Junior
Illinois
About 75k income
I have a 3.69/4.0 UW
Top 25% of class
1440/1520 PSAT
34 ACT (Probably taking again)
4.0 math and science GPA
URM (African American/white mixed)
Mom had me at 16(Highschool dropout but got a GED)
Mom was a serious drug addict until my Freshman year
Biological dad(African American) in prison probably
Dad(Stepdad) only went to 4th grade(but got a GED)
I’ve really not had much economic hardship since junior high when my mom was a drug addict and couldn’t keep a job
Chess Team
National Honor Society
Spanish Honor Society
Very good bible quizzer(If that carries any weight)
Played football for 2 years
Taught myself how to program
Winner of Math, Physics(6th at a state competition this year), and Chemistry competitions
President of P7 Bible Club
1st gen college student
Going into STEM(Computer Science/ Computer Software Engineering)
What colleges do you guys think would be good for me considering my income, and what would my chances be.
Be aware that computer science has greatly increased in popularity recently. At some schools like UIUC, getting admitted to the CS major is much more difficult than getting undeclared or general admission. It can also be very competitive to switch into the CS major after enrolling; see http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19262574/#Comment_19262574 .
How much will your mother and stepfather contribute? Try the net price calculator on the web sites of various colleges and universities to see what their financial aid may look like.
Be aware that many schools require the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA for financial aid purposes; such schools typically want information from your biological father. Check each college about whether him being in prison qualifies for a waiver.
Your stats qualify for a number of automatic large scholarships (potential safeties):
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
You may also be competitive for other large scholarships:
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
If your PSAT score is high enough, some National Merit based scholarships may be available as well:
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
North Carolina Chapel Hill has a STEM to PHD program with access to research, guidance and perks. Congrats on your success so far.
Apply to a couple reach schools with good aid and scholarships. RICE, Duke, Vanderbilt, Brown, Uchicago. Princeton, Yale. Minnesota Twin Cities should be very good money. You can apply in August at Minn. Auburn could be full ride too. Do you have some AP classes at least in STEM?
Next year I’m taking AP Calc BC, AP Stats, AP Computer Programming, and AP Physics. But as of right now I don’t have any
My school offers literally 0 AP STEM classes is the thing. All of those are online classes I’m going to take
Don’t bother retaking a 34 ACT, it’s good enough to make you clearly intellectually qualified just about anywhere, and retaking it might hurt you if you decide to apply anywhere that requires you to send all scores. Instead focus on improving that GPA (getting over 3.8 or even 3.7 will help exponentially) and working on your extracurriculars
Nac7890 I forgot to mention I only got a 16/36 on the writing
It is a known issue that on the ACT the essays have been underscored. You can ask that it be rescored (it costs $50 if the score stays the same, it is free if they raise the score - there are threads here on CC about how this works). But most colleges and universities put relatively little weight on the essay because they know how subjective it is. So I would not take the ACT again.