Looking for colleges!

[urban aspen]

Location/Region: City. United States. pretty far away from home. I'm currently living in ohio as a senior in high school, however I've always dreamed of moving out to california, so anything with that information is greatly appreciated

Major: Undecided

GPA/Test Scores: Currently schooling online, but my first quarter of my senior year had been a 4.0, unsure of what my past years gpa has been. Also unsure of my test scores aswell

Curriculum: Not quite sure what I'm looking for honestly, though I have been interested in business, but told actually majoring in it was a waste so I would say if I could add it as a class that could be best probably

Costs: Not quite sure what my budget is, as of right now I have little to no money and not really sure how to save up for my best interests (😢). I will most definitely be needing financial aid, so schools who can best support that would be perfect.

Schools You're Currently Looking At: Currently unsure of any schools in specific, though I do have two scholarships from schools also unsure of due to their relative close to home and unideal locations

Additional: I would prefer the location to be a non-negotiable, and as for everything else, any advice is greatly appreciated. there's honestly not much I'm looking for in specific other than it being in california, but a good financial aid plan or something along those lines would be incredible because this here is basically where I'm starting.

[scenic tendon]

will you qualify for aid?

[urban aspen]

most likely I will probably have to qualify for financial aid, if thats recommended

[scenic tendon]

that wasn't the question

will you qualify

how much do your parents make?

[urban aspen]

ah, Im not quite sure if colleges have varying requirements for financial aid, but I can try and ask real quick to try and find out

does it make a difference if I only live with one?

[scenic tendon]

you need to know the financial picture to make a college list

[urban aspen]

my mom currently makes around 31000k a year, and Im only currently living with her since she has mostly custody, and Im unsure of what my dad makes or if its even relevent but Im assuming around 40000k a year

[scenic tendon]

so you own't really get aid

are they going to pay for your college?

[urban aspen]

would that be considered low income or middle class?

no they most likely won't be paying for my college

[scenic tendon]

neither...

ok, so you need to look for low cost options

realisitcally you need to look at ohio publics

sorry for the badn ews

[urban aspen]

what do you mean it isn't low income or middle class? is it worse? 😭

but why will I have to look at ohio publics?

[scenic tendon]

310,000?

That's a ton of money

[scenic tendon]

becaue you aren't getting aid, so you need to find low cost options

[urban aspen]

no not 310,000, sorry

I meant 31,000k

and then 40,000k

[scenic tendon]

that's very different.

oh i misread

but you also said the equivalent of 31 million

iether way

ok

[urban aspen]

sorry about that, probably should've specified

would that give me the opportunity to look for colleges in california though in that case?

[scenic tendon]

so look for schools that are need blind and meet 100% of demonstrated need

privates, yes

[urban aspen]

so how exactly would I search that up?

[scenic tendon]

you'd haev to look on their websites

[urban aspen]

so do I just have to look up like california colleges and look for something that meet 100% demonstrated needs financially?

[scenic tendon]

yup

[urban aspen]

but should I also search up with that colleges that dont admit by majors aswell considering I dont have anything in mind?

[scenic tendon]

for sure

[urban aspen]

so how do I consider one's worth looking into?

[scenic tendon]

have you not done... any college app prep to this point?

like at all?

[urban aspen]

Not really honestly, this is like a blank state for me, I just thought this was the first place to try and find something to work off of

I never really had any clue of who to ask and what not since im in a career technical school and basically don't have to go to school so I don't have any sort of guidance councelor

I mean I've set up my common app (I think) on my own just because i've been trying to get my college search up and going but it's been difficult without any help considering neither of my parents went to college and my sister has but I dont communicate with her much

[urban aspen]

Is there something you recommend I do before I keep looking?

[scenic tendon]

good that you've done your app

essay?

got your teacher recs?

[urban aspen]

I have an essay almost completely done, just need to finish my conclusion, and as for teacher recs I don't really have one, would I need a new teacher rec for each individual application? Or how would I be able to use the same teacher rec without being the one in possession of it? Isn't it like illegal or something to look at the recommendation later?

[scenic tendon]

you invite them on commonapp

and then send it to your schools

[waxen fulcrum]

Unrelated note, but for 31,000, just say 31k, 31,000, or 31000

You do not need to say 31000k

[urban aspen]

Oh alright, sounds good, sorry for the mix up haha

[waxen fulcrum]

Yeah no worries. Are you sure you don't have any idea on what you want to do for college? I understand the dream of going to California, but without a clear vision on what you want to do(although people change their majors in college all the time), it's hard to consider what colleges would be a good idea to go for

That said, public universities outside of your state are pretty much out of the question. They give little to no aid for middle class incomes like you.

In addition, you need to get into seeing what your academics are, such as GPA, course load, grades, etc. Whoever was responsible for all this for your online school or previous schooling, discuss this with them.

[urban aspen]

well that's kind of been the issu because I dont really know what kind of major I'd like to do, so I've just been going off the financial aid lead that could help me there and could probably best be used to whittle down what colleges I should be looking at

[urban aspen]

I could probably figure out my stuff for academics, but what all should I ask them in specific?

[waxen fulcrum]

You and your family also need to discuss with your finances. Look into their 2023 tax returns, do net price calculators for each college, see where you and your family feel are affordable for each college

[brittle cedar]

hi! if you’re needing financial aid, i wouldn’t bother submitting any UC applications because those are california public schools and do not give aid to oos despite financial need. are you homeschooled? what kind of curriculum do you use?

[waxen fulcrum]

Ask them for your transcript.

Ask them that you're planning on applying to colleges, and would like guidance on it

There's a lot to ask so you'll likely have to establish a consistent communication

[urban aspen]

ah, the school I have has this online transcript that I can digitally send to any school that im applying to, so is that still an issue?

[brittle cedar]

no you should be good then! your parent should open and fill out all go the info for a recommender common app
account

https://www.commonapp.org/counselors-and-recommenders/recommender-guide

[urban aspen]

I've been to about 2-3 schools throughout highschool, the first one (and a half?) were just regular schools but this junior and senior year Im at a career technical school so that I don't really even go to school, more so rather I have a job and just do homework online

[brittle cedar]

so do you technically have an official school counselor, even if it’s online?

[urban aspen]

I mean I believe so, but it's a bit confusing because my counselor at the career technical center school recommends me to go back to my 'home school' counselor for any sort of specific information, as the career technical school is basically just a culmination of groups of schools, so youre based in your original school for sports and what not but you do "schooling" there

[brittle cedar]

interesting

so yeah have your parent make that account

https://fearlesshomeschoolers.com/blog/common-app-for-homeschoolers#:~:text=The Student Account and The Counselor Account&text=YOU as counselor.-,You will have a counselor account.,and counselor letter of recommendation.

share that with them! it was rlly helpful for me to figure out what my parents had to do for my homeschool app

[urban aspen]

Sounds good, my mom won't be back tonight until later so I can't really show her it now, but what should I be doing now in the mean time? It's just despite having the necessary filters in order to look for colleges, I'm struggling to find out if they're even applicable to what I need and to find the right information from them

[urban aspen]

Hey sorry for the ping but I mean I've kinda determined a route between business or anything like political science or criminal justice in the route of becoming a lawyer or to venture into sales with business, so if that could whittle down what I'm looking for in colleges, I was also told with my minimal financial route, I also want to be looking for colleges that are 'need blind and meet 100% of demonstrated need', and I believe you also said are private?

also I want to mention that I was interesting in doing some sort of rotc potentially since I had some sort of interested with the airforce after college

but even with all of this information, I'm kinda struggling to find what colleges actually fit these guidelines

I found a handful of which were: Carnegie Mellon University, Chapman University, Claremont McKenna College, caltech and UC san diego, how can I tell if those are actually what I'm looking for though?

[waxen fulcrum]

For one, UC San Diego would be unaffordable for you

They're a OOS public university

They basically won't give you aid whatsoever other then federal

[urban aspen]

Ah, thats why I'm so confused when it comes to college searching lol, I had specificed private colleges in part of the search but it gave me that

[waxen fulcrum]

Simply enough, utilize the net price calculator of each college

This will help you see how much a college can potentially cost after aid

[urban aspen]

the net price calculator?

well to be quite honest, I'm not even sure what to do in order to find the benefits of financial aid from colleges, and how to figure out how much it would with or without financial aid

[waxen fulcrum]

That's where the net price calculator helps. You gather your family's tax returns and other needed financial documents(which they'll ask you for), utilize it to fill out the net price calculator that each college provides, and those schools will show you the potential cost after aid

They utilize your family's financial information, along with how much aid they can give, to determine how much aid they should give you

Just Google "[College name] Net Price Calculator", make sure it's from that school, and start there

[urban aspen]

so this is like something I'd need to do sitting down with my family, or I just need to get the information and then input it across all the colleges I need?

[waxen fulcrum]

You probably want to do this with your family, but I did this on my own too.

Also, make sure you're a U.S. citizen or some eligible residency thing

Cause if you're international, those basically won't work and it pretty much limits you from so many colleges

As most U.S. colleges give barely any aid to international students, and the ones that do are some of the most competitive universities in the world

[urban aspen]

well I hope im a u.s citizen..

[waxen fulcrum]

You hope?

[urban aspen]

lol I would be surprised if I wasn't I mean, I was born here so unless theres something going on

[waxen fulcrum]

If you were born here you're a U.S. citizen dw

[urban aspen]

but is it also an issue that I haven't really done any ACT or SAT's?

I know that some colleges like that information

[dreamy pelican]

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

Use this

[waxen fulcrum]

Some require test scores yes

[urban aspen]

so if my parents had never been married and I only live with one, should I only input the information about income for one parent or do I still do both?

[waxen fulcrum]

When it comes to FAFSA, you would have to choose the person that has contributed the most financially for you.

When it comes to CSS(only some colleges utilize this although a good amount of need blind will use it), they would want both informations.

[urban aspen]

so what would I select for this?

[waxen fulcrum]

A lot of colleges offer this actually. Obviously utilize the college navigator for ROTC Airforce, a simple Google search like "ROTC Airforce colleges" can help you show a good list. You can navigate from there and put in the specifics of your needs

[urban aspen]

and if I intend on trying to do this on my own, how will I be able to determine whats afforable for me? or is it one of those cases where i want to do need blind I would have to do something with money with m parents

[waxen fulcrum]

Do you have that basic income and asset data info?

[waxen fulcrum]

How you determine what's affordable is something you need to discuss with your parents

[urban aspen]

not really haha, I'm clueless as to the assets but I mean I've asked about the income for the most part

[waxen fulcrum]

Yeah this is something you'll have to discuss with your parents on

You'll pretty much want a pretty big conversation on the costs of college and how much you can afford

With your parents that is

[urban aspen]

well I was wondering if I had planned to do this on my own without borrowing money from my parents how would they be able to determine what I would be able to afford? because honestly i can't afford anything and I highly doubt they'll be able to contribute me going to college financially

[waxen fulcrum]

Uh yeah no, unfortunately, the college financial system is designated in a way where your parents are expected to help you pay for college(hence why they use your parent's financial info) unless you show them that you're considered independent(which is incredibly difficult to get at your age). If you do get independent status, they'd only utilize your finances.

https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency

Above here explains it.

[waxen fulcrum]

Again, discuss this with your parents. And the unfortunate case is you'll likely have to utilize loans if your parents can't contribute, or an alternative but great path is to do CC for 2 years, do well, and then transfer to your in state university

Also, for more of an understanding for financial stuff, feel free to utilize the #💵-financial-aid channel

[urban aspen]

CC being college credit I'm assuming?

[waxen fulcrum]

No, community college

But college credit helps too

[urban aspen]

ah alright

[waxen fulcrum]

In the sense that if transferrable and enough, you would graduate early

[urban aspen]

well if I need to do loans, I'm unsure if colleges being need blind and demonstrate 100% need is financial aid or anthing, what exactly is that?

because honestly I would much rather prefer to be out of state than in-state

[waxen fulcrum]

Need blind means "they won't determine admissions based on your financial need"

So it's an advantage for those that need financial aid

Demonstrate 100% need is basically they cover all aid up until how much FAFSA/CSS believes your family can contribute based on what they calculate

[waxen fulcrum]

That's understandable, but sometimes with finances, preferences like that can't happen. In such cases, focus on top privates like Stanford, Ivies, etc.

[dreamy pelican]

@urban aspen I think Mechanic is giving great advice but one point I haven’t seen mentioned is you’re pretty far behind considering the major deadline for most schools is in ~6 weeks. With that in mind, I would:

• Try to get your list of affordable schools with your parents together done in the next two weeks max. If you want to pay your own way, you should still discuss that with them in case they have different thoughts.
• For your list, make sure it’s balanced. So you should be looking at a couple schools each that are commonly known as safeties, targets, and reaches, each respectively meaning you have a really good shot at getting in bc your stats are well above average for the school, you have an okay chance bc your stats are on par, and it’ll be a bit hard but you like the school so why not bc it’s a competitive one.
• FAFSA doesn’t open until December 1 so you can’t submit that now, but you can submit CSS Profiles for schools that require them as soon as you’re ready to apply to them (but not all require this)
• Idk if there are any tests you can sign up for atp that’ll make it in time for colleges so that also needs to be figured out if you wanna submit scores.
• As soon as you know you want to apply to a college, start the essays ASAP. They can take a while to get done.

[urban aspen]

so what exactly does that mean financially? I understand it varies based on the parent's income but I'm assuming I'll still have to pull out loans, does it considerably reduce the amount I need however or what's the difference?

[urban aspen]

so due to my finances I wouldn't be able to go out of state? why though?

[waxen fulcrum]

Okay, say the financial aid forms determine your parents can potentially contribute 10k. So say a college costs 80k. That means your need is 70k. That 70k is covered, while 10k is what they believe your parents can contribute.

That's 100% demonstrated need

[urban aspen]

if Im using the common app, wont it just use the same essay for each application? and is it ultimately recommended that I try and get any tests possible to apply, as it would help alot based on my financial circumstance?

[dreamy pelican]

That’s the personal statement, but some schools have additional ones just for them called supplementals

[urban aspen]

but the only way I can really get that to work is in-state?

[waxen fulcrum]

I didn't say that, I said OOS is sometimes more limiting in finances. Most OOS public universities give no aid. Most private universities don't give the best aid. The ones that do are top privates, and those top privates are some of the most competitive universities.

In state is a more affordable option for most as 1) you and your family pay state taxes, so tuition is lower and you get the necessary aid.

[urban aspen]

Ah I see.

[waxen fulcrum]

Again

Get your finances straight with your family, do the Net Price Calculator for each college you're interested in

Discuss how much you and your family can afford

Look into loans and whatnot. Simply enough, you are quite behind on this but better late than never

Get your academics straight with your counselors

Get your application done and reviewed

Learn more about the careers you wish to do(Google and YouTube can help a lot on this)

For financial aid stuff, please use the #💵-financial-aid channel more as more qualified people are better for this. And do talk with the financial aid and admissions offices of certain colleges.

Research the universities through their website, certain forums, etc.

Simply there's a lot you have to do but better to start now

Your counselors are also here to help you so please talk more with them as well

[urban aspen]

well the issue is I dont really have a solid way to communicate with my counselors, as I dont technically go to school

[waxen fulcrum]

Online school right? You're gonna have to find a way to form some kind of consistent communication

Also gotta remember some colleges require essays, recommendation letters, transcripts, school reports, a lot of which you and your counselor will have to get and send.

[urban aspen]

alright, well I understand what I need to do, but for actual colleges, you said the most afforable options are in-state, but with loans is it still just as possible for me to get into colleges out of state, in california despite not being able to afford it without loans?

because if I have to look at colleges in state to even possibly make it into college because of that I can, and its not really possibly except for ivy league schools I will, I just wanted to know if it was still possible to be accepted if I have to pull out loans in order to go to schools in california

[waxen fulcrum]

Admissions for most colleges for U.S. citizens doesn't utilize your financial need to determine if you get accepted or not (only a few colleges do though and those are need aware colleges)

Problem here is most colleges in California tend to be unaffordable for OOS, only a few give good aid (Stanford, Caltech, etc.). And you absolutely do not want to take a huge amount of loans

It is a horrible financial situation to do

No matter how much your dream is to get out to California, ruining your financial future is not the way to go

Again, remember to make affordability as your #1 Option

I understand you have a dream of being in Cali, but there's cases where you need to prioritize other things

[urban aspen]

But isn't that what most people do in order to go to college is to take out loans? I just had thought that was usually what most people do in order to actually go to college and what not

I mean I can definitely start looking at in-state with this information but I just thought it was normal for people to be in financial debt due to college

[waxen fulcrum]

People take loans, but people don't take a huge amount of loans

And you gotta remember you're still in the "unsure of what to do phase". You seriously don't want to take a huge amount of loans while not knowing what to do

Imagine you go to college taking huge debt, then realize what you want to do isn't in college, or in the college you're in.

[waxen fulcrum]

Financial debt is normal, but there's a reason people tell you to make affordability your number 1 option

Getting into 100k loans is NOT normal and you'd be paying that back for the rest of your life + interest

[urban aspen]

well I mean honestly this is really the first time Im really talking about college, so I wasn't really sure what to make my #1 priority, considering I thought the whole debt thing was normal

but I should just be looking at need aware colleges in-state, and just for fun try and apply to the more competitive colleges out there and try and get lucky whilst having my safe applications instate like chloe had said?

[waxen fulcrum]

Yeah no I totally get it. You are behind on this but keep asking questions. Also, I would move this to #💵-financial-aid since I'm gonna like stop talking soon

[waxen fulcrum]

Not need aware, need blind.

[urban aspen]

that's fair enough, I appreciate it

[waxen fulcrum]

That's a good start but be sure those competitive schools will be an affordable option for you. Again, net price calculator is key here.

But yeah I'll stop here. The other guys can prolly help you. Hope this gives you a good idea on college and college admission

[urban aspen]

it does for the most part, I appreciate it

[urban aspen]

so I'm deciding for two of the riskier applications to be both stanford and caltech, but if I were to send them my transcript through my home school, will I still have to fill out the courses and grades or could I tell them that I have sent my transcript seperately?

also it says that stanford doesn't have a finance major but its also a target school for finance, with finance-related programs? how would I choose those?

[scenic tendon]

Many targets are like that... Most of the ivies don't have undergrad business

But place amazingly well for finance

[urban aspen]

so what major would I select, like economics? what do I do in that case?

[scenic tendon]

Yeah or math or something