Current Unweighted Cumulative GPA: 3.4 (4.5 scale)
ACT Score: 27…I am taking a class and have done better on practice tests so my predicted is 31-34
So I am a junior in high school and my cumulative GPA is a 3.4 which isn’t terrible but also isn’t ideal. During my sophomore year I was experiencing very complicated family problems along with previous emotional problems (severe anxiety) that caused my grades to sink. This semester I managed to get a 4.0 and plan to keep it that way until graduation so I will end up with something around a 3.5 or 3.6. My question is whether or not I will be able to receive merit scholarships to college. My family issues have left us in extreme credit card debt so we do not have the money to pay for college, but we do not qualify for financial aid either. I have many teachers who are aware of my situation and are more than willing to write letters of rec. I’ve been looking for scholarships and a lot of them have a minimum GPA of 3.7 and a certain ACT score that I am usually well above. Is there any chance that I could still be considered for these scholarships even though I don’t technically meet the requirements if I explain my situation to the colleges? Basically I need to figure out how to pay for college with the stats that I have. Any info is appreciated. Thanks.
look up threads for B and B+ kids. there’s lots of info
also, look for ‘colleges that change lives’ - these are mid-tier LACs and usually have lots of aid for folks in your situation (for example - at College of Wooster you may get 20K+ merit)
if you’re looking at publics, remember that OOS tuition is very high, and not likely to give large merit for those stats.
Schools offer merit money to entice students who (generally) bring up their stats. So if you pick the right schools, you can get merit money.
From what I’ve seen of smaller LACs, most of them offer up to ~ $22K or so, which gets the price down to ~ $35K. After that, you need financial aid to cover the rest.