Chance me for merit-based scholarships at Georgia Tech?

Georgia Tech is my #1 but my family doesn’t qualify for financial aid through FAFSA so I’m relying on merit. What are my chances for a scholarship at Georgia Tech (esp Stamps or Provost)?

OOS, white female, major in MechE

1560 SAT (760 EBRW, 800 Math)
36 ACT (36 English, 36 Reading, 35 Science, 35 Math; I’ve gotten 36s on all sections before though)
National Merit Semifinalist

top 1% at large, competitive public high school (600 students)
4.0 unweighted, APs are weighted strangely but I’ve had all As
11 Pre-AP courses
12 AP classes (last 6 are senior year) for total of 15 tests:
European History (5)
US History (5)
Psychology (5)
English Lang (5)
Chemistry (4)
BC Calculus (5, AB 5)
English Lit
Spanish
Statistics
Economics (macro and micro)
Physics C (mechanics and E&M)
Government (US and comparative)

Extracurriculars:
Speech (as in Speech and Debate; Regional Champion and State Runner-Up junior year)
Competitive Swimming (8 years, not fast but have leadership experiences and involvement)
President of school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance
Coaching jobs
National Honor Society
KEY Club (volunteering)
Mu Alpha Theta

My rec letters were from AP Calc teacher and AP Psych teacher, both knew me well and were VERY complimentary
My personal statement was about my mental disorder and how I’ve worked around it in my life
My supplementals were lighthearted but decent

Also if it helps, my friend showed me a website and apparently there is no one from my state at all currently in undergrad??? Wild

I wouldn’t worry about scholarships until you actually get accepted to Tech. I would love to give you feedback on your app, but I am confused at some places.

  1. if you got all 36s before, why didnt you submit that ACT score?

  2. Can you link the website that your friend showed you?

  3. Georgia Tech only accepts 2 rec letters: one from a counselor, one from a teacher. They don’t view any others. You never mentioned a counselor one, just teachers.

If you could answer these, I’d love to help you!

@enc1183 There are very few scholarships for OOS students, and those that get them also get into MIT,
but its harder to win merit at GaTech than get into MIT. So less than a 7% chance. Getting into GaTech, if you applied by Oct 15,which you did, to qualify for merit, is about 20% get accepted during the early rounds.

Being from a state that does not have a lot of undergrads may help a tiny bit. Being female helps a tiny bit.
You will have to interview on campus to win the full ride.

Your math scores are all perfect, ACT, subject exams and BC calculus score of 5, thats good.

The one red herring is you have mentioned a mental disorder. Thats not at all in your favor.
GaTech may well just reject you based on revealing a mental disorder, as the school is quite high powered
and stressful and they are not wanting to admit students with mental problems, given the suicide rates at
many colleges today.

Please never mention mental problems in any job or college application. Its never in your favor.
However your record is so strong, I do hope you can get in, in spite of mentioning this.

It seems unfair but keep all health issues private when applying to jobs and colleges. Colleges have been sued
over and over by parents of students who kill themselves, so colleges will not look favorably upon
any mention of a mental disorder.

@pleaseacceptmeGT Thank you for helping, I really appreciate it! I’ve taken the ACT multiple times and the last time I took it I got a composite 36 with the numbers I listed, but I also submitted my previous score which was a composite 35 with 36 english, 36 science, 36 math, and 33 reading. The link for GT is https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/georgia-institute-of-technology-main-campus/student-life/diversity/ but if you want to look at other schools, search its name, hit student life, then diversity and scroll down. The rec letters were a mistake on my part, I forgot what I had submitted where. I sent in the calc teacher one and then my counselor rec letter is probably intensely average

@Coloradomama Whew okay, thank you so much for the feedback. Can’t deny I’m a little psyched out now, but I definitely understand your point. I think the way I went about writing it was better than it could have been, since I really focused on how it relates to my personality and how I have dealt with the issue (more as an overcoming obstacles prompt than a struggle you face, if that makes sense). Either way it goes, thank you for your encouragement and advice!

@enc1183 Sorry if it sounded harsh, I just think its better not to delve into any health issues. See the NY Times article about Stanford U expelling all mentally ill students who admit to suicidal thinking at that school. There is a class action lawsuit filed by students against Stanford ! From the college viewpoint-- Schools are being sued left and right and thus any mention of any mental health issue is a reason to be rejected today.

You have to put your best foot forward and don’t talk about issues that make you look bad. Mental health issues
are really a huge reason for college rejections today. GaTech has a lot of suicides and gets sued very year by families, so they want to avoid accepting students who cannot handle the academic rigor.