Gap Year Student (took a gap year because we didn’t have enough money to send both my brother and myself to college, so I let him go)
GPA : 3.0 (2.0 Fresh and Soph, 4.0 Junior and Senior)
ACT : 36 (36E, 35M, 35R, 36S)
Desired Major : Engineering or something STEM related
EC : 5 years varsity tennis (Won my section and placed 8th in states)
Special Circumstances : Was involved in a 3 year custody battle (trying to get away from an abusive parent) towards the beginning of high school (hence the low gpa during my first two years).
Location : NY
Diversity : Gay (dunno if that makes a difference)
Family Income : <60,000 for 2017, both parents unemployed during all of 2018
AP Scores : APUSH (4), AP Gov (4), AP Lang (3)
I’m trying to get into the best program I can, even if that means I have to take out college loans.
I just want to know if there are any really good colleges I have a chance of getting into, and if there are, which ones are they.
You will need to cast a wide net. The incongruence between your ACT and GPA makes it more difficult to identify match, likely, and reach schools.
Start with your in-state publics. I see you live in NY. Apply to Binghamton, Stony Brook, and Buffalo. You’ll qualify for the Excelsior Scholarship. Do you live in the city? If so, apply to Brooklyn College and City College. Then look at a bunch that meet 100% of need. Take a look at Cornell CALS or engineering schools.
Make sure your guidance counselor explains the reason for the grad difference.
Check out Oklahoma State University. Your ACT score qualifies you for an in-state tuition waiver. The deadline is approaching, so you’ll want to get on that quickly. Also, if you’re OK with something more rural, you qualify for a full tuition scholarship at University of Wyoming. At Southern Utah University, you qualify for an in-state tuition waiver, which, in Utah is super cheap.
My parents are divorced and unfortunately, the custody battle did not go in my favor so I still see both. The income is from my Mom, who brought in the majority of the income when she worked (however she’s the non custodial parent). My dad makes around $1k-$1.5 a month when he decides to work.
Also, my twin has decided to come home and transfer into community college - so his tuition wont cost very much. And we can probably pay around 10k without taking loans.
As recommended above, you should apply to top 3 SUNY schools and CUNY Brooklyn College and City College. Also, look into Rochester Institute of Technology. List your special circumstances in the common app “additional info” section.
Best doesn’t mean the most competitive university your stats will get you into. It means finding the best fit for your academic, but just as importantly, non-academic needs. My son for example narrowed his final choices down to a school that has an acceptance rate below 15% and one that lets virtually everyone in. He would have been fine at either. Both had advantages and disadvantages. ALL schools do. Look beyond stats and reputation to include things like location, cost, class size, weather, etc. Good luck!
Your “story” will catch attention. There is a ton of financial aid at schools that meet 100% need. A 4.0 and 36, geez, congrats!
Have you ever talked to a HS or college coach about tennis? Swarthmore has engineering, recruits athletes, has generous aid and has a supportive environment.
An ACT of 32 and state ranking in a sport will take you to nearly any D3 (except MIT and CalTech). Union and Trinity colleges have engineering.
@Burgermeister he doesn’t have a 4.0. He has a 3.0…huge difference!
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So, your mom has said that she’ll pay $10k per year for you to go to college next year? Please talk to her to make sure. That’s a lot of money for someone with a $60k income.
Definitely apply to SUNYs, particularly ones that may give you merit.
What is your FAFSA EFC?? Sounds like FAFSA is done with dad’s income? If so, then you’d get a lot of aid from NY and fed govt.
With 4.0 GPA in junior and senior years and ACT 36, the OP should have some decent choices and chances. Many needblind schools take applicants adverse family circumstance into consideration. OP will also need some good LORs to strengthen the app. Good luck to you, OP.
Given that your GPA was pulled down by your first 2 years of high school, I would focus on schools with holistic admissions. Agree that you should have good options and should focus on meets full need schools.
Apply to UWaterloo in Canada. They’ll only use 11-12th grade+ test scores and have good merit scholarships that may make it affordable.
Try the SUNYs suggested. For a reach, and with the circumstances for your fr/soph grades explained*, URochester.
Are you still in touch with your guidance counselor?
Are you recruitable at D3 level for your sport?
If that 3.0 is 3.5 weighted UAlabama would give you a full ride I think? @mom2collegekids ?
They’re a top 100 school with excellent engineering and honors college, you get to get away from the abusive parent, what’s not to like?
did your guidance counselor/ teachers know what you were dealing with during your fresh/ soph years?
Have they written great letters of recommendation that help to explain the anomaly between your superb ACT scores/ overall GPA?
Have you considered Oxford College, Emory’s junior college? Oxford’s tennis team won the NJCAA Division III championship three years in a row. Very generous financial aid due to huge Coca Cola’s endowment. Great school for late bloomers
“Best doesn’t mean the most competitive university your stats will get you into. It means finding the best fit for your academic, but just as importantly, non-academic needs”
Yes, well said. Definitely look for (i) Affordable and (ii) Good fit. Both are much more important than ranking.
“Apply to UWaterloo in Canada.”
As far as I know, every university in Canada will only use your last two years of high school for admissions. They are also very stats driven. Given a perfect ACT and GPA for your last two years, that makes them all very highly likely for admissions. U.Waterloo is excellent. There are other schools in Canada which are more affordable for international students and which are also very good. You might want to look at the maclean’s university listings for some ideas and then check their cost of admissions (and note the current exchange rate).
And yes, apply to a range of schools and get your high school guidance counselor to explain your freshman and sophomore year issues.