Chance of Merit Aid at Certain Schools

Paying for College
1

Hello all. I have posted in “What are my Chances” before, so some of you may have seen this application. My #1 school is UVA, followed by: Wake Forest, Vandy, UNC, and GWU. I know that those first four schools only give a select few competitive merit scholarships. For UVA, I am specifically talking about the Jefferson Scholars. At Wake, I am focusing on the Carswell Scholars (because of the focus on regional, state, and national recognition for your passions; you’ll see where this ties in below). At Vandy, I know the chances are very slim, but I would specifically focus on the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship Program. At UNC, I am specifically talking about the Pogue Scholars and Robertson Scholars (believe me, I know how difficult these are to get into). I am a rising junior, and my focus is HUGE on politics. Thanks for any help/advice/guidance that you can give.

GPA: 4.5 currently, will have about a 5.1 at graduation
Class Rank: 1/395 in one of the top high schools in the Northern half of Florida
ACT: 33 composite, 34 superscore (taken it twice), but on latest practice tests I’ve taken I’m making consistent composite 35’s.
SAT: 2100 but I took it probably too early, as I hadn’t gotten the English prep I needed. On latest practice tests, I’m consistently getting in the 2200-2300 range.
Essay: Will be very strong, has always been one of my strongest attributes.
Recommendations: I have made a personal relationship with every teacher/counselor/administrator I’ve had or worked with, not only in the classroom but also having to deal with them often for student government. I also have recently made a budding friendship with the leading businessman (has the most influence of anyone in my city; more power than the mayor) of my city who has connections at many top schools. They will be superb.
AP: By graduation, I will have taken and passed: World History, Environmental Science, US History, English Literature, Government, Macroeconomics, English Language and Composition, and Psychology.
Ceritifications: Microsoft Office (Word, Powerpoint, Outlook), Autodesk Inventor, and will have much experience in Autocad.
EC’s: Will be Student Body President my senior year (previously served as class secretary).
Will be Mu Alpha Theta President my senior year (currently Secretary)
Will be National Honors Society President my senior year (currently Historian)
Have placed at the regional level in every math competition I’ve been in, and I’m trying to coax our sponsor to take us to state next year.
Member of the Varsity Golf Team
President and Founder of the ACT/SAT Prep Club (monthly meetings to go over tips, strategies, and take practice tests)
President and Founder of the Young Political Activists Club (monthly forum to discuss current events, attending political candidate rallies as a group, protesting at the courthouse, etc.)
Treasurer-Elect at the State level for FASC (Florida Association of Student Councils), so I will be State Treasurer my senior year.
Hosted the FASC state convention at my high school, where I organized all the speakers, entertainers, etc. and facilitated the budget for said conference (will be my senior year).
District Vice President for FASC
PTSA Vice President
Served on one or two School Board Committees where I was one of only two students there. Update I have recently talked to the Superintendent, and I will be participating in many more this upcoming year.

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There is no way to chance you for those scholarships. Your resume looks good enough to put you in the running.

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Thanks @BobWallace that makes sense. I mainly meant to attract anyone who either had knowledge of these certain scholarships and could gauge my chances or knew of other merit aid at these schools that would fit me based on my application.

4

If you want to understand how broadly merit aid is awarded you can find this out by looking at each college’s common data set under the financial aid section. It will show the number of students awarded non-need based aid and the value. A suggestion would be to drop NHS it is considered a fairly lightweight EC. Ideally you win something at the State or National level or do something truly unique. You are taking enough AP’s but several of them are the easier AP’s. Your unweighted GPA is what will matter not your weighted GPA. If your school doesn’t calculate an unweighted GPA you can/should do it yourself. Exlude PE and Music and just go with the letter grades without plus or minus. You have a pretty solid chance of $25K/year in merit aid at GW. That’s what my D was offered this year. Your application will be strong enough to get a lot of merit aid offers. Full ride scholarships are harder to come by. If you like I can send you a list of the college’s offering full ride type scholarships. Just send me a PM

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Thanks. Yeah, NHS is a very low-commitment thing at our school, and I get along well with the sponsor (so I’ll probably keep it). As far as the state/national thing is concerned, I have put all of my focus into politics at the city level and Student Government at the school, regional, and state level. I don’t have the time to pursue a sport to that level or anything like that. The UW GPA is a 4.0. And yes, I will only be taking AP/core classes with the exception of SGA for my last two years. Also, most of my volunteering is either in the political realm or activities related with SGA (nursing home, teacher help, etc.). I feel like focusing on my certain interest (politics) while pushing that in my essays and recs will provide me with the best shot at merit aid (as opposed to doing everything and participating in every club & sport). Thanks again for the reply/help.

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Don’t water it down so much by padding it with too many lightweight activities, like certifications in office sw for example, it can look desperate when there is too much fluff/surface stuff, and not enough deep substance. For the scholarships you mention at those schools, you will be competing with many that have incredible substance on top of being into politics in a huge way. I would work more to just get admitted at those schools mentioned, as that is not at all a sure thing. If you need merit to attend schools like those, cast a wider net to more schools. Those select top scholarships are like hitting the lottery for extremely exceptional cases. And as a rising junior you know you will get certain scores and be class president and NHS president and all the other things? Might be better when those have actually happened. I am seeing a cart before the horse in more ways than one. Good to dream but also plan for alternatives so you aren’t disappointed.

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@blueskies2day It isn’t overconfidence/dreaming. I won’t go into detail as to why I know I will get the various positions, but I am virtually positive. As far as the AP scores are concerned, I know my abilities. Having not made a B on a report card ever while taking the hardest classes at top schools, I know how well I can do. I am also not concerned about admission at these schools with the exception of maybe UNC and Vandy. Having talked to UVA admissions counselors, I am very confident about admission (they didn’t give me false optimism, we asked for a one-on-one, truthful discussion). For the other two, my stats are at about the 85th percentile and my EC’s are above average, so I’m not concerned about admissions there. I hate to have to sound arrogant, but I don’t appreciate when people belittle others on here whenever they are nowhere near the truth. Now, as far as the wider net topic is concerned… Alabama is my safety. My father is alumni, and I have the OOS tuition due to the ACT score. These are my 5 that I will be applying to, hoping that I can beat the odds and get a big scholarship. And when I created that Chances thread, I was fairly new to the site, and I was putting down anything I could think of (that’s why I put down the certifications thing). Again, I know the chances of these certain scholarships aren’t substantial, but I made this thread hoping to get some advice. I am not dreaming in the least bit. If I were dreaming, then I would be insisting on going to one of these universities or an Ivy League, not being smart and avoiding student loans by going to a little bit less of a prestigious school.

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I think you got some good advice here that you asked for. Perhaps you are looking for people to rave about your resume, but posters on cc have seen a lot of these things and are keeping it real. I agree with those above, cast a wider net if you need the big merit scholarships to attend. They are highly competitive and look for exceptional stand out ECs, not just the usual list of activities and offices. The best advice you can take is to not count on them, and just be happy if they come through.

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@scotlandcalling Look at my last comment. I am not counting on them to come through in the least bit. I’ll have full tuition from Alabama (my dream school in my earlier years) plus money each year due to my dad being alumni. I’m not concerned, worried, etc. That is my safety, and I don’t plan on applying to any other safeties. So this is why I am not casting a “wider net.” These 5 schools (plus a couple others) are the ones that I’ll be applying to, hoping (but not banking) to get a big merit scholarship. I never wanted people to “rave about my resume.” I get enough of that from adult friends and folks like that, and I almost get a little tired of it. Many people on CC have resumes on this level. If I wanted to brag or show off, I could do it through other outlets. The first couple comments were helpful. The last one that I responded a bit harshly to was just degrading. There was no reason for him to call anything “dreams” whenever he doesn’t know me, my work ethic, or my situation(s) in the least bit. Not helpful at all…

10

If you are winning regional math competitions, why are you not taking BC calc senior year?

I agree that a little more focus is going to make your scholarship applications easier. Politics? Great. Then take out the non-political involvement.

You do NOT want a recommendation made by a “budding friend”. You want recommendations from teachers who know you well and can comment on your intellectual potential and impact on your school and community.

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@blossom I am taking BC Calc senior year (sorry, I forgot this on the original post). And yes, I am attempting to take out the non-political involvement. I’m probably canning the ACT Prep, as that is just too much commitment. I’ve been able to get my foot in the door for many local political matters, and I know that’ll pay off soon. I am also going to be volunteering for Rubio’s campaign in the coming months, and I will be volunteering at the polls. All in all, I think the focus will shift completely to politics in the near future, so I’m glad about that. And as far as the “budding friend” is concerned… I knew him well in my early childhood, and the relationship has recently been rekindled. He knows about my political interest (as he carries the most political influence in the area, so he stays in the know on people), and he knows my family and I very well.

12

Those scholarships are highly competitive but certainly worth a shot. My daughter was #1 with higher test scores etc and did not get any of those awards. She was a Jefferson Scholar but did not make it past the second round. Good luck!

13

UVA- schools that are nominating schools typically make their top UVA applicant a Jefferson Scholar. Moving up to the point where you actually make it to Virginia is very very competitive.
UNC- getting admitted as an OOS student is very very difficult. Getting merit as an OOS student is even more competitive. I think about 10-15 kids from OOS receive merit. The one kid I knew wrote a math text book.
Wake- it takes more than having leadership and being top 1%. There seems to be " softer" factors involved.
Vanderbilt- my daughter was waitlisted with higher test scores than you had. She had major leadership roles in and out of school. Needless to say, getting big merit is very hard. Getting in is also very very hard. Kids with 35’s got waitlisted.
GW- not sure

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@twogirls Believe me, I know how hard merit aid is at these schools. For UVA, I am not in a nominating region so it would be even more difficult. At UNC, I am talking about the Robertson Scholars. It isn’t a “UNC merit scholarship,” but it is an outside thing that gives about 40 students from UNC and 40 from Duke full ride scholarships (similar to Jefferson Scholars). UNC and Vandy are the two longest shots; I know this. I know that merit there is sooooo difficult. As far as Wake is concerned, the Carswell Scholarship says that it seeks the students with the highest scores who received recognition or pursued their passion at the regional, state, and national level. That is the description of the scholars. I know it isn’t just about leadership, but being one of only 6 state officers for SGA in my state is pretty good for that I think. I still know that it’s a long shot, and as I said before I’m not banking on getting any of these. Thanks for the help.

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Good luck tigerrocks13! These awards are a long shot for most but people do get them, and you will never know unless you try.