Any hope for merit scholarships at T50s?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

How much of a shot do I have for merit awards for 15k+ annually at these schools? I’m especially interested in scholarships at CMC, BC, and Rice.

Claremont McKenna, Vanderbilt, Rice, Duke, Brandeis, UMich, Tulane, Smith, Boston College

Gender: Female
State: Illinois
Major: Economics (Mathematical economics at schools that have it)
School Type: Large, competitive public
Race/ethnicity: White
Income bracket: ~250k
SAT I (breakdown): 1530 (m: 800 r+w:730) (will retake for 1560+)
SAT II: biology e: 770 math II: 760 (I knowww)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.72 now, will be 4.84 by midyear reports
Rank: Top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis):
5s: APUSH, English Language, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Calc BC,
4: French
Also taking at local university: Intermediate finance, intro to geopolitics, multivariate calculus
Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp Sci, AP Lit, AP Euro, AP Bio, AP Gov, Modern Middle Eastern History A, History of Film
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing major
Minor Awards:
-Rensselaer Medal: Prestigious STEM award
-Some local and national essay contests, literary journal publication, won $$
-School awards in math and English
-Cum Laude Society
-12 Science Olympiad medals, a couple of of Math Team awards
-Voted MVP in Sci Oly
-Probably national merit (PSAT: 1490)

Extracurriculars:
-Youth organizing director for presidential campaign in my city (11-12) (15 hrs weekly)
-Internship with presidential campaign (11-12) (10 hrs weekly)
-Officer in science olympiad (9-12) (2 hrs weekly)
-Member of math team (9-12) (1 hr weekly)
-Hobby: novel reading (9-12) (7 hrs weekly)
-Co-president of political discourse club (11-12) (1 hr weekly)
-Political editor for youth magazine (12) (3 hrs weekly)
-Survivor volunteer+organizer (10-12) (12 hrs x 3)
-Officer of scholastic bowl (11-12) (2 hrs weekly)
-Co-founded pen pal initiative between students and senior citizens in the bi-state area with 100+ participants (11) (3 hrs weekly)
-Member of selective-admissions student economics club (11-12) (2 hrs monthly)

Summer Activities:
-Selective 6-week literature summer program, online this summer (11) :frowning:
-Outward Boundish program (9,10)
-Language study program in France (10)

2

My best guess is that Brandeis, Tulane & Smith will offer merit money. Possibly Rice. Carnegie Mellon might be worth investigating.

3

@Publisher Looked into CMU because the fit would be amazing and I’m double legacy there, they discontinued merit recently though :frowning:

4

Consider Princeton University. No scholarship money, but one of the few schools worth every dollar of tuition. Your hook may be as a woman in STEM–the math part, not so rare in science.

I am not familiar with CMC scholarships, but if they are available, you would be a strong candidate.

5

@Publisher Princeton is actually my dream school! Their Operations Research major sounds so cool. The net price calculator was disappointing, but I’m still applying just in case.

6

Have you researched scholarships from outside sources for Women in STEM ?

They are certainly available at the graduate level for MBA schools, not sure about undergraduate awards.

7

@Publisher I have, but most have emphasis on comp sci and engineering, with some excluding economics majors altogether. Thanks for the suggestion though.

8

There is an organization–a foundation–for women in business. Mentors & awards scholarships to MBA candidates / applicants–so not for CS or engineering. THis organization holds recruiting events throughout the US & in Canada. I have forgotten the name, but it is quite easy to find online. (Forte Foundation.)

NYU’s MBA program offers an incredible full ride scholarship to females, but that is several years away for you. I refer to it to illistrate that there are funds for those pursuing non-CS & non-engineering paths.

9

Merit at top schools is very competitive. IMO apply to a few but focus your attention on finding good match and safeties that are affordable.

What is your budget?

10

@momofsenior1 Willing to pay up to 50k for t20s, but would prefer to to stay around 30-40k.

11

Case Western and Northeastern would likely offer merit for your stats, though even their most generous awards would still have you paying around $40-45k/yr.

12

Your D should have lots of options at the $40-45k/year range but they are unlikely to be top 20. RPI would be around that range after merit.

13

Our experience this year was $40-50k/year for T50 schools with merit but that was mostly for business schools. You might get a little more though. Are you interested in straight economics/math or with a business mix? Econ is usually separated from the business schools but it can be mixed. Data analytics can be a good alternative to an econ/math background.

I’m from Pittsburgh. I’ve worked with some CMU computational business types. Very sharp people but CMU is not known for merit.

Case might be an option. We liked Northeastern but they defer a lot of kids. Kind of left a bad taste.

Your list is reach heavy. Please find some safety/matches first. Realistically your in-state flagship(s) are the best place to start. You’re lucky to have a good one with UIC. Then aim high. Good luck.

14

You can certainly apply to these schools and try to get merit money at them. In many cases, all applicants are automatically considered for merit awards. Do research on who has been getting those awards.

However, the very bottom line is that gaining acceptance to these schools, even with your great resume is going to be challenging. I’ve seen more kids rejected with your type of stats than accepted at these top schools (CMC excepted—I have no personal knowledge of who gets those awards, who gets accepted). My own kids were accepted to some of these schools it they did not get a dime of merit money offered.

So, yes, give it a go with these highly selective schools, but also start looking at schools less selective where the competition for awards may not be as keen.

Where you should be searching the most is for school where you will thrive and enjoy, that you kKNOW will take you and are affordable.

Though you say $50k is doable for you, what do schools Net Price Calculators indicate you’re family is expected to pay? What you want to pay, what your parents will pay, is not part of that formula. You need to understand what you realistically can expect from your parents, and what schools are going to expect, as well as assess chances for merit money in putting together your college list to get a good matrix of choices.

15

@chmcmm Don’t worry, this is not the whole list, I have four safeties which I’m confident I can afford, including UIUC. I’m interested in straight Economics/math, not business, and I want to eventually get a PhD in Econ.

16

“Their Operations Research major sounds so cool.”

I got my master’s degree in Operations Research (after getting a bachelor’s in math). I loved it, and have done well since with the degree. At least IMHO, OR is indeed a cool subject to major in, and fun, and useful for getting a job. I suppose anyone who calls a branch of math “cool” is not normal, but I am okay with that.

You should include an application to UIUC. I just checked and it is top 30 for both mathematics and economics. Being in-state it would be a bargain.

If you want to consider later getting a master’s in OR, at least in my experience having some basic computer science ability was very useful. Of course the same is probably true for multiple other subjects and majors.

I just noticed “Language study program in France”. This makes me wonder about whether McGill would be a fit.

17

You’re unlikely to get a merit scholarship at a prestigious school. The best bet would be to rely on need-based aid…but at your income, you’re not going to get much either. A 30k to 40k budget isn’t that much. That would cover tuition, books, and room & board for UIUC, with a little left over.

Scholarships are abundant, but there’s a trade-off. The idea of a scholarship is to attract top students that might otherwise go to a “t50.” I do know that your stats would easily get you a full tuition scholarship at Baylor, TCU, and SMU, or even possibly a full ride.

18

If you enjoy French then McGill would be an option. Montreal is one of my favorite cities. Boston is very nice as well. I see several schools on your list close to Boston.

I was thinking SMU. Probably would get enough merit to get it around $35-40k/year. The full-tuition scholarships are very competitive but that’s everywhere.

19

As a side comment:

Not necessary to retake the SAT since you have a perfect math score of 800 & scored well enough (730) on reading. Consider taking the ACT if you have a strong desire to sit for a comprehensive standardized test.

Consider cleaning up your 760 on the SAT Math II test. You should be able to earn an 800 on this test.

Although no scholarship potential, are you interested in MIT ?

20

@Publisher Hoping to resit Sat II if possible. I’m applying to MIT, but I don’t think I’ll be able to go because of price.