Wondering if you all had any suggestions on where to apply for a full ride.
stats:
4.0 unweighed
5.48/6.0 weighed
16/850 class rank
national merit (NOT SF in Texas)
SAT 1520 (800 math)
EC:
owned/ran/started own successful business
XC/track 3 year varsity
7 honor societies but no office held
Girl scout Gold Award
IB Diploma (took highest classes offered, especially in math. 5 HL IB)
Thanks.
There’s different schools - SMU has one, Washington & Lee has the Johnson - it’s decent odds in that 10% get it. They also have a tuition only for a Dallas and Houston resident - not sure if you are one. There’s a diversity angle per se but my neighbor was a white female and won it.
UVA has the Jefferson Scholarship - very hard to get.
American has the Douglas scholarship. It’s more for diversity.
With a 4.0 unweighted, you’ll get dirt cheap tuition at U of Arizona and Alabama ($3K each) + check out U of Alabama Huntsville, Mississippi State, U of Arkansas. Alabama probably has more $$ than I listed above if National Merit - they have the most scholars in the country.
Not sure what you mean on National Merit - not in Texas - but ASU, Fordham, Kentucky.
I’m sure others will offer great suggestions - like I’ve seen New Mexico come up as a good one too.
Good luck.
You are up against a lot of students with equal or better stats however if you check the box for diversity and are NOT a full-pay family and they discover this because they make you fill out the FAFSA, there are plenty of full rides out there at all schools. If this is not the case, it is incredibly difficult.
Congratulations on your achievements.
Questions:
What can/will your parents pay for college?
Will you qualify for need based aid?
Have you run the net price calculators at any schools? If so what were the results?
Is there a 2 or 4 year college close enough to home that you can commute to?
I assume you mean your are not a national merit semi finalist?
What HLs and for what major?
Do you know your EFC? (Do you need a full ride becuse your EFC is zero or because it’s too high for your parents’ budget? If the latter, what’s their budget?)
Are you a junior or a senior?
Do you mean your NMF not just NMSF or do you mean neither?
nope, not diversity :(, white female, and I think FASFA will not help at all.
Do not qualify for need base aid. Due to IB I’ve probably taken most of anything a 2 year college can offer. Yes Commended but not semi finalist for the national merit 
HL are the higher level in IB. EFC is too high I would assume. I’m a senior. Neither NMF or NMSF, just commended .
Oh and looking at Engineering as a major.
Tier 2 engineering schools.
Texas Tech
UNC-Charlotte
U of Maine
Wyoming
Full ride might be hard but you can get pretty close. I’d shotgun at a lot of tier 2 schools if I were you.
I was asking what HLs = what subjects – i suppose Math AA/AI, physics, English, .?
Full rides are rare and very very difficult if you’re not NMF. Female/ engineering may help – RPI, WPI, Florida Tech, Texas Tech, UAH may have something.
What’s your parents’ budget?
What can/will your parents pay for college per year?
A full ride is really unlikely, full tuition more possible but still will be hard. If you get full tuition, you would still have to pay for room and board and other expenses, assume $15K or so.
Have you looked at some of the suggestions of the auto merit schools that other posters have suggested? (U Alabama, U New Mexico, U Arizona, ASU) If not do that, you might be able to get full tuition at one of those, not sure. I agree with Texas Tech, and would also look at West Texas A&M, U Houston, UT Dallas, UT Permian Basin, Southern Illinois too.
As a woman planning on engineering, with an 800 math SAT and your grades, I think that tier 2/3 engineering schools would be very interested in you. I realize that a full ride would be optimal, but assuming 15K/yr for room and board (and you can probably become an RA by junior year, which covers room for the last two years), if you borrow the max 27K from the feds, and work a part time job where you can hopefully study (I was great at finding jobs which paid me to sit somewhere and study), and work a full time job over the summers, while living at home, I think you could swing it, even without a full ride, but with just a full tuition scholarship.
Can you live at home and go to a university nearby? Not ideal but an option.
Check out NJIT. (New Jersey Institute of Technology)
My daughter received a full ride to SUNY Buffalo.
It is an underrated school, but she received a great education there several years ago. Undergraduate Scholarships - University at Buffalo
She didn’t have issues finding a job in our home state of California and has done really well.
You may qualify for the Presidential scholarship:
Scholarships | University Honors College | University at Buffalo
Gold Award and IB will get you $$$ at Mississippi State. Also, Gold Award assumes some leadership. Take a shot at SMU’s Hunt Leadership Scholarship (I am a former Hunt).
My daughter got a full tuition ride (Singer scholarship) this past admission cycle to the University of Miami . White female, didn’t apply for financial aid. Her test scores were slightly lower than yours. She chose to go somewhere else, but the scholarship made UM very attractive option.
Unfortunately full tuition nowadays may only be about half the total cost.
Oh sorry, HL- English, HOA, Math (taking Math ANA HL2B), Theater and Physics