I’m sorry for your loss, and I truly empathize with your situation.
Unfortunately, many students experience significant hardships and multiple setbacks, and admissions officers encounter hundreds of applicants with similar challenges each year. So your circumstances wouldn’t be considered unique.
I’m concerned - no income but loans. If she has no job, how is she getting loans?
You say free lunch. Does she have assets?
Loans, in many ways, are the enemy. How will she pay them back ?
You want to go to school loan free, if at all possible - no matter the name.
The highly rated lacs will 100% meet need and have a great deal of student support. Music is a huge part of their culture and music is a major spike to the application. My S24 is a stem major at Williams and absolutely loves it. We are highly confident that support by the professor for his instrument was key in his admittance. Many of the kids from our school that attend ivys (esp Harvard, Yale and Princeton) had precollege level music and support by the music department
If I understand OP’s post correctly, I find it hard to imagine that their application will come off as a dime a dozen as some others seem to imply. This is a student who immigrated to the US as a child and is now a US citizen, has a Harvard legacy father who sadly passed away in his childhood. The result of which is a single parent household with two kids and ebt, free lunch and other public benefits receiving student. The student also got a serious illness that made him miss months of school as a freshman. And, with all of that is doing very well in school (assuming the gpa reflects poorer grades during the time of illness as OP suggests), has an 1540 SAT, and has an array of good extracurriculars.
I have no idea of the OP’s chances at these highly rejective schools. But, I have a hard time believing that these schools are awash with students with similar personal narratives and comparable stats and activities.
Of course, the elephant in the room that OP does not know at this point it seems, is the family income and the rest of the relevant financial circumstances. I assume there is complexity due to what his father left them (whether on the debt or asset side of the ledger). I think it is important for OP to have that conversation with his mom as that will both allow him to figure out what opportunities he is eligible for (e.g., questbridge) and what they can afford (for example some of the wealthy schools that offer substantial financial aid - sometimes well beyond full tuition based on income/assets). If the family is indeed low income/assets, many of the “elite” privates are looking for ways to admit more such students and I don’t think OPs profile reads at all as one where they are all overwhelmed with options they are turning away without a second thought.
You should write his essay.
I’m sorry for the loss of your dad.
I can’t chance you but you have received some good advice here. You and your mom have to run the net price calculators to see what will be affordable/whether you qualify for need based aid.
I can’t speak to the likelihood of getting Rutgers honors college, but know it’s highly competitive. @Mjkacmom do you have any insights?
GPA and rigor are the most important pieces of your app. Talk with your counselor about how they will cover your illness and the death of your dad in their LoR.
The income requirement isn’t super strict but QB (like the meet full need colleges) will take assets into consideration too. That’s why your mom has to run the net price calculators to see how much need based aid you will receive. QB won’t make sense if the NPCs don’t show a full ride or very close to it. Your mom can run the NPCs with or without you, but she does have to do it…your financial situation will drive your college list.
Unfortunately, this is a large group of applicants and not unique as dadofjersey girl pointed out.
Really? How many child immigrants who are now US citizens are applying to these most selective schools each year? How many amongst those child immigrants had a parent pass away while they were a kid? How many amongst those are now receiving low income government support like ebt? How many amongst those also got a serious illness that kept them out of school for months in high school? How many amongst those, have stats and extracurriculars of OP after missing said school for a personal health crisis? Each of these things on its own seems it could be pretty common, but the combination for one 17-18 year old seems less obviously run of the mill to me.
Also, is the OP’s SAT score not above average for low-income students applying to these schools? I assumed it was, but don’t have the expertise to know. And, if it isn’t, since the OP is only a junior, would raising the score by 20-40 points make a difference or a waste of time/effort?
I know I don’t know enough to know whether OPs type story is ubiquitous amongst applicants to these schools. But, it is conceptually hard for me to believe that assertion absent actual data or more information on it.
We should try to address the OP and not each other.
I don’t think this student’s situation is “run of the mill”. But it’s all in the presentation. The list of “here are the reasons why my application is weird plus we are low income” is not- in and of itself- unique. There may be only one like the OP at this particular HS but there will be many, many kids with comparable “weirdness”. I live in a reasonably diverse neighborhood and could share many similar stories– what is absolutely an outlier here is that the kid is a legacy at Harvard (most of the immigrant families I know who have lost the breadwinner don’t have legacy at any US college).
What will be unique will be the narrative around “this is who I am right now- shaped by these experiences”. And then leave it to the guidance counselor to cover anything that got left out so it’s less of a focus on ‘life hasn’t been kind to this family” and more about “This kid is determined and passionate and gives back to the community despite many challenges”.
OP- condolences on the loss of your dad. I know your hard work and resilience is going to get you to a wonderful place. But agree with everyone else- get a handle on the financial piece before you spin your wheels.
I don’t think any of us are Adcoms. Statistically the student isn’t in but as I noted up front, you can’t get in if you don’t apply. I read about a Cornell student the other day most posters, myself included, said wouldn’t get in and they did. It never hurts to apply if you can afford or have an affordable back up.
But while the student is low income, if they’re putting off that much $$ in capital gains, there’s likely substantive assets. So a college will assess them differently than someone with no salary. Schools with salary guarantees - under 100k in income go free -disclaim for assets. We had a UVM mom the other day assuming her student was going free yet got only $3500 off - due to assets.
So OP needs to compare budget to what the school’s will charge, in the NPC.
There is a discussion on hodge podge about kids attending schools they cannot afford - and how in prior years taxpayers bailed them out.
Let this be a lesson to any student - if you have a budget and a school won’t meet it - then that school needs to be eliminated.
That’s critical in this case b4 even choosing where to apply. OP is concerned with top 20. I’m concerned without wrecking their life financially b4 it begins.
It’s possible to be low income but not to be low wealth. We don’t have enough information to know what the status will look like after the college asks about assets.
I do think this student has a shot at honors, I believe they combined the honors college with honors programs, so I’m not sure his merit works now.
As others have rightfully suggested, I will turn back to responding to OP. OP, as you can see there is varying opinion on how unique the circumstances of your story will be amongst the applicant pools. That piece is what it is, so matters little whether I am right, others are right, or none of us are. It is what it is and there is nothing you can do to change what it is. What you can do, as others have suggested, is tell a story in your essay that demonstrates your resillance, or fortitude, or commitment to excelling despite circumstances, or continually positive attitude and approach, or whatever is true to you and how you have gotten to where you are along the way. I agree with those who say you should tell your best story without trying to shoehorn in every nuance of your challenges. Counselors can add context needed.
If I were in your shoes, I would 1) prioritize my mom figuring out what is affordable for us, through net price calculators or otherwise: 2) figure out at least a couple schools I could almost certainly get into that are also affordable for us and that I actually like, so that no matter what I have good options; 3) talk to my college counselor if possible about good schools to consider given what my budget and finances look like; 4) continue to do activities I enjoy and are meaningful to me and continue to get good grades through the rest of junior year into senior year; 5) consider whether I should be done with testing or not based on actual advice from folks who know me, my school profile and the schools I’m shooting for rather than randos like me on CC forum; 6) figure out which reach schools I should consider shooting my shot at if that is something I ultimately determine I want.
In the end, I think you could put an application package together next fall that has potential to get you into the schools you asked about. That said, they will always be a reach for virtually all students. You should know they will be a reach for you which means it is far more likely you won’t get in than you will. That’s fine, that’s what those schools are in 2025/2026. They could even be a far reach for you depending on how things play out, but that should not deter you from applying to those that are a good financial and personal fit so long as you have good other options on your list. As others have said here, who gets in is not predictable. From what you’ve said here, I do not think you are a “no way!” for these schools.
Hi to all, thank you for all of the advice.
I am also applying to a bunch of summer programs and looking at summer jobs/internships.
Thank you all so much for the advice. As a very competitive junior who knows a lot of excellent classmates and hear horror stories of crazy college rejections, the anxiety is really getting to me. Especially since my gpa is a little bit lower. Merry Christmas.
I understand the desire for privacy. But know that your budget will drive your list. For example, if you don’t qualify for enough need based aid to make the colleges that give only need based aid affordable, they come off your list. (Unless you became a Coca Cola or gates scholarship winner, something like that.) Once you run the NPCs with your mom, tell your counselor those results.
How much time (hours per week?) do you have for these other things given your paid job(s)? You don’t want to jeopardize your grades, those are the number one priority.
Don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t talk to others about college admissions. You do what’s best for you. You are going to be successful no matter where you go to college. Good luck.
Don’t underestimate the value of after-school and summer jobs. They telegraph far more about you and what makes you unique than robotics club, publishing research or hosting a fundraising drive.