chances for merit scholarships

Colleges and Universities A-Z Fordham University
1

<p>Hi guys, I'm falling in love with Fordham...but definitely need a 20Kish scholarship to attend. I'd appreciate some input on whether or not I'll get that...I applied early action, great essay on my dad's illness my soph-junior years. I'm Asian Indian from Maine. Natural Sciences major @ Lincoln Center, will probably change to psychology. Also, when do I get notified if I got a merit scholarship?</p>

<p>Stats:
GPA: 89.7/100 unweighted, 98.7/100 weighted. 75-85 = C, 85-93 = B, 93-100 = A (3.58/3.6 unweighted, 4.0/4.1ish weighted - we don't go by 4.0 scale) will most likely go up.
ACT's: 32 composite. Waiting on retakes.
Class Rank: top 22% (the top 10% is littered with kids who took honors all of high school and coasted on perfect grades without challenging themselves)
AP's (by the end of senior year): AB Calculus and English Literature as a Junior, Spanish Literature, English Language, Biology, and Statistics as a Senior. One of three juniors to be the first to take AB Calculus. I've taken all but two of my schools offered APs (and of course, other language APs.) Took hardest curriculum offered, expecting grades all 85+ this quarter.</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
Yearbook Editor: Junior and Senior Year
Swimmer: Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year
Interact Club: First member as a Sophomore, ran it as a Junior and Senior
Speech and Debate: Only girl Student Congress debater, Member since Sophomore year, CoCaptain Junior and Senior Year, National Qualifier Junior and Senior Year
Took two classes at UC Berkeley (freshman + sophomore level) and passed both summer of Junior Year</p>

<p>High School Awards and Honors
RYLA, one of ten kids selected to go on full scholarship
Outstanding Spanish Freshman Year
Outstanding Elderly Home Volunteer Sophomore Year
Speech and Debate Regional 1st-6th Place Awards, National Qualifier
Honor Roll
Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 5 Graduate</p>

<p>Volunteering
Maine Medical Center: Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (150+)
Elderly Home: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (100+)
India Association of Maine (Volunteer Hindi Teacher, Youth Coordinator): Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (20+)
Interact Club: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (10+)</p>

<p>Recommendations
English Teacher, Calculus Teacher
Speech and Debate Coach</p>

<p>Other
Wrote a Cognitive Science Graduate Level Proposed Study at UC Berkeley
Fluent in Hindi and Punjabi, taught it to kids
Year younger (I skipped kindergarden and will be graduating HS at age 16)
Hopefully will be starting the first volunteer tutoring program for kids in my community this year (will be noted in my ECs)
Played Piano for eight years</p>

1 Like
2

<p>Do you expect to get financial aid? Or are you in a situation where you won’t qualify for aid but really can’t afford $55K per year?</p>

3

<p>All applications at Fordham are reviewed for potential scholarships. You MUST submit the CSS form, so do that immediately. Generally, a 1400/1600 SAT is required for any substantial scholarship, and your 32 ACT clearly equates to that level or higher. Fordham may offer you a combination of grants and scholarships. If you qualify for federal student aid, they may also offer you some level of student loans. </p>

<p>Your GPA and class rank are not outstanding. They are excellent and you should be commended, but they are not clearly in the scholarship level. Scholarships are based both on GPA and SAT’s/ACT’s. The pool of highly qualified applicants at Fordham each year continues to grow so you will have significant competition for any scholarship money. But they look at the overall application as well, your courseload, your EC’s, special circumstances, minority status, the school you attended etc. </p>

<p>What will they do? I have no idea, but I can tell you your application will be reviewed for scholaships. Get the CSS form completed and submitted immediately.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

4

<p>my family EFC is like 42K, but that was based on a collegeboard estimate, and our css profile shows how much debt we’re drowning in from our two houses, we had one house that we have more loans on than is worth currently, and a similar situation with our current house. idk if that will lower my EFC any more, but i really love fordham and i can only pay like 30K to be able to go there…</p>

<p>also - will i be notified of scholarships with my acceptance, or not? because i’d really like to know early on so i can quit stressing :(</p>

5

<p>The CSS allows Fordham and all your schools to give an estimate of financial aid and scholarships. Including grants and loans. </p>

<p>You must supplement that with a FAFSA by Feb. 1 and they will ask for tax forms.</p>

<p>For your own level of comfort, I would also apply to financial safety schools you can afford. Nobody knows what happens in admissions and financial aid. </p>

<p>Its often quirky. Good luck.</p>

6

<p>ghostbuster - my D applied EA and we are submitting the CSS tomorrow. Do you know if Fordham is able to give financial aid (or merit estimates) with the EA decision in December or do they wait until the FAFSA is submitted?</p>

7

<p>If I remember correctly, we didn’t get the financial aid package until later and it was very disappointing. If you are depending on alot of financial aid, make sure you have some schools you can easily afford. Unless you are top of their admission pool and a merit finalist your financial aid package will fall far from what you expect.</p>

8

<p>Most merit scholarships are up to 10,000. Anything over this is a Presidential Scholarship and there’s only a handful of them a year (25 if I remember the number right, but it’s been a while… under 50 out of the thousands of admitted students likely). With a B+ GPA and 32 ACT you are not going to be in the very top of the applicant pool to receive one of these scholarships. You will likely get something, but if you need 20K you’re going to need outside scholarships as well.</p>

9

<p>I do recall being disappointed initially when I checked online and saw that my S was awarded the Loyola scholarship but that it only amounted to $8k per year. However, when the official award letter came, it also included the Tuition Aid award which was greater then the scholarship and is automatically renewed annually without any stipulations other then filing FAFSA…unlike the Loyola or other named scholarships which require a 3.0. It is my understanding that there is a formula that your stats are entered into and the awards are based on that but it does all seem quite random to me! I do not believe that financial need played a role in the particular awards my S received because based on our EFC we didn’t have any. So really you just have to wait and see what happens keeping in mind that some people are disappointed with their awards and some people are not. </p>

<p>In the meantime, as other posters have suggested, find a financial safety school or two that you would be happy attending.</p>

<p>Good luck! :)</p>

10

<p>sandkmom: My S has a Tuition Aid Award and I am pretty sure that you need to keep a 3.0 average for that as well.</p>

11

<p>^^^It just says “satisfactory academic performance” as opposed to the Loyola which specifically states 3.0 GPA. However, I would be annoyed if he dropped below that anyway given that I am footing the bill!!! :)</p>

<p>[Traditional</a> Rose Hill and Lincoln Center Fordham University Aid](<a href=“http://www.fordham.edu/tuition__financial_a/undergraduate_studen/types_of_financial_a/traditional_rose_hil_2158.asp]Traditional”>http://www.fordham.edu/tuition__financial_a/undergraduate_studen/types_of_financial_a/traditional_rose_hil_2158.asp)</p>

12

<p>I agree with you</p>

13

<p>A 3.0 is actually harder at Fordham than you would think, and a number of students do lose their scholarships despite trying very hard. The average from each class is supposed to be about a C, so for every kid who gets a 3.0 someone else essentially has to get a D. Every parent wants their child to get above a 3.0 but Fordham seems to want to boost their reputation by being tougher on the students currently enrolled.</p>

14

<p>^^^I am sure that a 3.0 at Fordham is tough and that you all have to work very hard for the grades. And that is what I expect from my S.</p>

<p>Good luck on finals, nyc2013! :)</p>

15

<p>Merit scholarships actually range from 1,000 to about 30,000. Then there is the PSAT semi-finalist award of full tuition. And finally, the presidential which is full tuition plus room. Fordham really does give out a lot of merit money. </p>

<p>And a 3.0 must be maintained to receive these scholarships</p>