<p>17
Senior Class of 2010
Hoover, AL (Originally from Chicago)</p>
<p>ACT
Engish: 36
Math: 34
Reading: 34
Science: 34
Composite: 35
(10 on writing on another test)
SAT
Critical Reading: 680
Math: 740
Writing: 720
Composite: 2140</p>
<p>Credentials:
Took all honors available freshman and sophomore year. 1 AP class Sophomore, 4 Junior, 4 Senior
Took three years of Spanish, one of them being honors
Weighted GPA: 4.08
Unweighted: 3.78
Received 4.0 GPA award 9,10,11
Member of Mu Alpha Theta 11
Member of National Honor Society 11
Ranked 30/630
In the Engineering Academy
An in depth 4 year course that greatly prepares high school students for a future in Engineering
Participated in the BEST robotics competition
Varsity lacrosse player
Most valuable player Junior Varsity (worth mentioning?)
State Champions V and JV
Member of the Shelby County Leadership Forum
Worked for Chick Fil A for the first half of 2008
Worked as a pool monitor/cleaner in the summer 2008-present</p>
<p>Income: Somewhere in the 100k range, but my parents don't like to talk about it.</p>
<p>I know I can get tuition at alabama and auburn, but how are these schools at giving room and board? Also, what could I receive from Vanderbilt or Georgia Tech? Would Notre Dame give me any aid if I made it in?</p>
<p>If you could answer any of these questions for me, thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I think you have to cast a wide net, full ride scholarships are hard to find and very competitive. Case Western and Tulane both give very good merit money and have strong engineering programs</p>
<p>Don’t all of these school post this info on their websites? It’s not difficult to find if you google the school + merit scholarship and it’s always best to get the info straight from the source.</p>
<p>GA Tech does offer full rides, Notre Dame does not but offers merit aid. Vanderbilt offers full tuition + stipend.</p>
<p>With those stats, I image you could also become a National Merit Finalist. How did you do on the PSAT?</p>
<p>Here are some schools that offer automatic tuition, room, and board scholarships (and sometimes stipends or other supplements) to National Merit Finalists:</p>
<p>Alfred
Arkansas State
Arkansas Tech
Ball State
Henderson State
Louisiana Tech
Mississippi State
New Jersey Institute of Technology
New Mexico State
Oklahoma State
Southern Arkansas
Troy
Alabama
Alabama-Huntsville
Central Arkansas
Houston
Idaho
Southern Mississippi
Tulsa
Wichita State</p>
<p>Among these, I would highly recommend Tulsa. Academically strong, great campus, great sports. Alabama and Oklahoma State are the other schools on this list that I would consider a great deal.</p>
<p>If you’ve got interesting extra-curriculars/passions, try to be nominated for and then apply for the Robertson at Duke/UNC, Morehead at UNC, and Jefferson at UVA.</p>
<p>Private colleges are a completely different ball game to public schools. You should have a good shot at aid at many publics. Full ride? Hard to predict - it depends upon which schools you want and how high up the “prestige ladder” you want to go.</p>
<p>Most “elite” privates only award need-based aid. With a $100k income (and assuming no siblings in college) you can expect to be asked to pay 20 - 25k per year. Exceptions include Harvard, Princeton and Stanford who are more generous.</p>
<p>You should have a good chance of admission to both strong southern engineering privates (Rice and Vanderbilt) with those stats. They meet 100% need with very small student loans ($0 at Vandy, $2500 max per year at Rice), and expect small work-study contributions; Both offer some Merit aid, but LARGE merit aid is very competitive and would be a crap shoot at either. For example Rice offers merit aid to 30% of its freshman class but may of the awards are small (start at $1000/year).</p>
<p>Notre Dame has no merit aid, instead they use “university scholarships” as their way of giving financial aid.
Rice’s financial aid last year was rather unimpressive if you did not receive a scholarship.
Vandy, on the other hand, had unbelievable financial aid and you may have an outside shot for a full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>Rice is a 100% meet need school and only includes a maximum of 2500/yr in student loans. Vandy has now gone to no loans (but Vandy costs a lot more than Rice).</p>
<p>If your family’s EFC is large you will be expected to pay that before any need aid is given at either school. Merit aid is available at both, but who gets it is very difficult to predict (although Rice claims 30% of the incoming class got merit this year)</p>
<p>Apply for the McNair Scholarship at U of South Carolina. Your stats are within the range (especially that ACT…but your SAT too). It’s a full ride, tuition, room, board and a laptop computer.</p>