Could I get a full ride at IU?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Indiana University - Bloomington
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<p>Hello CC community! </p>

<p>I am a rising senior interested in pre-med (most likely Bio/Psych double major possible Spanish minor) and I was wondering what my chances may be at the schools I am looking at.</p>

<p>At the moment I am most interested in the following schools:
-Stanford
-Duke (visited)
-Northwestern (Medical camp & Visit)
-UNC Chapel Hill (visited)
-Emory (visited)
-USC
-Vanderbilt (visited)
-College of William & Mary (visited)
-UPitt (visited) </p>

<p>But I also have IU as a state school, and it would be great to get money to go there (basically a full-ride if possible) since most of these schools are very expensive. </p>

<p>Some of the easier schools to get into, such as W&M and Pitt, have already waived my application essays and given me select admission options. </p>

<p>Below are some more important stats:</p>

<p>Soph year: 1 AP ( only 1 available for Sophomores ) + all pre-IB courses
Junior year: 3 AP, 2 IB, 1 pre-IB
Senior year: Will be taking 6 APs ( 3 of which are IB as well) </p>

<p>My unweighted GPA is about 4.02 and my weighted is about 4.2 </p>

<p>This is very high for my highschool, considering the highest ever achieved is a 4.4 and our school produces Ivy leaguers every year. </p>

<p>I scored a 2170 on the SAT
Cr: 690 math: 740 wr: 740 (perfect essay : 12) </p>

<p>I havent received ACT results yet, or AP test scores( Bio & Spanish), nor have I received results for my SAT II Subject Tests ( Bio Ecological & Math2 ) </p>

<p>My curriculum rigor is very strong. </p>

<p>My extracurriculars could run on forever but I will give the main ones.</p>

<p>-Varsity soccer: captain, Sectional/Conference/Regional champs, 5th in state. Academic all state </p>

<p>-Varsity Track: 1st seat pole vaulter, Conference/indoor/sectional champs, academic all state 1st team</p>

<ul>
<li><p>I started my own non profit organization called ReCleats which collects lightly used or new soccer related equiptment that my brother and I deliver to underprivileged soccer playing children in Central/Southern America. We currently have collected 500 shoes and 100 balls for the trip this summer to Guatemala </p></li>
<li><p>I am also a silver medalist on the National Spanish Exam (85th%) </p></li>
</ul>

<p>-Student Teacher Organization leader</p>

<p>-I am studying at a medical program at Northwestern for 2 weeks this summer </p>

<p>-I am very involved in Spanish club </p>

<p>-I am a student council rep</p>

<p>-Member of National Honors Society </p>

<ul>
<li>I did volunteer coaching for a special ed soccer program called TOPPS as well as volunteer soccer coaching for underpriveledged children at the Boys and Girls club</li>
</ul>

<p>-I am doing mission work in Guatemala </p>

<ul>
<li><p>I am a leader for Youth 4 Christ </p></li>
<li><p>I also do other volunteer work </p></li>
</ul>

<p>-I am a certified soccer referee</p>

<p>-Spell Bowl state ranked</p>

<p>-Quiz Bowl </p>

<p>-Piano+Guitar player </p>

<p>I also have great letters of Rec! (Department shares and AP/IB teachers that I also have as coaches for varsity sports and academic teams). </p>

<p>So do I have a good shot at receiving financial aid from scholarships. My parents make about 160k a year which pretty much makes it impossible to get need based aid even though with the cost of my brothers schooling and other expenses we actually need it. Does it look good for me? </p>

<p>Thanks for any help in advance :)</p>

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<p>You have an outstanding resume but honestly it’s hard for anyone to accurately say whether or not you could get a full ride, that decision is made by whatever scholarship board is in place. Check the scholarship opportunities offered by the specific department and apply accordingly though, it’s extremely likely you will get merit based scholarships (either from the department or from the outside donors) in addition to the automatic ones given based on your test scores. :)</p>

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<p>@stepanemone That’s good to know! Thank you, I know we have the Wells scholarship which is a full ride and 2 people are recommended from each highschool! Do you know anything about that?</p>

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<p>I’m an OOS student, so I had a very different application process for the wells scholarship , but you should contact your counselor about it and ask about the nomination process, what you can do to get nominated, etc.</p>

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<p>While those are very good stats, they are certainly no guarantee of a full-ride. The full-ride scholarships are extremely competitive. The kids I know that were nominated for the Wells Scholar from my son’s high school had higher GPAs also from a state high school that sends kids to the Ivy’s every year. I don’t know about their SAT scores. One received the Wells, and one did not. We’ve known kids that have received it every year for the past 6 or 7 years. One had a perfect Math SAT. </p>

<p>IU has not yet released the criteria for automatic scholarships for next year. You should be eligible for the highest scholarship amount which has been $9000 the last few years. You’ll have to wait and see for the rest.</p>

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<p>@rrah: Oh ok, that’s helpful, thanks!
I realize the competition, and there is definitely no guaruntee. I was more asking if I could be considered in the running, if I’m of similar academic/extracurricular caliber of these Wells Scholarship recipients. Thanks again to both of you for the help.</p>

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<p>[20</a> students selected as Wells Scholars at Indiana University: IU News Room: Indiana University](<a href=“20 students selected as Wells Scholars at Indiana University: IU News Room: Indiana University”>20 students selected as Wells Scholars at Indiana University: IU News Room: Indiana University)</p>

<p>This link has the info for 2012 Wells Scholars. There are potentially 10 pre-meds as I can see it. It was a competitive years for science students. In this case, one would have to win top state awards in academic/music/athletic competition in order to have a good chance. Last year, the #2 student in our local HS with 800 students did not even get the alternative spot in the science/premed category. But, you should get $6K scholarship from Hudson & Holland +$9K automatic which is almost 3/4 full ride for ISS. </p>

<p>Getting a near full ride merit award from schools on your list is more difficult than winning the Wells scholarship. You will need to strengthen your SAT.</p>

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<p>How do you have unweighted GPA of 4.02? That makes no sense. </p>

<p>Your school nominates two (if that hasn’t changed). My year had an unusually high number of ivy leaguers from local schools in my area. Same could be the case for you, and if so you will be competing against future ivy leaguers. What you have (if you’re not recruited, that is) is more similar to a typical ivy applicant than an ivy student. I’m not sure that that would be enough to pull you ahead against others at least on your level that will be your competition.</p>

<p>SAT scores are low. I’m not sure what to say about your GPA given that you don’t seem to clearly know what unweighted is. Weighted GPA screws around with so many things that typically it’s not taken seriously.</p>

<p>There are also interviews. If you answer interviews like what you wrote up there, you’re also almost guaranteed to not get anything. So be wary of what you say.</p>

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<p>@geekorathletic</p>

<p>I meant to put 4.00, I’m not sure why so put the two I was in a sort of delusional trance after pulling two all nighters in a row (maybe I was thinking of the 2 from my unweighted when I typed that?)
Not totally sure–I apologize for this misunderstanding. </p>

<p>As for SAT scores, do you think it is necessary to retake them? </p>

<p>I am very well presented in an interview environment, I’m not sure where you recieved such a negative stigma from my writing that you would forsee an unsuccessful interview? I give speeches to thousands of people (mostly coaches) and corporate sports businessmen across the state to pitch my ReCleats idea and kick start the program. I also have been given many interviews in this process as well as had to interview people, myself, for spots on the organization. I am very well put together in this reguard. I have no worries about interviews going wrong.</p>

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<p>VHSgrad2014… You have a lot of EC and extra stuff on your resume but the other posters are correct. In order to get even considered for many scholarships, and even acceptance to schools, you have to have to have great grades and test scores. Your GPA is good but there are many students that took a lot more APs than you did. I also agree that you need to raise your test scores if you are thinking about applying to some of the schools that are on your list. My cousin had a list similar to your yours. She had a 4.6 GPA and similar SAT scores and did not get into Stanford, Duke and Vanderbilt. All of her ECs could not make up for her SAT scores.</p>

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<p>I second what Ace said about the $9k for automatic scholarship and $6k from Hudson Holland, based on your charity work in Central America. That is $15,000 a year guaranteed for four years if you get both, plus any Hutton money you can get and will likely get, especially if you apply very early to IUB. That is practically a full-ride right there and with a $160K family income, you will be in a great position if you stay in Indiana. Apply to the other schools with the knowledge that you can get at minimum $15K a year from IU if the other schools don’t come through with big scholarships, which seems a little doubtful with your SAT scores. However, if you are Hispanic that could help you, although Hispanics are not a rarity at the schools on your list in the same way that Hispanics are relatively rare at IU/Bloomington. [Main</a> Page: The Hudson and Holland Scholars Program, Indiana University, Bloomington](<a href=“Indiana University Bloomington”>Indiana University Bloomington)</p>

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<p>Just keep in mind they are restructuring the automatic scholarships for next year. You cant even find any info about them on IU website. Will be interesting to see what they come up with.</p>

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<p>@bthomp: Thanks alot! Very good to know. And @yankees is correct, they are restructuring the scholarship program, but I can’t imagine them not at least keeping a similar structure. Thanks again to all of you who gave advice! :)</p>

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<p>Since you show interest in some southern schools, have you considered Washington and Lee? Your resume may fit their Johnson scholarship criteria which is worth tuition plus room and board and is given to 10% of the student body. It is merit based.</p>

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<p>Also, this year IU offered some nice merit money just for living in a new living learning community. There are many smaller scholarships that could potentially add up to a full ride.</p>

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<p>@geekorathletic - this high school is on a 4.4 system not 4.0. So you can have an unweighted GPA higher than 4.0.</p>

<p>@vhsgrad2014 - your current weighted GPA is found on the bottom of your report card. Your unweighted cumulative GPA is found in the RDS system on your transcript.</p>

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<p>@chocpoptart:
4.3 system, but yes! It can be. Maybe that’s where I got the number, because I believe I am just over that 4.00 benchmark.</p>