<p>Let me start off by saying it is my first time posting here. So, here is my situation I come from a family of Cuban immigrants. I am first generation. I have a 3.9 GPA and doing dual enrollment with my community college. No extracurricular activities, and I just took the PSAT test which I doubt that I got a high score. Anyways I live in Las Vegas and really want to move out of this state. That is why I am looking for good universities that are not necessarily Ivy league, but where I can get a good education. I want to do chemical engineering with premed which is a whole separate ordeal. On the side note should I be considering UNR as a potential school? I just feel as though I want to move out of this state and never come back, and UNR is still in Nevada. </p>
<p>In conclusion, I have great grades and I am extremely motivated, but I do not have any extracurriculars due to the fact that I hate Vegas and barely leave the library and my home. My parents are poor, so I will have to probably work part time or take out some huge loans if I do not get any scholarships. Anyways I don't think I mentioned it, but I am a Junior.</p>
<p>1° Look at the 100% need schools. They’re all highly selective but also offer the best financial aid packages - some, without loans at all.
[100%</a> Meet Need Colleges | CollegeGreenlight](<a href=“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students”>Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students)
Focus on LAC’s, especially those in the Midwest and South (Macalester, Davidson, Carleton, Grinnell, St Olaf…)
Pitzer and Gettysburg are also good colleges that may be matches for you (but TOTALLY different in vibe 
)
Berea is very selective but all students who get in are offered a full-ride: tuition, room&board, money for books… (you do have to take a job on campus as you would expect - generous donors provide for your tuition and room&board but you’re expected to contribute, too).
The most selective schools on the above list, like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, offer the same kind of deal - if you’re low-income and you get in, you don’t have loans and you don’t have to pay <em>anything</em>, they will give you enough money to attend and will even throw in enough money for you to pay for transportation to get there and back. Of course, it’s really really hard to get in.
However, without EC’s these three schools are going to be real reach.
2° Apply to UNR in September (or as soon as the application’s online) as well as for the Honors College. This way, you’ll have a safety no matter what. Be aware that Nevada is not known either for its great financial aid or its great universities.
3° Look at the WUE program; you can attend a public university in various Western States for a special cost that’s almost like in-state. They’re mostly directionals (roughly same level as UNR) and you’d likely get into their Honors Program. Most would be safeties for you. You could apply in the Fall and get your answers quickly.
[WICHE</a> - Student Exchange Programs](<a href=“http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all]WICHE”>http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all)
UC Merced would be interesting (it’s still a UC); UColorado-Colorado Springs or -Denver; NM Institute of Mining and Technology (GREAT choice if you’re into STEM fields); U New Mexico; Southern Oregon University for a “cool” safety…
4° Working (for pay) and doing tasks at home (especially if you’re in charge of younger siblings/cousins, cleaning/cooking, etc) “count” as Extracurriculars because they show time-commitment. However you’ll have to show that commitment. If you spend a lot of time in the library, get a job there and see if your high school would accept your “working” (volunteering) in your school library, or at the middle school library? Can you join the FIRST Robotics team, for example… or lobby your high school to have one?
5° Look at Colleges that Change Lives.
[Colleges</a> That Change Lives | Changing Lives. One Student at a Time.](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org%5DColleges”>http://www.ctcl.org)
6° If you’re a girl, look at the women’s colleges. No matter what, apply to some of them. They’re great places for driven young women and they have great financial aid.
7° If you’re a girl, look into all the tech schools, from CalTech and MIT to Olin and Rose Hulman to WPI, RIT, RPI… since they’re actively looking for female applicants. Of course, if you’re a boy, look into them also :), knowing that competition will be fiercer.</p>
<p>In the meanwhile, register on number2.com (it’s free) and practice for the SAT (or the ACT, some do better on one or the other)
AND
Apply for Questbridge as soon as you can. Questbridge is a program for bright, hard-working first generation/low income students and it increases your odds of getting into the schools listed in #1 greatly. it’s hard to get into Questbridge but if you get in, you <em>know</em> you’ll get into a college somewhere with a full scholarship. They even have a program called “match”, where you list your favorite 8 schools, and if one of those admits you, they promise you a full ride, and you know in December… that program increases your odds from 1 in 10 to 1 in 3 if you are not “matched”, you can still apply through Questbridge and if you’re admitted to one of the colleges there, you still get a full scholarship. Go to the Questbridge forum here on College Confidential and read up about it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I like LACs … but hardly any of them offer chemical engineering.</p>
<p>tk: I know, but many engineering schools are public universities that will not offer sufficient (if any) financial aid :s especially OOS.
Engineering at private universities is ultra-competitive and I do encourage OP to apply there but s/he shouldn’t put all his/her eggs in the same basket.
In the list of 100% need schools, LACs are the most likely, over, say, Princeton, WashU, or Rice.</p>
<p>OP - This makes me think:
Haverford and Bryn Mawr offer an interesting program, for Chemistry/Physics/CS majors: they finish their major at the college then spend one year at Penn and get a Master’s in Engineering from an Ivy league university.</p>
<p>OP, you’ve been given some great advice by MYOS. A gift, I’d say. Keep it handy. It will be of help as you go thru the next couple years. </p>
<p>So you’re disappointed in your perceived performance on the PSAT? Not to worry. You may need to bring those scores up by studying really hard for the SAT–fortunately, working hard sounds like what you’ve been doing all along. So get started. You know how best you study, but I would suggest that you commit to studying 15-30 minutes every day instead of 3 hours a week. Not going to bed before you do your half hour is an important habit to get into; however, I’m not suggesting that bedtime is the best time to study for the SAT. Where to start? Well, one concrete place to start is by getting a stack of 3 x 5 index cards and writing on one side ten words you thought you knew the meaning of and on the other side a synonym for the word’s true meaning. We all have these words that we either don’t know the meaning or we’re not sure of its meaning and so we use it incorrectly or, more often, don’t use it at all for fear of not knowing it. Words like inflammable, ingenuous, and chimera used to make me hesitate to use them because for whatever reason there was some confusion in my brain. Over the next couple months, build a pile of index cards of 100 or 200 words and you will by the time you take the SAT have expanded your vocabulary by 100 or 200 words. There is plenty of other advice online and in free prep courses in your community that you can take advantage of. </p>
<p>Then set a date for taking your first SAT, sooner rather than later because you will probably want to take it again. Practice makes perfect, and if you didn’t do well on the PSAT you will need to practice taking standardized tests. There are limited waivers available for the SAT, so check out the college board for those. If you don’t do well on the first SAT, you might want to consider prepping for the ACT next, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.</p>
<p>If you don’t have one already, seek out a mentor at your school or in your community whom you can talk to about your preparations for the future. Is there no teacher or guidance counselor or staff member or trustworthy tia whom you talk to and who seems to listen well? I’m betting there is one since you reached out to us. See if you can find an older person whom you can trust and who is good at listening. There are plenty of people like me who are good at telling you what to do, yes?, but you might find it helpful to have a listener.</p>
<p>More difficult for you will be creating some extracurriculars that will appeal to the elite schools because of the same behavior that will help you with the SAT prep. You’ve to crawl out of that shell you created and engage your world if you’re to attend a top school. Schools want to see that the education they give you won’t be returned to your shell but will serve the community in which you live. One suggestion: might you use your language and computer skills to teach non-native English speakers how to use a computer? could your local elementary school be convinced to allow you to bring members of the community into the school after hours to learn how to use a computer or email or do web research or communicate with family members? Of course, your efforts don’t have to be limited to non-native speakers. Such programs and curricula already exist so you wouldn’t have to invent the program from scratch. On the other hand, since you’re interested in pre-med studies, might you do something more traditional like volunteer to help out at a hospital or clinic? Find something that you enjoy doing and that gets you out of the library once or twice a week, and stick to it. People need what you have.</p>
<p>Come back and see us if we can answer any questions or help in any way.</p>
<p>take a look at University of Pittsburgh
link to chemical engineering below
[url=<a href=“http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/Chemical/Undergraduate/About/]About[/url”>http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/Chemical/Undergraduate/About/]About[/url</a>]
U of Pittsburgh also has a world renown medical school/hospital system. I am sure plenty of opportunities for an undergrad to intern would be available.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the information you guys. I will be signing up for quest bridge come August since it is not open yet. In addition, I have already signed up for #2.com, so that is taken care of, and I had another question as for the ECs should I volunteer at a hospital or a hospice. Either one is ok and I already have an interview for a hospice. </p>
<p>Again thanks for all of the information, it gets really stressful when selecting potential colleges to go to, but at least I’m only my junior year.</p>
<p>Go to the Financial Aid Forum, and read through the threads on Automatic merit scholarships and Competitive merit scholarships that are pinned at the top of that forum. Yes there are automatic full rides available for students with your GPA, provided you can get your ACT or SAT score into the right range. No ECs would be necessary at all.</p>
<p>Hospital or Hospice wouldn’t matter, what would matter is your commitment and what you learn from the experience (about yourself, about others, about the world, about communication, about your future career, etc… So, “learning” is broadly defined).
Good job for all this 
and do keep us updated.</p>
<p>Start looking at the “100% need” schools, perhaps fill out the “request information/join the mailing list” forms on their website as this will get you on their radar.</p>
<p>NO!! To big loans for undergrad if you want med school. You’ll have big loans for THAT. Do not have big loans for undergrad.</p>
<p>Go to ANY decent school that is affordable for you. If a UN school is the only affordable school, go there. </p>
<p>Right now, without test scores, it’s hard to know what will be best for you.</p>
<p>I want to do chemical engineering with premed which is a whole separate ordeal.</p>
<p>Not really. ChemE includes most/all of the premed prereqs. I think that now you need to make sure that you take Psych or sociology and maybe biochem.</p>
<p>However, ChemE is one of the most difficult majors, and if you’re premed, you need to have a very high GPA. Med schools aren’t going to cut you a break GPA-wise just because you’re a ChemE major. So, be sure to protect your GPA and keep it HIGH!</p>
<p>Yes to Questbridge.</p>
<p>probably not, to UPitt. yes, it’s a great school, but unless you very luckily grab a huge scholarship, it won’t be affordable. They dont give great need-based aid to OOS students.</p>
<p>*I just took the PSAT test which I doubt that I got a high score. *</p>
<p>??? do you mean last October? Are you getting your score back next week?</p>
<p>glad to be of help. it does pile up sometimes. </p>
<p>thanks for letting us know you heard us and filling us in on what actions you’ve taken (and taken really quickly). sometimes I’m left wondering if the OPs have read what I wrote. </p>
<p>as for the hospice/hospital question, either one should do as an EC, I think. you want to get some experience working with people who have medical needs so that you can determine, among other things, whether you really like helping people with their health enough to put up with the costs, personal and financial, of a career as a practicing physician. If you’re going to change your mind, as most people will, you’d like it to be before you dump a lot into medical school. do also think about some other kind of EC, one in which you can get some leadership or initiator credit. Take on as much responsibility in your ECs as you can without having it interfere with your responsibilities to home, school, work, whatever. Come October, you’re going to want a letter of recommendation from an adult who can attest to your work, leadership, and other skills and responsibilities.</p>
<p>D has looked at Pitt and it seems to be a very good school for pre-med and sciences. It is a state school and so it will cost OP something to go there. But they do have full rides and full tuition scholarships; it’s too early to tell if OP will be competitive until OP gets her SAT/ACT back. It is also the case that Pitt has a program for students who also want guaranteed admission to their medical school, a very good one; but again it’s too early to worry about that.</p>
<p>I’m going to disagree again with my esteemed colleague and suggest that we still don’t know enough about OP’s financial and SAT/EC situations to say that OP shouldn’t apply to 100% need schools. There are many wealthy 100% need schools who might have an interest in such a candidate. </p>
<p>I don’t think OP should rule out very much at this point. It’s time for OP to familiarize him- or herself with the geography. OP is probably real good with this kind of research.</p>