing with other students so you can focus on your work. They can also tell you about your options to transfer at the end of 2 years and the funding available to help with that.
If you don’t succeed in finding the right person at the CC by phone, go there personally and talk to the registrar or someone else in the administration and find out who you need to talk to. This is where you need to advocate for yourself. Guidance counselors often have their hands full with students who are in serious trouble and may not have the bandwidth to be as much help as you need them to be. Don’t let this discourage you. If you have a teacher at school whom you trust and respect, ask them for help or any adult in your life whom you know is familiar with working through bureaucracies. You will need advice and support to make things happen so make sure you ask for it loud and clear and often.
If this student has a place to live, then a CC would be the best place to start. She can work part-time during the school year, and full time in the summer…earning as much as she can.
Ok, I was not aware that state schools gave such paltry aid! I figured, naively, that this student would have most of costs taken care of.
In that case, I agree with others who say - Community college for two years, then hopefully find a way to transfer in two years to a 4-year university.
Public schools have no reason to give OOS students need based aid. Why would they give aid to cover their high OOS costs? Why would they bother to charge high OOS costs if they were then going to have to dip into their limited FA money to cover those high costs?
OOS publics charge high tuition because those student’s parents don’t pay taxes there.
They don’t usually give paltry aid, they usually give NO aid. The aid that was shown was federal aid. The school is giving NO AID at all.
The residents of a state would be very upset to see their tax-dollars going to cover an OOS student’s OOS tuition bill.
even as an instate student for IL publics, this student won’t be given enough aid. IL schools, like most publics, don’t even have the funds to give their own residents much/any aid.
publics generally have tiny endowments…no funds for aid.
I meant Penn State
Hope that you picked a branch campus and that you can afford that steep OOS tuition. It’s not even that cheap for us in-staters.
Is your living situation stable now? If you’re babysitting so your mom can work, what’s her plan for when you go to school?
I think your best bet for getting a diploma is to find something in-state. Your GPA doesn’t seem high enough for merit aid and the schools that give a lot of need based aid are very competitive. Is there a local community college you can attend? Try the FAFSA4caster to see how much of a federal Pell grant you may get. You could also get a federal student loan of up to ~$5500/year, but I’d dip into that only as a last resort. Good luck.
OP:
Can you answer a couple of questions so that we can offer you our best advice as to where and how to apply to apply to the college that will be the best fit for you financially and academically.
Have you been in the same high school all four years?
Will retaking the classes you fail, affect your GPA?
Do you have waivers for taking the ACT and access to ACT prep at the school or at the local library?