I’m a junior in high school, and my mom has made it clear that she won’t let me take out a student loan. While I can understand her sentiment (as student loans are a malicious form of debt), this is frustrating for me since it feels like my options are limited. I haven’t filled out the FAFSA, and I don’t have any idea what my chances of getting financial aid are. I specifically want to know what I can do now in order to improve my chances of getting merit aid in the future.
I currently have a 3.7 GPA. I don’t take any honors classes or AP classes. I plan on taking three AP classes senior year, though. I’ve taken the ACT for the first time and I don’t know what my score is, but when preparing for it I usually got a 32 on the practice tests. I got a 1390 on the PSAT, no prep. I plan on doing SAT prep on my own, and taking it once in the summer. I might take the ACT again, depending on what score I got. I have a few hobbies outside of school. I work part time as a lifeguard, I’ve won art awards sophomore and freshman year, I’m part of my school’s Spanish club, I run on my school’s JV cross country team, and I’ve volunteered a couple of times at the women’s shelter. I also play the piano (although I’ve stopped counting that as an extracurricular once I’ve stopped taking lessons).
Colleges I’m interested in currently: Xavier University, Alleghany College, DePauw, SUNY-ESF, Ripon, and Valparaiso (this is a tentative list). My dad also wants me to apply to Notre Dame, seeing that I would be a triple legacy (he went there and my grandpa went there). I probably will apply, but I really doubt I could get in, even though I’m Catholic and a legacy. Even if I did get in, my chances of getting any merit aid seem pretty low.
Is there any specific actions I can take to improve my chance of getting merit aid? Should I take the SAT? At what score do you think I should retake the ACT? What hobbies should I take up, if any (please be a bit generic about this- I know Model UN would look good on a college app, but I’d rather watch paint dry)? Is my GPA too low to get merit aid, and if so, what would recommend to improve it? I’m interested in majoring in environmental science in college- would this affect my chances of getting merit aid? Are there other colleges in the Midwest than the ones I’ve listed that give better aid?
From what my mom’s told me she has some money invested in stocks to pay for my college tuition. She says that if those stocks do well, she could afford to contribute $15k-20k/year.
The most important thing to do is maintain your Gpa while taking the more challenging AP classes and see if you can increase the ACT score (a prep class would help). Many schools award merit based on a GPA/ACT formula.
You can use the net price calculator at the colleges you have listed to see possible merit awards for your stats. DePauw for example shows $19k in merit, but it is an expensive school. You’d still have to come up with $42,000 to go there (When I ran the NPC I assumed there would be no need based financial aid - you should enter your parents income to get a better picture). Allegheny would give you more for those stats and I think their cost of attendance is lower.
Show your parents the NPC results and start the money conversation with them now.
Consider an instate public option. Even a $20k parent contribution doesn’t completely cover costs at most publics these days. (Although there are merit awards at publics too).
It is great that you are thinking about this now while you have time to construct a list of colleges you can afford!
Flip your search. Don’t look at what schools you want to go to, look at schools that give good merit aid for your situation, be it merit aid for your grades, sports, talents (art, music, acting). You may find a school you never considered that is just right for you.
If you like Notre Dame, have it be your reach but as mentioned above, most of the aid is awarded based on need (and you may qualify, we don’t know). Look at some schools that will offer you merit. Those you listed might. Find out if your state offers any grants for residents.
You need to educate your parents about student debt. I was like your mother and didn’t want my kids to take out any loans, but have since decided that taking only the Stafford loans (limited to $5,500 your first year) aren’t horrible. You can’t file FAFSA yet, but you can run the Net Price Calculators (NPC) for the schools you are interested in. There is one on the website of each college, and you’ll need to know some of the financials of your parents so it is best if you fill it out together. That will help your parents understand college finances too, as the NPC generates how much the college will cost, how much aid you are likely to get, and how much your family will either have to pay or borrow.
Without significant honors or AP classes, you’ll probably be looking at an automatic merit strategy. Look at the link that @3scoutsmom posted above. You’ll need to 100% absolutely keep your GPA above a 3.5 unweighted, so be careful and try to raise it higher, and focus on getting a 1400 or above on the SAT and/or a 32 or above on the ACT. That’ll unlock full tuition and full rides at some of the schools on that list – probably not the schools you want to go to, but it sounds like you’re in a very tight position, so you don’t really get that choice honestly.
Btw – you don’t need parental permission to take out Direct Loans, which are 5500 freshman year, 6500 soph and junior years, and 7500 senior year. That’s a reasonable level of debt for undergrad, so that’ll give you a little bit of leeway to cover a room or something if you get a full tuition, but not full ride, award.
You’d probably get $20,000/year merit at Xavier, which would leave about $30,000 to pay. So with your mom’s contribution and the student loan, you’re still short $5,000-$10,000 (that’s current costs; they’ll go up each year). They do award 20 (I think) full tuition awards which are very competitive, but no additional application is required, so give that a try.
Other midwest Catholic schools, such as Duquesne, DePaul, and U Dayton, would also likely offer you $15-20,000/year merit awards, but again, the final cost looks to be too high. Don’t know about Creighton’s merit awards.
You might consider some other Catholic schools a bit farther away that offer some full tuition awards, such as Scranton or St. Joe’s (in Philadelphia).
This question isn’t meant to pry, but are your parents married (since you only mention your mom’s contribution)? Also, what state do you live in?
First, you need to build your list from the bottom up.
That means finding a safety plan first: Maybe you go to community college for two years to save money, then spend the investment money over two years instead of four to go to a private school. Maybe you find an in-state tuition 4 year option that you can afford. If you qualify for any of the automatic full tuition awards linked above and you would actually attend if admitted, you can put those in your safety plan. But, don’t get in the situation where “I was admitted full-tuition to Far Away University but I don’t really want to go there.” That is not a safety plan. Look at what the schools actually offer you besides just a cheap price! You have to want to go there.
Merit aid awards are typically going to come in with prices above your in-state public options. That’s just the nature of the game: half-tuition or less awards are most typical. Many Net Price Calculators will estimate merit aid if you enter your test scores, GPA, and number of AP classes. Check the schools already on your list. The merit award offers will be at schools where you are among the top applicants, not at schools where you are one of the great middle. You need to be at the very top of the applicant pool to get more than half-tuition, and you have to be low enough in the rankings that the school actually offers awards that large.
Another is to look at Kiplinger’s list of Best Value Colleges. (This list mixes need-based and merit-based aid, so check the Net Price Calculator to be sure a school works in your situation.)
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Without significant honors or AP classes, you’ll probably be looking at an automatic merit strategy. Look at the link that @3scoutsmom posted above. You’ll need to 100% absolutely keep your GPA above a 3.5 unweighted, so be careful and try to raise it higher, and focus on getting a 1400 or above on the SAT and/or a 32 or above on the ACT. That’ll unlock full tuition and full rides at some of the schools on that list –
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@CourtneyThurston is right that you don’t need parent permission to take out the $5500 freshman student loan, BUT if your mom finds out, she may refuse to help you file FAFSA, so it’s best NOT to mention that option to her. As long as your mom fills out FAFSA each year, you can quietly accept the student loans offered on your portal. They won’t be for a lot, but they can help a bit.
Well, if the parent is paying anything at all, they will see the bill with the loan amount deducted from the amount due. OP would also have to deny the parent access to the bill-pay portal for the school and get the tuition money from the parent and pay it to the school.
I guess OP will have to explain that Direct Loans really aren’t a big deal, then. They’re limited for a reason: stay within those limits and you’ll have a sane amount of debt.
I agree with the parent that you shouldn’t be taking loans beyond that. But Direct Loans are fine.
Numerous schools (not yet on your list) will waive tuition for good ACT scores. Many are state schools that have honors colleges within them. Scores that qualify do not need to be anywhere near perfect. Check out Univ of Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma. Identify several such schools and then repeat the ACT as many times as needed to qualify. I am pretty sure that a 32 or 33 on the ACT gets you massive merit aid.
Also, though your post does not specify… I assume based upon your parents’ income that you won’t qualify for much in the way of financial aid. If you do qualify for financial aid based upon your family income, that can help as well. If you think your family may qualify for FA, then you should run the numbers using the financial aid calculators that you can find online to come up with your “expected family contribution” for each school you are considering.
I have read that ND rarely gives out merit aid, and does so only for very high stat kids in a very competitive process. Even then the best merit aid will be a half tuition scholarship.
@LuckyCharms913 I live in Ohio. And no, my parents aren’t married (I live with my mom). My dad might be able to contribute something for college, but as of right now, I have no idea what that would be. He hasn’t told me a specific amount at all (even after I asked him a few times), which is making me suspect that he won’t be able to help pay for college.
@AroundHere Thank you for those links! I feel like I’m learned more about college admissions from this thread than from my guidance counselor. She always stresses that cost isn’t important, follow your dreams, unicorns are real!
Make sure you look up the Common Data Set to see if demonstrated interest is important. At RPI for example, a simple school visit and several emails can be the difference between $60k and $125k. Good luck.
32 ACT or the SAT equivalent seems to be a magic number for unlocking some big merit scholarships, as long as you keep your GPA as close to 4.0 as you can. 33/34 and up, even better.
Alabama, Alabama-Huntsville, and Ole Miss pop up frequently around here for their generous auto merit.
Ohio State is a great school and might be affordable for in-state.
Minot State would probably be affordable without any merit aid. in the same vein you could look at South Dakota, South Dakota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State
high GPA + ACT/SAT is the key to many great merit possibilities.
of course if you crush the PSAT that puts you in great shape.