<p>I’m going to start applying to colleges and I was wondering what the best schools someone with an unwighted gpa of 3.07 and a composite score of 1860 on the SAT’s could get into. i’m currently in the IB going for my diploma so I am taking 3 Hls (bio, history, english) and 3 SLs (latin, chemistry, math) along with TOK. i’m really not sure what I want to be when i’m older so im pretty much open to any college or university (preferably around New England). Thanks in advance :)</p>
<p>Plug your stats into the SuperMatch feature on this website and it should give you some guidance on schools were you would have a good chance at acceptance.</p>
<p>Much will depend on how much your family will pay. Ask them how much they will pay per year.</p>
<p>There are many schools that will accept you…public and private…but few will give you much/any aid. So, tell us how much your family SAYS it will pay and we can help you.</p>
<p>Lots of universities will be interested, in part because that B average is in the IB program, which is very rigorous. Will you retake the SAT (that score is rather good but if you can pull it up by 50+ points it’d be nice).
As Mom2K said, a key issue will be your budget.</p>
<p>yeah I dont think I we have much of a budget but thats what student loans are for right! :/… anyways yes I will be retaking the SAT in october and hopefully I wont be really sick this time :)</p>
<p>As a student you can only take out a total of $27K over 4 years. The rest of the loans will be your parents burden…</p>
<p>ah I didnt know this thanks</p>
<p>^yes, you can only take on $5,500 in loans your freshman year. So you need to run the Net Price Calculators on EACH college website (since each college calculates differently) and see which colleges are affordable.
I recommend reading “Colleges that change lives”.
Check out schools like Hiram, Quinipiac, Goucher, McDaniel, Loyola Maryland, Umass Lowell, Clark, Elms, Stonehill, Molloy, Nazareth, Drew, Hartwick, St Lawrence, Hobart&William Smith, Ithaca, Lycoming, UScranton, Susquehanna, Washington&Jefferson.</p>
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<p>Thankfully, NO. </p>
<p>As others have said, YOU can only borrow $5500. Your parents would have to be willing (and qualify) for any add’l loans. Most parents won’t do that. </p>
<p>It is scary that a young person thinks “that’s what student loans are for.” We have done a poor job educating our young people if they:</p>
<p>a) don’t know that THEY can’t borrow that much (thankfully, because they can’t qualify; they don’t have good incomes)</p>
<p>b) think that it would be ok to borrow the $25k+ per year it costs to go to college. Sad that they don’t know that it would ruin their adult lives for many, many years if they borrowed a lot for undergrad.</p>
<p>c) don’t know what the monthly loan payments would be on such large loans, and that those payments wouldn’t leave them enough to properly live on after they graduate.</p>
<p>OK…so now you know that many/most schools won’t be affordable. You may do better on the Oct SAT, but your GPA will still be a problem for the schools that give the best aid and/or merit. </p>
<p>How much can your parents pay? 0? more? how much? ASK THEM!</p>
<p>What state are you in? (some states have aid for low/modest income families)</p>
<p>Are you low income? or do your parents have a good income but can’t pay much/any?</p>
<p>What state univs can you commute to from home?</p>
<p>You may need to come up with a couple of lists of schools. One list based on your GPA and a similar SAT score (maybe 1250 M+CR score)…and another list of schools with a 1300 M+CR score and your GPA.</p>
<p>Maybe some people can list some schools that give HUGE merit for a 3.0 GPA and the above scores. Sounds like you need a near full ride…otherwise you’ll be commuting to a state school.</p>
<p>Hey…what is your weighted GPA? </p>
<p>Answer the above questions and we can help you with usable advice.</p>
<p>alrighty, My parents would not be able to pay very much as my mom is stay-at-home and my dad makes around 50k/year. I live in Massachusetts. I would only be able to commute to my local community college. I don’t know what my weighted GPA, I heard all schools weight differently? Im in the full IB so Im taking 3 HL classes and 3 SL. I know that UMass Amherst weighs IB GPAs by adding +1 for HL classes and +.5 for SL (so my 3.0 average in HLs would go up to 4.0, and SLs to 3.5)</p>
<p>You can go to lots of schools if you can find the money. the UMass system is one candidate. Let’s see how the re-take turns out.</p>
<p>Financially, you need to run the Net Price Calculators on each college. Some of the colleges would take your weighted GPA into account (it’d be close to 3.7) and your IB scores.
Check out the list in Post #7.
If your test retake is good, you could apply to UMass Amherst Commonwealth Honors College, which would make the school cheaper than without Honors (remember that at UMass, fees are ginormous so even “full tuition” isn’t enough when fees are higher than tuition!) UMass Lowell Honors would also be a good option.</p>
<p>Here is how the UMASS system weights your grades
<a href=“http://www.mass.edu/shared/documents/admissions/admissionsstandards.pdf”>http://www.mass.edu/shared/documents/admissions/admissionsstandards.pdf</a></p>
<p>In your situation, I think UMASS Amherst is the best school that someone with your stats and budget could get into, but it still might not be affordable. It also might not be a safety. You should also apply to the other UMASSes. Lowell, Boston and Dartmouth. </p>
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<p>Money is going to be your constraint. You really ought to give some thought to what you want to do. You’re not locked in, but at least you’d have some direction. You and your parents are going to have to borrow some serious money to attend any of the UMASS campuses. What kind of a profession would you enjoy? What are your favorite subjects in school? How do you enjoy spending your time? Where do you think you’d want to live? </p>
<p>People often say that it’s fine not to have a direction, however, in your case, you are going to have to bear some risk when you and your parents borrow the money. I’m of the opinion that taking CALCULATED risks are just a part of life. The less you have to start, the more important it is to make wise decisions in taking that risk. I think that if you have a direction that will pay well, that you are psyched about, and can commit to excelling in, you can really mitigate much of that risk. If you borrow the money and go in aimless, I think the risk is substantially increased. Think of your career as your business that’s going to feed you. People borrow money to start businesses all the time. This is really no different. Still some of that burden will have to fall on your parents. </p>
<p>You can look at the Occupational Outlook to get some ideas what kind of jobs pay what kind of average salary. Keep in mind that the salaries in Massachusetts are generally somewhat higher than the national average because of the high cost of living here. Still you can get an idea of relative salaries of different professions and you might be able to find a direction that you would enjoy and pays well enough.
<a href=“Home : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics”>Home : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics;
<p>If you’re not really academically focused, going into a business program isn’t a bad idea. I think UMASS also has a decent landscape architecture program. </p>
<p>Attending your local community college and transferring may be a cost effective approach for some areas of study, but make sure the program you go into will provide a path to transfer. If it takes you another 3 years after you get your Associates, you definitely would have been better off paying more for the 4 year school. Don’t just count the cost of tuition, count the lost salary that you would not get if you had to attend that 5th year. </p>
<p>Another option if you live in the Boston area (which I suspect you don’t since you say the only college that you can commute to is a community college), Harvard Extension is much less expensive than UMASS for a liberal arts degree. From there you can go to a professional school like law or business school. </p>
<p>You should also be aware that there are colleges in some states where the out-of-state costs are less than the Massachusetts in state costs. Most of these are in the south, midwest and southwest. Of course there is the travel cost involved, but it still may be more cost effective. How committed are you to New England?</p>
<p>Does the state of Mass give state aid for families whose incomes are $50k and below? </p>
<p>Do you have a UMass that you can commute to?</p>
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<p>Sorry, but this is not a good idea…especially with the family income. It would make MORE sense for mom to get a job than to borrow.</p>
<p>Is it possible that your mom may start working to provide some money towards college?</p>
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<p>They might get the $1714 tuition waiver. I’m not even sure that income is low enough. The UMASS website seems to have a bunch of small scholarship opportunities, but it’s not sufficient. They do list private student loan lenders who I think are making a comeback. Remember, we have low tuition and high fees. </p>
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<p>It’s certainly not without substantial risk. Whether it’s a good idea is a function of the overall plan. Right now there isn’t any. However, the risk of being stuck with no education and a much lower lifetime salary is pretty substantial too. In the big picture, there is a lot to work out. </p>
<p>It might make more sense for mom to get a job. But if she has younger children who need daycare, being a stay-at-home mom might be the most cost effective thing that she can do. </p>
<p>I agree that an education is desirable for higher paid careers. </p>
<p>If money is an issue and the student can’t commute to a local univ, then first commute to a local CC. After proving him/herself with stellar grades and a major/career goal, maybe the parents can help more (with money and/or loans). </p>
<p>and in the meantime, the student can work summers and part-time during the school year to save for the last 2 years.</p>
<p>And, if there are younger kids, then maybe in 2 years the mom could get a job to help with costs. </p>
<p>Right now, the option seems to be borrow $20k per year…BAD. At least if the student goes to a CC first, the total loan amount would be far less. </p>
<p>It would only be less if it leaves the OP in a position to get his BS in two years at a more expensive school. If it doesn’t, then it wouldn’t actually be less and might be more. </p>
<p>Also Instate at UMASS is more than 20K per year, and I agree, substantial risk and I agree “BAD” if there is no plan. If there is a plan, it might still be “BAD”, but it might be the best option. </p>
<p>Even with the CC, there needs to be a plan. </p>
<p>We need more info from the OP.</p>
<p>If s/he can live at home and commute to a UMass univ or CC, that will be similar to a $10k+ per year contribution from the parents. </p>
<p>If s/he can increase SAT/ACT scores enough and we can help identify schools that will provide HUGE merit (near full ride) for a 3.0 GPA and later/better test scores.</p>
<p>Sounds like we have to assume that parents can’t contribute anything. </p>
<p>Yes, even with a CC, there needs to be a plan. Short-term, it could be to take the basic GenEd/Core and get “feet wet” in a few different disciplines to identify interests/strengths…psych, bio, history, english, sociology, etc</p>
<p>OP will have the IB, meaning that s/he would get lots of “college credits” (HL = 2 semesters, SL= depends) but lose any opportunity at scholarships meant for freshmen at UMass. I don’t know if there are any of course but that’s to be taken into consideration. At the very least, some of the colleges I liked would consider him competitive for scholarships as a freshman, whereas they wouldn’t if he were a transfer.
With the IB program, his GPA would be weighted at most of the universities I listed, and would help him qualify for preferential packaging. Therefore I’m not sure UMAss is the best option financially-speaking. OP needs to run the NPCs.
However, I agree that UMass Lowell is likely to be a better bet than UMass Amherst.</p>
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lose any opportunity at scholarships meant for freshmen at UMass. I d</p>
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<p>@MYOS1634 </p>
<p>??? why is that? Does UMass have some weird rule about kids who come in with lots of AP or IB credits??? most schools will still treat these kids as incoming frosh for scholarships EVEN THOUGH they have soph/jr standing. are the UMass schools nuts? </p>
<p>That said, the UMass “full tuition” awards are a joke since their tuition is peanuts and their fees are the “real tuition.”</p>
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<p>?? he isn’t a transfer…even if he comes in with an associates degree earned while in HS.</p>