HELP! I need some advice: Is community college my only option?!?
I am going to be a junior in high school this fall. I have already taken several AP classes, have taken the PSAT (and got an excellent score), and have an unweighted GPA of 4.0 and weighted GPA of 4.4. My family is really, really poor. My dad never went to college, and he has a degenerate back problem. A few years ago my dad got back surgery, and the surgeon put the screws in the wrong place irrevocably messing up my dad's back. So now he is on disability (which is barely enough for a family of four to survive on). My mom is from Asia, and she has a green card. She went to college, but unfortunately her degree isn't valid in the USA. For a while she was working at a factory, but she was laid off. So now she is unemployed. My parents have always pushed me to do well in school so that I won't have to be poor for the rest of my life. The problem is, I don't think I will even be able to afford college! I have always assumed I would get a full ride scholarship until my school record got completely screwed over last year. We moved to a different place, and my parents enrolled into an online school late. (I've gone to public school all my life, but they enrolled me in an online school for some really stupid reasons.) The administration made me take mostly BASIC classes! Does that make sense?! It's an online school for God's sake!! So now, I have a great GPA, but the colleges will look at my record and see that I took all these fundamental classes! My question is: If I take a bunch of AP classes the next two years, maintain a great average, and get involved in extracurricular activities, is it still possible that I could get a great scholarship from a great school? Another problem is that my parent's AREN'T EVEN SAVING FOR MY COLLEGE!!! They just want me to go to a community college for 2 years and become a nurse or something.....But I want to go to a private liberal arts college and major in psychology to become a psychologist! Is it possible for me to afford to go to a private college??? This has been my dream for as long as I can remember! Please help me!! Thanks in advance, guys. Actually, my "dream college" is New York University. I know it's extremely expensive, and that their financial aid is atrocious, but is there ANY way at all for me to be able to afford to go there? Am I overlooking some grant or scholarship??
Financial Aid - 3 Answers
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1 :
yea your gpa is amazing. You can prob get a full scholarship somewhere. don't worry your fine. unlike me i'm about to be a junior and i have a 2.74 unweighted GPA. except my family is probably a lot better off than yours. anyway don't worry your fine, just study REALLY hard and you'll get a good scholarship.
2 :
I know your pain. My mom is single and disabled so I know how it is to live off of only disability. My dad had told me he isn't helping me out at all for college when he has a a decent job and can. But whatever. You're GPA is the major thing. I don't think they look too much at the classes you are taking. Don't worry about that at all. Making sure you take the SAT/ACT. Those scores matter A LOT dealing with scholarships. More than what classes you are taking or extra activities. As long as you have a decent score on that you'll get some type of scholarship. And don't forget about FASFA. I got 5500$ from it which helped me out tons. And going to a community college isn't that bad. Its a great to go to there and get your basics, then you can transfer to a university. Good luck. :)
3 :
If you do the things that you plan to do (involvement in extracurricular activities, earning good grades, and taking some AP classes) then you will have a good chance of getting into NYU. If you can have at least one sport in those extracurricular activities, some volunteer work (e.g. local river cleanups, community fundraisers, 'Walk for Hunger', community service, etc.), and/or at least one school club or group then you will be fine. For a club, I recommend that you try to be part of your school's National Honor Society since your GPA is high and you have a willingness to excel. National Honor Societies host many volunteering events which can save you from searching for volunteer work around your local community. On behalf of your financial worries, you can also apply for private scholarships including any offered by your school, clubs in your school, local companies and clubs, local MLB, NFL, NBA, MLS, and/or NHL team, companies offering scholarships online (e.g. Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, etc.), and rich celebrities (e.g. Bill Gates offering the Gates Millennium scholarship). Also do not forget to apply for financial aid (FAFSA) during your senior year; your school will very, very likely start reminding the seniors to do this during the winter. You do not have to take many AP classes if you think it will be too much stress. It can be very time consuming and it can cause health problems such as bad sleeping habits, eye strain, and stress. But you should still take some AP classes. I took a total of 7 AP classes during my junior and senior year and if i would have just dropped one of the classes i would have been stress-free. So ask other students how a certain AP class is or how a certain AP teacher is. Since you are Asian, poor, and have good grades you will get very good financial aid from your school. So do not stress yourself too much and just do really good in school. Aside from applying for financial aid (FAFSA), applying for private scholarships, taking AP classes, and doing extracurricular activities will help you out a lot. But remember that you do not have to stress yourself too much. Also community college is not a bad option if for any circumstances you have bad financial aid. If you go to the community college just make sure that the credits for the classes you will take are capable of transferring into NYU. Since you want to major in psychology make sure that the community college offers it and take the classes. I doubt that you will get bad financial aid, however. When you apply for college apply for a couple. Make sure you apply for NYU and the community college as well. Also have more schools in thought because life isn't always as planned.
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