Rejected from ALL Schools, new plan??

Applying to College
141

@ucbalumnus: There are at least 3 other scholarships for which OP may qualify.

Departmental awards & activity awards & several non-disclosed awards based on financial need in addition to the Red & Black Scholarship.

Ole Miss has so many scholarships & discounts that it is difficult to make an accurate assessment.

If timely, OP would receive at least full tuition & fees for non-resident, but most likely more than that.

P.S. Not sure about super-scoring of standardized tests. If OP took the SAT more than once, her super-score may yield more merit money.

Regardless, the Red & Black Scholarship is based on financial need & available if there are still funds.

142

OP: There are so many scholarships for which you may be eligible that I quit researching.

Departmental, Performance, & Service Scholarships at a minimum include a non-resident tuition waiver. Given for activities like theatre arts, art, music, chorus, band, orchestra, journalism, cheerleading, and dance.

Additionally, most–or all–STEM majors receive $2,000 per year scholarship.

As a Texas resident you belong to the ACM–Academic Common Market. 15 states belong. Non-resident tuition waiver for majors not available in your state. The 15 states are:

Alabama, Arkansas, Del, Fla, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Miss., Okla., South Carolina, Tenn, Texas, Virginia, & West Virginia.

Student body President Scholarship, Eagle Scout/Girl Scout Gold Award, etc.

143

OP: With respect to Miami University (Ohio), you need to appeal your scholarship merit award & ask for more funds based on diversity & on your academic interest & need based financial aid.

http://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-guarantee/

Go to “Additional Scholarships” and to “Need Based Financial Aid”.

Otherwise, ask about on-campus jobs and about research assistantships.

144

Because Texas is a member of the ACE (Academic Common Market), your guidance counselor may have a list of which majors qualify by state or institution. (Ole Miss lists two–one of which is forestry.)

At a minimum, ACE grants a non-resident tuition waiver.

145

OP: Your strengths for purposes of additional funds are URM status, outstanding GPA, possible first generation college student, any special individual talents or interests, and your desired area of study if it is under-represented at any particular college or university.

You may never know what additional benefits & awards are possible & available unless you ask.

146

How do I go about appealing it?
I got $23,000 for the year. Which is higher than the $20,000 max mentioned to non-Ohio residents for my SAT score.
I could really use as much scholarship money as they can give me.

1 Like
147

Who should I ask?
MU has #1 Zoology program in the country which is what I will major in if I attend. I would love to maximize my scholarships though. Right now, it’s $8,000 a semester.

148

I mean with loans and $23,000 a year scholarship, I need to pay $8,000 a semester.

149

You should contact the office of admissions & financial aid.

150

@Petal12

Can you offer a breakdown of your financial aid package from Miami - grants, loans, Pell, work study, etc. If loans and work study are already bundled into your offer, 8K per semester will be hard to manage and would leave you with a lot of debt. If not, then it becomes more feasible.

As the case of Miami shows, even if your EFC is indeed zero, this does not mean that is what you can expect to pay. I helped a friend who had a similar family income to yours. Meets full need sometimes means that a school will offer you 60K in loans.

Can your parents contribute anything? Even if you managed to get into UT Austin, by no means a sure thing, you’d still have to pay room and board. Full Pell plus Stafford Loan plus a part time job would get you close to that but would leave you with some debt to repay after college.

As UT-Austin offers full tuition for families with less than 65K income, I’m going to assume that your family income falls below that. Upthread, somebody mentioned 35K. That income level (assuming no assets or a non-custodial parent that has high income) would enable you to get generous need-based aid at schools that promise to meet full need. However, most of those are highly selective and historically (before COVID) also required high test scores. If you were to take a gap year, this could be a great opportunity for you as many of these schools have now gone test optional.

I don’t know if it’s possible to apply for Questbridge if you are taking a gap year. Google to find out. This is a program for low income students (threshold is around 60-65K/income year) that is a pathway for selective college admissions. Your grades seem sufficient (did you ever post your unweighted GPA?). I don’t know if Questbridge has also gone test optional - if it has, it might be worth checking out with your current record. If not, to improve your changes, a better standardized test score would help, if you are able to get a seat at a testing center. If you haven’t yet done so, you might try a full length practice ACT to see if that is a better format for you.

Finally, check out this thread:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/2131364-reject-train-going-full-speed.html

This poster had low income and high stats and ended up with no affordable options. His situation was different because of his residency status and that complicated his financial aid eligibility. However, there are lessons to be learned from his case. He established residency, took a gap year, went through Questbridge, expanded his college list, reapplied to some schools and submitted new applications to others. He had many options for his second round. His success was due to his tenacity, academic record, his willingness to listen and take advice, and the support of experienced CC posters.

Good luck and I’m sorry that you were poorly advised about your application strategy during your senior year.