Hello, I’ve been learning so much from this forum. My daughter is just finishing up her freshman year of college. She is a strong student and I’ve been trying to compile a list of schools that offer either free tuition or full ride for merit? I’ve been hunting and pecking around various threads, college websites and google.There was a thread from 2017 that I think had a list but the page is too old to come up, I just get a message error. Any information would be appreciated.
Is your daughter already in college ?
Typically, merit scholarships are offered for incoming freshmen and rare for already enrolled students.
You can check with your college if she qualifies for any departmental scholarships.
colleges only offer full tuition merit scholarships to entering freshman, not to transfer students.
What is her GPA and major
Too late for that if she’s already in college. If asking for a younger student, send me a PM.
There are some significant transfer scholarships out there, but they are difficult to find. If she is at a community college, the transfer advisor should have information about merit-based aid for transfer students.
It’s a moving target. A lot of schools that I saw in such lists 4 years ago are not there. Have to look every admissions seasons.
What is the situation? Is she at a school that you can’t afford?
If so, then consider having her go to either a local CC or local state school you can afford.
There typically aren’t schools that will give such large merit awards to transfer students. Those awards are for incoming freshmen.
She’s a freshman in high school. I’m just starting the research for her now. Sorry I don’t know why I wrote she is in college. Must be how overwhelmed I am!! She isn’t finished yet but going into finals, she has all As and one B with all Honors classes. She wants to be a physician and she’s a volleyball player as well. We’re looking at trying to find the right fit, with the least amount of debt and if she can play volleyball, then that is just icing on the cake. BTW - for her position she is short (5’9") where most girls are at least over 6’ for the big division 1 schools. So we are going to focus on schools where they are not top Div 1, or Div 2 and 3.
High school not college…duh. So sorry to be confusing. Thank you to everyone who has replied.
@itsgettingreal17 Sorry, I’m a new member and I can’t PM anyone until I have 15 posts.
OK, here is the current link to the scholarships. start at page 6 and pay particular attention to early application deadlines, when the time comes.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges-p6.html
In addition, make SURE she preps for and takes the PSAT test in Oct of her Jr year. That is critical! If her school does not offer it find another local school where she can take it.
IF she scores high enough on that one score, above your state’s cutoff score, maintains her hi GPA, and does equally well on the SAT or ACT, she can land many Nation Merit Scholarships at various colleges.
Here is a list of NM schools- it may be out of date so in her Jr year check the college websites to see if they still offer NM $$.
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
In addition, her is a list of automatic scholarship colleges-
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
stay in touch and dont get stressed- that will do neither your nor your daughter any good.
What state are you in?
Other than the automatic merit schools like UA and UAH in Alabama, there are other schools that give great merit for NMF like mentioned above.
And then I would take a good look at instate options that might give merit as well.
Also freshman year of high school might be a bit early to focus on one career.
Have her join clubs and activities she is interested in, see how she likes science courses and how she does in them.
Maybe she can shadow some health professionals.
There are nurses, doctors, techs, PAs, pharmacists, DPTs, DOTs, speech pathologists, etc.
My D wants to help patients but doesn’t want to be a doctor or nurse, she is doing pharmacy. Her friend wants to treat patients but wants a more manageable work/family balance and is going to PA school.
Thank you so much everyone!! This is amazing. We are in NC. She is currently taking a Biomed track offered at her high school. She absolutely loves it. We do plan on having her shadow folks. She’s interested in Emergency Medicine and we have several contacts at UNC hospital and Duke. She has come up with this on her own and seems pretty focused, we shall see how things play out over the next few years. Right now, I’m just researching and making sure that the school has a strong biology dept. One thing I have noticed in the National Merit scholarship schools is that many are HBCU schools. She’s caucasian. Its not a problem for us or her but I wonder if that is a hurdle towards getting accepted?
If you are in NC, I would strongly suggest considering NCSSM. It is a great program and you cannot beat the price.
@Trishaluna What list are you looking at? That isn’t remotely true.
If she’s going to be a NMF, that changes things a lot. Most of the Florida publics would have full COA. Some of the schools have a pretty nice package for NMF, which if not full COA, a good chunk of it - UT-Dallas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama. Check the NMF threads for those schools. They change, but a good start.
Honestly. Being in North Carolina is so unique since you have so many amazing schools. I would start there first and look up programs, visit school size, etc. Your instate costs are very favorable.
This kid is a freshman in high school. It’s going to be a couple of years until she knows if she qualifies for National Merit status…at all.
As a NC resident, there are many…many fine public colleges colleges where this student will be luckily able to study for instate and modest costs.
@Trishaluna are you saying that you parents can not contribute at all to college costs, and also are not eligible for need based aid? How much CAN you likely contribute annually to the college costs for this student?
Frankly, I think focusing on a medical specialty as a high school freshman is way to early. There are just too many factors that will come into play before this is even an option. It’s nice that you have some “connections” but I’m not sure the hospitals will allow an under 18 year old to shadow in an emergency room. But I do have a suggestion…when she is old enough, have her get EMT certification…she will see the ED from the outside looking in…but it’s a start. @WayOutWestMom any other suggestions for someone who has just finished her year in high school?
ETA…regarding this
Your kid does not have to major in biology to apply to medical school.