Ideas for financial safeties - 3.48 GPA 1340 SAT, 0 need-based

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've been looking for financial safeties aside from my in-state flagship with my stats. It seems my chances at many scholarships are shot by my GPA; I see a lot with a 3.5 or 3.75 cutoff. If there's any schools that don't count freshman year, my 10th+11th grade GPA is above 3.5.</p>

<p>My family has an income of $300,000 per year and can afford any school I wish to go to. I'd still like to keep my options open to cheaper schools in case I don't get in to my target schools.</p>

<p>I have a few requirements:
-D1 football or basketball program
-medium sized or honor's college if it's large
-within continental US, but preferably not too far north where it's cold most of the year
-not too far from an urban center, but in a good area</p>

<p>UMD would cost roughly $27,000 a year and that is no problem for my family. I'm turned off by the bad area and large size. Do I have any other options under $20,000 that meet my requirements?</p>

<p>I plan to major in Economics and will declare pre-med. I could switch to pre-dental at some point.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You should note that 1340 represents CR+Math, correct?</p>

3

<p>Yes, total is a 1990. 670M 670R 650W.</p>

<p>This was my first try and a 1400 is not out of the question.</p>

4

<p>A few more SAT points or high enough ACT can get you some of the big 3.0 GPA with 1360-1400 SAT CR+M or 31-32 ACT scholarships:</p>

<p>Louisiana Tech
University of Louisiana - Monroe
Mississippi
Ohio</p>

<p>Your current stats get the $10,000 per year scholarship at University of Alabama - Birmingham.</p>

5

<p>Is that your weighted GPA on your transcript?</p>

6

<p>Did you look at And of the other publics in MD? All are smaller than UMCP, and some surely have sports for you to watch.</p>

7

<p>Weighted GPA on transcript: 3.88.</p>

<p>I know there are other publics in MD, but I see no point in going to them over UMD-CP. I’m trying to see if there’s any schools worth going to over UMD at the same pricepoint. UMD has a lot of things I like but it’s not perfect.</p>

8

<p>I will try to get a 1360 or 31-32 ACT. It just sucks that I miss out on lots of $$$ by .02 points. I wish I could have told freshman/sophomore me this. It’s a good thing I don’t need merit aid, it’d just be nice to have.</p>

9

<p>Well, at some schools, if your weighted GPA is on your transcript, then that is good enough. At Bama, with your weighted GPA and your M+CR, you’d get a 2/3 tuition scholarship…so about $16k per year. Bama is big, but it does have a very nice Honors College that would accept you…</p>

<p>Do you want Econ in the B-school or Econ in A&S? I’m guessing that if you’re premed, you’d want Econ in A&S???</p>

10

<p>Bama really would look at the weighted? Both GPAs are on the transcript. It was my #1 safety until I realized I had a 3.48 (I calculated 3.52 by error) and thought I had no chance at the scholarships. </p>

<p>I could go either way with Econ. If I go into practice, Business Econ may be more helpful, but I would study either one.</p>

11

<p>Yes, Bama takes the HIGHEST GPA that is written on the transcript. So, yours is good. Get your apps in now (school app and scholarship app), and you’ll soon have your acceptance and award.</p>

<p>Look over both ways of Econ and see if one works better for premed. I’m guessing that A&S would be the better way to go to include the prereqs, but I’ve never checked.
<a href=“http://courseleaf.ua.edu/[/url]”>http://courseleaf.ua.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://courseleaf.ua.edu/commercebusinessadministration/econfinancelegal/#majoreconomicstext[/url]”>http://courseleaf.ua.edu/commercebusinessadministration/econfinancelegal/#majoreconomicstext&lt;/a&gt; <- the info here is for both B-school Econ and A&S Econ.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that with MCAT changes, some med schools are requiring extra classes like Psych, biochem, and maybe sociology…along with the other standard ones.</p>

12

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<p>Wow, so does this mean that high schools with exaggerated GPA weighting schemes that can produce 6.5 weighted GPAs out of 3.8 unweighted GPAs would be helping their students get big scholarships from Alabama?</p>

13

<p>A&S may be the way to go. I think the new MCAT comes out in 2015 and it does include those. If I went A&S I’d likely have to take Psych and Socio anyways. I’ll look into it more when I start applying.</p>

<p>Thanks guys, Bama ia now my #1 financial safety. It has D1 sports (even though Ohio State will win this year!), an honor’s college, and it’s in a much nicer area than UMD. Frankly, I don’t want to stay in Maryland all my life and going away would be a nice change. </p>

<p>Now I just need to up my test scores to get good merit aid at UMiami, my #1 school…</p>

14

<p>Have you considered University of South Carolina? Good econ program, #1 honors college and you could probably get a nice scholarship. Great football team obviously. Look into it.</p>

15

<p>Why not take the SAT again? Also take the ACT. The University of Alabama will grant the next scholarship level if you bring your scores up to that particular range. See here:
[Out-of-State</a> Scholarships - Undergraduate Scholarships - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html]Out-of-State”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html)</p>

<p>OUT-OF-STATE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 2014-2015</p>

<p>Please review our FAQ section for details on the scholarships listed below.</p>

<p>CAPSTONE SCHOLAR</p>

<p>A first-time freshman student who meets the December 15 scholarship priority deadline, has a 27 ACT or 1210–1240 SAT score (critical reading and math scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Capstone Scholar and will receive $14,000 over four years ($3,500 per year).</p>

<p>COLLEGIATE SCHOLAR</p>

<p>A first-time freshman student who meets the December 15 scholarship priority deadline, has a 28 ACT or 1250–1280 SAT score (critical reading and math scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Collegiate Scholar and will receive $16,000 over four years ($4,000 per year).</p>

<p>FOUNDATION IN EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP</p>

<p>A first-time freshman student who meets the December 15 scholarship priority deadline, has a 29 ACT or 1290–1320 SAT score (critical reading and math scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Foundation in Excellence Scholar and receive the value of one-half tuition or $47,900 over four years ($11,975 per year).</p>

<p>UA SCHOLAR</p>

<p>A first-time freshman student who meets the December 15 scholarship priority deadline, has a 30–31 ACT or 1330–1390 SAT score (critical reading and math scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a UA Scholar and will receive the value of two-thirds tuition or $64,184 over four years ($16,046 per year).</p>

<p>PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR</p>

<p>A first-time freshman student who meets the December 15 scholarship priority deadline, has a 32–36 ACT or 1400–1600 SAT score (critical reading and math scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive the value of tuition or $95,800 over four years ($23,950 per year).</p>

<p>COPIED FROM THE FAQS PAGE:</p>

<p>If I am awarded the Capstone Scholar Scholarship, take the ACT test again and score higher, which will make me eligible for the Presidential Scholar Scholarship, do I receive both scholarships?</p>

<p>No. In the scenario described above, the Presidential Scholar Scholarship would replace the Capstone Scholar Scholarship.</p>