<p>This is enormously frustrating for me, as my final grade as of Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior years comes out to a 3.48 -- just 0.2 GPA away from qualifying for some of these.</p>
<p>I had always poured a lot of work into my extracurriculars, but it's a tad bit upsetting knowing that I won't even be considered for some of these. My ACT score is a 33.</p>
<p>Does the first semester of my senior year count toward these merit scholarship requirements? (would bump it up) Is there still reasonable hope that I can find some merit aid?</p>
<p>Seems to me that most colleges with a match score of 3.5 UW GPA have an average ACT of like a 27, but I'm still disqualified from a good amount of merit aid because of my GPA</p>
<p>It will vary. for the higher scholarships they often require a 3.75 minimum. (My daughter’s full tuition waiver plus some scholarship required a 32 ACT and a 3.75. A 33 ACT plus 3.75 would have netted her more cash. Other smaller scholarships at her school with lower ACT requirements had different GPA requirements, but were only partial tuition waivers)</p>
<p>You would have to check with the schools you are interested in.</p>
<p>You may be eligible based on your GPA at the end of the first semester of senior year. I know my daughter got her ACT up high enough after they had made her an initial scholarship offer and they increased her scholarship (that one point made a huge difference $$$$ wise). I imagine it might be the same at some schools with GPA. Again, it will depend on the school.</p>
<p>Our S got excellent merit offers even though I believe his GPA was shy of 3.5. Check the merit award thread and the Us you’re interested in applying to.</p>
<p>HiMom’s son was a NMF, so that may have been why he got a large merit offer from his univ. </p>
<p>Yes, it’s true that many schools require a GPA of a 3.5 or more in order to qualify. many will not use senior year grades to bump it up.</p>
<p>Is that your weighted GPA? Some schools will use a weighted GPA.</p>
<p>There are some schools (UAB) that will accept a lower GPA for merit consideration for high test scores. maybe UAH as well. Miss State does too, I think.</p>
<p>Yes, S was a NMF and completed 14 APs but was only ranked about the middle of his uber competitive HS. Several Us we toured said they would NOT consider him for merit aid because of his low class ranking, so he didn’t bother to apply. I think his ACT was 34 or so and his SAT was 2230 or so (too long ago). </p>
<p>He did apply to two Us which did guarantee good merit awards to NMFs who were accepted. Those he considered his safeties and he actually happily attended one of them. </p>
<p>To me, it makes good sense to carefully read what the Us you’re I retested in applying to state about how they make their merit awards. Most try to be pretty frank. Some Us want folks who apply for merit to also show need, which we declined to do, so those Us were not on S’s list either. </p>
<p>There are fewer and fewer guaranteed merit awards, so you have to parse the thread on those carefully. If you are on the upper end of the stats in a school known for generous merit, you increase your chances of getting merit aid. </p>
<p>Instate Us can be a great bargain as well. Good luck!</p>
<p>You can find some schools requiring less than 3.5 in this list. In fact, some require test scores only, no grade requirement at all (you have to be admitted, though, so there is surely a grade requirement for that.) Some of the better ones with less than 3.5 requirement are Alabama-Birmingham, Ole Miss, Louisiana Tech, and Ohio U.</p>
<p>I won’t be getting an awesome need-based deal because my dad is currently receiving unemployment benefits, social security, and pension, which keeps him at around $70k a year, plus my mom (non custodial parent) who is making upwards of $50k, even though she isn’t paying child support or contributing toward the household income.</p>
<p>When I go to college however, my dad will have presumably lost unemployment benefits (unless he finds a job which I am beginning to doubt), and he will be making 40-50k a year.</p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that my weighted GPA is a 91.1 (3.6) so that is not a problem – but all the merit scholarships I’ve seen have the cutoff at an unweighted 3.5. </p>
<p>I’ve heard that my school does add senior year 1st semester grades though, which would mean I would have a 3.5 by the time Regular Decisions came out. Would it be worth it to wait until regular decisions to have the 3.5 GPA, or apply Early Action when I don’t have the 3.5 GPA but would probably get better financial deals?</p>
<p>"It’s also worth noting that my weighted GPA is a 91.1 (3.6) so that is not a problem – but all the merit scholarships I’ve seen have the cutoff at an unweighted 3.5. "</p>
<p>Alabama uses the WEIGHTED GPA on your transcript, so if that’s a 3.6, then you’d get FREE TUITION for your ACT 33. You do need to fill out the scholarship app, but you’ll for sure get the money if you apply before Dec 1. Apply NOW…the app is easy and already online. No essays, no LORs.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, that’s awesome but I live in New Jersey- so going to college in Alabama would have to be something of a last resort </p>
<p>I’m planning on majoring in something along the lines of government/international relations/business – and I’m toying around with the thought of going to grad school and getting an MBA, depending on how which direction my undergrad college experience goes.</p>
<p>Alabama should def be an option for you at this point. Better than paying to go to college in NJ. Go where the money is but I am sure there are schools up north that will give you generous merit aid for your great ACT score.</p>
<p>*mom2collegekids, that’s awesome but I live in New Jersey- so going to college in Alabama would have to be something of a last resort *</p>
<p>You wouldn’t say that if you knew how many students come to Bama from the NE and Mid-Atlantic states…lol. :)</p>
<p>Bob is right…many schools have EARLY app deadlines for scholarship consideration, so those who apply after those scholarship deadlines aren’t considered…or they’re only considered if there happens to be some money left after the earlier awards are given out. </p>
<p>Every year we see kids learn in late Dec or early January that their ED schools aren’t affordable, so they start looking for schools that will give them scholarships…and then they sadly discover that they’ve missed scholarship deadlines.</p>
<p>but I am sure there are schools up north that will give you generous merit aid for your great ACT score</p>
<p>The north isn’t fertile ground for merit scholarships for non-NMFs…especially for those without high GPAs.</p>
<p>@MarcusGarvey - Look into the University of South Carolina. Their undergraduate International Business program is ranked #1 and it looks like you would qualify for merit aid. Also, I would check with admissions regarding grade weighting. Last of all, USC is a fair amount of OOS students.</p>
</p>
Don’t rule anything out at this point.</p>