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<p>Should not be too hard for the OP and student to figure out by using the net price calculators.</p>
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<p>I don’t think Berea is a safety for anyone give that their admit rate is so low (12%) and their yield so high (90%), and that this student isn’t from their target area (Appalachia). The “top 25%” stuff doesn’t work there the same way. Also, they place a HUGE importance on a required in person interview. They’ll waive the requirement for real hardship but it’s a disadvantage not to have it.</p>
<p>I agree he’d be a good candidate…but he’d be a good candidate at a lot of meet-full-need places and probably have a better chance of being admitted.</p>
<p>Most colleges will have some kind of summer rate for living and working on campus. If he gets into a school on a full ride either via merit or financial aid, the summer money can be used for spending money over the year. I would assume part of his package will be a work study so that can be useful as well. Another thing to consider is finding a residential college atmosphere for him so he won’t have to worry about parents signing leases, etc. to live off campus. Honestly though, if he submits 10 apps he is going to have at least 9 schools to choose from. </p>
<p>Sit down with him and see if he can give you some idea of what he wants in a campus. Has he been on any campuses at all? Can you take him to visit one or two so he can see what a college campus is all about?</p>
<p>I would also start looking into to some private scholarships. He will have a VERY good shot at many of those–Kohl’s, etc. type scholarships.</p>
<p>Thank you to all who have made suggestions. I have read everything but cannot respond in detail until later tonight.</p>
<p>I second the suggestion to look for schools that meet full-need. U. Richmond jumps out at me as not quite as selective as many of the others on the list, for which an ACT 29 is not a problem, as it is in the 25-75 range (which is 28 - 31). Knox and Lawrence are even less selective. Richmond is kind of far from MA, but is on an Amtrak train line to Boston, so travel is probably not overwhelmingly difficult. More rural locations will likely have more travel issues. I would guess that U. Richmond would offer summer internship opportunities where students live on campus during the summer and work in the city of Richmond.</p>
<p>[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Need-blind admission - Wikipedia”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>This student should be able to get application fee waivers, and should try to apply to a range of schools.</p>
<p>jonri-there are adult mentors and friends in Midwestern LAC’s that he could probably visit as well. The school our D is attending has an on campus “hotel” for kids that can’t go home over break for one reason or another. It’s $15/night to stay there. Dorms are closed but they still have kids on campus.</p>
<p>Why is everyone wanting him to “go home”. He LEFT his house, probably for good reason. I see no reason to stay close so he can ‘get home’ when he has no place to go if he goes home.</p>
<p>Really, thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I am worried that I am coming into this too late with him, but will do what I can. He will get a little help from GC, but I suspect that only state schools will be recommended (that’s all that has been mentioned so far) maybe due to unfamiliarity.</p>
<p>Many of you made great points- especially about the need for housing and work during “break” periods. </p>
<p>In terms of career- I really don’t think he knows what he wants to do because he does have many interests. For this reason I was thinking a University setting with many options would suit him (although I am in general more fond of small LAC’s).</p>
<p>I will take a look at each of the schools mentioned here very closely along woth the other links provided. I tend to be a pessimist by nature so am interested in the idea that he should “shoot high”. I will keep this in mind as well.</p>
<p>SteveMa- your last post made me cry just now. Because I am afraid that what you said at the end just might be true. Although as someone else mentioned, there are some other supports in the community for him. He lived with us for a few months last year and will most likely be coming back again at some point in the near future. I am just a bit overwhelmed, to be honest.</p>
<p>I am concerned about privacy issues and revealing too much here but would be happy to speak via pm about details.</p>
<p>You are all so wonderful to share your thoughts with me. I am just suddenly feeling very responsible for his future and want to give him some appropriate guidance.</p>
<p>I think all of the full-need private schools have been forced to be responsive to needs of students just like this, of whom they now have a fair number. They make provision for these kids during breaks and help them for summer employment and housing, and their financial aid usually covers travel home for winter and summer breaks (though I think SteveMA’s point is spot on). If he tells his story well, I think he’s got a terrific shot at any school in the country.</p>
<p>If you need a need blind full need school that could be considered a match, if not safety, Oxford College of Emory University might work. Oxford sources from Emory’s $5 billion endowment, and is very pro affirmative action. He’d be eligible for the loan replacement part of Emory Advantage [Emory</a> Advantage](<a href=“Emory Advantage | Emory University | Atlanta GA”>Emory Advantage | Emory University | Atlanta GA) Additionally, I know a few sophomores that worked at Emory main campus last summer and made enough money that they could afford to rent an off campus apartment and take public transit to school. </p>
<p>Oxford is the two year liberal arts college of Emory University. That means that students spend two years in a small LAC about 38 miles from the main Emory campus, and then “continue” to the main campus their junior year.</p>
<p>While I can see your point about a University having a wider range of options, I still encourage a LAC for this student. Large universities tend to have a lot of red tape and strict, inflexible policies. I’ll bet that a need-blind meets-full-need LAC or smaller private University would bend over backwards to help this kid, and work with him to accommodate his special needs. Just pick a larger LAC that has a wider range of course offerings and majors, or a smaller private U. </p>
<p>Personally, I would aim for the less selective schools on the need-blind meets-full-need list, since you don’t want him to have academic troubles at a school that is just too hard for him. </p>
<p>I mentioned U. Richmond before. It is larger than most LACs, has a business school, offers a film studies major. Vassar also comes to mind for this student.</p>
<p>I think he should look at Dartmouth. It is obviously a reach for him, but they do have “year round” school, and the D plan enables kids to have a very flexible schedule in terms of residence at the school and internships/jobs, etc. The FA is excellent, and covers such things as study abroad and fraternity memberships so that kids without financial resources can participate fully. Work study would provide him with plenty of walking-around money for that environment.</p>
<p>Kids with an EFC of $0 need to apply where the money is. Although his ACT is low for those schools, a black male with a compelling story has greatly improved chances.</p>
<p>I would suggest that he cast a wide net, and include some guaranteed-FA schools, LACs where males–and URM males in particular–are at a premium, and deep-pocket reaches. </p>
<p>BTW, do not overlook the fact that YOU can write a recommendation for him! Do not fall into the trap of thinking that he can only submit 2 teachers and a GC. One or two extras would be fine, and you obviously know him well.</p>
<p>I also thought of Vassar for this student.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about EA, it’s not necessary. </p>
<p>I would think being not too far so that he can visit YOU would be a priority. </p>
<p>I think you should start with the list of schools that are needs blind and meet full need from
[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Need-blind admission - Wikipedia”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>He needs a teacher rec, but he probably has that already from applying to UMASS. Find out if the GC has it or if the teacher sends it separately. </p>
<p>He may not have two recommendations. Many of the schools on that list need two teacher recs. </p>
<p>Since there is only 1 week of school left, and the school needs to send out transcripts and recommendations, he needs to come up with a list of schools pronto. </p>
<p>I recommend going through each school on the list of schools that meet full need by going to their admissions website and noting
- The application due date (usually Jan 1, or Jan 15, but some may be later)
- The number of teacher recommendations required
- Testing requirements. Some schools require SAT II Subject tests, even if you submit an ACT. If he hasn’t done that, he should cross the school off.
- Make sure each school also has the majors he’s considering. He can’t study a subject that is not taught. Linguistics is especially difficult to study at a small LAC. Swarthmore is the exception. </p>
<p>This will form the list of feasible schools. Then with that list, hand him Fiske Guide to Colleges and have him select the one’s that he’s interested in and to write down a few sentences on why he selected them. Many schools have a “Why us” essay, and he needs to give them a reason why he wants to go there. </p>
<p>Once he has that list, he needs to tell the GC and any teachers who need to send recs. He needs to have his ACT scores sent. </p>
<p>If he applied to UMASS, he has already done a common app, so it’s just the supplements that have to be filled out over break. He will join the multitudes who haven’t done a thing until Christmas break. </p>
<p>I think he would get a full ride at many of these schools. </p>
<p>I don’t think he will get the full ride that he needs at any public school, especially here in Massachusetts. Make sure neither of you are fooled by the John and Abigail Adams Full Tuition Scholarship. It only covers $1700 per year, and UMASS fees are over $10K and are not covered. Public higher education funding here in Massachusetts is not what it should be. </p>
<p>Finally, if all else fails, there is the Harvard Extension Option. </p>
<p>extension.harvard.edu</p>
<p>This is basically a great school for nontraditional students who have day jobs. It’s relatively affordable and high quality, but not ideal for an 18 year old. </p>
<p>He would need a place to live and to raise or borrow the money to take the required 3 course to gain admission, but once admitted, he could probably get some financial aid from Harvard. </p>
<p>This last option is only in case he can’t get the full ride that he needs and has no other resources.</p>
<p>Good advice from ClassicRockerDad, but also do not forget that the Common App CAN BE CUSTOMIZED for each school. Also don’t forget that his application needs to be in by the deadline, but the recs and transcripts can follow, so although he does need to get his lest in to his school, it isn’t dire yet.</p>
<p>I hope he took the AC with writing, if he didn’t take SATIIs. Isn’t there a January testing date? It may be possible for him to take 2 of them and have the scores submitted in time for RD consideration, but of course the feasibility and wisdom of that depends on many things.</p>
<p>Questbridge was virtually invented for kids like him. I must say, it sounds as if he has gotten really bad advice from his GC. :(</p>
<p>I keep seeing comments that his ACT is low. It is not; a 29 is in the 99% for an African-American student. </p>
<p>See page 12:
<a href=“http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2012/pdf/profile/AfricanAmerican.pdf[/url]”>http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2012/pdf/profile/AfricanAmerican.pdf</a></p>
<p>This is all excellent information. I think I will be spending Christmas vacation with him getting this stuff done. I am seeing clearly now that privates may be the way to go. The school does not send many students to private schools, so your collective information and advice is priceless. I am investigating each piece and will be meeting with his guidance counselor on Monday.</p>
<p>The situation is incredibly complicated. He is still living at home. We had hoped he could stick it out until the end of Senior year but that is looking very unlikely at this point. The guidance department was not aware of his situation until just recently because he is a great kid with great grades and does not talk about his struggles, though they know he was living out of the home last year. There has been a fairly supportive group of parents who have been around for him for the past 6 years, but no one has “owned” the college piece, which is where I find myself right now.</p>
<p>The fact that he has done so well in school under incredible trying circumstances and maintains a healthy lifestyle is a testament to his courage. I truly believe that if put on the correct track he could thrive and contribute in a major way to our world. The alternate scenario keeps me awake at night. Hug your kids tight, for they are all blessed.</p>
<p>Financially, for colleges, it might be better if he does move out now vs waiting, not to mention the emotional side of things. It will be easier to emancipate him.</p>
<p>FAFSA will open for filing Jan 2 I believe. Many of these schools will also want Profile. Unless he’s in fact homeless or a ward to file as an independent student, if so there’s a form and some stuff for that to deal with too. Sooner than later on these…</p>
<p>I’d make sure to have a few from that list that are not uber selective such as Brandeis, Rochester, and Richmond. Going even further away, Beloit and Lawrence are much less selective, and probably very doable. Those are both in Wisconsin. I believe that they also have later deadlines.</p>
<p>Nbr 1 priority… get every fee waiver possible from High School GC as soon as possible. There are going to be application fees and fees to send ACT scores to all these schools and you need all these costs to be waived.</p>
<p>A great website for AA high school students interested in college is the Center for Student Opportunity. [Center</a> for Student Opportunity](<a href=“http://www.csopportunity.org/]Center”>http://www.csopportunity.org/) Colleges interested in supporting URMs are considered partner colleges. Click on each one and see “access” or “program” tabs near the top. Those schools might be good places to start your search since the student you are helping sounds like the kind these colleges want to help. There is a second component of Center for Student Opportunity called College Center. [College</a> Center](<a href=“http://www.csocollegecenter.org/]College”>http://www.csocollegecenter.org/) There is a listing by location of programs that help students fill out their application. Check to see if there is one in your area. </p>
<p>As far as film here are some suggestions. chapman University; University of Southern California; Loyola Marymount Universtiy; Emerson; Northwestern and Columbia College in Chicago. These might be some places to apply. </p>
<p>Pick at least 5 colleges for him to apply to. Stay on top of him this weekend. Have him get his awards and EC information together. Work with him on creating a resume and include the hours he spent on his ECs/Community service. Get him to start writing his essays for his common application. Don’t forget to order his test scores to be sent to his colleges. Have him pick two teachers to write recommendations and also his guidance counselor. By the way I work with some students similar to this young man in helping them get into college; Some colleges asked me to also write a letter for my students so inquire as to whether these colleges might want a letter from you explaining this student’s circumstances. Also get him to write his essays. With focus and hard work it is not too late for this student. It just takes some immediate research and working on applications. Good luck.</p>