<p>All these discussion about URM, Legacy Preference, and Athlete have nothing to do with me.
I am from middle class Asian family in need of FA.
I have a feeling that I will hear Life is not fair sometime in April.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what getting financial aid has to do with being a URM, Legacy or athlete. If you are talking about need based aid, this is based on your family’s income and assets. If you are talking about scholarships, yes recruited athletes receive scholarship money at some places, but just being a URM or legacy doesn’t guarantee you financial aid. Scholarships (merit ones) are based on your academic stats.</p>
<p>FA is nothing to do with being a Legacy, URM, or athlete. My two kids are none of those things. One got a good merit scholarship based on academic stats and got need based aid based on our income and assets - got most of the cost of an instate 4 year flagship covered. The other got need based aid based on our income and statistics but did not have the stats for the merit money, got the cost of a CC covered but not enough to cover a 4 year.</p>
<p>Getting good FA is about finding the right strata of school that wants to pay to have you there. For a 2400 SAT kid, that is going to a school where the applicant pool tops out at 2100. For a 2100 kid, that means going to a school where the pool tops out at 1800. There is a school that will offer you FA. Unfortunately, it is not as good a school as would admit you without aid. </p>
<p>That is the unfair part. And yes, life is not fair. Now go find the schools that will give you good aid, write killer applications, and have a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>Keep in mind there are some 4000 institutions of higher learning in the US. The many (lengthy) discussions here on CC tend to revolve on perhaps 50 colleges of that 4000. </p>
<p>I like UT84321’s advice. If there are 50 colleges that look down their nose at you (and that is not a given) then that means there are 3950 schools left, several hundred of which surely would adore to have you grace their walks. </p>
<p>Hopefully you have done a ton of research. If not, get cracking!<br>
Did you know:
If you are interested in primate ethology, one of the best institutions in the US is Central Washington University
If you are interested in explosives, the best training isn’t at MIT or Caltech – it is at New Mexico Tech at Socorro NM
If you are interested in wind energy, then Oregon Inst. of Technology is the happening place to be.
And, if you want to be an entertainment whiz, don’t think you have to attend UCLA Film School. You might do like Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and attend Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.
Sure hope you are putting out some apps some place OTHER than HYPS.</p>
<p>*I am not going to be too specific because of the high school I am attending.</p>
<p>SAT I: 2380 (800R, 780M, 800W)
ACT:35
SAT II: 2390 (800, 800, 790)
GPA: 3.96 UW
No Rank
Course Rigor: It will help me.
ECs and Community Services: 3 (or 4) out of 5
Asian Male</p>
<p>Dartmouth
Cornell
Northwestern
Swarthmore
Carleton
Middlebury
Vanderbilt
Wash U
Rice
Duke *</p>
<p>Looks like all or nearly all are reach schools. </p>
<p>Where are your financial safeties if money is a concern?</p>
<p>Are you NMSF?</p>
<p>You say that you’re “middle class” but many people say that when they actually have high incomes and/or high assets.</p>
<p>If you really are “middle class” (with an income of like $60k with modest savings/assets) then you would get great aid from those schools.</p>
<p>Wowser. Yep. OP is definitely shopping the Lexus end of the car lot. Sweetie, there are a ton of Fords and Kias and small Hondas that will get you down the road at a much more affordable rate. Don’t think that a lesser known college is the same as a sick donkey. That only exposes your ignorance. </p>
<p>Most states have two large public universities and several smaller state schools. Please, please pick a small state school and put in an application ASAP. It would be great if next spring you have the option of a generous FA package from that school. You don’t have to take it if one of the other paths is available and is affordable. But, right now, it sounds like you are whining because no Fairy Godmother is giving you keys to a Rolls Royce. I suspect you are not yet well informed about the merits of some of the smaller colleges (Harrison Ford attended Ripon College. David Letterman went to Ball State. Examples abound of quality people doing amazing things from a start at a quality small college).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>LOL, let’s not get started on the Ford (Edge) again!</p>
<p>OP - If those posted stats are right, you should receive quite a number of full-tuition scholarship offers … not at the listed schools, but at “lesser but still excellent” institutions. If I recall correctly, DD received five such offers … and her stats were a cut below yours. None of the offers were from schools that appealed to her. But the offers were useful nonetheless because they helped her understand where she was on the “desirability continuum.” IMHO you need to widen your search a bit. Good luck.</p>
<p>Have you considered your state flagship college? Do they have an honors college? </p>
<p>Your list has far too many reach schools and not enough matches. What is your safety school in terms of academics and finances? Remember, it’s not a safety school unless you would attend and can afford to attend.</p>
<p>Yes, those are my academic numbers.
I did apply couple EA schools but no ED. I have one flagship state U as my backup.
I am neither an URM nor an athlete. I have no legacy preference and I am not a full pay student.
But, I know I worked hard.
I realize that odds are against me but I am going to compete for top schools including HYPSM.
I have nothing to lose.
If I get in, I at least know that I get in without any help!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Wow, OP, please reconsider your thinking and attitude. Sorry, it’s not going to get you far in life and win any friends.</p>
<p>What exactly is wrong with my thinking and attitude?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Hmmm, lets review.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You were referring to anybody who got in through athletics, legacy status or being a URM. So you will feel superior to all of the above when you get in?</p>
<p>Hope the full pay students don’t look down on you.</p>
<p>
Hopefully, if you do they will lead you to an attitude adjustment.</p>
<p>“Wow, OP, please reconsider your thinking and attitude.”</p>
<p>“Hopefully, if you do they will lead you to an attitude adjustment.”</p>
<p>So, what should be my new attitude?</p>
<p>Your attitude should be one of gratefulness. </p>
<p>1) that you’ve been gifted with high intelligence.</p>
<p>2) that you have supportive parents.</p>
<p>3) that a top school selected you when they could have selected someone else with stats that are as good as yours or better.</p>
<p>I could go on.</p>
<p>And…if you say that you need FA, you really need to determine how much FA you’ll qualify for AND if your parents will pay what they’re expected to pay.</p>
<p>And, OP, the fact that you seem to assume that URMs, legacies or athletes automatically have lower scores than you is ridiculous and childish.</p>
<p>i think what OP is saying is that URMs, legacies, and athletes DO have some advantage over people like her and if you get in, there is that little satisfaction in the back of your mind that you got in without those advantages. i’m sure everyone, including me, would feel the same.</p>
<p>however, if and when i get an acceptance letter, i won’t be thinking “hey, i beat the URMs, legacies, and athletes! yay… haha, suckers!” obviously not. i’ll be speechless and elated. the key isn’t to think about the people you’re competing against. the key is to focus on yourself.</p>
<p>You can call me childish or I have a bad attitude or whatever.
Maybe, I deserve these comments by showing my anger.</p>
<p>I have no problem with under privileged URM students getting admission boost.
But, why should privileged URMs and legacies get admission boost?
I know many of them and I have been frustrated.</p>
<p>Anyway, I am sorry if I offended anybody.</p>