Chances/Questions on Diversity Hooks

Chance Me / Match Me
1

I attend a small charter school in the rural Midwest. My charter school is focused on independent learning, advanced learning opportunities, and community service/involvement. Additionally, I am the oldest of the 9 children in my family (which is fairly low-income). But… I am not a member of a racial minority, and both my parents hold college degrees. Would my location, charter school, and family situation make me diverse enough to be attractive to schools, or will I be perceived as fairly average?

I’m mostly interested in the answer to that question, but I’d love it if I could be chanced for the schools listed at the end of this post. Here are my stats:

Testing and grades
*GPA: 3.9
*ACT: 36
*AP: Art History (5), U.S. History (4), Environmental Science (5), English Language and Composition (5), Calculus AB (4), Psychology (5), will take AP Stats senior year
*Based on past scores from my state, I’m likely to be a national merit scholar, but it’s hard to tell with the new test and selection index scale.

** Extracurriculars **
*Tennis (JV in 10th, Varsity in 11th, 12th)
*Student Council (member, 9th-11th, co-president in 12th)
*Yearbook (9th-12th)
*Poverty Awareness Initiative (students raise donations, sleep outside in boxes–participant, 9th-12th and head organizer in 11th)
*Library Teen Advisory Council (10th-12th)
*Diversity Day (day full of panels on various topics such as physical disadvantages and minority religions–was on organization team in 10th, co-head organizer in 11th, 12th)
*misc. community service–about 40 hours a year
*theater (crew in 9th & 10th, acted in two productions in 11th, will act and write/direct a skit in 12th)
*co-founded a school literary magazine (11th, to continue in 12th)
*pod leader (mentor to underclassmen in a group of desks)

** College Classes **
Took Calculus and Analytic Geometry II at an online college (got B-, which is in GPA), will take 2 more classes this fall

** Summer Experiences **
*Wilderness Leadership Camp
*Working on organic vegetable farm
*Leader in Training camp (camp counselor training)

I’d love to chanced for Carleton, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Williams, Wesleyan, Skidmore, Vassar, and Amherst. I’d also like to know if there’s any chance I could be accepted to Ivy League schools, but I know it’s hard to guess when schools are that selective. Am I shooting too high?

Thank you so much! (:

2

In my opinion, you are a very attractive applicant! Without many advantages, you have achieved as much or more than the highly advantaged students in the over-represented affluent suburbs of big cities. You should apply wherever you want. For those particular schools, it will be extremely important to demonstrate strong interest. Not sure if you have the funds to visit or if any are within driving distance, but visiting is one way to show interest. Also, like them on FB, follow on Twitter (but be private about who you are following so they don’t know where else you applied), open and read EVERY, SINGLE email they send you (yes, they track it), and start an email relationship with your regional representative (but don’t over-do it). All of these things show interest.

I assume you will be applying for financial aid. Make sure to file your FAFSA early and check which of these schools also requires the CSS.

What state are you from? If it’s Nebraska, N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Iowa, maybe Kansas … these are under-represented states. But even if not, I think the outline of your qualifications and your living circumstances make you a very attractive candidate. I can tell you this: You may very well be the ONLY applicant to most of these schools from a family of nine children.

3

@brantly thank you so much for your response! I’ve heard about the email thing before, but I wasn’t sure if it was a myth. I’ll definitely make sure I open every single email now! I’ll also send emails to the regional representatives that I haven’t contacted.

I’m from Wisconsin, so maybe I won’t get any points for geographic diversity.

4

OK, regardless, you are from a rural area, the oldest of nine children, and from a (fairly) low-income family. Any family with nine kids wouldn’t have a whole lot of extra resources. Is Carleton within driving distance for you? Maybe you can visit that one. For the others, you definitely will bring diversity. I wouldn’t think that there is a glut of applicants to Bates from rural Wisconsin.

Have you considered Beloit or Lawrence in your home state?

Also, do you know how you will be paying for college and for the transportation to/from the far-away schools? For a financial safety, would you consider applying to University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota (you get in-state tuition there)?

5

@brantly I have visited Carleton and UW-Madison and loved both. I’m visiting some schools out east later this summer using my aunt’s frequent flier miles, and I plan to apply for a few fly-in programs.

For the most part, I’m trying to apply only to schools that meet all need without loans. My parents and grandparents have also been saving for me since I was young, so I have a fair amount saved.

I’ll definitely look into Beloit and Lawrence! I’m attracted to the adventure aspect of going to school far away, but I know that financial practicality has to play a role in my decisions.

6

You sound like a great kid. Are you male or female? If you are male, it increases your chances at the small liberal arts schools.

Another thing to think about is the distance between school and airport. If your home is in a rural area, you probably have a long trip to the nearest major airport. You probably don’t want to have a long airport-to-college trip on the other end as well.

Also, if your parents and grandparents have saved a significant amount for you, it will affect your financial aid eligibility. Run the Net Price Calculator for each school you are considering. Go to the school’s website and find its Net Price Calculator. It will give you an estimate of your financial aid and what you will owe out of pocket.

7

@brantly I’m female, so no help there…

I’d never thought about the airport to home/school distance. I’d have to drive over 3 hours to an airport from my house, which is farther than I’d have to drive just to get to Madison or Carleton.

I hadn’t realized that savings could affect financial aid so much (but I suppose it makes sense). Do you know if the savings would still make a difference at schools that say, “tuition is nothing if your family makes below ___” (which my family usually makes below)? I’ll make sure to run the net price calculators.

8

I am fairly certain that assumes typical assets for a family with that income. For example, if your family income is $50,000, but you have a million dollars in the bank, it would be looked at differently. Also, keep in mind that the schools that require the CSS in addition to the FAFSA look at more of your assets, such as the value of your home, what kind of cars your family drives, and value of retirement accounts. They don’t expect you to use your parents’ retirement savings, but they are looking in all the nooks and crannies to make sure you aren’t hiding millions in retirement accounts and reporting an income of $35,000.

If your college savings is in your parents’ and grandparents’ names, keep it there. The financial aid assessment expects a greater percentage of money in your name to be contributed than the money in your parents’ name. Run the NPCs. That’s the only way to know.

9

@brantly Wow… I honestly had no idea it was so complex!

Thank you so much for all of your help! I’ll definitely run net price calculators tomorrow.

10

This is a lot for a HS senior to absorb, but these two websites are 100% reputable and provide all the information you need about financial aid:

http://www.finaid.org/about/
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/

Here are a few articles I thought were important:
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■/hq/articles-and-advice/paying-for-college/FAFSA-is-Moving-to-PriorPriorYear
http://time.com/money/4119244/fafsa-tips-how-to-shelter-savings-for-more-college-aid/ (this one may answer your question about whether your low income means your assets are disregarded for purposes of the FAFSA.)
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/schools-that-meet-100-of-financial-need-2/