cptofthehouse

My son's friend was a total screw up in high school. Barely got through. Spent the next few years doing a lot of nothing but trouble. Straighted out when he was about 21, took some courses and aced them at the local college, and did community service work till he hit age 24. Retook the SATs and got a 2200 this time with 3 recent college courses, prep course and tutor to help. Had an EFC of 0 so got the full PELL and all of the subsidized grants. Got into a top grade college and is getting a full ride though his family makes close to a half million. That is one way to do it.

happymomof1

Ain't it amazing what can happen once the fore-brain finally grows in!

3bm103

You're welcome to use the same method and have your kid wait until he's 24 to start college.

mom2collegekids

Yes...it really only works out IF your child waits till he's 24, and he scores well on the SAT, and he gets accepted to one of the few top schools that "meets need" for a transfer student.

cptofthehouse

I don't think the plan was for him to wait. Just happened that way, and his initial SAT scores were not high at all. Wouldn't have been material for that college right out of high school. And he is not a transfer student, he only took a few courses, few enough that he is still considered a freshman. He just grew up in those years. Also many who take the SAT a few years later with a couple of basic college courses will score very well. That is how some folks can scam the top schools. Throw in some truly directed study, maturity and some college courses and a 1400 out of 1600 is reasonable is what I have heard and read.

I don't recommend this method unless you have a kid who seems to be at a loss at age 18 getting the worst kind of growing pains--the kind in his brain and in your.....neck. Some kids need more time, and a year ain't gonna do it. But at age 24, some things can fall into place and a bright undirected kid can become a motivated adult. Seeing how he has changed in the last year; practically running the soup kitchen, food pantry, acing a college calc course and a composition course and studying the SAT books and working on test questions every spare moment, I have no doubt he will do well. He went from admissable only at open admissions schools to ivy, but it did take 6 years. I am so happy for him and his family.

Mom2424

I am truly happy for him-- I have seen other children this age- fail out - get mixed up in drugs-- and I've attended one of those kids funeral.

I just want to mention that at 24 is when you not longer need your parents information for FAFSA.

cptofthehouse

This one did his stint of drugs, bad company. It was not a smooth route. But he would have probably done it in college on his parent's dime (well, not dime in cost) as well. He just wasn't directed till now. I commend the parents who were able to hang in there and give him the emotional support and time for him to grow up.

BillyMc

Are you implying that the college did not know all of his information or that he somehow misrepresented himself? It sounds like he got in fairly.

cptofthehouse

Absolutely not. He was totally upfront. Had to be as he had to send in his highschool transcript and it had his old SAT scores on it.

A couple of scam artists got into Princeton and Harvard, fabricating their identities. They took SATs and scored well on them by studying for them, and they were not college material at college age. The articles about both of these situation mention that adults who do focus study, read, take a class or two, tend to do very well with SATs. Also retaking them at a later age like after senior year causes a big average upward spike for some reason, compared to those times when everyone usually takes them. So it was to his advantage to be retaking at the older age, studying for them and taking a couple of courses essential to becoming college material.

I am pretty sure in this case that all of his info was sent, because I helped him put a lot of it together. I'm taking a course at the same local college he was and sent in the transcript from there, and helped him compose his explanation letter and essays. I did not expect him to get the results he did. He was accepted to all three lottery ticket schools, but WL at two match schools (not need blind in admissions may have been the reason as he is high need) and accepted to all of his likely choices, with pretty much full cost covered at all but 4.

FooMonChew

It's not technically a "scam", it's just working the system as it's set up. This person did it as via being a screw up in HS. But an upper middle class kid who has parents who can't or won't fund an elite private should maybe consider this route. Get out of HS, work a few years doing whatever job they can get, save the money in a mattress. Then at age 24 go to one of these great schools for free. Yeah, you need to take a 4 yr gap after HS but the huge savings (what, 250K for these elite schools) certainly makes it a financially viable option. Maybe the parents can just pay 10-20K a year for 4 yrs and have the kid bum around europe full time. A motivated kid could self-study in that time and then get great SAT scores. Plus they then have the 4 yrs of travel experience, a once in a lifetime opportunity.

another point on this topic, I don't know how a kid who was a screw up in HS and barely got through had the grades to get into "lottery ticket" schools... these schools don't just admit based on 2200 SAT score which isn't that exceptional at these type of schools.

texaspg

Does it need to 24 though? Most people going into medicine at 22 seem to sign their own loan forms.

happymomof1

texaspg - Undergraduates need to meet certain criteria in order to be considered independent for the FAFSA. Age 24 is one of the criteria used. Once you have graduated with a bachelor's degree, no matter how young you are, you are considered independent.

cptofthehouse

Nope, they don't accept screw ups who were not kids who were college material to begin with started down a path of destruction in high school. Plus you gotta show that you got the stuff which he did by taking a calc course, a composition course and doing some good works.. A 4.0 at some tough college level courses and high SATs will do it.

I was a horrible student in college and not a candidate for grad or professional school. But 6 years later, after taking a number of courses for business purposes at a local college and getting some professional designations in my field, as well as getting a high LSAT, I was accepted to some of the most selective law schools in the country that would not look at me a second right out of college with my 2. something GPA, My neighbor went to med school at age 50, taking premed courses at comm college and local state schools, getting a 4.0 after a not so distinguished undergrad career.

I don't recommend this route as part of one's strategy, but some of us have kids who stumble and fall en route. A few years, not just a year or two of maturation, then a directed pursuit of excellence can make all the difference in the world.

But no, thiis not the case of a kid who was not college bound suddenly blossoming that way. He is from a household where everyone went to college and he was expected to go as well, and had an excellent education despite himself. Just did poorly because he was the wrong crowd, and had a really rough go of it. It has been 6 long years since he graduated from high school--barely graduated, but he'll be off to a school to which a lot of his classmates were not accepted. My oldest son was rejected outright from that school 10 years ago.

GW07626

does anyone have suggestions for getting a free ride to grad school in music, most of the openings and financial awards seem to be going to science, engineering and other subjects where the colleges get grants and conduct supported research.

I know that students with a bachelors degree are considered independent financially, but I have heard that schools are cutting back on funded openings in non-resource generating fields such as composition or voice which is extremely competitive.

happymomof1

GW07626 -

You should ask that question in the Music Majors or Grad School Forum. Here are the links for you:
Music Major - College Confidential
Graduate School - College Confidential