CHANCE ME at GWU and merit aid

Colleges and Universities A-Z George Washington University
1

Hello, George Washington is one of my top schools and I hope to get in. But even if I managed to be accepted, I’m curious at how much merit aid/scholarships I’d be offered because I couldn’t really afford it otherwise.

I hope to major in either international affairs or international business, continue on to graduate school, and work in sustainability/ethics consulting. I am looking to apply to either the Women’s Leadership program or the Honors program.

Here are some facts about me:
-I am a rising senior from South Carolina
-first-generation American, my parents are Colombian, I speak Spanish fluently
-Family income is about $80,000 for 3 people (in one of the more expensive parts of SC, though…)

  • 4.994/5 gpa
  • top 10% of my class
    -part of an early college program (I will have about 36 college credits done by the end of high school, because I took real college classes rather than AP) at the local community college, plus I am part of the college’s Honors Program, Phi Theta Kappa, and I have on their Dean’s list for 4 consecutive semesters
    -2 internships at the local Democratic party
    -required to do 50 service hours per year (though I will end up with much more than that)
    -art student and soon-to-be teacher’s assistant in art class
    -attended Girls State program for American Legion
    -President of the Academic Team: which I revamped because past leadership was terrible
    -Founder and Leader of high school’s recycling initiative, I was awarded a grant to do this
    -Red Cross Club member
    -I’m hoping to join National Honors Society this upcoming year< missed the deadline last school year due to a 12-page paper for a college class >.<
    -regular volunteer at local arts center
  • recipient of Ronald Reagan Student Leader Award and another award from the Jefferson Foundation

I’d like some feedback in regards to my getting into GWU and getting merit aid/scholarships.Thanks so much!

2

I think you’ve got very good chances at acceptance to either schools.

As far as merit aid, that’s always tough (if not impossible) for those of us outside of the financial aid office to determine. If you’re expecting a full ride, those are incredibly rare. Even with merit aid (and hopefully there are some in here that have received it that can chime-in) you’re usually still expected to pay between $10-20K per year, whether out of pocket or using federal Stafford loans.

3

My S18 got $25K pa in merit aid (no need based aid) so the remaining COA was around $50K pa. That appeared to be the largest merit scholarship available except for a few local Washington DC students. So your actual COA would almost certainly be determined by need-based aid, which will likely exceed $25K (you can’t stack need and merit aid though you may have an offer which shows both as contributing to the COA - the need-based component would then be reevaluated every year). Run the NPC and it will give you an estimate of the cost.

4

@NHuffer @Twoin18 Thank you both so much. I am starting to gather that GW isn’t the best place for financial aid.

5

As another reference point, my daughter, also Hispanic, was expected to pay $40,000 out of pocket after merit scholarships. That was 4 years ago. That was over our top limit so she did not attend.

6

Okay thank you so much @InfoQuestMom

7

I pay about 10k per year, and I have a similar income to you (with a 20k merit scholarship). However, I do not pay for housing, so I would guess you would be expected to pay 10k-20k.

8

Okay, thank you so much! @liveyourlife26