Already Applied, but Chance Me for Howard! [3.92 GPA, need FA / scholarships, psychology, English, African American studies]

Demographics

African African Female, oldest sister of six children with one parent, moved from a rural school with 600 kids to wealthy school with around 1,800 my senior year because sibling got sick and she needed treatment, so we had to be closer to hospital.

I intend to become a psychologist and double minor in English Literature and African American Studies

My old high school unweighted GPA was about 3.92 and my weighted one was about 4.0. My new school’s systems works differently. I took Dual Enrollment at my old school (and it’s ok a 4.0 scale) which is why my GPA was weighted (I also had straight A’s Sophomore and Junior year) but my new school doesn’t weigh DE, and is on a 5.0.

My new weighted GPA is a 3.99 out of 5.0. I moved there a few months ago, so I literally couldn’t do anything about my GPA.

SAT: I’m going test optional. Back in May, I was supposed to do it and had to cancel because of the situation with my family I already described. I took it June, and didn’t like my score, but I didn’t get a chance to retake it because we were constantly moving around, Collegeboard didn’t contact me about fee waivers, or my mom couldn’t take me because she had to be at hospital with sibling.

Coursework
My old school only offered 4 APs (AP Euro, Calculus, AP Lit Online which isn’t weighted as an AP so I didn’t take it, and AP Chem), while new school offers around 20.

I’ve taken 4 APs in total (1 AP at my old school and three at my new. I would’ve taken more APs at my new school, but since I moved to a new school, my graduation requirements changed and I had to fill my schedule with stuff I needed to graduate.)

Have done/Currently doing AP European History (didn’t get to take AP exam because we had to move in beginning of May when sibling got sick) AP Physics 1, AP Government and Politics and AP English Literature.

Anyway, 3 DE (my old school offers around 6-8 DE while new school offers 2 or 3), (Done through Penn College were Anatomy and Physiology and Social Media Marketing and Business) and going to do DE Intro to Marketing next semester through this other colleg3

8 Honors (Honors English 9, 10 and 11, Journalism Editoral 10th and 11th, Honors World History, Honors Philosophy and Modern Culture, and Honors Japanese 1.)

I did a Summer Honors Program at Indiana University of my sophomore year which wasn’t worth college credit, but the honors classes are recognized. I did a George Mason University Program over the summer of my Junior year which I recieved an elective college credit for.

Awards
*National Youth Correspondant of George Mason for Journalism
*Indiana Univeristy Summer Honors’ Student
*Distinguished Honor roll from Freshman to Junior Year
*Outstanding Honors English Award for 10th and 11th Grade
*Outstanding History Award 10th grade
*Outstanding Science Award 11th grade
*Copy Editor Award 11th grade

Extracurriculars
*Oldest Sister of 5 school age children with one parent
*Copy Editor of School Newspaper Junior Year
*Editor/Reporter for School Newspaper 9th to 11th grade
*Photo/Animation Editor: Video and photo editing in my spare time, managing a small Youtube channel with around 500+ subscribers. I’ve won several animation editing contests, 9th to 12th grade.
*Independent Creative Writer: Write scripts and stories in my spare time and was able to finalize an ongoing project created freshman year with 80,000+ words.
*Secretary of a local teen hang out center in 11th grade: Earned over 50 hours of community service.
*National Honor Society Member in 11th grade, can’t do it at new school because you have to sign up Junior Year and I couldn’t because I had just moved
*Interactive Rotary Club Member in 12th grade: Planner of Activities
*Member of the Spirit Week/Dance Committee, Student Council

Essays/LORs/Other
I’d say my essays are strong. I wanted to avoid talking about trauma and hardship, especially with my situation with my sister as of late, so I talked about how my mother was my pillar of education even when times were unpredictable. I’d give the essay a solid 6.5/10 or 7.

Cost Constraints / Budget
Not exactly sure how much my mom makes per year, but I believe it’s slightly less than 85k. Currently staying at apartments that my younger sister’s hospital is paying for. Mom is only source of income because she wants me to focus on school instead of working.

Schools
I got accepted into George Mason’s Honors Program and recieved a scholarship of $72, 000. I also got accepted into Drexel University.

I applied EA to Howard and I believe I’m a match. Even my SAT scores, which were bad, were in the school’s range. I applied Regular Desicion to Franklin and Marshell, Dickson University, American University, all of which are reaches but I think I’ll be ok since I applied TO. I also applied Regular Desicion to Bucknell, which is a match I believe.

I did RD at Temple, which is another safety and I know I’ll have no trouble getting in. George Mason and Drexel were also safeties and I already got accepted.

Also forgot to add that I didn’t choose my classes my Freshman or Sophomore year. I did online and they just plopped me into basic classes even though I asked for Honors. I transferred back to public school my sophomore year because my mom wanted to me to go back and again, they plopped me into three honors classes with the rest being basic. I asked for more rigorous courses and because my transfer was late, it was too late.

ALSO, my LORs are from my AP European History teacher who knew me since my Sophomore year and my Journalism teacher who had already recommended me for Howard before I even applied.

New school doesn’t do class rank, but my old class rank was 26/157.

How much can she contribute to your college costs?

If it is not much, you need to get admission and large scholarships or financial aid grants at a college to make it affordable.

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Which state is home ? Apply to a public there.

Congrats on your acceptances but can you afford them ?

Mom says to focus on school is not an answer - you need a budget so you can see. Otherwise those acceptances, if not affordable, are rejections. .

Over half of Howard gets in TO so that’s ok.

…if you can afford it …and the others.

F&M, not easy, but meets need…as they determine.

Good luck.

I’m applying for scholarships. My mom is going to try to help me, but getting a job isn’t an option when I have to watch my siblings.

I’m working on scholarship offers. I’m in a class rn that focuses solely on offering scholarships to Black/African-American Seniors.

Exterior scholarships are near impossible. Money comes from schools.

Please re read my note.

How much, if any, can she afford. Once you know, you then find schools to meet the #, likely starting with in state schools. Which state ?

I’m not sure, I’d have to ask her, but I know it isn’t by much.

I’m doing Virginia schools because it’s local, hence George Mason.

Have you checked the net price calculator on the financial aid web site of each college on your list?

For example: Net Price Calculator | Howard University | Student Financial Services suggests a net price of $39,287 given a family of 6+ with one in college and parent income of $80-89k. This is likely unaffordable without merit scholarships.

Grants, Scholarships and Other Opportunities | Howard University | Student Financial Services does list a number of Howard University Freshman Scholarships (HUFS), some of which in past years have been up to full rides. But “Eligibility for merit-based awards is determined based on students’ SAT/ACT scores/high school GPAs that are entered into our system by the Office of Admissions”, so they may not be available if you choose to apply test-optional. You may want to contact them directly on the matter.

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I’ll check that out immediately! Thank you so much!

As you’re in Virginia, if you haven’t looked at William and Mary yet, you might check out the W&M Scholars program. It covers full tuition and fees, and also has additional support for undergraduate research opportunities through WMSURE.

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