Hi all! I was wondering which schools offer the best merit scholarships. I would like to go out of state but the issue is money. I probably won’t qualify for a lot of need-based aid even though I live with a single parent. I am hoping to rely mostly on other scholarships. I’m a current junior with a 4.0 unweighted gpa with 5 ap classes taken after this year. My weighted gpa is a 5.4. In hopes of further raising my gpa i am taking 6 ap classes my senior year. I also got a 34 on the ACT. I want to go into music business but will probably end up going into general business or economics. Which colleges offer the best merit aid? Thank you!
For you with your stats the lower ranked the college the higher will be your merit scholarship.
How much merit money do you need? $10,000 per year? Full tuition?
There is an older link in financial aid section about schools with automatic merit scholarships. You can search the web for this info too. Find a few of these to put on your list. University of Alabama and Arizona State are two that come to mind but there are others.
There are some other schools that have competitive merit (USC, Emory, Vandy, Wash U) to name a few. The full tuition ones are very competitive but some have smaller scholarships.
Are you PSAT scores competitive for National Merit? There are some schools that have scholarships for this.
Ask your parent how much your budget is per year. It is good you are thinking about this now. If you plan well you should have affordable options next spring.
Look at UAH - with a 4.0 and 34 ACT under their current offerings you would get Housing and Tuition. There are several threads on this subject that provide listings of schools with their various merit offerings
The 34 on the ACT will get your foot in the door in places.
Many merit scholarships look at unweighted GPA, so don’t take more APs than you can handle.
What is your budget?
@aoc377
start with these colleges/ u’'s.
the information may have changed recently to be sure to visit each colleges website.
be SURE to pay attention to REQUIRED EARLY APPLICATION DEADLINES for merit scholarships.
Dont let them slip by .
You CAN also apply early - i.e.SCEA, EA, etc. to other colleges, if an early application is required for you to be eligible for scholarship considerations at any one college.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
have you taken the PSAT? if so, was your score hi enough to qualify for National Merit Semi Finalist in your state?
THAT can land you many merit scholarships at colleges and U’s. see below.
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
ALSO , be SURE to apply to U Southern Calif by their Dec 1 DEADLINE, in order to be eligible for their 1/2 and full tuition scholarships. If you miss that deadline you cant be considered for merit $4.
I would NOT recommend you apply directly to USC’s Thorton College of music program as a music major, unless you are a very talented musician, because you have to audition and the competition is incredibly intense.
Instead, I’d apply to the Business school and once in you can add a minor in music.
Congratulations on your hard work and success! I like this merit aid grid for Miami of Ohio–a very good school with a beautiful campus. You qualify for the top line!
http://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-grid/index.html
Note that your scores and grades qualify you for the merit aid but does not guarantee it. Deadline is earlier to be considered for merit aid than the regular admissions deadline, which is also true for some other schools. But it is certainly a very good possibility.
You know, you can also google “colleges that meet full financial need.” This will include the most competitive, wealthiest schools (think Harvard) but also some that are more accessible. Your grades/scores are strong, so you could take a shot at a couple of the most competitive ones, which might be especially good fits for you. Note here that they may be “need aware” so admissions might be more difficult for a student who needs a lot of merit aid (though it certainly can still work out). Also, a school might calculate that your family can pay more than they are actually able/willing. You can run the net price calculator (NPC) for some that look intriguing to see what kind of numbers you are getting. Good luck!
The automatic merit scholarship thread in the financial aid forum is up to date for the application season that has just ended. Many of those scholarships will be available in the coming round.
The yolasite threads have not been updated for a couple of years, but they are decent places to start for finding competitive merit scholarships and NMF scholarships. There are currently no threads here at CC devoted to those topics.