<p>I am African-American with a 3.92 GPA and a 2010 SAT (680/680 on both math and CR). So I'm hoping those three things can pay for as much as my education as possible.</p>
<p>I have heard of schools offering students with impressive credentials full rides, waiving out-of-state fees, or paying for a large part of their tuition. I am requesting more information on how students have received this type of aid. Do the schools send a letter saying that we are giving you x amount of dollars? When does said letter come? When you receive acceptance notification or after you have submitted a FAFSA?</p>
<p>Are you low or lower-middle income? If you have an otherwise solid application, raising your SAT score 150+ points could put you in the running for a full, need-based full ride at the country’s “top 20” or so schools.</p>
<p>I think you should apply to be a Venture Scholar at [Ventures</a> Scholars Program - <a href=“http://www.venturescholar.org%5B/url%5D”>www.venturescholar.org](<a href=“http://www.venturescholar.org/]Ventures”>http://www.venturescholar.org/)</a>.
Some schools automatically give merit scholarships to Venture Scholars. For example, you would get $12,000 / yr for being a Venture Scholar at the University of Rochester. There are some other merit (academic) scholarships for African-Americans. Check out Case-Western and Wheaton College (IL).</p>
<p>I think you are better off if you actively seek out the colleges that you are interested in. There are several universities that will give you full-ride if you are a NMF or NMS. Additionally, there are several African American specific scholarships through various foundation some only race dependent and some race and income dependent. There are many threads on this board that will help you locate them.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the responses. I will share what I have learned since I have lived through it and can help others. I believe the best route to go as far as a lot of scholarship money is either to apply to colleges that have deals where they give full rides for students with a certain GPA, or be a great athlete. However, what I have done since I wanted to go Virginia Tech. I completed a FAFSA, and am doing around 10 local scholarships. This seems like the best route to go. I have not heard about any financial awards yet, but I hope that I can cover a large portion of the costs.</p>
<p>re: applying for local scholarships
I would recommend calling the financial aid office of each school to which you are applying. Ask them specifically about how they handle outside scholarships. Please do not automatically assume that local scholarships will reduce YOUR out of pocket expense. Many schools view an outside award as reducing your “need” and hence may reduce your aid package as well. The good news is that it appears they usually reduce loans and work study aid first.
Good luck!</p>
<p>*I am African-American with a 3.92 GPA and a 2010 SAT (680/680 on both math and CR). So I’m hoping those three things can pay for as much as my education as possible.</p>
<p>I have heard of schools offering students with impressive credentials full rides, waiving out-of-state fees, or paying for a large part of their tuition.*</p>
<p>If you’ll need significant merit money to go to college, then I wouldn’t bother with schools that only waive OOS fees, because that still will leave you with $20k+ each year - which might not be do-able, since OOS publics don’t give much FA.</p>
<p>edited to add…
**WAIT!! ** Are you already a senior? If so, I don’t know what can be done at this point…</p>