My family has been adversely affected by medical bills and my parents have destroyed their credit. How do I pay for college if banks won’t give loans to me?
You make sure you apply to affordable options. As income is the biggest driver of aid, your indication of an upper middle class income means you need to be a sensible shopper. Commutable options, ( look in state first), maximise merit once you work out if you are merit worthy. Your other thread indicates you need to make a realistic list. Have you got an SAT score or ACT yet? Your PSAT wasn’t especially useful, and your GPA needs optimising. If you have a good test score and GPA you can consider auto merit schools. Parents with bad credit don’t need to borrow money to make that worse. You as a student cannot borrow past direct loans. If your parents are rejected for PP loans, you might borrow a little more, not enough to pay for university OOS.
Run some NPCs, take OOS $ reaches off your list like UCs, and take off schools where you are unlikely to gain academic admission.
<<<<<<
GPA- 3.71 unweighted 4.13 weighted (I moved 4 high schools so far in three years, and lost a couple of family members)
PSAT-1270
majority APs with a few Honors
planning on taking PSEO with a community college
on track to graduate early
Swimming JV
Speech and Debate varsity
FBLA-1st place for public speaking
plan on creating a community or local school club for mental empowerment of kids
robotics programmer
I am in a few application only programs for volunteering in my high school
Demographics-Asian Male, upper mid-class income
I am a junior this year so I would appreciate any advice on making my chances better also
I want to join UChicago, the UCalifornia system, ColoradoU system or something close to Boston or New York
I want to become an engineer or doctor, I plan on majoring in economics and chemistry or computer science, with a minor in entrepreneurship.
<<<
I hope you’ve decided against graduating early. You need the time to get top ACT/SAT scores and to create a school list where you’d get huge merit scholarships.
What is your home state?
UChicago does not offer engineering and is likely out of reach.
Are you a resident of California?
If you want to become an engineer…you need to major in engineering.
How can you increase your chances? You need to get an outstanding SAT or ACT score…and all A grades for your junior year. Do NOT graduate early.
I recently moved to Minnesota but i don’t think that is counted as my homestate
Don’t graduate early.
You’re lucky: Minnesota has an excellent university with a very competitive school of engineering (but work on that sat because you need 1400 to even have a shot), plus reciprocity with U Wisconsin.
Make that your goal.