<p>Please re-read the posts. Where did anyone say they were going to reject you? Posts probably said your scores were below their 25th percentile, because they are. Thats just a fact. As has been said, its a great school. Will have to see if it is affordable, especially since you said your parents will not take out a loan.</p>
<p>She goes to Saint Michael’s College, a small LAC outside Burlington, VT, where she is very happy. </p>
<p>Hard to say why we liked Allegheny more than Juniata, because they are similar. could have been simply that we were tired of visiting by the time we saw Juniata, their food was really bad that day, and our tour guide said she couldn’t last as a vegetarian there, and my D is a vegetarian. No reasons of substance, but really we were confident she would get into her first choice anyway.</p>
<p>Just because you have low SAT scores doesn’t mean a school is a big reach. I wouldn’t have been accepted or gotten merit aid if it was. </p>
<p>I actually looked at Saint Michael’s during one point in time. I have looked at so many schools. Was the area of Allegheny and Juniata the same? Which was more rural? They seem very similar. Thanks!</p>
<p>I just saw AMTC’s post, but yes a few things have changed since I wrote the other thread. I haven’t got denied anywhere, but I have gotten wait-listed and deferred. I am thinking I may just visit Lawrence and Knox now and maybe squeeze in Earlham in Feb. But the spring break trip is the same, we just won’t visit OWU. And I’m sure it will change even further with FA packages coming in, but it is never too early to plan in my book.</p>
<p>There are many variables that go into discerning if a school is likely to be a reach, match or likely. I still think Clark is/was a reach for you, but you lucked out.</p>
<p>Either way, Clark is still a top choice and still in the running…</p>
<p>What did you guys think of the estimate FA packages? Also, I was told that you do not have to have your taxes filed in order to do the FASFA. My parents don’t file taxes until April, so we could still do estimates in Jan and fill out the FASFA, correct?</p>
<p>Personally, I think Clark is the best school on your list. I just noticed they have a 69% acceptance rate and only 40% are male. Those were in your favor.</p>
<p>WHat are you looking for with respect to an opinion on FA estimates? As has been said, they are estimates. Do you know what your parents are willing/able to pay? Do the calculators include travel (thats on a previous page-- not able to see that)…</p>
<p>IIRC taxes have to be complete, but not necessarily filed. However they should be accurate.</p>
<p>I feel like being a male and coming from Georgia has helped in my favor; however, not all schools look at geographic diversity. Juniata told me they don’t. At this point, Holy Cross is def my biggest reach. My only concern about Clark at this point is Worcester. I’ve heard opinions about the campus being in a rough area, etc. </p>
<p>I am looking for how much each college expects me to pay. When we did HC and Clark’s early estimators, my father would be able to pay both based on the estimates. The 13k a year was pushing it. Clark included $250 for transportation and $700 for personal expenses. HC did not include transportation, but included $900 for personal expenses. Even with added transportation costs, both should be affordable if the estimator is correct.</p>
<p>Whether we like it or not, tests ARE a big part of lives. It could be a HUGE benefit to be tested and find out IF there are any issues that could be addressed by a competent professional. Both my mom & sister are special ed instructors and have helped MANY people to much better with techniques they use and teach others. Tests are a fact or life and education. If you “do not test well,” it will not allow you to demonstrate your full abilities and your opportunities will be limited. Since you’re still in HS, you & your parents COULD ask that your public school evaluate/test you to help determine why you do not test well. That can be useful to you & those who educate you going forward. If you use private companies for the testing, your medical insurer may or may not cover it. If your public school does the testing, it’s generally at no charge to you & your family.</p>
<p>Sorry, didn’t read the entire thread & feel free to disregard if you prefer not to think about this. I know several brilliant folks who have dyslexia–one with a PhD and one with a masters. They both have benefitted from knowing of the dyslexia and learning ways to compensate. The PhD has written many, many textbooks & has been a professor for about 50 years. The one with a masters has started his own company & working on solar energy.</p>
<p>You can complete your FAFSA using excellent estimates for 2011…prior to actually filing your taxes. This can be done on Jan 1, 2012 and you should do this and submit to the colleges using a “will file” status. This indicates that you will be filing your taxes but have not yet done so. </p>
<p>THEN complete your taxes AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after Feb 1 when your family should have all of the necessary documentation to complete your 2011 taxes. Go back into the FAFSA, make the changes that reflect the actual numbers on your 2011 tax return, change the status to “taxes completed” and resubmit. This is NOT the year to wait until April to complete your 2011 taxes. Get them done ASAP. Any financial aid award you receive based on your “will file/estimated” FAFSA will be an ESTIMATED award. Your aid award will not be finalized until you do your taxes, amend the FAFSA and change to “taxes completed” status…and resubmit. And YES your aid could dramatically change. At one of my kid’s EA schools, her award was reduced by over $9000. And we used mighty good estimates. </p>
<p>In addition, there are some awards at schools which are first come/first served awards. These include Federal Work Study, and things like the Perkins Loans, SEOG (if your school offers it and you qualify). Yes, your initial filing with estimates will get you in the queue for these BUT here is the caveat…if the school selects YOUR forms for verification, this could really delay knowing what your REAL financial aid package is…as the award will not be finalized until all verification documentation is received and reviewed.</p>
<p>SO…as said first…the year you are a freshman in college is NOT the year to wait until April to file your taxes AND finalize your FAFSA form. The school will NOT be able to get you a finalized award by May 1 if you wait that long.</p>
<p>You can post this query on the finaid forum and others will chime in, I’m sure.</p>
<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH! So, when there is a deadline for financial aid at a college. Is the will file status acceptable for the deadline? Or do you need to do your taxes before the deadline? Will they send me two packages? An estimated and a real one? When does one typically receive both of these? Will I get my final one in March? And I have applied to more then 10 schools, I’ve heard that there isn’t room for more then 10 schools. So, what do I do? I can still put in the schools I haven’t heard back from, correct? And should I sent the FASFA to a school that wait-listed me? And once I’m in college, should my parents just wait until they filed their taxes to do it? Or should they do the same thing each year with the will file status? Is the deadline the same for current students?</p>
<p>Once more with vigor…your parents need to complete their tax return AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after Feb 1. They should not wait until April and they definitely should not wait until you are enrolled IN college.</p>
<p>Please post your question on the finaid forum of this site.</p>
<p>@early_college: I did not read this entire thread, so this may have already been mentioned, but I would strongly recommend addressing both your procrastination habit and your tendency to avoid studying things that you “don’t believe in”. I think you will find that college courses are more demanding than standardized tests and have far less tolerance for procrastination.</p>
<p>ec-
Am glad you posted FA q’s over in the FA forum (as I suggested back in July). Thumper is a true guru with this stuff and I asked her to look at your post (FA question). You can thank me later.</p>
<p>The folks in the FA forum are very knowledgeable. Please follow their advice.</p>
<p>Well, thank you Jym. I really do not know as much about the financial aid process as I do with the whole college searching/applying process. My father somehow didn’t do my brothers FASFA right this past summer, so he didn’t get the HOPE Grant for the local technical school. Good thing it isn’t much money. Do you know if he could still qualify for the Hope Grant the following year? Thanks!</p>
<p>I didn’t know, but I talked to my dad and he is getting the HOPE Grant next semester. He didn’t qualify for it this semester due to the classes he was taking. Thanks for the help! I didn’t realize the CSS Profile costs $16 per college, Holy Jesus! It’s going to cost a lot of money…</p>
<p>I think Clark was a match – which is why I suggested Clark to early_college back in post #14 of this thread. </p>
<p>Since I am the parent of a daughter who happens to be a bad test-taker (yes, there definitely ARE many, many students who fit that profile) – I also happen to know a thing or three about holistic admission practices, and I could see from the outset that early-college’s strong interest in holocaust studies was a great mesh for Clark. So I would have figured admission chances were more likely than not. </p>
<p>I am sorry that there are so many people on CC who are so blinded by the obsession with test scores that they don’t understand that the test scores are generally the least important piece of the admissions puzzle. There would be a lot less anguish come April, and a lot less gnashing of the teeth about legacy/athlete/minority admissions if people could simply understand that what a student has done during 4 years of high school is far more important in the eyes of any college admissions committee than what the student has scored. </p>
<p>Early_college not only has a set of accomplishments that would stand out on a college application, but he has demonstrated persistence, tenacity, flexibility, and excellent judgment in shaping a realistic college list of match and safety schools, without ever losing track of the financial issues. I’d be willing to bet a lot on this kid’s future success in life, and that’s why I think most college ad coms would be impressed as well. Will it come easy for him? I doubt it – but this is a youngster who has already demonstrated a willingness to buckle down and do whatever is needed whenever the going gets tough.</p>
<p>The going wouldn’t be so tough if ec had spent more time studying for his ACT and SAT, and less time researching schools and travel for years. JMO</p>