US Citizen
Whiteboy
Idaho
Regular high school(?)
First generation
Cost Constraints / Budget
Parents can probably pay ~$5,000 a year. My SAI will be around 0.
Intended Major(s)
Computer Science
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.5/4.0
Weighted HS GPA: 3.6/5.0
Class Rank: 119/345
ACT/SAT Scores: 1340 SATD
List your HS coursework
(12th grade is still going)
English: (9) Honors English 9, (10) Honors English 10, (11) Dual Credit English 101/175, (12) Dual Credit English 102/258
Math: (9) Integrated Math 1, (10) Honors Integrated Math 2, (11) Honors Integrated Math 3, (12) AP Calculus (skipped precalc/equivalent), (12) AP Statistics
History and social studies: (10) Western Civilization, (11) AP US History, (12) AP World History & (12) AP Government/Politics
Language other than English: (9) German 1 (Wasn’t aware of the usual 2+ year req.)
Visual or performing arts: (10) Art 1, FAILED Art 2
Other academic courses: (9) Web Design 1, (10) Web Design 2, (11) Dual Credit Speech 101, Dual Credit Psychology 101, Principles of Marketing, Economy, (12) Dual Credit Medical Terminology, Principles of Management & Accounting, Business Management.
College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
ENGL 101 (3)
ENGL 175 (3)
ENGL 102 (3)
ENGL 258 (3)
PSYC 101 (3)
COMM 101 (3)
BIO 100 (4)
CHEM 101 (4)
MEDTERM? (2)
APUSH transfer (3-6?)
AP Calculus transfer (3?)
AP Statistics transfer (3?)
AP World History transfer (3-6?)
AP Government/Politics transfer (3?)
Awards
1st Place at State DECA
Elected DECA Chapter VP of Career Development
Extracurriculars
DECA Competitions
DECA School-based Enterprise
BPA Competitions
Scholastic Bowl Club
Dead chess club
Essays/LORs/Other
My math teacher and econ teacher have really good letters of rec.
Schools
These are just what I’ve looked at so far.
University of Idaho (accepted, est. $10,000/year net no loans)
University of Utah (considering applying to, aid looks generous)
University of Nevada - Reno (accepted, est. $20,000/year net no loans, they lied to me about a scholarship and I was excited for like 3 months)
Boise State University (considering applying to)
Extras
Estimated 0 SAI score (CSS will be bad though, split custody)
After graduating with B.S.C.S. I want to go to fight school full-time to be an airline pilot
^ I don’t want $80k flight school debt on top of a lot of college debt
^ Looking for as much aid as possible!
No community service. L!
GPA got shot from sophomore year. Everything else (except maybe this semester is great)
Have you looked at Utah State?
It’s less expensive than UofU and gives more merit.
Look at both the cost with WUE, and the cost without WUE but taking the path to residency after the first year (they give one-time merit awards to lower the OOS cost for the first year).
Plus, they have an aviation program, so it’s possible you could get your flight training during undergrad.
If you start your college career at a state community college, you can attend very cheaply in Idaho. Look into the Idaho Launch grant program. Work part time while you’re in school and full time in summers & save as much as you possibly can. You should then have enough along with your parents’ contribution and continued work income to pay for your final 2 years. The federal student loan program is also a source of funds.
For the FAFSA, the parent who provides most of your support is the custodial parent. Is that the parent you used to get an SAI of $0.
Are you a transfer student? You have listed a number of college courses above. But really most look like your high school courses. Were these courses DE courses that satisfied HS graduation requirements, or what? You need to check to see if the colleges will give you any credit for a 3 on the AP exam. Some don’t. Could you please clarify this?
Is this supposed to be a joke?
What does this mean?
If your SAI is $0, where is a the $5000 a year your family plans to pay coming from?
Can you run the NPC on the following colleges:
South Dakota School of Mines
University Minnesota Morris (no OOS tuition surcharge, excellent for CS, scholarships)
University of Concordia Moorhead (private with solid scholarships for your test scores)
Augsburg, Hamline, St Thomas, in the Twin Cities may offer enough aid but not sure - the location is really good for internships.
Same idea wrt DePaul and Loyola Chicago. Lake Forest, to a certain extent, might also work (really close to Chicago with internship opportunities and offers good FA/merit.)
Note: Macalester also in the Twin Cities meets need (meaning you wouldn’t have much to pay at all) and being from Idaho would be a boost but they’re highly selective, so with your stats it’d be a huge reach.
This is likely due to not including, or not knowing, the finances of the other parent where the college requires both parents’ finances, leading to a garbage-in-garbage-out result.
If the OP actually knows both parents’ finances and includes them in NPCs of colleges that want both, that may increase the chance of an accurate result for those colleges.
Thanks everyone for replying! I got a -1500 SAI on my FAFSA, and I will look into everything you all suggested!
Colleges I applied to so far and will receive my SAI
University of Idaho
Boise State University
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Nevada Reno
University of Nevada Las Vegas
Grand Canyon University
University of Hawaii Manoa
Hawaii Pacific University
Whitworth University
Pacific Lutheran University
Western Washington University
Seattle University
University of Oregon
Oregon Institute of Technology
Portland State University
Concordia College
Whittier College
Hardin-Simmons University
Florida Institute of Technology
Missouri University of Science and Technology
