<p>I just finished my first year at St. John’s. The faculty liked me so much that they wrote my parents letters to keep me, but without a co-signer for a loan, I had to leave for a state university. With a GPA of 2.98 and a resume of volunteering at a local hospital, working part-time at two jobs, leading a Great Books discussion group (along with building our own campus in some random forest, completely documented), and designing a video game made to help people learn Russian, do I have a strong enough portfolio to apply to colleges such as Alfred University and receive student aid? Am I wasting my time in those endeavors? I feel rather embarrassed that my GPA does not seem to reflect my intellect and creative powers.</p>
<p>I post this here to get the harshest criticism because I have sunk into some sort of funk. I just miss St. John’s, I guess.</p>
<p>You may have just mis-typed, but be aware there are two universities in tiny Alfred NY: [Alfred</a> University](<a href=“http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/undergraduate_cost.cfm]Alfred”>http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/undergraduate_cost.cfm) is a private university with tuition in the $26k/year range (with discounts for some specialized programs). [Alfred</a> State College](<a href=“http://www.alfredstate.edu/tuition-costs]Alfred”>http://www.alfredstate.edu/tuition-costs) is a state school with in-state tuition in the $6k/year range. (Room & board are about $11k/year for both.) </p>
<p>Regardless of which Alfred school you’re looking at, I’d advise getting in touch with the admissions people directly. It seems to me that you might have strong enough “soft” factors to override the GPA issue, but that’s one of those case-by-case deals.</p>
<p>These schools each have their own strong points, but as I’m sure you’re aware, either one is going to be quite a letdown from St. John’s academically. [I’d be remiss not to note that my own dear alma mater, [Shimer</a> College in Chicago](<a href=“http://shimer.edu%5DShimer”>http://shimer.edu), has done a superior job of containing tuition inflation, and is therefore currently at about the same price point as the private Alfred U. Shimer’s a lot like SJC, only less mainstream. 
]</p>