Yes. Things change rapidly. At one time when my oldest was doing college apps, getting into Pitt Honors and a Chancellors Scholarship there was very possible. Now to be considered for them have higher cut offs. My youngest was the last group to get auto awards at Temple. Things are really tightening up
What should I post on the FA forum? I’m not afraid of posting what I need to, but I don’t want to seem like I’m begging or just throwing info in to make myself look pitiful. I have mine and my dad’s tax info (getting it means arguing because he hates it, but whatever I need); I’ll see if I can get my mother’s if needed.
Mom is alive but I rarely see her. We keep in touch, but I have no aid coming my way. She’s only elusive when it comes to paying child support…
Lee University in my area gives full rides to students with my ACT score, but the school has a very weak science program. Its entire focus and funding goes to music studies and religious studies. That’s the only one I know of.
I heard about an award Rhodes has…
Speaking of Rhodes, can anyone tell my why they have an academic rating in the Princeton Review 2017 edition that SURPASSES places like Haverford and even Vanderbilt? (it has a 97, compared to a 96 and 93) something seems off. As a safety, it is interesting: It’s close, in Memphis, a large city, is moderately selective, and has a strong science program apparently. I’m open to other safeties not in my area. Sewanee is another, yet it doesn’t look as strong for science despite it being an LAC (it ALSO has a high rating, a 95?! Are these even accurate when comparing colleges?) Any suggestions would be good; however, if I need to move threads to have this discussion, I will.
This isn’t a question of pity or people feeling sorry for you. You are looking for advice and people can help you. You state the facts.
You will have to give BOTH your parents financial information to be considered for Questbridge. Their combined income will need to be under ~65k or so for almost all schools. I think the only exceptions will be Vanderbilt who will only consider the custodial parents income and I think U Chicago, but not sure on that. All others will need you to fill out both the FAFSA and the CSS profile which will include both parents income and assets.
Regarding Rhodes. There was a poster that used to be here that was well known. His daughter was cream of the crop in all aspects of her application. Her dream school was Yale , and she got accepted. She turned it down for a full ride at Rhodes, and then went on to attend Yale Med school. There are many paths to your end game, you just need to be smart about it.
You might consider Case Western Reserve University. It has excellent science programs, and they might be very interested in a student like you. A friend’s son has been attending on a full ride. It’s a serious school, not known for partying. There are many others. Post in the FA forum.
Gotcha, will post in the FA forum and see what people have to say. Thanks! I’ll come back soon in case I have more things to talk about.
Rhodes is a marvelous school. It was a top choice of one of my kids. I do not consider that a safety. Most certainly not, if you need a lot of merit money.
You aren’t being pitiful. It’s a horrible situation that young adults are considered dependents of their parents even when they are considered adults in other ways. It makes undergraduate students dependent on their parents financially for college. It puts kids in a Catch 22 situation, in that they cannot get financial aid if they have parent who won’t give accurate income information, and/or refuse to pay for college when the calculator say they can. Not the kid’s fault. Noting the kid can do, but that’s just too bad
Both parents need to give info that will be checked against their tax returns too, so it can’t be numbers or estimates off the top of their heads. The FAFSA is set up to link with the parent’s tax return. Both of your parents are going to need to give all of their financial info in order for you to be evaluated for financial aid.
Though, I frankly will tell you that it doesn’t look good for that first QB early app, it’s been statistically shown that QB kids do seem to have an edge on the college process. Yes, it’s worthwhile to go through QB.
I may be wrong about this but I don’t think the NPCs are reliable when it comes to owning a business which your dad does, or that you have a non custodial parent. You might want to ask if anyone knows of any colleges that will do an early financial read for you, giving you an estimate of what you might get
I also advise you to find some likely schools that use FAFSA only, that give merit awards. It’s possible you will not do well on PROFILE and you might not get the financial aid
Although OP may not want to focus on these two east coast colleges, , I know a social conservative writer, double major in econ and political science, at Harvard who wrote for the Crimson, got into Harvard Law a year early, and is headed to the US Senate after law school. He fit in well in Cambridge and Harvard, and he won the National Bible Bowl competition, and a staunch Christian Conservative Republican. . Yale and Harvard both have clubs for social conservatives, Think of famous politicians, and Republican judges, most went to Yale or Harvard, such as Bush Senior, George W, Brett Kavanagh, Clarence Thomas and on and on and on.
Take a look at the Harvard Crimson, and be shocked by some of the writing there, endorsing conservatives. See Harvard Republican club.
Rhodes has a 78% selection rate when applying ED, according to the Princeton Review’s 2017 college review. That sounds pretty good, but of course, it’s ED, not RD.
Oh, sure, if I could focus on Harvard and Yale, I would. I mean, is it worth it to actually think about attending those schools if you don’t make the cut? I’m not afraid of those colleges anymore. Their selection rates are so high and they have so many popping applicants that I don’t even give it a second thought, though. I’ve gotten stuff from both in the mail basically saying “Yeah, you shouldn’t really give it too much thought, we’re the most selective in the nation.” There’s no way I can get into colleges like that, surely. This information is still nice to know, though, when thinking about other colleges. Perhaps they’ll have places to join.
I have a lot of info regarding exactly what the IRS has done to my father, though. PROFILE may still hurt me though… I don’t know anything about it, really. I’m working on a draft to post in the FA forum and it may be seen to eventually. I may not get all of it from my dad because he gets extremely agitated when I ask for his forms.
The problem is how PROFILE adds back business deductions and assessed the value of a business. That can result in a higher expected contribution. That, and property owned, including primary residence , which FAFSA does not include are major differences between the forms. And the inclusion of NCP financials.
Absolutely, apply to whatever schools to which you hope to attend. This is the time to do it.
As long as you have a school that will certainly take you, and that you can afford, shoot for the stars!
It just occurred to me that Lee College is in TX. As a TX resident, if your class rank puts you into the top 6 Or 7 %, you get auto acceptance to UT Austin which is no lightweight of a school. Also, TAMU And UT Dallas are great schools.
I was able to pressure my dad into giving me his 2018 tax forms, but he said it would have to be a little later. (Guess he has to mentally prepare) I have the 1040 from my mother for 2018, which is what some user on this forum said would need to be submitted in my application. I also have my 2018 tax forms, if that matters.
I will apply to as many colleges as I can that interest me enough to do so. With QB partners and others, I’ve probably got somewhere around 20 I’m interested in.
I’m currently in the top 1%, but right at that cutoff. (2-3/423) I’ll see what people say after I post, which will be later, eventually. You can hop over there and tell me what you make of it as well, if you want to.
Frankly, I think you have an excellent chance at Hamilton. According to their Class of 2022 Profile, they’re 70% white northeasterners. Someone with your stats from Texas would be highly regarded.
Tennessee, not Texas, right?
Tennessee! Tennessee! Sorry for the confusion. I am still a white southerner, though. Haha.
Just for fun, Tennessee related:
Since you speak French, be ready when you’re over there for anyone to whom you speak to reply with the line “on a tous quelque chose en nous de Tennessee”
(Type ‘Quelque chose de Tennessee’ in YouTube).
The song is about Tennessee Williams not the State of Tennessee but French knowledge doesn’t get to American playwrights so most think it’s about the state. (If there was a song called Champagne most Americans would be forgiven for thinking it’s about a beverage and wouldn’t know it’s an actual region 
)
Hey all,
I would like to post my current QB partners I plan to put in my ranking list if I get selected, based on what all has been discussed so far. I will still apply to these even if I get selected or not. The unis and LACs in their own categories are in order of preference, but if you put the two categories together, they are not. Tell me what you think:
UNI:
-Vanderbilt
-Rice
-UChicago
-Emory
-Tufts
-[open spot]
LAC:
-Haverford
-Hamilton
-Davidson
-Grinnell
-[open spot]
-[open spot]
I have 3 spots left for colleges to consider.
Are there any recommendations on colleges to look at to add to this list? (One person recommended I look at Colby, will do so.) Any removals? Any rearrangements/recommendations of order? Let me know what you think!
Which is your match school?
My match school? Is that the one I like best?
Only approximately 1 in 16 questbridge applicants end up matched to a college. The odds are very low and cannot be compared to the ED rate of each individual school. Some of the schools (most?) will also only match to students whose EFC (per their internal calculations) are below a threshold- but that threshold is lower than the questbridge income limits produce.
Our experience:
My daughter was a finalist last year. Our EFC was around 2k. She wasn’t matched with any school, but she was able to roll her QB application directly into ED1 at Haverford, a school she had on her match list. They didn’t match with her but did accept her ED just one week later. The difference in her financial aid between what she would have gotten if she matched and what she got through ED was almost exactly our EFC. She also is a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar, but Haverford will not allow them to pay our expected contribution or her summer contribution, so she’s having to take a loan for it. Most schools work with JKC to allow their help in covering these things, but unfortunately not Haverford. Luckily JKC will pay off the loans for her when she graduates.
Long story short, the match round is a bit of a lottery ticket. Try not to drive yourself too crazy in the lead up. Best of luck to you!