#Chat I have like a month left, help me round out my list

103 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

neon quartz
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Location/Region: I'm in Louisiana, but I'd much prefer to go to school somewhere in the northeast, specifically New England.

Major: I plan on majoring in Finance/Economics; I'm going to be an actuary.

GPA/Test Scores: I have a 35 ACT Superscore (composites 33 and 34), but my GPA is pretty low. 3.2. Explained in the additional section at the bottom.

Curriculum: Business statistics is a class I know I'd need, other than that nothing comes to mind.

Size: I couldn't care less. I'm there for the education. It could have 20 students or 20,000, as long as I'm learning.

Costs: I am a foster kid/in state custody, so my budget is a whopping $0. I need aid or I cannot attend.

Schools You're Currently Looking At: I've already receieved loads of Direct Admissions offers through CommonApp, but so far I've only applied to:

  • Augsburg University
  • Eastern Mennonite University
  • Harvard
  • LSU
  • Merrimack College
  • Regis University
  • Rice University
  • Saint Elizabeth University
  • Southeastern Louisiana University
  • SUNY Buffalo State
  • Tulane University
  • Western New England University

Additional: I am a foster kid. My mom abandoned the family when I was 3, and my dad disowned me a couple years back. Due to my unstable living situation and mental health, I have transferred high schools 6 times (having attended 7) and have missed a combined total of several months of school. This has absolutely tanked my GPA. My dual enrollment classes that I'm currently in (only 3- world geo, music appreciation, and statistics) were brutalized by my most recent move. I was making As and Bs in all three, but now I'll be lucky to pass world geo, I won't pass music, and I'll make a high C low B in statistics (my best subject; 95s-100s on everything I didn't miss). I need a college with a strong support system and hopefully opportunities for foster kids.

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@grand trout @lofty root pinging you because you helped me in general :3

grand trout
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Have you tried the Net Price Calculator?

neon quartz
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For which school?

grand trout
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any school

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although I did just try it for tufts and it didn't let foster kids do it

neon quartz
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Yeah I did it for all my schools

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Most of them are uh

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Out of my league 💔

grand trout
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Did you let them know that you are a foster kid?

neon quartz
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I emailed most of them

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And it was in my essay

grand trout
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Hmm okay

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if you're into liberal arts you could look into amherst, williams and colby

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i think Umass lowell gives good aid

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i know boston university and northeastern will both give good merit scholarships

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also maybe email the tufts university finaid office to see how they calculate for foster children

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you could also consider applying for outside scholarships

neon quartz
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I kinda didn't get the ball rolling on that soon enough I don't think...

grand trout
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ah maybe

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if you can't get a good deal you could consider going to community college, applying for outside scholarships and transferring

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i know tuition at bunker hill cc in charlestown boston is free for wards of the state

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but yeah i would just apply to a bunch of colleges like amherst, williams, colby, boston university, northeastern, tufts university, suffolk university

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i like merrimack it's a very pretty region

neon quartz
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Bruhhhhhh

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I'm trying to do an app for Boston University but they require recommenders

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I don't have any bro I don't even know the teachers at my school

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I've only gone here for two weeks 😭

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Man I'm done with college apps tbh, I already have a free ride to SLU I'm gonna just go there

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Thanks for your help though!

grand trout
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ah okay

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well, at least see what happens with harvard

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and other schools

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but best of luck

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remember you can transfer

neon quartz
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I have zero chance

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I have no extracurriculars whatsoever due to how many times I've moved

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And I haven't even started a multimillion dollar corporation or scored a 2000 on the SAT

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I'm cooked

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Frick my fricking chungus life 😔

hollow shadow
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please dont focus on t20s

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theyre not that good at actuarial

neon quartz
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Yeah I'm probably just going to end up going to SLU. It's in my hometown anyways

hollow shadow
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have you taken ap calc?

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or some calculus class

neon quartz
hollow shadow
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or familiar with calculus

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okay

neon quartz
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But I'm planning on starting to self-study calc using Khan Academy

hollow shadow
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read up on these

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yeah

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then take the exams

neon quartz
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You can take the exams before college???

hollow shadow
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yes

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study using tia, it's free

neon quartz
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WAIT YOU'RE AN ACTUARIAL STUDENT

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Will you like

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be my mentor

hollow shadow
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okay sure

neon quartz
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I'm tryna be one of the greats 😎

hollow shadow
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feel free to dm me

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im not that good lol

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im just tired

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i started late

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but yeah you can probably get an internship sophomore year

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with like insane benefits (ideally housing/transpo paid for)

compact bear
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FYI if you want to be an actuary you would be better off majoring in math or statistics

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Finance/econ don't have the same level of math, and actuarial science is very mathy

compact bear
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OP is OOS for UMass

compact bear
neon quartz
neon quartz
pure trench
pure trench
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It just needs to be someone who taught you recently or knows you well, it doesn't need to be from the current school you attend

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That said I know University of Pittsburgh doesn't require teacher recs. Do you have application fee waivers? And how many more slots in the common app do you have to apply places?

compact bear
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I'm saying this as an econ major btw. If you just want to learn about the economy in general, then you really only need to take macroeconomics and maybe also labor economics and monetary theory.

neon quartz
hollow shadow
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i already wrote about this but there’s no point in doing clssses which don’t even cover exams that welll. and if you’re doing uec the threshold is terrible to get exam credit

hollow shadow
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oftentimes though you’re expected to out exam the progress that you have in your classes

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so like p & fm, once you know you wanna do actuarial you’d do both by the first year to start with internship placements

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but basically you wanna do like the easiest major possible while still being relevant (in my uni that ends up being econ/stats) so you can focus on exams

compact bear
compact bear
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Take the (honors) math / science courses that a maths major would take if you're unsure so if you decide to switch to math you won't be behind

pure trench
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Your act score is reallyyyyyy good and that's a strong indicator for academic success especially given your circumstances. I think schools will be understanding of that.

Since you already have an affordable state school you're willing to go to you could try your hand at other places.

This is also one school I know off the top of my head that's nice because they offer loan-free scholarships https://www.kenyon.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid-scholarships/scholarships-grants/

Kenyon College
Scholarships & Grants
hollow shadow
hollow shadow
neon quartz
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I'm gonna apply to it

pure trench