<p>My son has an SAT M/CR score of 1440, 4.0 GPA. He has tons of volunteer hours (over 1,000) in his interest area and other areas and a smattering of other activities - plays 2 musical instruments (not great but they go well with his interest), sang in a community college choir one semester, taught English for one week to kids in another country, leads worship in kids' church, etc. He has not started a club, fundraised for a charity, etc. or other what I think of as leadership activities. He is personable and would interview fairly well, but not intense or super ambitious. He is hard working. He would love to get a full ride and save his money for grad school. </p>
<pre><code>Thanks to advice on here I have found some schools where he would qualify for a certain amount of merit aid based on his SAT score, but would have to be selected to get a full ride. I don't know if his lack of leadership activities would hold him back in the running for scholarships, or if some of these schools are so glad to get kids with higher test scores that that isn't a kill factor for him. He will also receive Commended status with his PSAT.
With his career field it isn't imperative that he go to a name college but he does want to go to a decent college. He may major in business and would like to work as a director for a children's camp as a career goal. He has taken some community college classes and received B's and A's and will take APs this spring. He would be open to schools in the South, West but not California, and Midwest and would prefer a state school.
</code></pre>
<p>You need to go to the Financial Aid Forum. There is a link on the left-hand side of this screen. Read the threads that are “stickied” at the top of that forum. You will get a lot of good ideas.</p>
<p>It’s hard to get a “full ride” without NMF standing.</p>
<p>However, with a 1440 M+CR SAT, he can get free tuition at The University of Alabama. Also, if he majors in engineering or comp sci, he’ll get an additional $2500/yr.</p>
<p>Here’s some more schools with assured merit for stats…</p>
<p>Bear in mind that colleges don’t give full rides as rewards for good students; they give them to attract students who wouldn’t otherwise attend their school in order to provide role modeling and inspiration for less-accomplished students. To get the full ride, students generally have to forego an environment of challenging and inspiring peers since they’re receiving the funds in return for providing the challenge to others.</p>
<p>Most grad students cover grad school costs in large part with graduate assistantships, which also provide work experience. Grad school is a process for entering a professional field or academic discipline; the undergraduate experience is a process for becoming as high-functioning and resourceful an adult as you can be. I always advise HS students to invest primarily in their undergraduate experience, and parlay their strong work there into grad school opportunities (though medical school, which is costly, may be an exception).</p>
<p>I have looked at the above mentioned threads - they are very helpful. I am looking at U of Alabama and U of Arkansas. I just wanted to know about any more ideas. I also would like to know if anyone has experienced their child getting full rides (or close to it) with similar stats and lots of good activities, but not “leadership” activities. Gadad - thanks for the advice on grad school. He wants to go to seminary, which doesn’t have many scholarships or similar financial aid.</p>
<p>gadad said, “I always advise HS students to invest primarily in their undergraduate experience, and parlay their strong work there into grad school opportunities (though medical school, which is costly, may be an exception).”</p>
<p>That’s the opposite of what I heard but makes sense. D may decide to go to law school and I was thinking that of having to find $ for undergrad. Of course, $ would help ANYTIME! Especially with 2 in college!</p>
<p>Have you checked with your church and the schools they support? Also the scholarships associated with your church Of course I’m assuming his church is the same as yours, but that need not matter.</p>
<p>I agree…sometimes a family’s church will help sponsor a college grad with his seminary costs. </p>
<p>GaDad quote:Bear in mind that colleges don’t give full rides as rewards for good students; they give them to attract students who wouldn’t otherwise attend their school in order to provide role modeling and inspiration for less-accomplished students. To get the full ride, students generally have to forego an environment of challenging and inspiring peers since they’re receiving the funds in return for providing the challenge to others.</p>
<p>At first glance, that may appear to be true…In reality, it’s not. Let me explain. I’ll use Bama as an example. Generally speaking, the kids who have high stats and grab the big bucks are heading into several majors…engineering, math, bio, chem, physics, business, etc. They aren’t equally distributed across all the majors in the university. They are condensed into probably about 10 majors.</p>
<p>You’d be hard pressed to find many kids in the above majors who aren’t receiving $$ for their stats. Therefore, you are NOT “foregoing an environment of challenging and inspiring peers since they’re receiving the funds in return for providing the challenge to others.” My kids’, who are math and engineering majors, have many classmates with similar stats. Those without stats high enough for merit, probably wouldn’t make it in those majors.</p>
<p>And, another misconception…These students aren’t given $$ to primarily “inspire peers” (altho that might happen to the few non-scholarship recipients that can survive in those majors); they’re given money because Bama wants to fill those majors with high stats kids because then it’s easier to attract better profs who can get more grants and do more substantial research…and, throughout the process, the school rises in the rankings. </p>
<p>Schools aren’t charities…they give money to kids that will help them look good.</p>
<p>This whole ‘being around challenging peers’ is completely overdone on CC (maybe to justify gigantic tuition differentials for some families?). I’ve taught at a wide range of schools from Ivy to state, and I truly don’t see this imagined difference that so many talk about. </p>
<p>Okay yes, if one is picturing sitting in adiscussion based liberal arts class, with a convo over a social issue, a novel, it is easy to imagine different levels of discussion at state u @ southwest campus vs. Harvard. Fine. Once we start talking this great school and that great school (of which their are very many great schools!), let it rest already!</p>
<p>Now go into a engineering class, organic chemistry, 310 computer science at flagship u. Sure, there are going to be a wider range of students, some more challenged by the material than others, but Mr. 1400 is not going to be yawning, looking at his watch…filling the hours with volunteer work because it’s too easy and feeling like he would have learned more if only he went to #7. Come on! It’s going to be challenging for everybody and Mr. 1400 is going to pushed, and come out completely equipped to work as an engineer, a chemist, a computer scientist, OR go onto graduate school or professional school. If that were not the case, great grad and professional schools would not be mostly taking in students from such state schools. They are. </p>
<p>(full disclosure: I went to from state U and was challenged like everyone around me, then I went to the very top possible school in my field where my classmates were from Ivy to no-name school…and you could not possibly tell in graduate school. I just know absolutely that my classmates from Princeton and Yale did not come out more educated than I did from state u, nor did they do better in grad school nor place better for professorships after grad school). I’m not saying ‘oh it worked for me so it works for everyone else’ but simply that these imagined differences are largely imagined.</p>
<p>U. of Alabama is a unique case. They have a strategic plan to sharply increase their enrollment and are doing it in such a way as to tap strong talent from other states. Bama has always been able to attract some 3.5 / 1400s; now they’re giving them free tuition so that they’ll have a lot more of them from a wider geographic region. But in general as Northstarmom says, you need to have spectacular stats for a given school, i.e., the kinds of stats that the school wouldn’t otherwise be able to hope to attract.</p>
<p>Now given that, there are plenty of strong students on CC who wind up at quite good schools with generous merit aid. Pitt is one place that comes to mind as a university for which CC students often have to weigh great scholarship offers vs. opportunities at very selective private schools. Happymom’s suggested links are good ones that are frequently cited on CC. And the in-state publics are always a good bet.</p>
<p>Lth, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with seeking full rides as long as the student knows what the common trade-offs are. Be aware however, that the typical college student changes majors more than once in college. As a 30±year college administrator, I’d be far more comfortable with each of these CC prospective students seeking to get into as good an undergrad school as they can, leaving as many options open as possible, instead of asking “what are the top schools for sociology?”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Absolutely true. And the main way that you achieve these goals is to have a sizable cohort of talented, inspirational peers so that other talented prospective students see students like themselves and decide “I could fit in here.”</p>
<p>My D. had similar stats and tons of EC’s (graduated at the top of her class from small private HS, where she also had Merit scholarship) and got Merit $$ at every school that she applied. Currently on full tuition at state college (did not get full ride, she applied). In addition to state schools, she got very substantial Merit $$ at Case Western,was not full tuition though, roughly $27,000 / year ($5,000 / year would be left for us to pay for tuition), but she has chosen another school for non-financial reasons.</p>
<p>Absolutely true. And the main way that you achieve these goals is to have a sizable cohort of talented, inspirational peers so that other talented prospective students see students like themselves and decide “I could fit in here.”</p>
<p>Right…that’s why a person doesn’t necessarily get the “whole story” if they just look at a state school’s mid 50 range. The mid 50 range may not be spectacular, but those kids probably aren’t largely found in the harder majors. State flagships offer hundreds of majors ranging from rather easy to intensely difficult. State flagships should serve a dual purpose…provide an education suitable for a wide range of residents and provide a high-tech, state of the art education for those who will be the future scientists, physicians, etc. A state flagship ceases doing the former when kids with “good stats” can no longer have access. I think that can be a mistake. </p>
<p>So, it can be a mistake for a prospective student to just look at the mid 50s range, and conclude…“I don’t want to be stuck going to school with kids with those lower ACT/SAT scores.” Believe me, those kids with the lower stats aren’t likely going to be in the major that a high stats kid is choosing. You don’t generally find kids with an ACT 26 (which is 84th percentile) taking Boundary Value Problems, Stochastic Processes, Molecular Biology, Integrated Genomics, Inorganic Chemistry, and/or Spectroscopic Techniques in Organic Chemistry.</p>
<p>Back to topic… :)</p>
<p>It’s very hard to get a “full ride” at a top 100 national U, without being a NMF. There are some fine 3rd and 4th tier schools that might award a full ride for a 2100+ SAT (with probably at least a 1400 M+CR SAT)</p>
<p>If you are looking at the University of Alabama you should also look at Auburn, if they offer your son’s intended major. Auburn’s Presidential scholarship includes full tuition, $1500 for your choice of a laptop and $4000 after sophomore year for unpaid internship or study abroad. This is a guaranteed offer for students with a SAT 1440+ and a 3.5 GPA. In addition it appears as if non-NMF with high stats are being awarded $2500 annually for four years in departmental scholarships. The Presidential scholarship requires maintaining a 3.0 GPA, but the departmental one may be 3.5, depending on your child’s college of study.</p>
<p>Auburn’s campus is very beautiful and very welcoming. And if the US News rankings are important to you, Auburn is ranked slightly higher than UA, although I think this is a negligible difference. (88 to 96)</p>
<p>Momtocollegekids - Do you have any names to add to this? He does have a 2100 total SAT score.</p>
<p>“It’s very hard to get a “full ride” at a top 100 national U, without being a NMF. There are some fine 3rd and 4th tier schools that might award a full ride for a 2100+ SAT (with probably at least a 1400 M+CR SAT)”</p>
<p>Also - does anyone have any insight into the lots of activities and volunteer hours but not what I perceive as leadership activities in regards to being awarded competitive scholarships?</p>
<p>Now, off to look up some of those colleges you’all suggested.</p>