SAT score: 1450/1600 760 R+W 690 M
Sat Subject tests: Taking them in January '17
EFC: 0000000
I am a ward of the court/orphan, so I am an independent student. My “family” cannot contribute anything, nor can I.
AP scores:
APUSH - 4
Micro - 4
Stats - 4
English Language and Composition - 4
Advanced courses I’m currently studying for:
Calculus I - ACE/alternative credit
TESOL certificate (certificate that says I’m qualified to teach English to ESL students)
Physics/Mechanics - ACE/alternative credit
Interests: Colleges with few/no major or degree requirements OR Colleges with an option to create your own major. Study abroad for 2 OR 3 years.
Would be very nice to have but not necessary: The ability to take advanced classes by submitting a portfolio of your own work
Areas of interest: Anthropology, sociology, psychology, folklore studies, music composition, CLASSICAL vocal pedagogy, education, economics, statistics, applied mathematics, computer science, entrepreneurial studies
Has to have: NO requirements for homeschoolers or 2 or less SAT subject tests + AP + portfolio/curriculum log as the MOST requirements. Has to have merit aid.
How much can my NET price be (EXCLUDING merit aid, loans, and term-time work)?: Less than $5,000 for an out-of-state student. I am a Floridian.
You need to apply to UFlorida. Did you? UFlorida is doing an excellent job of giving aid to low income instate students. With a combo of Florida aid, Pell Grant, and Bright Futures, and maybe a small loan, you may have all costs covered.
Run the Florida NPC.
If it’s too late to apply to UF, then look to other instate publics that will combine merit, Bright Futures, Pell grants to cover your costs.
@twoinanddone can you recommend some FL publics for this low income student with very good stats?
The application date for UF is November 1 so you have missed that. The application dates for the other schools in Florida vary (USF is in March, FSU is in January, FAU’s is in May, UCF is rolling, etc.). With your SAT test score, you are a candidate for merit aid at schools at the USF/UCF level and below. However, the lack of a GPA might be a problem.
If that does not work, I suggest you look at your local community college in Florida, and use that to plan a pathway to a four year school offering a bachelors degree. Community colleges in Florida are relatively inexpensive, and you will be able to work part time to support yourself. The CC system in Florida is designed to allow an easy transfer to a four year school in order to finish your degree. Good luck.
This is going to be hard to find at schools that offer good aid. I’d narrow this down, one year abroad makes more sense.
Also, “has to have merit aid” makes little sense. You need great need based aid, not merit aid. Not sure if you are male or female, but in addition to the suggestions above, some schools that meet need that might accept you and give you good aid are the following. Note that they may not meet all your other criteria, but I don’t think you can afford to be super picky if you want essentially a free college education:
College of Holy Cross
University of Richmond
University of Rochester
Franklin & Marshall
Mount Holyoke
Trinity College (Connecticut)
These are schools that meet financial need, and are slightly less selective than most of the schools on the list of colleges that meet need. Note that only the first three are need blind for admissions (so don’t consider how much need you are looking for in the admission process).
This is an oxymoron. If they have excellent aid they are highly competitive taking them out of the safety category. If you are competitive for those then look here: http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
@intparent@Zinhead@mom2collegekids
Hi, I don’t want to go to school in Florida. I hate living in my state because of how I’m dealt with by the government, and I want to travel, meet travelers and foreigners, and be in the snow. I want to be an area like Boston or New York because I want to see the opera houses’ productions and there will be more resources for me there. I want to go to a generally liberal state that allowed the Medicaid expansion. This rules out Florida. I really don’t want to go to FAU, Palm Beach State College, or anywhere like that. I don’t believe they’d allow me to create my own major or have few to little degree requirements. I’ve met students from there that really turned me off. I knew one staff member, who I really liked and would love to interact with every day, but I want students who are quiet, don’t blast music in the school parking lot, and can talk all day about Celtic mythology then debate literature. I said it has to have merit based aid because I need that IN ADDITION to need based aid. If I get need-based aid until my net price is $5,000, maybe I can get $4,000 in merit aid as well. Otherwise, if they have no merit aid, I’m stuck with $5,000/yr on student loans.
Generally, if you got a merit scholarship, they will subtract the merit amount for the financial aid amount so it would not affect your cost at a full needs met school.
@suzyQ7@Dustyfeathers Thank you! I didn’t know I couldn’t stack them. My list so far is Vassar, Sarah Lawrence (my grandmother was a legacy), Babson College, Harvard, Brown, and Amherst. I’m really thinking about Oberlin, but my net price is estimated to be $13,000. I think I’ll contact their financial aid office for more information. They have a conservatory that I can study at, too, I believe! I stopped considering Bryn Mawr because, if I remember correctly, their policy for homeschoolers said they wanted to see “A short research paper, preferably completed within the last year (including evaluator’s comments)” and I was afraid I’d be like that sad kid in the movies who gets picked on for getting her clothing second-hand. I don’t have a research paper done, nor do I have an evaluator. I’ve conducted four years worth of informal research on education, but not in paper format, since it was for my own personal use. I may be confusing them with a girls-only school for the very wealthy, though. I’ll look more at Grinell, Haverford, Mt. Holyoke, and maybe Bryn Mawr again tomorrow.
@suzyQ7 Yes, you can stack SOME merit and need based aid.
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Hi, I don't want to go to school in Florida. I hate living in my state because of how I'm dealt with by the government, and I want to travel, meet travelers and foreigners, and be in the snow.
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Well, guess what. Once you’re working and paying your own way, you can have all of those options. When you need OTHERS to fund your way, then you have to go where the money is. There isn’t some treasure chest out there to fund your dreams.
Many students have a limited budget. Our family income hovers around the Pell cut off. My son had good, but not stellar stats so he wasn’t going to get into a school that offered a free ride. He commutes to a local NYS university because that’s what we can afford. He loves it there. He works part-time during the year and saves enough to do a little traveling during breaks. Find something to love about the schools you can afford.
If you plan to study at Oberlin’s conservatory, you will need to audition for the conservatory there. Do younplan to do so? If not, you will able to play in an ensemble for non-majors, and you can take lessons but maybe not with your choice of instructor.
You have a very limited budget, even as an independent student. Schools will expect a student contribution. Often low income students will get work study to cover that…or part of it.
I am going to stick my neck out here. I do NOT think you will find a college in the U.S. that will allow you to study abroad for 2 or 3 years. That would mean you would be taking the bulk of your courses through a different university. Not going to happen.
You have quite a list of requirements…most of which will not be able to be satisfied at most colleges. Plus add in the cost issue.
When do you plan to start college? If it’s fall 2017, you have missed the deadlines for applications for most generous merit awards already.
Perhaps one of the colleges that meet full need…on your list…will accept you with sufficient aid to attend.
But really, i do not see a sure thing school on your list…which would be a place where you want to attend…and can pay the costs.
Re: the net price calculators…unless they specifically ask if you are an independent student, they might not be particularly accurate for you. Although…it sounds like you have no income…
Apply to St Olaf, Earlham, Hamilton. Hampshire?
Apply widely then see where the chips fall.
St Olaf would be the best for vocal training, music composition, etc. You missed the deadline for music (merit) scholarships but they meet need, are in a liberal area of a blue state, offer create your own major, have the M-expansion, and snow. They do have some distribution requirements but if you wanted a unicorn and get a pony, there’s still plenty to love.
Sarah Lawrence doesn’t meet need and is need aware.
Your list doesn’t have a safety - how about you apply to ncf and Wilkes honors college?
