I’m new and have no idea if I am doing this at all right. I want to get into college, I have a 1480 SAT (720 R/W, 760 M only took it once), 1st in class, weak ECs, hispanic first gen college, EFC 0. What is possible for me?
Home State?
GPA unweighted?
Any SAT subject tests?
AP/IB or DE courses?
Intended major?
Do you have any application fee waivers?
Can your parents contribute anything to your college expenses?
NJ, 4.0, N/A, 11th (AP Bio, APUSH, 5 on both exams) 12th (AP Stats, AP Eng, AP Physics), Engineering, yep, no (I’m going to pay everything, they have nothing to spare, I’m on my own for education, I am going to pay to live even if I live with them).
Rutgers’ NPC suggests a net price of around $15k, which is about $5k more than you can borrow from federal direct loans and reasonably expect to earn from part time work during school, although the estimate includes about $5k of misc expenses that if you can avoid spending may barely put you into the edge of making it work financially. You may want to check the NPCs of other NJ publics to see if they may be affordable (net price under $10k, the lower the better).
But if you have a 4.0 HS GPA and 1480 SAT, there may be some full rides (tuition, fees, room, board, books) available for your stats, so you may need the federal direct loan and/or small amounts of work earnings to cover travel to/from Texas or Alabama:
https://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/scholarships/freshman-scholarships
https://www.aamu.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid/scholarships/
Some of the best financial aid offers may be at super selective schools (Ivy League, MIT, etc.), but admission to them is very difficult. Applying through Questbridge is an attractive option, but unfortunately the deadline was 9/26.
Thank you, I will think about applying to places that will give me full ride.
Try the net price calculator on Rowan University’s web site. A test run for a student from a low income family suggests a net price of around $3k, which you should be able to cover with a federal direct loan (up to $5k) or a reasonable amount of work earnings.
Ok thanks, what about other schools like Lehigh or Villanova? Full need based aid?
Your approach may be a bit off.
While it is important to apply to schools which are likely to award you a full scholarship for at least tuition & fees, you also need to consider colleges & universities which “meet full financial need”. Among those are the top ranked colleges & universities in the nation.
Your SAT score of 1480 combined with a class rank of number one (#1) along with first generation to go to college & your family’s financial status make the Ivies reasonable reaches.
As an engineering student, consider Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (upscale Chicago suburb).
Seattle University in Washington state has some “full ride” scholarships for which you should receive consideration.
Apply to any & all Ivy League schools which offer engineering.
Swarthmore College in the Philadelphia suburbs.
The University of Alabama will award a substantial merit scholarship to you. Beautiful & fun campus. Decent football team. Only 39% of undergraduate students are from Alabama, so you will meet students from all over the country.
Apply to Rutgers and Rowan (including honors college) ASAP if you’ve not done it yet.
If you’ve taken calculus: UPenn, Cornell, Lehigh, Northwestern, Northeastern.
Forget Villanova- their financial aid is terrible.
Look into Lafayette, Union, Olin.
Run the NPC on ALL of those and see if you can apply ED to the cheapest net price among those. - in that case, send me your common app and supp essays.
What do you do outside of class?
Keep in mind that anything you do outside of school counts as an EC: a job, especially if it helps your family financially; taking care of siblings, older relatives, a disabled or ill parent.
Would you consider majoring in Physics or CS rather than Engineering? This would open more college choices that meet 100% need for EFC0 students.
Are you male or female?
Female I would consider Smith Early Decision but be quick!
What does your guidance counselor say?
Applying to all the Ivies will be hard.
Apply to Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford; you have a decent (higher than the overall sub 5% rate) chance there, and will most likely get full ride considering your EFC is $0. How are your test scores?
Personally I think you have the right inclination that the Ivies would be a high reach.
Put in an application or two but your time is better spent finding match and safeties.
Run the NPC for Clarkson, Case Western, BC, and Lehigh
Male, to apply to Ivies or hidden Ivies, but I’m not sure my ECs are that good. I work part time though.
Ivies & Northwestern University are searching for qualified first generation, low income URMs.
Yep, already applied to Rutgers and Rowan, I did take calc honors, thanks I am considering Lehigh, ok so no villanova, was thinking about Lafayette. I work part time (before it was about 15 hrs per week, now it has become 30 hrs per week), I have helped my family (gave my dad 10k to make a CD since we need to start saving since my sisters will also go to college, so I have no more money left for much). I am part of math league and an art club though I joined math league in 11th and art 12th. I would consider Physics or CS but I haven’t truly taken CS classes and physics I just took this year. I also really want to major and go straight to the field rather than waiting, I have no time or money to wait for a job to fall to me.
Working part time is a fine EC.
Especially if you’re working 30 hours to help your family and keeping your grades up.
Thank you
What about Tufts?
Hurry though - choose one place where the NPC indicates a low net cost and apply ED. Most deadlines are November 1st (evening of) so you have 48h to get it done.
Beside net cost, personality (yours and the college’s) matters.
After running the NPCs, list your top possibilities based on lowest net cost and people here will tell you what their “personality” is like (what we call ‘best fit’).
Check out scholarships for University of Arizona and University of Alabama. My suggestion, if your dad is borrowing money from you, you need to consider going away for college. This doesn’t look like a healthy dynamic. Otherwise you’re going to get sucked into other financial issues. That could jeopardize your education.
For instance, University of AZ is a 35k scholarship per year. Loans and grants can pay for the balance of fees and books. You could work full time during the summer, and part-time (20 hrs) during the semesters, which could pay for a dorm, food and other expenses. You’d graduate with minimal debt. It’s the same story with Alabama.