Help me, an average student, choose

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I’m going to be in the class of '15 and I have a lot of decision make. I’m an above average student but I have a lot of financial need.</p>

<p>My parents cannot take out any loans and cannot pay for any of my tuition. I’m also not smart enough to make get full rides to any local colleges. I have a 3.5 GPA, 26 ACT, top 20th% in my class. I am also Student Council President.</p>

<p>Literally, the only colleges I can get into are the ones with no-loan financial aid. I narrowed them down to:</p>

<p>Amherst, Bowdoin, Brown, Claremont, Colby, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Davidson, Emory, Harvard, Lafayette, Lehigh, MIT, Northwestern, Chicago, Penn, Pomona, Princeton, Rice, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Vassar, Washington & Lee, Washington U in St. Louis, Wellesley, Yale, Middlebury, Grinnell, UNC, Texas A&M, Stanford…</p>

<p>These are all ridiculously good colleges. I am clearly not a ridiculously good student. </p>

<p>When I look at them on collegeboard.com most of their student population were in the top 10th of their class. Do I have a legit chance at any of these?</p>

2

<p>Community college -> state flagship might be your best bet. What state do you live in?</p>

3

<p>Why can’t you take out loans? The loans are made with the student, not the parents.</p>

<p>you should get into A&M, you could get into W&L, Colby, Laffayete, Lehigh, Grinell, but they are reaches</p>

<p>What state do you live in?</p>

<p>Anyway, I don’t think you need to limit yourself to just these schools. Look at all schools where you could get good financial aid. Many of these will offer you packages without loans, and also from what you are saying, it appears that you could take out loans, just not your parents. Also while you might not get full tuition, you might get schoolarships ontop of your financial aid, which could help.</p>

4

<p>I’m not familiar with all these but you have an alright chance at WASH U. Mayn kids with a 3.5 get in (both my brothers), but your ACT is a little low. Any chance you can score 2100+ or 32+?</p>

5

<p>

Not necessarily…</p>

6

<p>true, but it is possible to get student loans, as opposed to parental loans. I know there are both types, so it is possible to get one, regardless of parents</p>

7

<p>I live in Michigan, forgot that. I have no credit and my parents have little credit, also these schools cost a LOT as most of them are private.</p>

8

<p>See how much Fin Aid you can get at a school like Mich State for example. No student has credit, but colleges are willing to give them loans any way (if you somehow have managed to get bad credit/fallen in debt, than this might be an issue). Don’t worry about finaid that much, but definately choose some fin safeties. If you have a really low EFC then I can’t see why you wouldn’t get good finaid packages at most schools.</p>

<p>Also you can probably get in A&M, but start looking at schools you are interested in, not just the ones that have no-loans finaid</p>

9

<p>Perhaps community college -> Michigan State or GVSU might be a better bet? What field do you want to study?</p>

<p>Be careful with loans. They have a nasty habit of needing to be paid back.</p>

10

<p>Very true about loans, but they are sometimes necessary. I do agree that one shouldn’t take out too much in loans, but if you do need to take out a little bit of loans it can be manageable. </p>

<p>I agree that the CC route could work well.</p>

11

<p>Take the ACT again. Also take the SAT. You may do better on that. </p>

<p>Practice. </p>

<p>Mich schools may be your best bet unless you can bring up your scores.</p>

12

<p>First of all, I’d like to say I’m from Texas, so I’ll give my input on the Texas school you’re thinking about.</p>

<p>To begin with, these people are being really pessimistic about going to a CC. It’s NOT your only option. Although I’m not sure you’ll get into A&M—only 3% of oos are admitted, and it’s more than likely that these people are in the top 5% of their class—it’s not impossible. Also, I don’t think you’ll get into Rice. You’d need at least a 31+ on the ACT and around 3.7 GPA in all likelihood, but like I said about TAMU—it’s not impossible.</p>

<p>If you like Texas, I’d suggest HBU (Houston Baptist University). It’s not as hard to get into, and they would probably be more willing to give you financial aid than, say, A&M.</p>

<p>Also, are you willing to look at in-state schools?</p>

13

<p>Is student council president all you have going for you in terms of ECs? I say join another club (that interests you- not some random one because colleges can tell the difference) and/or get a job where you work at least 12 hrs/week. Not only does it help start saving money, but it gives you another leg up, especially with students who have more ECs but no jobs, etc. Bring your GPA up this spring and fall senior year, retake ACT and SATs.</p>

<p>In all honesty, I’d say you should pick 1 Ivy/top school at best. I’m sorry, but most of the schools that you listed ask for a LOT more out of their candidates. You’re very lucky to be from Michigan though, because Michigan State/U Michigan could be some great options for you, especially as IS student. Go with those, or as other people were suggesting, CC then transfer to them. Great way to save money. Also, apply for scholarships!! As many as you can. Fastweb really helps with that. Good luck!</p>

14

<p>

It may be the most financially feasible option.</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>True, but as bchristian19 said, there are always student loans. Although it’s not for everybody, student loans are an excellent way to establish credit and pay back a college education over time.</p>

<p>And by the way, I wasn’t trying to demean community colleges in any way. It’s just that so many posters on cc think so low of them; and when an “average” student comes along, no 2400 on the SAT nor a perfect 4.0 GPA to brag about, everyone jumps the gun and has to suggest what they consider to be the least attractive alternative, that being community colleges.</p>

<p>But maybe that’s just me.</p>

16

<p>On your list, you have a decent chance at Lafayette. </p>

<p>I googled “Colleges that meet full demonstrated need”. </p>

<p>I found</p>

<p><a href=“http://rmec.dadeschools.net/Documents/CAP/2009-2010/Colleges%20That%20Meet%20Full%20Demonstrated%20Need.pdf[/url]”>http://rmec.dadeschools.net/Documents/CAP/2009-2010/Colleges%20That%20Meet%20Full%20Demonstrated%20Need.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The ones on this new list where your ACT places you above the 25th percentile are </p>

<p>Adrian College (MI)
Beloit College (WI)
Carroll University (WI)
Chapman University (CA)
College of the Holy Cross (MA)
Connecticut College (CT)
Lafayette College ¶
Lake Forest College (IL)
Pitzer College (CA)
Salem College (NC)
St. Olaf College (MN)
Thomas Aquinas College (CA)
Trinity College (CT)
University of Richmond (VA)
University of the South-Sewanee (TN)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

17

<p>Thanks for the help everyone. I have some time to think about this all. I am part of NHS as well but Student Council President is all I’m going to have time for next year. </p>

<p>Community College is pretty much out of the question unfortunately, I will not be going to it. CC has a very bad rep around this area. I will be taking the ACT again in June. </p>

<p>I will be reevaluating some of my decisions. I might just take the loan route and stay in-state :(. I really do want to go to one of my listed schools but I cant pick out which one I have a great chance of getting into.</p>