<p>I realized that my parents and I are not too educated about financial aid, but we've been doing alot of college talk lately...so I'm trying to learn more. Any advice/help you could provide would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>So, I am currently a HS junior and I just took my first SAT & scored a 2000 (680 Math, 670 Reading, 650 Writing). My GPA is around 3.8. </p>
<p>I go to the a very highly ranked public high school, my GPA is pretty high, and my SAT score was good considering I didnt study too much, and I have a HUGE amount of AP and Dual Enrollment credits...but I don't know where to start applying for college since money is a big factor.</p>
<p>My parents don't make too much. It's likely that they will not be able to pay much of anything for my college education, & I completely understand why, but they insist that I go away for college since my high school education is so rigorous.</p>
<p>If it helps, I am completely sure that I will be going into the medical field to become a pediatrician and understand the workload that comes along with it. </p>
<p>I know about filing the FAFSA and federal loans, and hopefully I will be able to find ways to cover my cost of going to school...but what are chances they wont? Are there places where I will be able to go to school even though my parents can't contribute anything? Will my wanting to go to med school also be a factor in my paying for undergrad?</p>
<p>First, although it’s unfortunate, there is not enough money given in aid for all of those who’ve worked hard in high school to “go away.”</p>
<p>Knowing you’re going to med school means knowing you don’t want to borrow much for undergrad as you’ll have huge med school loans. This pushes many towards their in state public colleges.</p>
<p>The better your stats are, the better your options will be. So if your GPA means you’re near the top of your class and you can improve the SAT score, you’ll have good choices among schools offering good aid, need based and merit.</p>
<p>If you’re going to be pre-med, then it’s very important that you borrow as LITTLE as possible for undergrad - because med school debt will be LARGE. </p>
<p>As mentioned above, most schools do not give a lot of aid, so you will need a good strategy when applying. You’ll need schools that give full need-based aid (which are hard to get into) and schools that will be affordable because of big merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Study for the SAT and take it again. Also take the ACT. Some do better on that.</p>
<p>Yes, I took the PSAT in October, but I don’t know when we should be getting scores. I also did minimal studying for the SAT since it was offered for free and hadn’t planned on taking it. I’ll take note of studying harder to aim for better scores.</p>
<p>Thanks for the links. Currently reading them. I’m wondering though, how do students get through college and med school if they must take minimal loans? Especially kids who don’t get much financial support from their parents? My parents’ income is probably around ~$55k combined (my mom doesn’t make too much).</p>
<p>If it helps, I’m from VA. I think our colleges are pretty good here so in state probably won’t be a problem if I can afford it.</p>
<p>Also, i should have about 35-45 college credits earned from APs and Dual Enrollment, if that also helps any.</p>
<p>I’m wondering though, how do students get through college and med school if they must take minimal loans? Especially kids who don’t get much financial support from their parents? My parents’ income is probably around ~$55k combined (my mom doesn’t make too much).</p>
<p>It’s very possible to graduate without much in loans (or no loans) even if you don’t have much support from your parents. Your parents’ income may be low enough that you’ll get a Pell Grant and if you go to a school that meets need, you won’t have to borrow much or anything.</p>
<p>You need to work hard to get into UVA…it’s a school that “meets need”. I don’t know if other VA publics meet need. </p>
<p>There are other schools that meet need without any loans…Vandy is one.</p>
<p>If your PSAT and SAT scores are high enough, then you could get enough aid and merit scholarships not to have to borrow much. </p>
<p>Have a year plus in college credits can help you, but many students with such credits who are pre-med still take the full four years.</p>
<p>Ohh, I did not know UVA met need for students without loans. That makes my top choice a lot clearer. A large amount of students from my school go to UVA, so I’m thinking that I’ll be able to gain admission.</p>
<p>I’m not sure anyone here would know this but, for UVA to not give loans…do they use grants or is it mostly scholarships? Is there a requirement that has to be met to get the no loan financial aid package?</p>
<p>There are MANY great state school options in VA… but many cannot meet full need… you and your family should run the EFC calculators at the VA state schools in which you are interested… with what you state as your stats you could first look at UVA, W&M, VTech, JMU, VCU, GMU. I think UVA will meet need? The others do not guarantee… but many will give scholarships for stats/ community service/ etc… Many have EA deadlines for top scholarship dollars. Since you are a HS Jr., you have lots of time to research.</p>
<p>Also – look at OOS and private schools that give guaranteed merit for your stats.</p>
<p>You will likely need loan money for medical school… minimizing your undergrad debt is key.</p>
<p>If you are interested in med. school, look at VCU’s guaranteed medical school program. They use to list the stats required for their scholarships on their website (don’t know if they still do) so you might check them out.</p>
<p>If you live in NOVA, UVA is not a shoe-in as it is very competitive. At DS’ high school, the average GPA for UVA was 4.38 for the accepted students. I would retake the SAT/ACT and try to get higher scores. The higher the scores, the better your chances of getting merit scholarships.</p>
<p>I agree that you should retake the SAT if you want to try to get merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Note that UVA no longer gives merit scholarships, however. The only merit scholarship for UVA is the Jefferson Scholarship, administered by the Jefferson Foundation. My daughter received some additional information today after being nominated by her high school. About 3,500 high schools are eligible to nominate one or two students for the scholarship. About 100 go to the finalist weekend, and about 25 will be offered scholarships.</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids - Sorry, I misread that. If you have any prior knowledge about UVA, does their financial aid package will include too much in loans for someone looking into med school?</p>
<p>KatMT - Thanks, I’ll look into some privates. I don’t like being too far away from home, though…do you know what areas would have some private schools to look into not too far away from VA?</p>
<p>MTNest - Was the 4.38 the unweighted GPA or the weighted GPA? Also, I’ve heard alot of negative things about the VCU area and that it’s really expensive to go there for a not so great school. But then again, alot of kids in my school go for mostly UVA and VA Tech, so who knows.</p>
<p>My school only goes up to a 4.0 unweighted…I’ll be able to find my weighted GPA out soon. I’ve heard from older students/alumni that some VA schools look at the weighted GPA for admissions…does anyone know if this is true?</p>
<p>And yes, I’ll get to cracking on studying for the next SAT. I hardly put in any studying in this time around so I’m sure I could do loads better if I put more effort in.</p>
<p>It’s important that you take both the SAT and the ACT. Some kids do better on the ACT, and it’s important that your score be as high as possible. Schools will take whichever is the highest score.</p>
<pre><code>* Full-time freshman enrollment: 3,239
Number who applied for need-based aid: 2,376
Number who were judged to have need: 1,047
Number who were offered aid: 1,047
Number who had full need met: 1,047
Average percent of need met: 100%
Average financial aid package: $19,664
Average need-based loan: $4,977
Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $14,376
Average non-need based aid: $8,757
Average indebtedness at graduation: $19,939
</code></pre>
<p>It looks like UVA puts in about $5k per year for student loans. That’s not high, per se, but for someone going to med school, I would try to have less undergrad debt.</p>
<p>How far is too far for you? Emory? Duke? Georgetown? Vandy? UNC-CH (also meets need).</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids - Thanks so much for your advice. I’m planning on signing up for the January SAT, and the February ACT, and continue on from there. And definitely to keep studying!</p>
<p>UNC Chapel Hill and Duke are both not too far. The farthest I’d probably go is probably 7 or 8 hours away. Georgetown is really close to where I live. I’m from the Northern VA area.</p>
<p>Is there any way I can find out what my EFC would be without filing a FAFSA?</p>
<p>VCU would be good if you can get into the Guaranteed Medical School program. It saves you the hassle of applying for med. schools which is a GREAT thing (not to mention saving you big bucks on the applications, travel costs for interviews and generally worrying about whether you will get into med. school or not). Of course, it is highly competitive. </p>
<p>Their Honors’ housing was in a former hospital – BIG rooms w/private bathrooms! The area surrounding the school did not impress me. If they give you the full tuition scholarship and if money is an issue then I would consider it especially if you are planning to go to med school. There is no need to rack up undergrad debt when you will be racking up med school debt. Once again, cast a wide net and apply at school who are known to “meet need”.</p>
<p>Ok this is the complete opposite of what everyone else is telling you, but your best option is to go the the very best private school you can get into. Most of the top-tier private schools have loan free financial aid available, especially if you come from a low income family. I’m kind of in the same predicament as you, and I’m trying to go to Vanderbilt. They guarantee to meet 100% of your need with loan-free aid, so basically, if you get in, you don’t have to worry about money. They calculate your EFC, and sometimes that’s higher than you think it should be, but in most cases they’re pretty reasonable. I think if you study for your SAT/ACT and bring your score up a little, you could be a competitive applicant at schools like this, and you’d be getting the best of both worlds: a great education for very little money</p>
<p>Ok this is the complete opposite of what everyone else is telling you, but your best option is to go the the very best private school you can get into. Most of the top-tier private schools have loan free financial aid available, especially if you come from a low income family. I’m kind of in the same predicament as you, and I’m trying to go to Vanderbilt. They guarantee to meet 100% of your need with loan-free aid, so basically, if you get in, you don’t have to worry about money.</p>
<p>This isn’t “opposite advice”. We don’t even know what her scores are going to be. She may not have the scores for Vandy or ivies.</p>
<p>We know that if she’s low income, she’d get great aid from schools like Vandy and ivies, but she doesn’t want to go far from home. That’s going to limit her to schools like Duke, UNC-CH, UVA, that meet need. And for other schools near her home, she’ll need merit scholarships to afford them.</p>
<p>About VCU – I personally don’t recommend VCU unless one can get into the guaranteed Med Program (which would be amazing!), have a full scholarship to cover tuition & housing, or if they’re really into living in Richmond. I say this because even if tuition were paid, the cost of attendance is still somewhat high. Living on campus ranges anywhere from about $4300 to around $6700 (which is the cost of the Honors Dorms). The meal plan is another $3000. If you get enough of a scholarship and financial aid to cover those though, then it’s not as bad.</p>
<p>Just my opinion - the cost of living around Richmond is higher than other schools that I know of. But, you do get the option of not living on campus during your first year, so that may be a plus to you.</p>
<p>This is just my opinion. Best of luck to you!</p>