There is no doubt that there may be schools that you apply to, get accepted at, and no matter how hard you try; aren't going to be able to afford to attend. Especially after crunching the numbers and determining scholarships, grants, loans, etc...
But my experience has been that most people who have concluded that they can't afford to attend a particular school, have come to that conclusion prematurely, based on their feelings or basic information. In other words, they already took themselves out of POSSIBLY attending a particular school, by not even applying. E.g. "There's no way we can afford Georgetown, so there's no sense of even applying". This is the #2 biggest mistake most applicants make. (Because this is a military academy forum, the #1 BIGGEST MISTAKE made, is an applicant will ONLY apply to the military academies, and have no backup school lined up except for local community college. Possibly state U.) Just like when people ask here: "What are my chances"? The main answer is: "If you don't apply, your chances are GUARANTEED to be 0%". Well, your chances of attending a Top-25 school is 0%, if you don't apply because you have a preconceived idea that you can't afford it.
The next biggest problem some students/parents/applicants have; is that they have a narrow opinion of where they want to go. I never once said that you can be guaranteed to go to your DREAM COLLEGE. I've NEVER said that. On the other hand, if an individual specifically mentions 5 specific universities they want to apply to, then they are automatically going to limit their chances.
There's 2 main things to think about when applying to schools. 1) Which school(s) should I apply to... and 2) How do I pay for it. The first answer depends on what it is you want to study. But I will give you some hints. If you're the type, or your parent is the type, that wants you to attend a college that is close to home, then you are screwed. No sense of reading on. Choosing a school, simply because it's close to home is NOT picking the best school. And it actually becomes more difficult to get accepted and paid for. If this is you, and you're looking only at schools within 100-200 of your house, you might as well stop reading this right now. The 2nd thing to realize is that SCHOOLS aren't the only places to get money from. Yes, merit scholarships and such are nice, but that isn't the only place to look for money. We live in wyoming, yet we found full ride, 100%, private scholarships for individuals interested in attending Michigan State and a number of other schools. There are plenty of private scholarships available to whatever school you want to attend. So think outside the box. EXTREME EXAMPLE: DUCK BRAND Duct Tape has a competition for the best prom dress made out of Duct Tape. No, it's not a full ride, and yes it's an extreme example. Just saying there are a lot of private scholarship money out there. We had a local girl collect 12 scholarships. From the Masons, Mini-Mart, Moose Lodge, credit unions, insurance companies, etc... When all was done, she had enough to attend an out-of-state school, full ride, and had an additional $300 a month available for her to live on. Problem is, just like the individual who says: "I can't afford that school, no sense of applying". You've got the person who says: "Those scholarships aren't feasible for me, no sense of applying". If you try, you can get money. Depends on how bad you want it.
But even if we look at strictly school/merit type money; the FARTHER YOU LOOK, the better your chances. We all talk about diversity and well rounded applicants. Guess what???? Traditional colleges/universities are looking for the exact same thing. If you're from Massachusetts, and you apply to Tufts or Wellesley; what makes you so unique???? Not a damn thing. But the person from Arizona or North Dakota might have a much better time getting into one of those schools, because the school is looking for diversity and probably doesn't have a lot of people from Idaho applying there. How many people from Vermont are applying to tulane in New Orleans or Michigan State. So look at your interests, find schools that match your interests, and then look for schools where YOU ARE THE DIVERSE individual.
Anyway, these are just a couple of hints or perspectives. Apply for schools. Especially beyond the academies. The academies have roughly a 10-14% acceptance rate. There's a lot of 3.9-4.0 gpa and 30+ACT applicants who WILL NOT GET ACCEPTED to the academies. The competition is that high. The average entering student has a 3.86gpa. So, be applying to other schools. And DON'T let anyone, including your parents, tell you not to apply to certain schools simply because you can't afford it. You don't know how much a school costs UNTIL YOU'VE BEEN ACCEPTED AND HAVE APPLIED FOR ALL THE MONEY. Did you know that the AVERAGE STUDENT ATTENDING MIT: Is Paying $15,000 or less a year. (That's the price or LOWER than MOST In-State universities). Hmmmm.... Go to STATE U for $13,000 a year or go to MIT for $15,000. 60% of MIT students are on financial aid, and most will pay LESS to go to MIT than their state school. Even with a loan; a $15,000 a year ($60,000 loan) with the starting salary of an MIT graduate, is more than reasonable. MIT doesn't look at need based. They accept you if you're right for the school, then they help you find the money. Work programs, research assistance, etc... They will help you find the money. Most schools will. (IF YOU APPLY). Anyway; don't let anyone tell you you can't attend particular schools because of money. You won't know until you apply. And also again, if you LIMIT yourself to only schools close to home, then you're on your own. Best of luck to all. Mike.....
