Chances for a Merit Scholarship?

Colleges and Universities A-Z George Washington University
1

Hey everyone,

I honestly love GWU so so much and would obviously love to go there, but I won’t be able to unless I get some serious merit aid (I don’t quality for need-based aid). Here are my stats- what do you think about my chances?

I decided to use the decisions form for this- it’s easy to read and fill out.

 [ *] SAT I (breakdown): superscore 2210- reading 720 math 690 writing 800
[ *] ACT: 33- don't remember breakdown
[ *] SAT II: US History- 740 Literature- 690
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 91.1- seems a bit low, but there's an upward trend, and my school is an internationally recognized magnet school, so that has some weight as well
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): World History: 5 English Language: 5 US History: 5. English Lit, Psych, US Gov in progress
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP Eng Lit, AP Psych, AP US Gov, Advanced Latin Readings (honors, not AP), Calculus, Nutritional Science, Newspaper
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): some sort of AP scholar thing?? for getting 5s on 3 AP tests, gold and silver medals on the National Latin Exam
[ /list][ b]Subjective:**

[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): piano for 6+ years, robotics team- PR department- since sophomore year, I'm now a project manager this year, school newspaper since sophomore year (freshmen aren't allowed to join)- now an editor
[ *] Job/Work Experience: november 2014 to present: paid internship at an office. I go 2-3 days a week after school for 2-3 hours a day
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: N/A
[ *] Summer Activities: summer 2012: did "summer school" at my school to fulfill some requirements, to free up periods during the actual school year. summer 2013: paid office internship over the summer. summer 2014: just SAT prep :'( tried desperately to find a job, but no luck. summer 2015: worked at the office 
[ *] Essays: my common app essay is valid, writing the why GW right now
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: I'm not allowed to read them, but I assume they're pretty good- both of my teachers really liked me
[ *] Counselor Rec: good I suppose
[ *] Additional Rec: got one from my boss, and she really likes me, so I assume it was good
[ *] Interview: I just tried to go and request one today, but they're not taking any more :'( I'm really upset about this
[ /list][ b]Other**

[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[ *] Intended Major: International Relations/Public Policy/something in that realm
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): NY
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: magnet public school
[ *] Ethnicity: white
[ *] Gender: female
[ *] Income Bracket: pretty high lol
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): campus visit, my why GW will be pretty strong

So, what do you guys think? Be honest.

2

Honestly not to freak you out or anything but I go to GW and I can tell you that everything except your GPA and SATs are useless when they give out scholarships. I’m in the engineering school and I don’t know anyone here who didn’t get merit aid. Unfortunately, I haven’t met anyone in the Elliot school who has a scholarship, they all get hosed. Best of luck to you though, you can’t know for sure until you get the aid package.

3

@massman1 hey thanks for responding! aw damn that sucks :frowning: ill just have to try and see if they give me anything
how are you liking GWU so far?

4

It would suck if all they looked at was GPA and SATs. Reading around, a graduated student also added in the factor of how much they want you to attend. So let’s hope there’s that.

5

Sorry this is late. I disagree with Massman. My dtr and two of her classmates received merit aid at GW last year - her classmates are in Eliot and did NOT get hosed. My dtr, who is in SMPA, received a very generous scholarship. We also do not qualify for Fin Aid.

Your stats look very good, BTW.

6

@premature_gray thank you so much! Fingers crossed I get something substantial.