My daughter is a talented young woman of 16 and we’re just starting to look at colleges for her. The reason we are doing this so early is that she wants to attend a private college if possible and we would need a significant amount of aid for that to happen.
She had a very tough time with her math and science courses this year and ended up with bad grades in both, although she did well in social studies and English. When I say she is talented I am referring to the fact that she has a flair for poetry and also is talented in musical theater.
The problem is that she probably wouldn’t gain acceptance into any full need met colleges with her current grades and would not be likely to win merit scholarships based on grades or test scores. She has panic disorder and has severe test-anxiety but we are hoping with help (seeing a counselor next week) next year will be better for her.
Are there any non-academically based full tuition or at least very substantial dollar amount scholarships out there?
Perhaps based purely on essays or poetry or leadership characteristics?
I know this is a tough one but I’m hoping someone out there might have a suggestion.
I’m absolutely a newbie with this whole process, so take this for what it’s worth.
Colleges will award money for one of two reasons: merit or need.
Not sure where you fit on the “need” category, but I’ll assume you’re like us: Solid middle class, making most of your bills most months, planning a vacation at some point (a week upstate for us)-- not going to put much hope in need based scholarships. (Though I would happily take one if it came along!!!)
OK, so you’re looking for merit.
But to get a merit scholarship, you’ve got to be able to indicate merit. That means either grades (GPA) or test --SAT/ACT.
(My son’s B average probably means that’s not incredibly likely.)
We’re looking at private and public schools with a low bottom line, or with significant average institutional aid. (You can find that info at collegenavigator or on the common data sets for each school. (Google that phrase.)
Also, google schools that offer a tuition discount for students from your state. Some parts of the country (New England, for example) have a coop sort of deal with each other.
As far as scholarships go, most of what I’ve read says your odds are far better with local scholarships than big national ones.
Some of the “Colleges that Change Lives” group are test optional and offer merit aid without test scores. Consider going on the CTCL website and reading about some of those schools, you could come up with some good options.
For instance, we have visited Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, which has a music conservatory (doesn’t overlap with musical theater, I know). Lawrence’s tuition is lower than many privates, around $37-42k, I believe, and they offer up to $20,000 merit awards for talent, service etc. Kalamazoo, another test optional school with a lower list price, again in the $37-42k range, offers significant merit aid as well, without test scores. Another plus for K’zoo is that it has few general education requirements so a non-STEMmy kid would never have to take math or science again, if they didn’t want to (my son loves that idea).
It’s wonderful that you are starting to research now, so that you have time to find those gems out there. Good luck to you, and your daughter.
Many kids are either math/science or English/social studies type of kids, she’s not that unusual. Musical Theatre is a whole other ball of wax in terms of talent, so let’s stick to her poetry ability, that might be enough to get her some money at some schools. As far as leadership, look around your town for local scholarships from the Rotary Club or Kiwanis or something like that.
I agree with Midwestmomofboys, look at the CTCL schools as well as other test-optional schools. You’ve given us very little information in terms of hard facts (bad grades - what’s that?). What kind of major is she looking at? Is she interested in pursuing MT? Creative Writing overall or Poetry specifically? Don’t get hung up on poor math and science ability, it’s much more typical than you think. Look at smaller LAC both for interest and money, also smaller state public schools.
Did she take PSAT or SAT at all? She should at least try the SAT with some prep in advance (Blue Book). She might surprise you. Plus the SAT is changing in 2016. If she takes old SAT in the fall with the Writing section she might perform well on that since she’s an English kid. If she’s not a science/math kid, I would skip the ACT.
Testing aside, how are her ECs? Her volunteer activities? Has she won any local awards for her creative writing? It sounds like she’ll be a junior in the fall which gives you time to focus on the things she does well and build up her credentials. CTCL is a good suggestion. There are plenty of colleges out there and they all need to fill a new class each year. I think you will be pleasantly surprised once you look beyond the highly competitive schools.
Since she’s a good writer, there may be some one-time local scholarships that she can apply for and do well on. Ask your guidance counselor now. Look at the websites for neighboring school districts. Lots of times they will post scholarships that your school doesn’t. Check out what kind of scholarships your local credit unions offer. We found this to be a good source. Of course, the best scholarships are those that are recurring for 4 years and offered by the university. Good luck.
“She has panic disorder and has severe test-anxiety but we are hoping with help (seeing a counselor next week) next year will be better for her.”
This is what you need to be worrying about right now. Unless the panic disorder and test-anxiety are under control, she’s not going to make it through the first year of college. Truly. Those are the most important issues in your lives right now. When it looks like things are getting sorted out, try re-posting your question in the Parents Forum with a title along the line of “Good places for student with panic disorder and test-anxiety”. Some of the parents there will have suggestions for places that have better than average support services on campus.
As written above, money for college is based on two things: need and merit. However, need is determined as each college/university sees fit, and it is almost certain that there will be a huge yawning gap between what the institution perceives your need to be, and what you perceive it to be. So, sit down with your financial records and determine just how much you are truly ready, willing, and able to pay. Then run the Net Price Calculator at the websites of several colleges and universities and see whether it looks like they can be made affordable.
If money is an issue and mental health continues to be an issue, take a good long look at your own local community college. Many have good support systems for students like your daughter, and can be good places to spend the first year or two of college before transferring on.
Another thought – with her poetry, has she participated in Scholastic Arts awards before? National Gold key winners do get some scholarship money at some schools, I think Kenyon is one of them.
Also agree that dealing with anxiety should be focus – that first year has so many challenges, a kid with anxiety (we know some) needs well developed coping mechanisms. Also consider whether your daughter would want, or qualify, for testing accommodations in college. Documenting a disability in college is a whole new ball game and takes a lot of time and paperwork.
Good luck to you, hang in there, it is a long season!
Some Musical Theater programs require an audition and if she does well enough she may get a talent scholarship. I would recommend you look around the Musical THeater forum available on the main page for some possible recommendations.
Thanks for all your well wishes. We will look into musical theater and poetry competitions/scholarships. Midwestmomofboys- I’ve never heard of Scholastic Arts awards and National Gold Key so I’ll look those up.
Scholastic Art Awards are typically entered through your school, deadlines are in the fall, you can find the website with info online. There are regional competitions and, students getting “gold” at regionals have their work go to “nationals”, where decisions are made in spring. National gold winners are eligible for scholarship money. Program includes both fine arts == painting, drawing etc. and writing. Good luck!
There are some great schools for kids like yours. I would highly recommend Knox College in Illinois; tests can be taken anywhere except the bathroom; this helped my daughter a lot Freshman year. They are also test optional, have good theatre program (not MT though), and outstanding creative writing program. There are more schools like this, I just know Knox the best.