Full Ride Colleges

Paying for College
1

<p>My D is looking for colleges, preferably Ohio area first...that she could get a full ride. She has 30 on ACT (trying for 32 in Fall) and straight A's 4.+ GPA, top of class. Varsity soccer, president German NHS, NHS historian, as well as involved in other EACs as well as community service. I heard Denison is good with merit aid.... full ride potential??? Also heard possibly Ohio U if get 31, but are there others? Any input would be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Bear in mind that colleges give big scholarships to students who are significantly overqualified for that college. The purpose of the scholarship is to bring in students who wouldn’t otherwise go there. Your D would be going to a full ride school to serve as a role model and inspiration for their other students - not necessarily to benefit from and be inspired by other students. So the best way to find a full ride is for her to lower her sights to schools which might not otherwise interest her.</p>

<p>And that’s certainly OK. College for free is a wonderful thing. But if you’re at all competitive for need-based aid, don’t look solely for full rides and ignore opportunities to consider the best schools to which she can be admitted. Need-based aid can bring the cost down to the point where the difference between that cost and a full ride might not justify going to a lesser college.</p>

3

<p>First, there aren’t too many full rides (meaning tuition, room and board) left. There are places with full tuition and Denison is one of them, though most of those are for National Merit Finalists. Also with those scores she would get good scholarships at Ohio State. Look at the stickies above for more info, like:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/211927-institutional-merit-based-scholarships-full-tuition.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/211927-institutional-merit-based-scholarships-full-tuition.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>My S got a full tuition offer at Denison with a 34 ACT but not a full ride. I doubt that 31 would qualify for full tuition.</p>

<p>OperaDad gadad and ErinsDad gave you good advice. Read those threads for a better understanding of what’s out there.</p>

6

<p>Don’t overlook departmental scholarships (if she might know her potential major). The can be stacked on top of university scholarships…adding up to a full ride.</p>

7

<p>Thank you, the links were great to read. I appreciate all the advice. We are trying to find the middle ground. She may be overqualified for some schools that may give the best offers, but we are not desperate either. We will try to find something in the middle and not go into a large amount of debt. I think that is sometimes the hardest thing to do. I am not sure what FASFA will be (although have a general idea) but we are middle class with not a huge amount of savings trying to survive in this economy with D2 graduating HS in a few years as well. Ahhhh!!</p>