<p>I am going to be entering high school this fall as a senior so I'm looking at colleges and whatnot now. My grades are pretty great and I have a gpa of 3.98. My sat scores were higher than average as well. What concerns me is my financial situation.
My parents divorced when I was very young. I have lived with my father and younger sister since. My father had to quit a very good paying job to move back to his home town to be with his mother (my grandma) so she could help out. Well fast forward a few years of crappy jobs and living expenses. We were broke and only had a few hundred dollars in the bank. Then earlier this year my father found himself without a job. He looks all the time but has to settle for odd jobs here and there. We currently have absolutely no money in the bank. We have enough to eat and keep the lights on and my grandma helps out with other expenses but i'm terribly worried about college. I live in a very small town (less than 3000) and most of the population consists of drug dealers, children, or convenient store workers. The scary part is that literally almost all the adults in town have lived here there whole life and never got an education. I don't want to be like that. I want to get out of here and contribute to society! We have no community college nearby (there is one about 100 miles from here) so I cant just go to one and live at home. I just don't see how it would be possible for me to attend amy college while still being able to eat.</p>
<p>Help! Is it even feasible for me to consider getting an education? Or should I just consider living off the grid in some forest somewhere?</p>
<p>Just get financial aid and apply for scholarships within the school (not the ones you get from outside, although those can help, it’s really hard to get). With financial aid, and the financial situation your are in, you can get the pell grant which is like 5,000+ which can pay for a typical state college. And with a scholarship, most can pay for your on campus living (dorms) and some food. You can also apply for work-study, which is basically a program you work for and you pay for your education</p>
<p>NOTE: that you don’t have to live near to your college. You can live in dorms- etc. if you don’t plan on’ contributing’ to the family. If you find a job you can even send them money if you want, and visit them on the holiday breaks. </p>
<p>There are options for you! There are several need based scholarship programs where you would be able to go to college for little to no cost. You should look at Questbridge and Gates Millenium. Also, a lot of the top elite colleges provide amazing financial aid. If your financial situation is as unstable as you are describing, you would likely go to Harvard for free. Don’t be scared of the total COA at a lot of schools. There are schools that will meet 100% of your demonstrated need. In addition, you should know tht with the way financial aid is at most schools, those who are low income and those who are high income have an easier time with paying. From extensive reading and research, the middle class is really who is being squeezed out of college admissions.</p>
<p>As most people on here will tell you, it also depends on what kinds of courses you took, and the course load that you had. If your SATs are 2100 or so, or greater, you have a good shot at a higher tier school that may give you substantial grants and work-study so that you’ll have very low debt by the time you graduate.</p>
<p>Annie, Gates is only for certain ethnic groups. OP, if you are caucasian you won’t qualify for Gates but definitely look into questbridge. Their application is open now at questbridge.org. The application is quite extensive and it is due at the end of September so you should get started on it soon, you will need teacher and GC recs for it as well.</p>
<p>You can go to college. Check if your stats qualify you for any of the merit scholarships in the pinned threads on this forum. On top of that, there are many financial need scholarships just for kids like you - good stats low income. Your home county, state, ethnicity, gender and intended area of study also opens up more scholarships.
Your guidance counselor and your library should be good resources.
What state are you in and what do you want to major in? </p>
<p>You should definitely look at Questbridge. </p>
<p>Where is your mom? Does she make good money? Will you be able to get her financial info for schools that require it? If not, you will have to see if you can get a waiver. If she will cooperate but is low-income, and your scores are good, you may qualify for a lot of aid at some top schools. </p>
<p>What is your standardized test scores? But seriously don’t loose hope, there are lots of immigrants were in the same situation as you years ago and we made out ok. Worse yet, some of us English is not our native tongue.</p>
<p>@lululemonxx…I think you are a bit misinformed. The OP would qualify for a Pell Grant, and the $5500 Direct Loan…which in total would be about $11,000. This will NOT pay for a residential college. In many places, this will barely pay for a year of tuition at a residential public university,</p>
<p>To the OP…what ARE your SAT scores? Those will be used to determine your merit aid potential.</p>
<p>Does your state have any aid for very low income students? Some states do. You need to find this out.</p>
<p>Do you have any relatives who love near a community college or public university in your state who might be able to offer you very inexpensive or free housing?</p>
<p>@thumper1 i’m not saying that the pell grant should be used to get a dorm on college campus, but to simply pay for the tuition. I believe you cant even use the grant to pay for your living. So ignore the loans, the 5000 alone CAN in fact pay for a normal state college TUITION. You need a scholarship for the dorm, and work for textbook money. (or maybe a scholarship)</p>
<p>Lulu…you are very misinformed. Please get your information straight. </p>
<p>First…the Pell Grant can be used to pay ANY costs. If the student has their tuition costs covered by a merit scholarship, they can use the Pell to pay for room/ board costs. If the student has a full ride scholarship that covers tuition/room/board/fees…they can STILL get the Pell grant if they are entitled to it. They can use It for books or transportation or clothing…anything. </p>
<p>Second. Please tell us what four year public university had a $5000 per year tuition cost. I’m sure this would be valuable information for many to have. </p>
<p>Third, this student can’t forget the $5500 Direct Loan. She will very likely NEED this loan to attend college…especially if she attends a four year residential college.</p>
<p>$5000 would likely cover the tuition cost at a community college. BUT community colleges don’t typically have dorms (yes, some do, but most don’t). </p>
<p>The very best scholarships are awarded by the colleges. </p>
<p>And some states do have grant awards for low income students.</p>
<p>Please talk to your guidance counselor. Where are the graduates from your high school going for college? Are there any satellite branches of any colleges within commutable distance. My MIL lived in a town that is considered economically deprived, as is that entire region. The nearest community college is a good 40 minutes away without any public buses in the area, but…1) the CC does run a shuttle a few times a day leaving from a central point in town 2) a directional state university an hour away runs a shuttle in the morning and evening at least, very limited but does get anyone who needs to get there to the school and back 3)There are courses held at the library, high school in the evenings and other locations by the the community college so that even staying in town, one can get a start on some college courses. 4) the state and college in the state have special programs, admissions and aid for those who live in this region because it is so underrepresented in higher education. These programs extend right on up to medical and other professional school and are not advertised You have to find this info by asking the right people at the high school, college or whatever. 5) Your high school might have referral programs to some college, especially if you have high stats in your test scores and gpa. </p>
<p>So you should talk to your counselor at the high school. Find out what last year’s graduating class is doing. </p>
<p>You should run some numbers through the EFC estimator to see where you stand in that regard. Is there housing available through referral lists if not through the school itself at any CCs in your state? I know that even in NY there are some CCs with very low tuition, and that have roomshares nearby where it is possibly to get by on very little. Does your state give finanical aid? </p>
<p>Also your counselor should let your state schools and any college possibilities know that you don’t have a commutable option available so that it might put you first on the fin aid list for consideration. In NY, room and fees tend to be covered if there is need, but I can see exceptions possibly made for those students who live too far to commute to a school (though not so possible in that state as there are so many schools peppered throughout). I know that in the cases of Indian reservations that are indeed located far from any higher education institution and public transportation that commuting is not reasonably doable, that there are special schools and provisions made for these cases.</p>
<p>I made the mistake for many years of not trying to go to college because I thought I was too broke. I really wanted to go last year, so I applied, even though I thought I wouldn’t be able to come up with the money to go. I was completely wrong! I am ready for sophomore year this year. Federal aid, state aid, and federal loans paid all of it last year, and this year my high gpa earned 2 scholarships on top of the aid. My tuition is paid and I still have money back for textbooks, supplies, expenses. I do have to work part-time, and on-campus living would not be affordable. The important thing is to go to an in-state public school so you can get the state grant and pay in-state rates. Also, apply early! Good luck. I am convinced now that anyone can attend college if they go about it right. I am glad I know now my kids will able to go now too.</p>