What do i need to do to get full rides? Is there a standard requirement for full rides or are there any sites that i could visit to get more info? Thanks in advance for replying 
Need-based aid or merit aid?
There are VERY few outside entities that provide âfree ridesâ. Mostly because outside entities donât have any incentive to provide any, nor do they have the funds to do so.
There are some free rides out there, but mostly free rides come from the schools that offer them. Those schools have an incentive to provide themâŠtheyâre trying to âbuyâ top students to come to their school.
But, free rides are still rather rare, particularly amongst the more âknownâ schools.
Some of the free rides offered are at commuter/suitcase schools, which may not be attractive to a student who is from outside the region.
The requirements are typically HIGH test scores for the school, backed up by a high GPA, and sometimes ECs are also considered for down-selection.
What are your test scores and GPA? (include SAT breakdown - donât superscore))
Are you saying that your family wonât pay anything? or what?
@mom2coIIegekids, do colleges see the breakdown of each SAT attempt? Donât they just consider the superscore of all 3 components?
No, there is not some standard requirement that all 3000+ colleges and universities, both public and private, follow to hand out free rides to anyone who meets those requirements.
Look at some of the threads on this link: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest
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@mom2coIIegekids, do colleges see the breakdown of each SAT attempt? Donât they just consider the superscore of all 3 components?
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@PakRambo Many/most schools do NOT superscore test scores for merit consideration. Some might, but many do NOT. Donât confuse superscoring for admission with superscoring for merit. Schools often superscore test scores for admission so that they can report higher middle quartiles. Merit is often based on a single sitting.
Many will only use the M+CR SAT from the best sitting or the ACT composite from one sitting. The W score from the SAT is rarely used for merit.
@BobWallace merit based
@mom2collegekids Im currently am only a about to-be junior when school reopens, I have a 5.3 gpa(on a 6 point scale, weighted ) taking all honors classes (pre-ap and apâs) and including the electives. I havenât taken the SAT yet, I took World History AP last year as a sophomore and got a 5 on the ap testing, I heard that they give out scholarships kinda automatically if you had a certain gpa, rank, sat score and average ap testing score so Iâm asking around to try and plan ahead and see what i need to achieve academically
@gandalf78 thanks man
Study up for your PSAT this October! Several schools give full/near full rides for National Merit
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
or if you have great test scores and grades but miss National Merit
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
Who is âtheyâ? there are a few universities (Alabama comes to mind) that has one based on SAT scores. I donât know of any that consider AP scores. As mom2collegekids points out, there are very few automatic scholarships- and most of those are not âfull ridesâ (as in, tuition, room & board).
Study for the PSAT in October. Sign up for the Oct SAT as well.
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I heard that they give out scholarships kinda automatically if you had a certain gpa, rank, sat score and average ap testing score so Iâm asking around to try and plan ahead and see what i need to achieve academically
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Iâve never heard of AP scores being considered. Sometimes rank is considered.
How merit awards are often determined by schools that give meritâŠ
Group #1 - There is a HUGE pool of students with high GPAs. This pool of students will have test scores that range from high to very modest (mostly because of grade inflation, less rigorous curriculum, and/or weak K-12 schools).
Group #2 - There is a smaller pool of students with high test scores (upper quartile for the school).
Group #3 - There is an even smaller pool of students with high test scores for their targeted schools AND high GPAs (eliminating the smart, lazy, wonât turn in assignments kids). Test scores are used to âseparate the men from the boys.â These are the kids who get the large merit scholarships from the schools that award lots of them. Depending on the school, these kids will be well-within upper quartile, or maybe the top 2-5% of the school.
Group #4 - If the school has a limited number of awards, the they will use ECs, leadership, diversity, or other hooks for down-selection from the pool of students in Group #3.
@collegemom3717 @mom2collegekids Thanks for the tip, so if Im looking for scholarships the best way to start is by acing the PSAT and aiming for the national merit?
See post #9 for the lists.