Where are the best Florida in-state options for merit aid for our son who will also be receiving Florida Academic Scholar level Bright Futures? His brother will be starting at UF this fall. As a UF alum, I would like for him to give them a chance. But, he is determined to graduate with the least amount of undergrad debt prior to law school. I know very little about USF, UWF, and FGCU and their honors programs but have heard that they can be fairly generous with merit aid. Our son’s stats:
GPA: 5.2
ACT: 33
Will graduate with 14 AP’s
Rank: 5/approx 610
13-year-old Eagle Scout
He will likely qualify for $5000 per year at all three of those schools. Congrats on earning eagle.
Thanks!
USF’s freshman admissions scholarships:
https://www.usf.edu/admissions/freshmen/admissions-scholarships/index.aspx
FGCU admissions scholarships:
UWF scholarships:
https://uwf.edu/admissions/undergraduate/cost-and-financial-aid/awards-and-scholarships/freshman/
Most of these are automatic scholarships, based on GPA and test scores. However, these schools also have competitive scholarships, that he may want to look into.
Note that the GPA is based on a 4.0 scale (A=4.0) with a +1.0 for AP/DE/IB/AICE classes, and +0.5 for honor classes. You may need to re-calculate he’s GPA, based on that scale.
I recommend he apply to a few schools, so he can have some choices. Note that UCF, and FSU (and the other public universities) also offer merit based scholarships.
Good Luck!
Thanks! Yes, we are on a 6.0 scale for AP and 5.0 for Honors. He didn’t think that his stats were high enough to warrant merit aid at FSU, but we will definitely consider it.
Has he visited these schools? His college experience would be better at UF or FSU. UF has the top state law school.
I agree! I went to UF and loved it. My husband decided not to attend UF Law way back when because he was able to negotiate a full scholarship at St. Thomas Law in Miami. Savings here allowed him to continue on to NYU for his LLM. Our son is just trying to explore all of his options and save some money. We have never been on campus at UWF, USF, or FGCU which is why I was just looking for some feedback from those with experience with these schools. Thanks!
If he’s planning to go to law school, has he considered New College? It’s obviously the polar opposite experience to UF or one of the big campuses, but their grad school placement is amazing and they’re known to be generous with scholarship.
Thanks! He has not considered New College, but I have heard great things. He is an introvert like me so it’s not as important to him to have the Big State U college experience. The most important thing would be having the honors program, etc. situated on the same campus. I went to high school down the street from FAU and realize that Wilkes Honors College is about 35 minutes north up I-95/Turnpike to Jupiter. A scenario like that wouldn’t work for our son because he will not have a car on campus.
New College is 100% honors program; it’s known as Florida’s Honor School.
@Bluebonnet12 Theoretically, he can take all of his classes on the Jupiter campus depending on his major. From their website:
“Interested in law, art, diplomacy, history, or social entrepreneurship? We have exceptional programs and opportunities that will prepare you for any career – even those that don’t yet exist!”