i can see the scattergram: it shows a bunch of people getting admitted right above me, but since i have a low gpa and high sat, i cant tell for sure. i see kids with a lower sat and higher sat get in, but people around my gpa all have lower sat so im not sure
nothing, i have to borrow because my parents arent paying, but i plan on applying to multiple scholarships throughout the school year
the problem is that for penn state, i def think i can get into main campus because my counselor told me it was a target, but idk about smeal because it has a different acceptance rate (penn state is like 50% and smeal is roughly 20%). thats why im unsure of getting into penn and fordham even though they seem like targets
So it looks like your net price needs to be under $8-10k, or $5.5k federal direct loan plus some part-time work earnings. Loans greater than that require a cosigner.
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You might need to start at community college, and plan to transfer to an in-state public university after two years.
One friend of a daughter did that, and did quite well with a business-related major. She did have a higher high school GPA, but I am not sure how much that matters if you are planning to transfer after two years of community college. She did get good merit aid after transferring to the in-state university, which kept her total debt quite low, but this did require that she had done very well in community college. Also it was a different state.
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Please clarify this. Are you saying you hope to fund college on your own? Applying for scholarships during the school year is not a good plan.
The best scholarships are ones that are awarded by colleges that accept you. You need to find colleges where your need based and/or merit aid will fund your costs.
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i dont think ill qualify for need base because income is low (under $100k), but my assets are over $600k so im basically messed up for everything
Ok so if you donât think you will qualify for aid you donât need any more reaches. You are going need to focus on affordability.
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OP, as Mike Tyson said, âeveryone has a plan until they get punched in the faceâ.
Most local scholarships are for $500 and $1000, and are NOT renewable (meaning you get the money for Freshman year, and nothing after that).
You need a four year financing plan, not a âI can kinda/sorta make it for Freshman year and who knows after thatâ.
Where can you commute to? Thatâs the way most kids with a restricted budget make the most of their tuition dollars- by not paying for room and boardâŠ
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I think you need to focus on finding affordabe (run net price calculators) match/safety schools. You cannot borrow $50k on your own so that is not a viable option. Note that some colleges will reduce financial aid by the amount of outside scholarships.
Starting at a CC is a good back-up plan.
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For Penn state, you definitely, absolutely need to apply DUS, which is their undecided. Donât apply business!!! DUS has the same pathway to Smeal as âpre-businessâ but slightly easier to get into-although still hard. You may have to do 2+2 to get to Smeal. You also need to look at Temple and apply as a safety.
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