I'm at a loss of what to do, college-bound senior

Hi guys,

I'm a 17 year old Colombian Dreamer who came here at the age of 5. My past few months have been filled with stressful applications and lots of work, but now as I am submitting my 8th application, I am beginning to feel very uncertain in myself.

I've always been a high achieving student, but now as I am applying to my dream schools, the dream seems to be farther and farther out of reach. While most of the places I am applying to have huge endowments, they are mainly focused on citizens and residents. While an acceptance rate of 17% is already daunting, for someone in my situation it is around 5% at most of my schools. I'm competing against highly talented students from around the world and I just feel like I don't compare. I may have scores and grades, but I have nowhere near the national achievement some of these kids have. I just feel like I'm fighting an unwinnable fight, trying to find the means to afford the education which I have long sought after. I don't know what to do, scholarships are so limited and I don't have exceptional community service.

Does anyone have any ideas for fundraising or any way I can somehow take action? I just feel lost and I am seriously considering taking a gap year in the hopes that some kind of legislation will pass that will allow me to finally be a real candidate for these schools..

You're going to have to lower your standards. I don't know what you want to study or what schools you have but being stressed out and already at your 8th application should give you a hint to lower those high standards of you. Honestly it doesn't matter what school you go if your an undergraduate. Worry about them when you're for your masters or whatever else you want.

I understand how you feel. When I was 17, I was bewildered at the many schools my peers applied to. I did not let that deter me from applying. I let my efforts determine the outcome. I was a nervous wreck until I began hearing back from schools in April.

My advice to you is to try to look at the situation from a different perspective. You see this as a fight that you win or lose. When I was your age, I only saw going to college as the only "win" scenario. I was wrong. I regret not having guidance to considering other alternatives in which I could grow as a person. College is not the only way to achieve personal success.

I encourage you to consider that. Suppose you don't get into the school of your dreams. Is that the only path possible? Consider other ways in which you can develop. Academia is not the only one.

Waiting around for legislation is dangerous. I did that and it only led me to despair. Basically, once I got into college, I fooled myself into thinking that by the time I walked across the stage four years down the road, I would already have a green card waiting for me along with a career. It did not turn out that way, at all (see my story below, in my signature).

It's great you are being proactive in this particular situation. It's okay to take a gap year and focus on something that will develop you as a person. Make it count. Don't pin your hopes on a legislation that may not even come to fruition, given the current order of things.

What they said ^

We have a lot in common! I came here from Colombia at 3 and I'm a very high achieving student as well. I know exactly how you feel!

I dreamed of going to UCF because of the amazing campus and how accredited it is. I literally felt hopeless and lost after seeing how much the tuition by itself is (not including: food, transportation, textbooks, lab fees, housing, etc etc etc).

I lowered my standards: FIU.
They accept DACA as proof or residency for a tuition waiver (although still out-of-state, I now pay in-state). And while I still pay for housing, it's going to be an amazing experience and a Bachelor's is pretty much a Bachelor's anywhere.

There's always a solution, but you have to stop focusing on the problem. What state do you live in? If there is no other way, take the gap year to work and save up and see if CIR passes and if not, then maybe you have enough saved up for a semester at one of your schools.

Just here to echo what others have said. First lower your expectations. I was in your exact position four years ago. Applied to various top schools and ended up being accepted to many (USC, UCLA, UNC-Chapel Hill, NYU) to name a few. Unfortunately, with no way to file for financial aid, attending these universities was unrealistic. It's not fun looking at the acceptance letters knowing there is no way to attend.

Thus, I enrolled at community college. A tough pill to swallow, but trust me. It passes. After 2.5 semesters, I transferred to my local state college. I am happy to say I'll be graduating in May with a Bachelors and already have a full time job lined up.

The point of my post? It's not going to be the most traditional route. It will suck. But then again you have to make the best of the situation. Really up to the individual to go out there and make things happen.

A few suggestions on possible schools that I encountered during my research. It might help:
- Southern Methodist University (offers half tuition scholarship) But then again at factoring in all costs you're still looking at around $35K a year
- University of So. California (also offers a half tuition scholarship for transfer students) Same deal as above. Running the math you're looking at $35K a year
- Santa Clara University (SCU) Called the Hurtado Scholarship. They ask how much you can contribute and I believe that's what you pay. Probably your best bet with your current financial situation.
- "Others" These are the other schools that have historically assisted students in our situation. (Think Yale, Harvard, other top institutions). Problem is the acceptance rate for these schools is ridiculously low. Even the best candidates are never a lock in. I actually applied to one of these (8% average transfer acceptance rate. Was waitlisted. I think of it as a consolation prize.)

Anyways, keep your head up it. Not the end of the world.

Thank you everyone. I am not applying just to do so, but instead because I feel that these schools will be able to offer me great opportunities and enough aid to make the school a viable option.

Pianoswithoutfaith While I agree that grad is much more important in the long run, I believe that without a strong undergrad my opportunities in the future will be hindered. Realistically, if I go to a CC, then transfer to a state college, what are my chances of being a strong grad candidate at a school like Vanderbilt or Boston U?

Abbadon You're right, while I am not just applying to dream schools (I'm applying to two state colleges) there are other options. I've definitely thought about other path, but I feel that college is what I need to really grow and develop into the person I want to be. I know this is not the only way to do so, but overall I feel that it is the right tool for me to achieve. You're right about legislation, I'm being a little irrational tonight with all this overthinking. Its not something I should count on...ever. Haha If I do take a gap year, I would like to do something impactful, not just wait for DREAM act. I'm not sure what though.

Naxield That's great that FIU gave you in-state! I too live in Florida. Sadly, the only path to being able to afford some of these schools without aid would be to sell one of my kidneys

MitchAPalooza23 Thanks, we really are in a very similar situation, I',m applying to NYU and considering USC as well. You're right though, it will suck if I do have to take that route. But like you, I at least need to try to apply to these schools and see what options I do have. I've talked to the majority of the schools I am applying to, and most tell me that they do provide financial aid to internationals, though on a very limited basis. Today, most schools won't even accept internationals unless you can either afford the costs or they decide to give you aid. Its either be in the top 10% of their application pool for merit scholarships or find some kind of external scholarship.. If it comes down to it, I have two state schools which are offering some nice scholarships to fall back on. Thanks for the list, sadly most of those are on the west coast, a little too far for me I believe

It isn't the end of the world, you and everyone else are right. Its just one of those days where everything seems against you and you begin to overthink things.

so basically either top school or nothing


good luck with that

I agree with Piano. I hate to see him/her have their expectations shattered when none of the schools will offer aid. Realistically, how much can you or family afford to pay a year anyway?

Let's take NYU as an example. It's always in the top 5 costliest colleges in the US at ~$60k a year. Even if they were to afford you some aid, it definitely will not be a full ride scholarship. Assuming they decide to give you half in aid, you're still looking at $30k a year (x 4 years) = $120K. Seriously. I'm not attempting to be a smartass, but you need to be real.

Stop worrying about "prestige" or if you'll be accepted into a graduate program or what will your friends say if you don't go to X,Y,Z school. Right now you're shooting too high and you're going to be very disappointed come the spring when you hear back.

Yeah I remember when I was like him. I think everyone in one way or another passes through that phase.

. I may have scores and grades, but I have nowhere near the national achievement some of these kids have. I just feel like I'm fighting an unwinnable fight, trying to find the means to afford the education which I have long sought after.

How exactly have you been after a prestige school anyways?

I believe that without a strong undergrad my opportunities in the future will be hindered.

So basically you virtually have nothing but good grades, no real community service, no national wide achievement, no way of paying for a top school, but this still not enough to be realistic about your situation.

Here let me share this with you.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.04/robot.html

these group of illegal aliens from Mexico, in a robotics competition beat the best MIT had. Their robot beat MIT bests. And did they get nationwide recognition? Y ES. Was this enough to grant them a full ride to a top school or actually any university? No, one of them left the country to adjust his status and now is going to some university. Was beating one of the nations TOP schools enough for schools to offer them a chance to attend their schools? Nope, it was only after donations from WIRED readers were they able to attend schools close to home. But no organization or school cared that they had beaten MIT enough to help them. It was WIRE readers who donated 90K to them.
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/m...st_15vidarobot

with out a proper status, it will extremely difficult for you to jump straight into these schools. Why you want to attend these schools is our own business. But you are still young and you should be realistic a bit and don't aim too high. There is nothing wrong with this but just think about it. You are getting your hopes down because you keep aiming at places where you will be turn down.

Graduate school is expensive as it is and specially one from a top school and a graduate school is really what matters. No cares what undergraduate school you went to. One of my old math instructor graduated very low ranked university, worked a few years, and got into Stanford where he got his M.S in math. Another one I met in a local college went to a state local university, worked a bit and also entered Stanford m.s engineering program. I personally know people, USC of course, who got into debt with loans to attend the top state schools, it turns out, their EE and my EE are worth the same, it didn't matter at all which undergraduate schools we went. Whats funny is - EE wasnt exactly want they wanted and are now back in school doing other stuff.

It may be hard to understand for you, but a top school is not everything. Whats everything is actual work experience in a respectable company and a decent degree that will allow you to enter a good graduate school later in life.

As Mitch said, stop worrying what people think about what school you will go to. I had friends who thought I would go to a top school seeing how I was among the top of my high school class (little did they know I couldn't because of my status). It was actually a bit depressing how I wasnt able to get a Gate millennium scholarship because of my status, it sucked but you know? I got over it. I attended a CC and transferred into a school where I got my E.E. I paid for it all with very little help at most, I got 3 terms paid thanks to scholarships I did qualify and some I didn't but I still said screw it and got them.


My point here is really for you to decide whats important - getting a decent B.S or entering a top school because you think that degree will be worth more. Let me tell you that if you think a undergraduate from a top school is worth more than B.S from a none top school, you are greatly mistaken. I worked at intel for a some time, when I graduated from a tech school here, public one, state owned, I was offered a job by a intel recruitor, I told them I would have to decline for now until I sorted out my legal status. He said that was fine but still gave me his card and to call him when I was done. I lost the card and all the info he gave me because back then I had idea DACA was going to happened and I figured that a degree as the one I have with out a status is useless, I would never be able to work for a company here unless I adjusted my status. My goal was to get a decent degree and fine work home or another country (I was going to marry my gf but some stuff happen personally stuff that stopped took a few years to fully recover from that) but then suddenly I hear about DACA through my mom and I started to research it. I attended some information program and when I realized I qualified, all those hopes and dreams I had lost suddenly came back. Then after I was approved, felt my SSN, saw my work card, I knew things would change. And sure enough they did change. I called that recruiter after I spent days looking for his card because I had forgotten his name and everything, we talked for a few weeks, he then let me know of a new position and I applied immediately, H.R got to me and I was interviewed eventually. I was hired and everything but let me tell you something. This interviewer was serious about who he was going to advise H.R to hire. He had every single resume, applications stacked right there on the table. It felt good seeing how mine was apart from the main pile. But as he grad it I saw the very first one on top. You know what it was? It was an MIT graduated applicant. After he looked at mine, he put them away and the interview started. A few hours later, we shook hands and I left but as I was leaving, I heard him call someone and I can very vividly remember what he said, "yeah, I think we found our guy" I will never forget those words. A few weeks later, I got a call and bam I was hired.


So, even if you think being realistic will put you down even lower than how you are now. Things can happened and things can change. While I am telling you to be realistic about your situation I am also telling you that doing an alternative path isn't as bad as you think it is. And as long there is a will, there is a way but the way can come to you are willing to take alternative paths to where you want to land.



Even USC with everything in the world are not attending their dream colleges because getting a top school paid is already hard for them. Imagine how hard it is for us