3.8 GPA (Highschool)
4 C’s (2 in 9th grade, 2 in 10th)
5 B’s (3 in 9th grade, 2 in 10th)
all other grades are A’s (15 classes taken total)
College GPA: N/A for now (but I think I’ll earn a 4.0 GPA)
College Credits: 11 (as of now)
AP’s taken: AP Human Geography (4). AP World History (5)
could take AP Physics right now but can’t because of college/highschool schedule conflicts.. I kinda wanna ask my counselor about self-studying for it.
Haven’t taken the ACT or SAT yet, the ACT is my priority right now, I’m registered for the December ACT and I’m grinding pretty hard for it. Hoping to take Calc 1 & other sciences w/ a math prerequisite at my college during spring semester if my ACT score allows for it.
Extracurriculars:
(HS) Speech & Debate: 1/2 year (I was bullied by other kids in the club and dropped it..)
(HS) NHS-1 year (looking to become an NHS officer in my senior year)
(HS) Link Crew - 1 year (teacher-organized group made of juniors and seniors that help freshmen transition into high school.. we run the freshman orientation basically)
(College) Engineering Club, 1st year (they’ve designed and launched things on campus which is cool, Ive only gone to one meeting so far)
still exploring clubs at the college…
Career goals: Get a Mech Eng degree and hopefully pivot into Aerospace with it (or something else that will make me enough money to live on my own far away from my family). I don’t wanna limit myself only to aerospace by getting an aerospace degree (in case I change my mind about it later) But I know for sure that I want to pursue engineering.
Looking at engineering (mechanical) in the UofMnTC (applying to them w/ my college courses taken would make me a “freshman with advanced standing”, fyi)
I know that dual enrollment credits don’t transfer well outside of state, but I would prefer to attend any other accredited engineering school out of state. I need to get away from my family, I’m not sure if what my parents are doing to me counts as abusive but I find that it’s negatively impacting me and my mental health.. and I really don’t want to stay with them or rely on them once I graduate high school.
Out of state schools I’m considering:
UMich
nothing else.. (totally open to suggestions!)
15 A grades + 5 B grades + 4 C grades comes out to a 3.458 (not 3.8) unweighted GPA.
If you are a Minnesota resident, other in-state options besides University of Minnesota Twin Cities are University of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State University Mankato.
Focusing on just Michigan Engineering, you could be taking AP Chemistry this year & AP Physics C next year, which could earn you credit. I assume that you’ve already taken biology.
Once you received your ACT scores this December, you’ll have a better idea of where you stand competitively for Ann Arbor. Plus, you’ll have all next year for a possible retake.
I don’t think you can work enough to cover $20k - not even with loans. $50k in college - are you a professional in something where you can be endorsed ? If not, there’s no shot at $50k. $20k may not cover anywhere anyway. Living expenses eat up most of that.
Tons of Mech Es at aero companies including my son.
U Mich is well over $80k a year anyway so it’s not happening. Wasn’t anyway with the grades.
Talk to mom/dad - see what they’ll be able to spend per year. If they make $80k, it might not be much. So you may end up in a regional school or community college.
So you’ll need your budget and a test score for anyone to truly help. But don’t throw out $ #s. Talk to them.
I will say I just looked at SD State. It’s ABET accredited. As a Minnesotan, full cost is like $21k.
Merit could be $3 or $4k but you can’t tell til after your ACT/SAT.
But this might be what you need to work toward in discussing with your family.
You say you need to get away from home but don’t forget mom and dad have to be on for you to even afford to get away so be nice to them. Without them, you’re not gonna going to college - unless you can slam dunk a basketball or throw a touchdown pass.
Once you have a specific budget and on $80k income b4 taxes, it’s gonna be small but until then it will be hard to know.
One other thing to look into is the NorthStar Promise, which is based on adjusted gross income of $80k. So you might qualify for free tuition at public schools. UMN is not an easy in but if you don’t get in, as @ucbalumnus noted - you also have Duluth and Mankato as in state options.
@brunie – congrats on your accomplishments so far. That’s a very good h.s. record. Well done.
There are many moving parts to selecting & going to a college, but finances will be one of the big factors.
Here’s a very general list your options, from the cheapest to the most expensive:
commute to a comm college (pay low tuition = <$10k/yr)
commute to a state university (pay in-state tuition = <$15k/yr)
state university (in-state tuition, dorms = $30k/yr)
private college (tuition, dorms = $10-70k/yr)
out-of-state university with an inter-state agreement with MN ($30-40k/yr?)
out-of-state university (pay out-of-state tuition, dorms = $65k/yr)
Given that you badly want to leave home, options 3-5 seem like your best bet. For a family earning about $80k/yr, you stand some chance of finding colleges/universities where your net price will be very low, like $10-20k/yr, but you have to search widely using NPC.
