So my parents bring in over $300k combined. Usually, paying for college wouldn’t be an issue. But they made some bad investments, and now money is tight. I’m worried they won’t be able to cover my college expenses. My older sister is already in school, and they’re struggling to pay for that. Are there scholarships or schools I should be looking at? I have pretty good stats: valedictorian, president of a couple of clubs, captain of the varsity sports team, one international award, and a 36 on the ACT.
You should check out my scholarship foundation. We give out merit-based scholarships for high school seniors going into STEM. Here’s the link!
I totally get how frustrating this is, but you can definitely find ways to cover your college costs! I was in a similar spot last year as a senior in high school. I had solid stats but was still outside the range for financial aid. I ended up choosing Cal State Long Beach because it’s one of the more affordable CSU schools, and I used a bunch of private scholarships I won in high school to cover almost all of my first year!
One of the reasons I picked Long Beach was their honors program! Each year, they offer about 30 presidential scholarships to honors students with great stats and essays. They really appreciate valedictorians and international awards (which I didn’t have, but thankfully I still got into the program).
It’s definitely worth checking into for the schools you’re considering, especially if they aren’t top-ranked, to see if they offer honors programs or special scholarships linked to that. Being part of these programs comes with some great perks, like priority registration!
Feel free to ask me anything, I’ve got a lot of info to share from my experience last year!
That really stinks. Maybe consider community or state colleges.
Look for merit scholarships.
Hayes said:
Look for merit scholarships.
Are there any good ones in Canada? I’m not looking for the usual options.
What’s your GPA? A 36 on the ACT should get you some big merit scholarships at most schools. For instance, Texas Tech University gives in-state tuition plus merit awards, even if you’re not a Texas resident.
@Maris
I have a 4.0 unweighted and a 4.7 weighted. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I already have my associate’s degree in arts.
Tamsin said:
@Maris
I have a 4.0 unweighted and a 4.7 weighted. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I already have my associate’s degree in arts.
Many colleges in the US have programs that would fit you! You could also look into transferring from a community college.