Chances at Merit Awards and question about Financial Aid

<p>Here are my stats:
92/100 GPA(unweighted)
2010 SAT: 650 M 680 CR 680 Writing
SAT IIs: Biology 700 US History 710
APs: Euro- 4 (SOPH Year)
Took 4 this year (JR year) Psych (expecting a 4-5), Bio,US (expecting 4-5s), Stat(expecting 3-4)
Have taken all APs/Honors Classes with the exception of Freshmen French, and Pre-calc</p>

<p>EC's:
200+ Hours of Community Service(nursing home, library)
President of a community service club at public library
6 Seasons Track and Field
3 Seasons Cross Country
Peer Drug Educator
Peer Leader </p>

<p>Will be a rising senior
Location: Long Island
Ethnicity: Persian
First to go to college in the US in my family
would not be able to afford this school without substantial merit/aid but i would absolutely LOVE to go here. </p>

<p>i am taking the SAT one more time expecting hopefully a 2100, what are my chances at merit? and how are the financial aid packages at fordham</p>

<ul>
<li>Your chances of merit aid as of right now: 0% (since you have not applied to Fordham)</li>
<li>Your chances of merit aid if you apply to Fordham: not 0%</li>
</ul>

<p>“Chancing” of any sort–admissions, finaid–is nearly useless. We aren’t the ones making those decisions, and even if several forum contributors worked for the university, we wouldn’t be able to give you a definitive, “apply here” vs. “don’t bother” answer. Apply around and find out for yourself whether you get in to places and whether they give you money. You can find out how Fordham’s financial aid packages are with the ‘search’ function. Cheers.</p>

<p>Everyone who gets into Fordham receives SOME merit-based aid, unless you really get in by the skin of your teeth. </p>

<p>However, the vast majority of Fordham aid goes to FINANCIAL aid, and very little goes to merit aid. You need really stellar grades to get significant merit aid (maybe they’ll decrease tuition from 40,000 to 33,000…not much help).</p>

<p>But if you get into Fordham by the skin of your teeth, and you’re poor, you’re looking at a full ride. </p>

<p>With your grades, you might get a decent sized merit scholarship…maybe 15,000 - 20,000?</p>

<p>And if you “can’t afford” Fordham…don’t worry about that. You seem bright, and you will probably eligible for a lot of financial aid. </p>

<p>I doubt you’ll pay over 20,000 a year when all is said and done. Probably a bit less than that. But what do I know.</p>

<p>Also, the first letter you get from Fordham will probably give you 6,000 dollars of scholarship. In the next month or two, they’ll send you more letters giving you more money. That’s how Fordham works - they keep giving you more and more.</p>

<p>I agree with angle…there is no way to be sure about what type of merit aid package you will get…your best bet to improve your chances for a large merit grant is to improve the SATs up to the 2100 level you mentioned in your post…good luck.</p>

<p>Update: I have been admitted and awarded a dean’s scholarship</p>

<p>I had a 2200 SAT 1470/1600 breakdown by the time i applied! also a 670 on math 2c and received the AP Scholar With Distinction award of the summer…any predictions for amount of my merit aid? It said i was awarded the scholarship but never said how much. thanks!</p>

<p>File the FAFSA. Welcome to Fordham and good luck.</p>