I have talked to my guidance counselor and we have a meeting next month, but I want to do a lot of my research before then. Our counselors have a lot of kids they meet with and don’t really know the individual students that well. But anyways, we use Naviance and I looked at some of the middle 50’s for students at our school. A lot of them were a little higher than the national ones, I’m not sure what that says? I am asking a teacher I will see on Friday for a recommendation.
If you have any schools to suggest to me that might be safeties, I am open.
The issue with Naviance is that the scattergrams won’t show you whether the applicant applied test optional or not, so it’s not all that helpful.
We can’t give you safety ideas until we know your budget and uwGPA.
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Okay, thank you. 3.2 and budget-wise, my grandparents have saved for us and is helping out, with the two of us (I have a younger sister) so I don’t think I will need a lot of financial aid and can afford $20,0000 a year without a loan.
Do you mean $20,000 per year? If so that would make your budget around $25k counting the direct student loan ($5,500 max first year).Any of the Indiana publics should be affordable for you.
I think IU is a probably a likely for you, what does the Naviance scattergram show? Definitely ask your GC too.
Yes, for each year. I appreciate all of your help and suggestions!
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I am wondering, do you think I should still not send my 1140 to UC-Boulder when the Naviance middle 50 percent shows 1070 as the low end of the middle 50 - my school’s is a lot higher than that though (around 1250), and on CU’s website they state 1190 is their low end? So it’s different than what Naviance says.
But should I go by what Naviance says? Or the university website?
I am still not sure what to do because all of the information is different everywhere I look, and I should send my application in soon. Thank you.
I noticed the current Fall 2022 freshman profile here:
https://www.colorado.edu/oda/sites/default/files/attached-files/firstyearprofilefall22.pdf
Shows average SAT as 1273 and GPA 3.72.
Also based on advice earlier above in August for IU,
see CDS of UC Boulder’sclass of 2025, your score is still below 1180 , 25th percentile and only 32% submitted scores.
So, imo, don’t submit scores would be consistent advice.
You might consider applying to Truman State. They are part of MSEP (MSEP amount for 2022-2023 academic year is estimated at $3,677. MSEP award value, determined annually, reduces out-of-state tuition to 150% of in-state tuition rate, with this scholarship covering the difference).
Here is link to their auto merit aid charts. It does look like your 23 ACT would garner merit if your GPA were higher, but I don’t think it is possible to change it that much at this point.
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Thank you so much, I also don’t think it helps my application to send a score now that I see this.
I have a cousin who went to Truman State. He said it is a really good school. I know he said the work load was especially big but that could be true anywhere.
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For what it’s worth, do not send your test scores in to any school. With test optional being an option it makes so much sense to only submit application components that make you shine.
Think of it this way. If you are not a great standardized test taker it is a true gift not to have to submit scores. Embrace this.
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What about for merit aid though?
For merit aid, I would look at each college’s website to see if it has any kind of guidance about minimum requirements for merit aid. If it doesn’t (or even if it does), I would then go to the school’s Net Price Calculator (NPC). (You can do a web search using the college’s name and Net Price Calculator to help find it.) If the NPC asks for your GPA and standardized test scores, then it will probably include the minimum amount of merit aid you can expect. If the number comes out as $0, then I would follow the guidance you’ve received about submitted scores.
If there is no information about minimum stats and nothing listed in the NPC, then you can check out this site to see about what percentage of students receive merit aid. When I compare that percentage to an entering class, I usually think of it this way: If a school gives merit aid to 15% of students, then I tend to think that a student’s stats should be in the top 15-25% of the applicants. If a school gives merit to 95% of students, then I think that the top 95% of applicants are likely to receive merit aid.
So, if you look up the merit aid (and if it’s not listed on that site, you can do the calculations yourself from the college’s Common Data Set) and then see where you think your stats might fall (top 25%, middle 50%, bottom 25%). If your stats aren’t in the range that would likely receive merit, then you may want to give serious thought as to whether you want to submit your test scores and call an admissions officer at that university for their recommendation.
With respect to UC-Boulder, is your budget still $20,000/year? Because the cost of attendance (COA) at CU is about $56k. 42% of freshmen (63% of freshmen without financial need) received merit aid, and the average merit award was $8,842. Even if you receive merit aid, the average award would only bring your COA to about $48k, which is still more than double your budget.
If you need help finding schools that are within budget or that you stand a reasonable chance of being able to get within budget, let us know. If so, let us know what you’re looking for in a college such as size (large/medium/small…and what does that mean to you), location (which parts of the country), location type (urban/suburban/rural), what field(s) in the liberal arts you’re interested in, any dealbreakers, etc.
Also, I would strongly advise your family to run a Net Price Calculator to see whether schools will think they qualify for an financial aid, as that can make a difference as well.
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Wow, I really want to thank you for such a great reply. I will need to consider all of these things one by one and really do my homework. This weekend. The only small question I have: I was hesitant to ask admissions officers for their opinions when it’s a close call. They won’t hold that against me if I do?
I have learned a lot from all of this. Everyone is so helpful here!
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You’re very welcome.
If you feel nervous about having your name associated with a score, call the school rather than sending an email. Ask to speak to an admissions officer (they may ask for your state), and then just say, these are my SAT scores and I see that it’s within your 25-75 range and that x% of students submit their scores. Would you recommend that an applicant with my scores submit them or do you think they should apply test optional? Then you get feedback specific to the university you want and you don’t have to keep second-guessing (triple-guessing, quadruple-guessing, etc). Frankly, I don’t see a downside.
Don’t hesitate to ask any other questions. We’re happy to help!
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How did you know I was triple guessing?
It is that obvious? lol
I like the idea of calling, I will do this.
Thank you again!
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