Rising Senior - Suggest Colleges

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Alright, I know most people already have a good idea of where they want to go to college and such, but I’m in a different boat.</p>

<p>I’m from Long Island NY, am a white male, and my parents make like 140k a year (not sure exactly). However, one of my older siblings is kind of a bum and steals their money, so they pretty much told me I have to pay for college by myself (They said they’ll pay for like 3-4k but the rest is out of my own pocket, so yeah). It’s not that I don’t respect my parents, but my brother used them, they paid for 7 years of college for him at UNC-CH and (4 years) and then 3 years at USC and he never even got his degree (now they are paying for his apartment in NYC as he doesn’t even have a job)! </p>

<p>I really wanted to go OOS (I like schools like Wisconsin/UT-Austin/V-Tech/Clemson) but I can’t afford any of them and I’m pretty sure I won’t get any financial aid since all they see is my parents make 140k or whatever a year and I’m from a rich beach town in New York. My grades aren’t good enough for scholarships either. </p>

<p>Are their any colleges OOS that I could get a decent scholarship to? I know beggers can’t be choosers, but this is what I would ideally like in a college.</p>

<p>-Big school
-Great Athletics
-Party School
-Good Engineering
-Good college town
-Biker friendly</p>

<p>My stats are:</p>

<p>AP(s):
World History: 4 (soph)
USH: 4 (junior)
Stat: 5 (junior)
APES: 5 (junior)
Lit: 4 (junior)</p>

<p>Senior year (yet to take):
Gov
Eco
Euro
Calc AB
Physics B
Spanish
Lang</p>

<p>GPA: 3.4-3.6ish on a 4.0 I guess around (It’s about a 90 average) - unweighted - upward trend
School doesn’t rank, but I’d guess top 30% at a competitive public school?
SAT: 2130 (720M, 690 CR, 720W)
ACT: 32
E/Cs: part of one environmental club and deca with little activity
sports: all-county, 12 varsity letters, </p>

<p>I’m really lost, my parents aren’t helping me and I really have no idea… at this point I’m not sure if I’m even going to go to college, I might just work for my uncle’s construction company (which would suck since I wasted 12 APs and my 2130 SAT i worked for). But He said he could give me a job, and at least that way I can be financially secure.</p>

2

<p>why not stay in state and go to SUNY Buffalo?</p>

3

<p>I visited Buffalo and didn’t really like it, and if I’m going to a school 10 hours away I might as well go to a college I’d enjoy. </p>

<p>It might be selfish, but if I don’t go to an OOS college, I’m probably joining my uncle’s company/the army. I would really rather not go to a SUNY, but I know I don’t have the stats to get a scholarship to anywhere I’d like to go.</p>

4

<p>to be honest, if your parents are only gonna pay 3-4 K a year, you might as well go to an in-state college or go to a college where you can get a full scholarship.</p>

5

<p>I’m sorry that you are not getting the support from your parents you feel you need, but work with your HS counselor on developing a list of schools with you. You have really strong stats, particularly SAT and ACT scores. Your parents may be able to help you more than you think. Do NOT enter the work force (full-time) at this juncture. Your thought of joining the Army is actually an excellent option and one I hope you seriously consider. That can lead to a lot of educational/training opportunities. You have the rest of your life to work full-time and will regret not having furthered your education later on.</p>

6

<p>Is ROTC an option? If so, try Va Tech and see what they offer. Joining their Corps of Cadets might give you an edge and if you could get an ROTC scholarship… it’d sure beat enlisting and pay a bit for those later years.</p>

7

<p>Here’s a couple:</p>

<p>Alabama - If your GPA translates to a 3.5, your 1400+ SAT gets you full tuition.</p>

<p>[Out-of-State</a> Scholarships - Undergraduate Scholarships - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html]Out-of-State”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html)</p>

<p>Ohio U - Gateway Excellence Scholarship (full in state tuition + Trustee grants may make up difference)</p>

<p>[The</a> Gateway Award Program: Ohio University Admissions](<a href=“http://www.ohio.edu/admissions/gateway/index.cfm]The”>http://www.ohio.edu/admissions/gateway/index.cfm)</p>

8

<p>Thanks, I’m pretty sure my GPA is a high 3.5 or a low 3.6.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the help.</p>

<p>A matter of fact, I’m positive I have at least a 3.5 GPA, I’ll change that.</p>

9

<p>one last bump</p>

10

<p>If you’re interested in Clemson consider their rival S Carolina. Might be a little easier with your stats for scholarship money.</p>

11

<p>Schools like UConn, WVU, Penn State. They are more feasible to get merit scholarships from with your stats than some of the schools you listed. Apply to some SUNYs too even if they don’t appear to be the best fit.</p>

12

<p>Schrizto: Merit aid to nonresidents at Penn State, WVU and UConn tends to be pretty low. I’m not sure with the OP’s stats and if the OP can only count on $3,000 to $4,000 from his parents, that merit aid at those schools would make much of a dent.</p>

13

<p>Alright, I’m not an expert on the college admissions process (I’m a rising senior myself), but I read somewhere that if your parents aren’t giving you the help you need to pay for college you can declare yourself independent from them, and thus not have their salary be factored in to your Financial Aid packages.
I had originally read this on SparkCollege (A college section of SparkNotes), but as they have pretty much disbanded that section I’m not going to be able to find you the original article.
Here is an article I did find:
[College</a> Financial Aid Basics - Student Aid Overview | Financial Aid Finder](<a href=“http://www.financialaidfinder.com/financial-aid/seeking-financial-aid/financial-aid-basics/]College”>College Financial Aid Basics | Student Aid Overview)
Scroll down to where it says: “Dependent vs. Independent”</p>

<p>So I’m not really sure if this is even a viable option for you, but I’m just throwing it out there for you to research/ look into.</p>

<p>—Edit—
I just read over the criteria for independence, which have become much stricter since I last read about them. Chances are you will not qualify for independence (you either have to be 24, adopted, a parent, a veteran, etc.), but who knows, you may meet one of the criteria.</p>

14

<p>Your stats would prob. get you in-state tuition plus a small scholarship (like $1500) at Univ. of South Carolina. The app. for USC used to be free for anyone with an SAT over 1300. That may have changed. </p>

<p>As a previous poster mentioned, if you are interested in the Army, ROTC would be worth looking into. My S went to a big state u. (w/ an engineering sch.) on a NROTC scholarship. It pays for tuition, fees, books and you get a monthly stipend. You pay for room and board. You’ll be commissioned as an officer upon graduation and owe the Army four years of active duty service and four years of reserve service. I know NROTC has now gone to five years active duty committment…not sure if Army has changed or not.</p>

15

<p>Another option, one that you might not like as much is to go to a community college for 2 years and then transfer to another school. It’s much cheaper this way. I had a friend who did this and ended up at UCLA.</p>

16

<p>I know kids who got merit scholarships at UMass Amherst with stats lower than yours.
Indiana gives out merit scholarships too.
The university of New Mexico also gives merit scholarships to OOS students.
And definitely check out Alabama. It looks like a sweet deal to me.
Good Luck.</p>

17

<p>Here is a link to a recent announcement from Indiana regarding automatic scholarships for the upcoming application year: [IU</a> announces merit-based scholarships for prospective students: IU News Room: Indiana University](<a href=“IU announces merit-based scholarships for prospective students: IU News Room: Indiana University”>IU announces merit-based scholarships for prospective students: IU News Room: Indiana University)</p>

<p>The OP’s GPA might be too low. They also don’t have engineering. (Purdue does in Indiana.)</p>