I’m currently a high school junior, and in researching colleges, I have a question as far as scholarships go. I’m a pretty good student (#2 in my class, 4,0 UW GPA with mostly honors and AP classes, projected ACT score of 33, lots of extracirriculars), and so getting accepted into schools isn’t a big concern for me. However, while I wouldn’t really be considered for any need-based scholarships, the scholarship offers I receive would be a big factor in my decision as to where I would attend college. I’m looking into majoring in business/math (accounting, actuarial science, etc.) and I know that schools like UMich and UPenn have great programs in this area, but these schools are extremely expensive. How much scholarship money could I possibly get, seeing how I’m not eligible for need-based $$$, and would almost solely rely on academic/leadership scholarships?
Didn’t elaborate on this much: my dad has a good-paying job, but my mom doesn’t work. I have a modest amount of college savings, but I would need very good scholarship offers to even have schools like UMich and UPenn come close to being in my price range.
U Penn doesn’t give any merit awards…so you would get $0 in merit from them.
mIchigan does give some merit awards but they are highly competitive. They are even more highly competitive for out of state students. Are you you a Michigan resident?
Read the links in this thread. Check the college websites as some of these might have changed.
You are smart to be looking at this now.
Thanks for the link and info! And I’m from Illinois, btw.
What about accounting or actuarial science at a public university in Illinois?
“Projected ACT”?
Did you take the PSAT?
UPenn doesnt’ give merit, as mentioned. UMich gives some merit, but usually, higher scores are needed since they already have a good number of students with an ACT 33. There are many at UMich with an ACT 35 who’ve gotten no merit. UMich seems to be moving to the “need based aid” mostly model.
UIUC is also lousy with merit, so don’t expect any merit from there.
Have you asked your parents how much will be spent each year on college? You mention a college fund.
Ask your parents how much they’ll spend each year on college.
As for Accounting/Actuarial …Lucky for you, there are many other good schools with good programs. Those majors don’t require a big expensive name…not at all.
There are 1000 Illinois students at Alabama because of their awesome merit awards. Alabama also has a highly ranked Accounting program, and the Big Four do recruit there.
If you do get an ACT 32+, you’d get free tuition.
I wouldn’t count on merit aid from Michigan. There were several kids at our IL public HS with stats comparable to yours who didn’t even get in, so I’m guessing those stats aren’t near the top for OOS students, which is what would be required for merit. As for Penn, no merit aid is available and it’s far from a slam dunk for admission, too.
Can your parents afford to send you to UIUC? It has very good programs in both actuarial science and accounting, but it’s not inexpensive as state schools go. The COA is over $35,000 for a business major. My D applied there as a business major with stats comparable to yours and didn’t get a penny of merit aid. There is not much given.
If they can’t afford UIUC, I would start focusing on schools that DO give significant merit aid to students with your stats. As M2CK pointed out above, Alabama is a good start (my D is a senior in the business school there and has greatly enjoyed her experience), but there are others as well in the link she provided.
Sorry to bombard you with bama fans, but I’m an out of state student studying Actuarial Science at Alabama on full tuition and semesterly stipends with the National Merit Scholarship, so feel free to ask me any questions about my experience!
You’re choosing schools where you’ll get $0 in scholarships. Not necessarily through fault of your own – just either that they don’t offer them at all (UPenn) or you’d need to be just about perfect (UMich – which is an extraordinarily competitive school that doesn’t need to convince anyone to go there).
Choose new schools. If you won’t be eligible for FA, and you can’t be a full-pay student, neither UPenn nor UMich will be an option.
From your name I assume you’re from Chicago. UIUC doesn’t give a lot of merit, but there is some. For in-state CoB students, they will sometimes award a few thousand. If you have strong ECs along with great grades, you may be selected for Business Honors. But keep in mind there are other merit scholarships available too.
UIUC is incredibly rough for merit. A friend worked at some extremely prestigious research labs when very young, made it into the honors program in her major at UIUC, and didn’t receive any merit despite having stellar stats.
Really wouldn’t hold out for UIUC. Especially not with a 33 (not bashing the score – just saying the odds it would get anything at UIUC are astronomical at best).
Consider DePaul University! It’s an expensive school, but they offer quite a bit in merit aid if you have the GPA/ACT scores!
Temple might be an option