I have a question which pertains to in-state tuition at state colleges. Can high SAT (1400, 1450+) scores and high ACT scores (31+), help an individual obtain in-state tuition at state colleges? I understand that every state is different but for example I have read on Quora, Reddit and some other sites and I have watched some videos on YouTube that claim that Texas grants in-state tuition to anyone that can get at $1000 in scholarships. If this is true would it include the University of Texas at Austin? I’m interested in some state schools in Texas and North Carolina and a few other states. Does anyone have any experience in getting in-state tuition rates because of high test scores?
UT Austin, IIRC, does not award instate tuition when you receive a scholarship.
What is your GPA? Is it possible that you would qualify for merit aid at any of these schools?
I don’t know a single school that awards scholarships solely based on the SAT or ACT. They would also want your GPA in HS. So…to get that instate status at the TX schools that do give it with scholarships exceeding a certain amount…you would need to have a good GPA too.
Plus…my opinion…your SAT would need to exceed 1500, and your ACT would need to exceed 33 to be considered very high.
Your SAT ACT scores presented above (are those actual scores you have received) are very good, but might not be good enough at some colleges for scholarship consideration.
What colleges are you interested in in NC and TX. If you are more specific, you might get better answers.
Also, anything in your state if residence??
Non-flagships typically have better deals for OOS. SE Louisiana, for example, has a sliding scale of merit for OOS depending on test scores/GPA. UT-Austin and UNC-Chapel Hill are not going to offer in state tuition to OOS solely on test scores, but some regional campuses might. For example, depending on GPA, you could get a full ride at Prairie View A&M with that test score.
https://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
The standardized threshold for reduced tuition at U of Alabama - Tuscaloosa had steadily increased, but you could look at Birmingham or Huntsville to see what they offer.
U of NM offers in state tuition at 26 ACT/3.0 GPA:
http://scholarship.unm.edu/devl/scholarships/non-resident.html
U of WY offers the Brown & Gold Scholarship (150% of in state tuition, currently about 11.5K) for out of state students based on the following grid:
http://www.uwyo.edu/admissions/scholarships/non-residents/bgcommitment.html
This is not strictly accurate. UT Austin has a very limited number of OOS tuition waivers to award, but they are not automatically granted in conjunction with a merit scholarship. When I say “very limited” I mean one or two per college (fine arts, engineering, etc) per year so they are intensely competitive. My D18 was offered one for dance, but her stats were much higher (4.0UW/35ACT/9 APs with 8 5s) in an audition-based major where the level of academic attainment for most successful applicants was correspondingly lower. She wouldn’t have been awarded one if applying for a different major (and in fact she went elsewhere because she got an even better offer).
@Twoin18 I was referring to the auto instate tuition offered at some Texas publics if you receive a scholarship in excess of $1000.
That’s not true at UT-Austin.
At Texas A&M, it is $4,000 of eligible scholarships to get a non resident tuition waiver (still pay instate). Unless you are a National Scholar, it can be very difficult to reach that level.
I think you need to set your sights below UT Austin and UNC Chapel Hill. Those schools are loaded with high SAT students.
What is your college budget? How much will your parents pay per year?
What is your major and career goal?
Schools like alabama will give you large merit for your scores.
A decent number of publics offer scholarships that will bring tuition down to in-state costs or below for various stats.
(Utah St. comes to mind; various schools mentioned there too).
Not the top publics like UT-Austin or UNC unless you manage to get one of their few big named/special scholarships (which they’re typically using to try to take kids who qualify for Ivy/equivalents).
@mom2collegekids doesn’t Alabama also consider GPA when awarding their merit awards? Did I miss this posters GPA?
Possibly (likely) out-of-date, but it might explain some confusion; UT-Austin did charge in-state tuition to out-of-state students that received an academic scholarship. This was true in the late 1980s . . . and in-state tuition was $25 per credit at the time. I suspect this is just trivia at the moment. 
I think that one of the challenges is going to be that some state colleges are not using SAT/ACT scores this season
In addition many states are suffering economically and public universities make $ on OOS I would expect a very different landscape over the next couple of years
Yes, but the threshold for most scholarships is 3.5 HS GPA (4.0 HS GPA for Presidential Elite, but some are available at 3.0 HS GPA): https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/out-of-state/ . They used to state on their web site that the highest HS GPA from the HS transcript is used, so that if your HS has exaggerated weighted HS GPAs (or is in South Carolina: https://ed.sc.gov/tests/tests-files/eocep-files/uniform-grading-policy-february-2018/ ), that makes it easier to meet the HS GPA minimum if they still use the same policy. But since that is no longer stated, they may not have that policy any more.
We just went through NC State and UNC Charlotte admissions with our DD20 and no there was not an OOS tuition waiver for 33 ACT, 3.99 UW GPA, NMF with significant leadership in City level ECs. However, these schools are fairly affordable to begin with.
Not very good sources of information.
Do some math, an ACT of 31 and an SAT of 1400s isn’t high in that there are a lot of bodies in this cohort, merit money is to buy stats outside of a school’s normal range, to get merit for a 31 (pre covid, everything will change and not just test optional, there won’t be merit money in many schools) you will need to look at non selective schools. High test scores and GPA are more like 34+ and 3.9+ UW. Post covid you will see kids stay in state, they will commute, the states will not buy OOS stats on the state’s money. Eyes will all over how every $ is spent.