Help - Safety Colleges with a Late Deadline and Merit Scholarships

<p>First off, I want to acknowledge that I realize I may be asking the impossible in this thread.</p>

<p>However, I am what most people would probably consider a strong student - I have a 36 ACT, 4.0 unweighted GPA, lots of leadership, etc. Unfortunately, after a string of waitlists, a couple rejections, and a few acceptances to high-level schools that didn't grant the money I needed, I find myself potentially back on the college market here at the end of March during my senior year.</p>

<p>SO, ** I am looking for advice on schools with deadlines of April 1st or later, who also give out merit aid to applicants who meet this deadline. ** Any help would be so, so greatly appreciated :)</p>

<p>p.s. - For those who may criticize me for not applying to a "safety school", I did apply to the University of Pittsburgh and was granted a full-tuition scholarship. However, this still leaves about 13k to be payed per year, and my parents are quite insistent that I find a school that I can get nearer to a full-ride scholarship with my stats.</p>

<p>Check University of Oklahoma especially if your are a National Merit Finalist. We’re still getting emails saying apply by April 1. Good luck!</p>

<p>I doubt you will find what you are looking for at this late date. Remember that most scholarship offers have been made by now, along with offers of admission.</p>

<p>I’d take the Pitt deal in a heartbeat. You can borrow up to $5500 freshman year, which doesn’t leave that much for your parents to cover.</p>

<p>I feel sorry for you. If they had expected you to get a free ride, they should have helped you find more options. Good luck.</p>

<p>You may want to consider a gap year if none of those institutions are affordable. A 4.0 36 would have earned you a full ride at a number of schools, but only if you applied by their merit scholarship deadline.</p>

<p>Are you a NMF? If so, then there are schools. Taking a gap year won’t work in that case.</p>

<p>What is your EFC?</p>

<p>Are your parents saying that they won’t pay one cent of your college costs? Or how much will they pay?</p>

<p>It sounds like your parents won’t pay anything since the UPitt wasn’t enough to make them happy. I know that some people might find it strange, but if they don’t have any college savings, and they can’t imagine finding even $500 a month to put towards college, then even coming up with $6k per year would be impossible. </p>

<p>If you’re a NMF, there are some places that will give you money still…but we need more info…</p>

<p>What is your major?</p>

<p>Doesn’t sound like the student is a NMF…no SAT score.</p>

<p>*Accepted from KY! </p>

<p>Quick stats -
ACT: 36
SAT II: 800 Lit, 760 Math
GPA: 4.0 UW
EC: President of a few clubs, captain of soccer team, really involved with church, local science center volunteer during the summer
Oh…and I’m homeschooled, so that’s different</p>

<p>Does anyone know when we will be able to view financial aid awards online??
I’m middle class, but with a family of 4 children in alternative education and parents that tithe…let’s just say I’m just as nervous about the financial aid as I was about the admissions decision*</p>

<p>Sounds like the parents can’t/won’t pay much.</p>

<p>At this late of date, w/o NMF…</p>

<p>UAB
UAH</p>

<p>Don’t know of any others. May need to do a gap year…take NO CLASSES ANYWHERE…not even a CC…and then re-apply.</p>

<p>Very sad that with your stats, you probably could have gotten big merit with earlier apps. When did your parents tell you that you needed closer to “free ride”???</p>

<p>What is your major and CAREER goal? If it’s medicine, then apply to UAB…if it’s STEM, then apply to UAH.</p>

<p>Prairie View A&M has a June 1 application deadline and an automatic full ride scholarship for your stats.</p>

<p>Florida A&M also has a late application deadline, but the automatic full ride is only for Florida residents (automatic full tuition for non-residents).</p>

<p>There may be others with late application deadlines here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

</p>

<p>They should have told you last fall so that you can find some more automatic full ride schools to put on your application list.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the replies so far</p>

<p>To answer a few of the questions I’ve seen -</p>

<p>-No, I’m not a NMF, missed it by like 4 points on the pSAT -_-</p>

<p>-My parents are willing/able to pay about 5k per year. So it’s not nothing, but it’s definitely not all that much. </p>

<p>-My planned major is Economics, and I hope to attend law school after undergrad</p>

<p>In other words, AFC = $5,000 (AFC is actual family contribution).</p>

<p>If you are willing to make an ASC (actual student contribution) of $8,500 (which is the ESC (expected student contribution) at many colleges – $5,500 Stafford loan + $3,000 work earnings), then your price limit is $13,500.</p>

<p>So Pitt at $13,000 net price (assuming all aid is either grants or scholarships, not loans) is (barely) affordable, although many students and parents would prefer to be more conservative if possible (so as not to depend on the Stafford loan and work earnings, since holding a job and getting the desired number of hours is not guaranteed, especially if you do not have work-study eligibility that gives preference for the work-study subsidized campus jobs). Law school is also expensive, so that means more attention to minimizing debt.</p>