Senior in high school
Asian (Filipino if it even matters)
3.89 Unweighted / 4.71 Weighted GPA
California resident, San Bernardino area (very sketchy and limited economically)
Lower middle-class (2 parent household, making about $85K, family of 5 in total)
Though, this is including my half-brother (different mom) doesn’t really live with us as he goes to UCR and so I figured it’d be okay to add him to my FAFSA info.
My EFC is about 4500. (9900 if I didn’t include my brother)
Ranked 15 out of 669 people in my class (top 2%)
All my core classes have been IB. (not receiving IB diploma due to not having zero period TOK which conflicted with church worship)
1360 SAT but had retaken this month and expecting a 1450-1500 (new SAT out of 1600 to be clear).
Kind of weak extracurriculars/leadership positions:
3 years being in my high school’s Key Club as an officer (part of the club committee in organizing community and service events)
2 years of our high school’s University Prep Club (vice president and I prepare this year’s juniors for the SAT/ACT as well as help our senior class with scholarships/college apps)
Co-founded our school’s Computer Society (secretary) where we teach kids how to program and make several projects out of it.
2 years as JV first string wrestler.
*I also joined Speech and Debate this year but I decided to leave this out unless I win a few tournaments which I might add to any awards I have received.
Community and Service:
200 hours at a retirement home serving as an assistant events coordinator where I help keep the residents entertained with games and such
150+ hours at local events for my school’s Key Club
50+ hours of school peer tutoring
I’m applying to UCSD, UCLA, UCI, UCR, Cal Poly SLO/Pomona, and CSUSB (only since I live right next to there) for Computer Science. I know that most of these colleges are well within my reach but financially, everywhere scares me. My family hasn’t been able to afford saving up any money for college (our assets are $0). I qualify for a $1300 Pell Grant and a $5500 Stafford loan currently and I know there are still Cal Grants to take into account for. But, Cal Poly SLO is the ideal school that I want to go to as it is one of the best for my intended major and so I want to know realistically how much am I probably going to have to pay for or if I’d be able to get any merit based scholarships from these places? I’m very anxious. Thank you.
Half brother is not part of your household nor is he part of the number of students in college and should not be part of your FAFSA. You will need yo make the correction to remove him.
Is your half brother an undergrad college student? What is his permanent address on his college and tax records? Did he include YOU on his FAFSA? How much is he paying for college?
You will need to apply and see what happens. I encourage you to also apply to a community college as well, as sometimes those fill up quickly too in CA.
Even with the Calgrant, I believe the CSUs will still cost you room and board, and personal expenses…and books. The Calgrant covers tuition.
Though, this is including my half-brother (different mom) doesn't really live with us as he goes to UCR and so I figured it'd be okay to add him to my FAFSA info.
My EFC is about 4500. (9900 if I didn't include my brother)
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Are you saying that your half-brother lives with you during summers and lived with you during high school? Or did he live with his bio-mom?
How old is he?
When your brother filled out FAFSA, which household did he use? Your dad’s or his mom’s?
You have good grades so you should get a fair amount of Merit Aid in grants. Others can speak to this specifically for the colleges you are applying. The rest will most likely come from debt. Unfortunately a lot of all this is pure speculation. You will only really know once you open the envelope and see what the offers are. Good luck with your choices.
Are you willing to go out of California? Your stats would get you merit aide at many other schools, California public school aren’t great for that. If your brother lives with you summers and your dad claims him as a dependent then he is on your FAFSA as a second college student in the family. I’m not sure what your aide will be, what’s the cal poly cost calculator come out to?
Have you run the NPC on some private schools that offer CS? These schools all offer strong financial aid and have a CS program:
Caltech
Pomona
Harvey Mudd
USC
Pitzer
They are all pretty selective, but if you get that SAT up to 1450-1500, and the NPC figure is doable, i think they’re worth a shot. They might end up costing less than the public schools on your list.