<p>If she’s open to a women’s college and prestige isn’t a big barrier, I’ll suggest Salem College in North Carolina. Very small (900 students), but nurturing and very good with aid. Does have an education major but not nursing. I’ve known several first-generation students who have LOVED it and been very successful - and one had a “messy” financial situation that I got involved with - they were very helpful.</p>
<p>There are not hundreds of colleges that would give this student enough merit to attend if her family can not pay anything. I think she’s looking at CC or in state schools.</p>
<p>My pastor attended Salem College! That’s a fantastic suggestion.</p>
<p>I want to clarify something. I shouldn’t have said “no money” because that’s not literally true. They have zero savings and are paying off huge debt from the father, but there is some income that would be used for college. I’m not exactly sure how much.</p>
<p>I think your friend’s D’s situation is such that some otherwise reachy schools may be willing to give her a chance, especially if she can write a compelling admission essay about it and have her GC/teachers mention her situation in their student report/recommendations. She should also look into getting application fee waivers. </p>
<p>I recalled reading an account here on CC of someone accepted to Smith despite seemingly low stats because she was facing similar circumstances so I’d second the look at the Women’s Colleges.</p>
<p>I’d also look at some LACs such as Vassar and Oberlin as I’ve personally known several classmates/friends who were admitted with otherwise low stats because of their compelling life story. In fact, one younger woman I know from Vassar had a similar situation to the OP’s D. </p>
<p>Moreover, Rutgers is a respectable in-state choice which can get her where she wants to go if she decides to go there…especially if she goes to the New Brunswick campus. They also have departments which command top rankings so it’s no slouch. </p>
<p>In any event, she may want to consider psychologically preparing to ramp up her study time/intensity, finding a group of supportive classmates, and taking a study-skills course once she arrives on the college campus to ensure she’s on the same academic page as everyone else. </p>
<p>Better to overprepare and excel than to find yourself like many kids who coasted to top grades, GPAs, and rank in high school and then do poorly/fail courses in their first semester/year.</p>
<p>Drew might be a match. Some kind of compassionate aid might be worked out. I don’t think she has the stats for merit money.</p>
<p>I suggest a SUNY school which can work out cheaper than an instate and there are many options. Some FA might be forthcoming.</p>
<p>Guildford, a Quaker school might be compassionate.</p>
<p>In this case I think an outside scholarship might be possible.</p>
<p>If she is willing to come this way, there are some great LAC’s in the midwest. Coe College in Cedar Rapids would be a good choice – strong nursing program, student teacher ed program, used to working with 1st generation kids. Luther in Decorah might be another one.</p>
<p>Waverly–you are wrong. Even at a CC, with an income of 80K, they would be paying full costs at a CC and in-state looking at 20K or so at least because of limited merit aid offered at state schools. Get into a lot of the LAC and their merit awards bring their costs down to less than most state schools. Also, you can’t get a 4 year degree at a CC…</p>
<p>In this family’s case, especially with the medical bills, attending a school that requires the CSS would probably be a huge benefit for them.</p>
<p>I just plugged numbers into the EFC FAFSA calculator using the 80,000 as earned income and an AGI of 60,000. The EFC is $5851 off of that. Even at an AGI of 70,000, the EFC is $9473. With that she is looking at say $5000/year in loans and $4000 OOP. There are PLENTY, 100’s of schools that she could go to and not have to pay more than that and often less.</p>
<p>What about the Macaulay Honors program?</p>
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<p>Her SATs are on the low side for that program and I heard you need to maintain a minimum of a 3.5 cumulative GPA to stay in the program.</p>
<p>lololu–Coe is a great option too. We have some friends who have a DD there and she LOVES it there. She wasn’t a great student but a good student and got a fair amount of merit aid to attend. They are a full pay family and got enough to cover about half of her costs. Not to hijack but do you have any personal experience with Mount Mercy? DD got some recruiting information from them and I really don’t know anyone with first hand experience with that school.</p>
<p>Is she is sure about nursing, then the following link might help her. Not sure about FA again…or selectivity. </p>
<p>[Nursing</a> Programs in New Jersey | New Jersey Nursing Initiative](<a href=“http://www.njni.org/nursing-programs]Nursing”>http://www.njni.org/nursing-programs)</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this, but some schools have this thing called a noncustodial parent waiver. She should look it up.</p>
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Macaulay has become super competitive. I know people with 2000++ scores, great grades and full IB program curriculum who were rejected.</p>
<p>I agree that keeping such a good GPA while dealing with incredible family turmoil is very impressive. I suspect that many schools would be impressed with the maturity and focus of this student.</p>
<p>Is she interested in playing softball in college? When you say she is “not recuitable” I assume that you mean she is not a D-1 caliber player. But there are lots of NCAA D-3 schools that field softball teams. Furthermore, most of them are not national contenders. Some have small rosters due to lower student interest in this sport at their particular schoool, and they need players. If she is willing to play at college, it could help her application. Finding these schools would require a little research (look at teams that lose more than they win, look for smaller rosters, look for schools where anther women’s team routinely “gets all the glory”…) but could be helpful.</p>
<p>What position does she play? Would her coach recommend her?</p>
<p>“Her SATs are on the low side for that program” Yes, they are. I do think she should take the ACT to see if she can do better. It’s a reach but it would solve her problem.</p>
<p>When zoosermom says some income would be used for college - I don’t know but I doubt it’s 5-10k a year. This is the real question if zoosermom can find out some more details. With huge medical bills to be paid, I doubt much money can be used for college expenses. Especially if she is halfway across the county - where does that travel money come from. </p>
<p>Right now she has an sat of 1700-1800 - that’s about a 26 ACT score. To get the most in Merit - her scores should be above the 75% of accepted students.</p>
<p>I think she would love to play softball. She is a third baseperson and is very good, but not the best in the state by any means. I don’t think her mom has ever considered this, so I will mention to her that she might want to speak to the coach.</p>
<p>The mom has the idea that she could probably contribute $3000 to $5000 per year, but she (amazingly) has kept her credit excellent, so she feels that, since the last of the medical/legal bills will be paid off in about five years, she could take about $3000 in PLUS loans per year and be in a better cash-flow situation when she is paying them off than she is now.</p>
<p>So she would contribute 3-5K out of pocket and an additional 3,000 in PP loans for a total of 6-8K?</p>
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<p>That won’t solve the requirement to maintain a minimum sustained cumulative 3.5 GPA to stay in the honors program. </p>
<p>If you fall below that at any point in your college career…you’re booted out without any means of getting back into the program. Especially considering Macaulay doesn’t accept transfer students or already enrolled non-honors CUNY students. </p>
<p>It’s not too far removed from supposed scholarships in which one has to maintain a high GPA/class standing…and the school deliberately makes arrangements so that half or most recipients end up losing it after 1 year…or even one semester.</p>
<p>Another factor to consider is that most CUNY campuses have limited/no housing because most students tended to be commuters. Nearly all students whose primary home isn’t within commuting distance have to find off-campus apartments.</p>