My parents make 160,000 a year combined. 1550+ SAT, probably won’t retake. 3.85 GPA with a medium course rigor at an elite public school. Lots of good EC’s in psychology. Director of outreach for New York State for a non for profit that supports psychology and Neuroscience education, internship with a professor doing research, my own research, took psychology classes at a community college, started my schools psychology club, New York State Science Junior Academy participant, Rowing, and 2 instruments. I am a white male. Will it help if I apply ED? I can only attend if I get a full or close to full ride as my parents don’t want to contribute much until grad school, and I feel the same. Don’t like loans. Would stay on campus, and I am a white male if that matters. If I can’t get enough will probably go Stony Brook.
BU is well known for its bad financial aid, and their “full ride” (which in general are rare, btw) offers are few and far between. If you really need extensive financial aid, this is not a school to pin your hopes on.
I’m interested in how good you need to be for merit full rides
You have to be pretty damn good! Amazing grades, scores and ECs. Your grades will hurt you (as well as lack of rigor). They do offer smaller amounts of merit which are also quite competitive.
The max merit aid is full tuition, about 20 students each year. They are usually Ivy League cross admits. With your family income chances of need based are non-existent. The fact that your parents do not want to contribute much is irrelevant.
You will not get anywhere near a full ride or even full tuition at BU so move on.
While full tuition is uncommon, close to full tuition is far more common than you’d think. I technically didn’t get a “full ride”, but my cost after the grants BU gave me made my cost of attendance <$8K a year. Definitely still apply and see what happens - you may get a package that suffices.
This OP is a rising High School JUNIOR.
Boston University has NO full ride scholarships. The most generous award is the Trustee Scholarship which is full tuition…with some other added perks.
It is by separate application done fall of your senior year in high school. It is highly competitive. You need to bump up your GPA.
Did you already take the SAT? On another thread you posted a score 200 points less…
Sorry…too late to edit…it was you sophomore PSAT that was 1330. You do know that the sophomore PSAT score doesn’t count for anything…at all. It’s the junior PSAT score that counts for national merit consideration.
Your strong focus in psychology is definitely a big plus. It would be difficult to receive a full tuition scholarship since they are so competitive. If you went to Boston public schools you would have a strong chance to earn the Thomas Menino scholarship which I believe my friend with similar scores but weaker ECs received(may have been trustee but seems more likely it was the Menino). I know of another person who received a scholarship where he only pays 5% of his family’s earnings for tuition, he is also from the Boston area so I’m not sure if you are eligible for this. It will also most definitely not help to apply ED. While it demonstrates interest, the college knows that you will have no choice but to attend even without receiving a scholarship so they do not need to provide incentives for you to attend. It also locks you into a potentially undesirable situation of attending without any aid and paying the full 70k+ per year. However, there are plenty of other schools where you would be competitive for full ride or full tuition especially if you are a National Merit Finalist or Semifinalist and are eligible for those scholarships.
The COA at Boston University includes a $15,000 cost for room and board. So even with an unlikely full tuition award, there is still going to be a cost to attend.
This student is a NY resident, I believe. Which SUNY colleges…plural…are on the list??