Hello everyone,
I am from a low-income family (below 25k per year). If I get accepted (I’m currently a sophomore with a 3.9 unweighted GPA//or 4 if A+ is 4.3) into Georgia Tech or any other good college for computer science, will I receive a full ride? Any type of advice would really help. I came to the US last year and still am learning about the education system.
Thanks in advance!
It depends a lot on the specific school and (for public schools) your state of residency for tuition purposes (most public schools do not give financial aid to students who are not residents of their states, though some may have merit scholarships, but full rides tend to be uncommon).
Look for colleges that are need blind and meet 100% of need at least for US students. You can find these lists at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission. Almost always these are schools with the largest endowment and also the most selective. Challenge yourself by taking plenty of honors and AP courses. Keep your grades up, get a very high SAT/ACT score and make sure you are in a few activities that you are passionate about with long term commitment and obtained a leadership positions by the time you are a senior. Good luck. There are plenty of schools that will provide you significant financial aid. The better applicant you can be the more options you will have.
That is a good question to take to the experts in the Financial Aid Forum. They can help you identify some places that have automatic scholarships for top stats, and places that have good need-based aid.
Are you a US citizen? If not, what is your visa status, and what state are you a resident of? Did you start high school as a freshman and will have completed 4 yrs in high school in the US in your state before college?
So the priority is to clarify your citizenship, residency status and what your home state offers kids in your state.
You are a sophomore with no standardized test scores…yet.
So…
- Do the best you can to keep that GPA high, and get great SAT or ACT scores. These will give you more options.
- Prep for the PSAT which you will take in October. It’s the first qualifier for NM status which can also open some doors.
- What is your state of residency? And are you a U.S. citizen? Some states have grant money for lower income students or some other sort of college funding. Things like the Hope, for example...Calgrant, TAP, Bright Futures. But you have to be an instate resident to qualify...so where do you live?
- I’m going to tag @CourtneyThurston who can talk about scholarships, perhaps...and also the evenness of computer science programs from college to college.
WILL you get a full ride? The answer is…maybe. It all depends on how the next year and a half go in terms of your studies, and also the colleges you choose to apply to…and their policies on awarding need based aid…and merit aid.
Good to be starting this research early…but really…without a SAT or ACT score…any advice is a guess.
You may also want to check out QuestBridge: https://www.questbridge.org
If you are a citizen or a legal permanent resident (green card status), or fall into one of the other spacial categories asylum, etc.) that qualify you to file the FAFSA, you will be eligible for federal financial aid and for aid from your state of residence. If you are in another immigration status, you won’t be eligible for federal aid, and eligibility for aid drom your state of residence will depend on state policy.
To be clear…if you are eligible to file a FAFSA form and your family contribution (EFC) is $0…the only guarantees of aid are a $6095 Pell Grant, and a $5500 Direct Loan. Some schools have SEOG but that’s not a guaranteed award. Neither is federal work study.
So…if you are looking at colleges that cost more than $11,595 a year…federal aid is not going to give you a “full ride” except to your local community college…which really might be a good option of others don’t end up being available to you when the time comes.
In my opinion, ACT/SAT test scores are key. When you look at any merit based scholarships, inevitably they are tied to scores - for better or worse. I was chatting with a mom with a senior like my son. On most accounts, she’s a better student: likely a higher gpa, more APs, a student athlete, etc. However, my son’s standardized test scores are notably higher and he received full tuition and fees to our local state university. She did not and received a different merit level.
The citizenship status is going to be the biggest problem here.
If you aren’t a citizen, you are still eligible to apply for the Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship. Do that, target merit at schools where citizenship isn’t a criteria (there are some), and look at your local, more affordable options (including community college for 2 years, then transferring).