Congratulations, @squidink on four acceptances so far, with at least one of them within budget! It look as though you were very thoughtful about which schools you applied to, and I suspect that might improve your odds in admissions because it appears as though you were looking for schools that were the right fit.
At your current high school, are there any students who have attended the colleges (or types/level of colleges) like those in your target or reach categories? As you don’t have any SAT/ACT scores, and it doesn’t look like you have any AP scores, your school’s profile and reputation with colleges are extremely important in terms of them being able to suss out how a student with a perfect GPA from your school is likely to perform at their institution which would thus impact my guesses as far as chancing.
Luckily, I very much qualify for FA at all of the schools I’ve applied to. The estimated grant money from the NPCs is enough to make them doable. I’m not relying on merit aid from any schools, honestly I don’t think I have the stats for it.
Unfortunately, neither UCs or CSUs are within budget. UCs expect me to be full pay, which, in-state, is about $20k over budget. CSUs also estimated full pay, and while it’s technically achievable for them, it would require going into debt on me and my father’s part, which I don’t feel is worth it for any school, but especially a university system that’s currently being financially mauled by the state government.
Thank you! I really tried to apply to schools I thought I’d really like, as fit is super important to me.
I’m not entirely sure how we do in admissions. My best friend who graduated last year got into Amherst, but couldn’t attend due to finances. Another friend got into Emerson and Bard. I know we typically have a Berkeley acceptance or two. My school is a bit weird in that the majority of students don’t have the desire, motivation, or time to go to college (our college readiness rating is about 13%, and it’s so common for students to fail classes that teachers will outline which assignments need to be completed just for a passing grade).
The kids in the minority, who do go to college, often just go to city college or a CSU. Very few people apply to schools beyond the local state school, but to my knowledge and from talking to my counselor, the folks who do are very successful in their acceptances. Rigor is really hard to demonstrate with the limited classes we have, so folks looking for that take college/“dual enrollment” classes. (DE in quotes because there’s no support for it from the school. They’re basically just independent college classes.)
Sorry I’m confused I thought you called your family a donut hole family which to me means too much money to get fin aid but not enough to pay full boat comfortably. If you’re going to get fin aid at most schools then you should be alright. Sorry if I misunderstood.