I have pretty mediocre grades (89), but I have excellent extra-curriculars. (Class president, Founder and president of political activism club, FBLA officer, Intern for my county government’s commission on human rights, intern for an institute for cuban freedom of speech and press, Founder and president of an organization that holds after school activities for underprivileged kids, two jobs, Placed top 3 in about 10 essay contests many pertaining to social justice, and definitely more things that I am forgetting) Are there any schools where they will overlook my average grades and this can win me a scholarship either for my leadership, or social consciousness? I know American University does one but because that’s such a politically active one I bet its very competitive. Thanks
Most merit awards first start with your GPA and SAT or ACT scores…and then your involvement with these activities. Unless one of these ECs specifically offers a merit scholarship, I think you will need to look for ones where your grades PLUS the standardized scores PLUS the ECs would get some attention.
The extracurricular that gets rewarded scholarships w mediocre grades/scores is recruitment-level athletics.
Strong, time-consuming ECs w weak grades spells misplaced priorities.
Would you mind sharing more info about the social justice essay contests or post links to them. Thanks.
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Most merit awards first start with your GPA and SAT or ACT scores…and then your involvement with these activities.
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Right. The GPA and test scores get a student into the consideration pile. Then ECs would be looked at for further down-selection.
A school may think ECs are very good, but rarely are they of the magnitude that ECs alone or essays alone merit large awards.
Keuka College in upstate New York has the George C. Ball Scholarship which is awarded based on students’ “record of community service and activism.” It is worth $17,000, but total tuition is about $28,000 and room and board another $11,000, so that leaves quite a bit of expense unaccounted for.
The girl from our town who won it a few years back founded a hunger relief program in our area.
Check out the excellent Kalamazoo College. No knowledge of their financial aid practices but your sojo ECs might be attractive to them.
Found this and remembered this thread:
http://www.sjfc.edu/admissions/freshman/scholarships/service-scholars/
There are colleges where an 89 GPA (which is not “average” or “mediocre” BTW), coupled with good standardized test scores, could qualify you for a merit award. Not top tier schools, but schools where your qualifications are well above the norm. Look for colleges where your stats put you in at least the top 25% of applicants.