I was wondering which colleges would possibly offer a full ride merit aid scholarship?
My stats are 3.9 UW GPA and 1510 SAT.
The location of the school does not matter.
PLEASE HELP THANK YOU
Are you are US citizen and resident? Which state? Which year are you looking at starting?
I am a US citizen and resident. I reside in New Jersey. I am looking to start in the fall of 2021.
Have you done/will you be doing the PSAT/NMSQT?
Yes I have already taken the PSAT/NMSQT but my score was not exceptional. I don’t think it would help with merit based scholarships as I received low 1400’s.
- just checking since the confusion is common: do you need full tuition (you pay room&board-rent °+ food-, books;…) or a full ride (the college pays for your tuition, room, and board)?
- do you know your FAFSA EFC? Your situation is quite different depending on whether your EFC is 0/low, or if it’s 50K…
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I would prefer full ride. I am not completely sure on the exact number for my FAFSA EFC but I believe it is closer to 50k. But I am looking for a full ride option since my parents are definitely not willing to pay that much money or take out many loans.
You would get $30,000 at U Arizona, based on your stats. You could also get merit scholarships at Rutgers, Penn State, OSU, UNM, ASU, Iowa, Alabama, and others. In fact almost every large public university will have merit scholarships. The only ones which won;t are those who are very popular, like the UCs, UVA, or UMichicagn. UIUC is also pretty stingy with merit aid. Some of the smaller colleges like Kenyon and Grinnell college have merit scholarships, too.
Try University of New Mexico. https://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/
These are crazy times for college admissions with the COVID situation but my NJ son had slightly higher stats than you and got little merit aid from Rutgers. That could vary by gender, race, first in your family to go to college, etc. but he was accepted to the schools of engineering, business and arts & sciences for the honor’s program but not the honor’s college. I think the honor’s college kids get $10k merit aid. I am sad for the kids who got accepted to the honor’s college this fall because there is a beautiful freshmen dorm as a perk that they will not be living in due to the online classes. Hope they can live there for the spring semester.
In addition to the others mentioned above:-
Utah - check website
South Carolina - you need to apply but for top applicants can be very generous (great for international business; foreign languages; also check Capstone Scholars Program)
Miami OH - auto: check website (good business school)
Ole Miss - auto: check website, but for top scores/grades will be generous (Honors College is top notch; Croft Institute for international studies is also excellent)
Get an estimate of your FAFSA EFC here: https://fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fafsa4c/?_ga=2.186444833.940113019.1596285381-1916216422.1596285381#/landing
We can’t give you good information until we know that.
Do you have a commutable-from-home college option? Run the net price calculators on Rutgers, TCNJ, NJIT, and Montclair State to see if any of those look affordable (not sure which NPCs include merit estimates though).
Generally, even if you get a sizable merit award, up to full tuition (which is uncommon), room and board will be at least $8K per year, ranging up to $15K.
I would check the websites of all the schools mentioned. Many State budgets have been financially gutted. Not to get political but treasury secy just said this morning that they will not be bailing out states in the next package.
Parents are also railing and looking for refunds due to being on line in the fall, which many schools are not doing. Michigan, Syracuse and NYU have increased their fees.
I would not count on any full rides.
Your job is to have a conversation with your intents to find out how much they are willing to pay for college.
OOS full rides at state flagships are very few and far between. If you are fortunate enough to get full tuition somewhere, you will have done very well—especially in the current economic environment. Look for automatic for stats type scholarships on the scholarship pages once they are posted for this application cycle. I think there will be a lot less available for the next few admissions cycles. ECs and essays will be very important also. It will be VERY competitive so make sure you apply to affordable schools as well.
How much WILL your parents contribute annually? That is an important number to know. What is it?
As a NJ resident, I would suggest you look at Rowan.
I second the suggestion to look at Rowan, there has been a lot of investment in programs and facilities over the last 5 years.
You might be offered full tuition at Temple University, definitely worth a look.