Hello! I’m a junior from Texas and I’m looking for advice on what colleges to consider as someone who doesn’t have the best stats. I’ve been researching colleges, but a lot of them are high reaches because of my academics. Community college also isn’t a option for me since my parents will most likely be kicking me out at 18.
To clarify, my gpa is only low because I failed one semester of freshmen year where I had a lot of extenuating circumstances, and I will be adding this onto the additional information section on the common app.
I’m open to any advice general alongside college recommendations!
Demographics
US citizen
Texas
Type of high school : Large, public high school
First-gen
Cost Constraints / Budget
Family Budget: $0
My parents will not be providing anything for college or supporting me at all once I turn 18. I don’t have a college fund or a job to save up since I’m not allowed to get one, so I have absolutely no money for it right now. My household income is $60k for a family of 4, so I think I will be eligible for need-based aid. Still, cost is a huge concern for me
Intended Major(s)
Sociology or African American Studies
I want to be pre-med, and I’ll minor in biology or chemistry so I can do my pre-requisites
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
3.34 Unweighted
3.76 Weighted (on a 4-point weighted scale)
By the end of this semester, my gpa will be around 3.5-3.6
Class Rank: Not given until senior year, but we still know our percentages. I’m around top 25-30%
ACT/SAT Scores: 1300 SAT (790 R&W, 510 Math) I will be taking it 2 more times, one in March and then the school day SAT
3 Honors/Pre-AP: chem, english, alg 2 (all in sophomore year)
received 5’s on both seminar and world, i am taking the other 7 classes right now
Planned Senior Year Courses: lit, calc bc, physics c mech, gov/micro (1 semester each), stats
Awards
highest honor roll for 11th grade
collegeboard first-gen award
I’m applying for a lot of contests and other things right now, so I’ll probably have more awards by the time I start applying to colleges
Extracurriculars
Caretaker for my grandmother
Key Club (editor)
Student Council (treasurer)
French Club (treasurer)
Black Student Union (co-president)
Founder of a youth newspaper in my city
Founder of a tutoring organization at my school
ESL Tutor
Volunteer for blood donor organization
Junior council for a nonprofit dedicated to serving youth in underserved community
Board member for a nonprofit dedicated to the mental health of minority youth
Social media manager for a nonprofit dedicated to giving technology access and coding lessons to my local community
Volunteer for a nonprofit dedicated to assisting foster care youth and youth with incarcerated parents
Essays/LORs/Other
I’m a good writer, so I think my essays will be strong, but you never know. I also don’t know how strong my LORs will be.
Schools
I have no idea what schools to apply to because of both my stats and my budget. I was thinking of WashU since my brother went there, but it’s a really big reach for me. I really need suggestions so I’ll just add what I’m looking for in schools, and hopefully you guys can provide me with some recommendations.
What I’m looking for in a college
small-sized
provides extremely good financial aid
walkable, has a lot of nature surrounding the campus
Forgot to add this, but starting in April I’ll be working with a t15 professor on a project related to my majors and it will last throughout the summer months. So I guess that counts as a summer extracurricular
*Sociology is usually considered a social science more than humanities, while African American studies (or any other cultural studies) could be both social science and humanities.
First and foremost, will your parents cooperate with providing their financial information, to qualify you for need-based aid? Presumably they must have done so for your brother; is their relationship with you different?
What is your 10th and 11th grade GPA? There are a few full-need-met universities that don’t consider freshman grades (notably Emory and Carnegie Mellon). Others may choose to overlook one bad semester in 9th grade, even if ignoring 9th grade GPA isn’t their official policy. Make sure your guidance counselor at school knows your story well and can vouch for the extenuating circumstances - it is far more effective to have a credible third party explain this, vs. explaining it yourself.
Berea College could be worth looking into. They admit only low-income students and are tuition-free, with other expenses covered by an on-campus work program. The college has a decent-sized Black/AA population (around 17%). Berea has a strong pre-health program, and offers both a sociology major and an African & African-American Studies major. The school has a very strong reputation and the alumni network is robust and highly supportive, which is to say, it checks the “good networking opportunities” box. And it’s likely a particularly good place for students who don’t have a stable home to return to on breaks. (Also checks your small, scenic, and walkable boxes.) For your interests and situation, it could be a great opportunity if you could get in (~33% acceptance rate), and admissions are holistic and cognizant of the pressures on low-income students with family obligations, so I think you’d have a decent chance.
Yes, they gave me some of their financial information recently which is how I know our total household income. They just won’t contribute or pay anything. My parent’s dislike me compared to my brother, which I’m probably guessing is because of my gender.
I don’t know my exact GPA for 10th grade, but I got all A’s and one B that year. This year I currently have a 4.0 since I got all A’s for the first semester. I didn’t know other colleges besides UCs overlook freshman grades, so I will definitely check out those two schools along with Berea. And for emory and cmu, those two schools still provide aid to oos students right?
You could always get a job at Starbucks and attend Arizona State online for free - lots of majors. But need a place to live. Target and others have programs too.
Berea (above is what I thought). You can look at a Prairie View. I’m not sure if the 3.5 required is weighted or not - you can ask them - but would need a place to go in summer, etc.
You’re in a tough situation but often that will bring such accomplishment for you. Good luck.
The Regents’ Student Merit Scholarship is the University’s most prestigious award. The Regents’ scholarship covers up tuition and mandatory fees, on campus housing, meals and books ($600 per semester) every academic year (excluding summer semesters). Regents’ Scholars who are non-residents are eligible for an out-of-state tuition waiver. The criteria for the scholarship are as follows:
Must have graduated from a high school within 12 months of enrolling at Prairie View A&M University.
Student cannot be considered a transfer student from another college or university.
Must have a minimum 3.50 cumulative high school GPA. (3.50 on a 4.0 scale)
Must have a minimum SAT score of 1260 (New SAT)/1760 (Old SAT) Verbal,Writing and Math only or 27 composite ACT score.
Yes, Emory and CMU are private universities that meet full need, the same as WashU - state of residency doesn’t matter. (UC’s, as I expect you already realize, will not be an option cost-wise.) They are tough admits but not necessarily out of reach, particularly if you run the Net Price Calculators, verify that you’ll get enough need-based aid, and apply Early Decision to your top choice.
There are also some well-endowed LAC’s that give generous aid packages without being prohibitively hard to get into. Schools like Grinnell, Beloit, Earlham, Denison, Kalamazoo, and others in the “Colleges That Change Lives” group (College Profiles – Colleges That Change Lives) may work for you. You may also want to consider women’s colleges like Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Scripps, and Agnes Scott.
In theory, you can apply to the Questbridge program. I don’t expect you to get into any meets need school but it is set up for someone like yourself so worth a try.
I don’t think you can prioritize what you want when you seek a full ride. You need to focus on that full ride aspect. Best of luck.
Are there D’s and F’s on your transcript? If so, first step is to make sure you will have enough credits and the right credits to satisfy HS graduation requirements. Next, is it possible to remediate any D’s and F’s by retaking those classes, either thru the HS or elsewhere?
Even though some colleges might not consider 9th grade in their GPA calculations, it does not mean they are going to ignore D’s and F’s.
Is your counselor going to address your freshman grades in their LoR?
Thank you! I am interested in HBCUs, but not really Howard as I’ve heard a lot of bad things about the school such as issues with housing, classes, ect. However, I do want to apply to spelman. I’ve seen people with similar stats as mine (gpa wise) get accepted, and they value community service which I have a lot of. The only issue with spelman is the cost, but maybe I’ll try to get a scholarship there.
Also, the scholarship for Howard that you linked only applies if you’re getting a phd.
Yes I do have them, but I retook those classes over the summer. For some reason, that made my gpa go down.
Regarding the letter from my counselor, I didn’t attend the same school I do now in my freshmen year. So I don’t know how that’ll work. Do you think I can just tell her and she’ll add them onto the LOR when the time comes?
That’s great - but I want to reiterate this - you don’t have a lot of flexibility - so if you find out Prairie View takes a weighted GPA, it’s a must. Alabama AM has similar but requires a 3.75.
And you may need to work if you’re at your own place - so the Starbucks/Targets of the world with free college and ASU (via Starbucks) has a ton of majors.
With a $0 budget - and you can only borrow $5500 your first year, you don’t have the option of being picky - because with your stats, it’s unlikely you’re going to find a home - so you have to take any home you find.
Berea is another great one to try.
You’re getting kicked out but do you have any friends or relatives you can live with? Perhaps you can get free tuition at a Texas college - but your parents will have to help with documentation. They are your support mechanism for support even if they’re not willing to support you - as far as aid goes.
Berea and St Olaf are more likely than other meet need LACs, so while they aren’t likely, they’re definitely worth a try. Then as mentioned above Kalamazoo, Grinnell, Beloit, perhaps Allegheny, St Lawrence, Dickinson, Whitman, plus women’s colleges such as Agnes Scott (does not necessarily meet need and do complete all the possible “optional” honors/SUMMIT essays) and Mount Holyoke.
Try to join their mailing list - use a college-dedicated email address and check it at least once a week, open the emails they send and click on what seems interesting (they collect the data and it adds up to your “interest" profile).
Do the same with the LACs listed on Questbridge plus Emory.
Would you be able to visit Trinity TX or Rice?
Yes, explain to your guidance counselor what happened in 9th grade so they can explain it for you in their recommendation.
Explain it to your current counselor ASAP, so that 1) it doesn’t come off like you’re suddenly trying to do damage control at the last minute when applications are due, but rather building a relationship and an understanding of your circumstances proactively, and 2) your current counselor has time to do their own research, by speaking to the counselor or other faculty-staff who know you at your old school. (Even if they don’t take the time to do this, your willingness to encourage them to do so will lend credibility to your account of what happened.)
One school that meets a lot of your preferences is Tuskegee in Alabama, and if your GPA gets over the 3.5 barrier, then you would qualify for a full tuition scholarship. It has about 2700 undergrads and has relatively low costs for room & board (about $10k, as listed in College Navigator).
Since you’ve shared that you’re interested in pre-med, I have to mention Xavier (LA). It is very well-reputed for the pre-med/pre-health preparation it provides its students. It has about 2700 undergrads and is definitely worth checking out.
Another one to consider is Clark Atlanta (GA). It’s in a consortium with Spelman, but it’s another option with about 3600 undergrads. Dillard (LA, about 1100 undergrads, and I wrote more about it here) is also worth checking out and so is Hampton (VA, about 3700 undergrads).
In terms of which of these schools would be most financially generous for you specifically, I can’t say. But run the NPCs and look at the scholarship options at each school, potentially reaching out to the admissions office to see if they do a merit aid pre-read, and also ask how merit aid stacks (or doesn’t) with financial aid.
If you’re not familiar with it already, there is the Common Black College App that allows you to submit one application with a $20 fee that then can be submitted to dozens of HBCUs, including Clark Atlanta, Dillard, and Xavier.
And I’m going to page @EconPop in case he’s still around.