Academic Scholarship Question

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>So I have been reading here for a little while, and decided that I would join the forum. </p>

<p>I have a question regarding the chance of receiving an academic scholarship.</p>

<p>Currently, I am a junior. My goal is to receive a decent academic scholarship, but I could also receive an athletic scholarship. Unsure of the amount that I could receive on athletics (since it is a non-revenue sport), I would like to know what I could potentially receive from academics. </p>

<p>My question is, what are my chances of receiving an academic scholarship at the schools that I am looking at, and how much could I receive (percentage wise)? </p>

<p>I probably will not receive a need based scholarship, so it would have to be strictly merit. </p>

<p>My intended major is in Business, probably in Marketing or Entrepreneurship. Obviously a couple of the schools do not have undergrad business programs, so I would probably major a business related field at those. </p>

<p>Here are my stats: </p>

<p>Junior
3.99 Unweighted GPA (No weighted grades at our school)
Class Rank: N/A at our school, though probably top 1%
ACT: 33
3 AP Classes and 1 Concurrent Enrollment Course (Enrolled in 3 more AP next year)
Swimming (HS Captain and national level swimmer)
DECA member
BPA member (Placed as a national finalist)
Volunteer work coaching swimmers
Lifeguard
Swim Instructor</p>

<p>Colleges that I am currently looking at (in no particular order, and could change): </p>

<p>University of Minnesota
University of Madison Wisconsin
University of Iowa
Michigan
Northwestern University
Ohio State
University of Southern California
Texas Austin
Texas A&M
Yale</p>

<p>I know the list is still fairly large, but I hope to have it narrowed down to five schools or less in the next 1-2 months. The list is to give more of a general idea of the schools I am looking at. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Texas…not likely (is moving away from merit and hard to get into out of state…if you had an ACT 35-36, maybe you’d be considered for some merit.)
Yale…no (doesn’t give merit at all)</p>

<p>Uminn…maybe some
UMich…not likely
NU…not likely…if they give some merit, stats would need to be much higher.
OSU…maybe some?
UIowa…maybe some?
UWisc…not likely
TAMU…maybe some. They are generous to NMFs.
USC…need higher stats</p>

<p>If you need large merit, it’s not a good idea to narrow your list down to 5 or less schools unless you’re certain of admittance, large enough scholarship money, and playing your sport. </p>

<p>but you need the right list if you need money.</p>

<p>When you say that you need merit, how much do you need? What amount will your parents pay? these schools cost $40k-60k per year, so some small token merit award isn’t going to make much difference.</p>

<p>First you have to identify the schools that give many large merit scholarships to students with YOUR stats. Right now, your list isn’t likely going to get those. Your list also includes a lot of schools that wouldn’t give you much/any need-based aid.</p>

<p>Once you’ve found schools that have your sport and give lots of merit, then you need to look to see if your ACT 33 is WELL-WITHIN the top quartile for the school. So, if the middle quartile range is 26 - 30, and the school gives large merit, then you’d have a good chance. If the middle quartile is 29 - 33, then you have almost no chance. </p>

<p>Also, look at the schools that give ASSURED merit for your stats.</p>

<p>*I probably will not receive a need based scholarship, so it would have to be strictly merit. *</p>

<p>What is your situation? Are your parents expecting you to get merit/athletic scholarships to pay for school? How much will they pay each year? If you don’t know ask them. </p>

<p>Merit scholarships get put towards “need” first, then will cut into “family contribution” if the merit is big enough.</p>

<p>OOS publics rarely give much need based aid anyway. </p>

<p>I’m guessing that you’re a swimmer? Are you being recruited?</p>

3

<p>If you have senior national times or trial cuts, all the schools on your list have merit aid for swimming with the exception of Yale. If you are a NMF, The university of Arizona has a great team and currently offers $25,000 for out of state students. Alabama has an even better deal, but the swimming is not at Zona’s level. Contact the coaches with a bio and your times to get the ball rolling. Alabama recently hired a new coach so look for things to improve there. They also offer money for an ACT score like yours – check that out as well. USC also has a deal for NMF, but it automatic like Alabama and Arizona. Good luck!</p>

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<p>mom2collegekids: </p>

<p>I assumed that Yale would probably be nothing, although I was a little unsure about Texas. On some of the schools you say “maybe some,” but what do you consider to be “some?” The schools have to be narrowed down for athletic reasons, since I can only take a maximum of 5 official visits in the fall. Swimming will have a factor on what school I ultimately go to. </p>

<p>I am aware that these schools are more on the expensive side (40k-60k), which is predominately why I would like a merit based scholarship. I have a general idea of the amount that I would like to be pay through college, and would like to stick under that. I have some money put aside by my parents, and I also have some in a personal savings. I don’t really want to disclose the amount that I have. </p>

<p>My ultimate goal is to pay through college with no debt/student loans after college. Getting as close to full tuition between academic and athletic is also a goal. </p>

<p>To answer your question, I am a swimmer. I am being recruited right now for D1, and I have been in contact with most of the coaches on the list of schools that I provided. </p>

<p>violao:</p>

<p>I am on the border of getting senior national times/trial cuts. I am hoping to achieve those cuts by the end of the summer (or preferably at the Omaha Swimvitational in about 3 weeks). I am a sprinter though (50 free 100 free 100 back), which probably helps with my chances of being recruited. </p>

<p>Unfortunately I am not a NMF. I never took the PSAT, which was probably stupid on my part, but it is what it is. Arizona has a fantastic swim team, although they just underwent a coaching change (and if I remember right, three girls are asking for release after the first year). While I am a guy, the head coach for the two are the same. </p>

<p>Alabama looks like they would offer full tuition for my ACT, although their business school is so-so. Also, like you said, swimming is a factor too. </p>

<p>Like I said earlier, I have made all of the contact with coaches. I have a good idea of which schools on my list are interested in me. My list was a little larger at first, but I’m starting to cut it down now. </p>

<p>As for USC, what are my chances at a trustee scholarship? </p>

<p>Finally, should I consider taking the ACT again to try and raise my score? That score was my first try. The subscores were English 33, Math 31, Reading 31, Science 35. It would take four more questions right to get a 34… Also, I’m unsure whether or not I could do better. I would more than likely have to raise the Math and Reading. Will the difference between a 33 and 34 make a huge effect on what I could receive academic wise? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

5

<p>I suggest that you find a team where you would be relevant. USC, Arizona and Texas are very strong teams. Texas just underwent a coaching change as well, but both Arizona and Texas will be just fine. Transfers happen all the time; I would not let that influence your decision. </p>

<p>The coach at Wisconsin is top notch, he has previously coached at Georgia, Berkeley, Washington and Arizona and was a sprinter at Texas.</p>

<p>WashU has a good biz school, offers merit awards. d3 swimming places academics first and the level is surprisingly high. I think that Emory also offers merit awards and has a superb program. A male sprinter from Emory was among the top 50 times in the nation at any level – 19.3 as I recall.</p>

<p>Hope that is helpful – we have just finished the process.</p>

6

<p>Hey swimmer19, I’d just like to chime in to say that mom2collegekids is a great world of help and that if she knew what economic situation you were in (ie, can pay 30k a year), she’d probably be able to help you even more! You don’t have to worry about anyone judging you or anything because its an online form with anonymity. Though i’m sure everyone would respect your privacy if you did not want to.</p>

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<p>violao: </p>

<p>USC and Texas are both schools that are high on my list. I’ll have to keep Arizona in mind. </p>

<p>If I’m looking at Washington University, I will strongly consider Emory as well. I haven’t thought of Washington University though, so I will have to look into that. The only DIII that I have looked at so far is Emory. I am unsure what Emory offers though for merit based, and if they lean more towards giving scholarships to athletes or not (if anyone knows this answer). </p>

<p>Thanks a lot for the help violao. It’s nice to get an answer from someone who is familiar with swimming. </p>

<p>wmurphy126:</p>

<p>Unfortunately, there are a couple problems with sharing what I can afford. One is I just don’t want to share that information. The second reason though is because with an athletic scholarship being a possibility, I do not want colleges looking at this and making offers based on what I can afford. You say it is anonymity, which is true for most people, but for me it would not be. If a college coach looks on this site and sees this, they can probably fairly easily figure out who I am. With that in mind, I do not want to share that information at this time. Thank you though for the advice and sorry if it makes it more difficult to answer my questions.</p>

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<p>Your chances of a scholarship at USC are very low. An ACT 33 at USC is a dime a dozen. It’s not in the upper quartile. That said, I was surprised when my friend’s D with an ACT 35 got nothing from USC, with a 4.0 GPA as well…she’s now at MIT. </p>

<p>*Alabama looks like they would offer full tuition for my ACT, although their business school is so-so. *</p>

<p>Alabama’s B-school is not “so so”. The Culverhouse School of Commerce and Business is very well respected and major companies recruit there. Any B-school ranked within the Top 100 nationally is not “so so.” At a minimum, Bama would be a good safety. When you can get tuition paid for at any school, that means that remaining costs are about $15k+. (So if your goal is to pay about $15k-17k per year, then you need a full tuition scholarship, so that your money can pay for room, board, books, fees, travel, and day to day expenses. </p>

<p>*Alabama recently hired a new coach so look for things to improve there. *</p>

<p>Yes, Bama would give you free tuition so you should at least apply there. Bama is also building a brand new Aquatics Center (the current one is quite nice, but the new one will be spectacular). </p>

<p>You asked what I considered “some merit” regarding your listed school. Well, no where near full tuition. Maybe a token $5k per year. </p>

<p>A DIII school doesn’t give athletic scholarships and an ACT 33 isn’t high enough for merit at Emory. </p>

<p>You need to look at the middle quartiles and find schools where your ACT 33 is WELL WITHIN the upper quartile is you want a large amount of merit (like full tuition).</p>

<p>WashU has a good biz school, offers merit awards</p>

<p>You need to come to grips that an ACT 33 is in the middle quartiles at top schools. Specifically, it’s not in the upper quartile at USC, Emory or WashU.</p>