Merit Aid Scholarships/ Full Ride

Paying for College
1

Hi everyone!

My dream school for as long as I could remember has been Harvard. I will also apply to Harvard SCEA today and figured I would have a decent shot. I also figured that the costs of attendance would be covered by Harvard’s excellent financial aid. However, my dad ran the net price calculator yesterday and it seems as if I wouldn’t be eligible for financial aid (any at all 8-| ).

My parents refuse to pay for college, because 1. I am a German citizen (US dual citizen) and can study for free here in Germany and 2. if they paid anything it would be for med school.

Now I am in the position of finding other schools that give merit aid. However, it is already October 29th and most deadlines are very, very, very soon.

Of course there is http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/. Most of these universities aren’t rated good and almost all of them don’t suit my interests.

With an ACT of 33 (34, 35, 30, 33, 9 Essay) and a 760 in Chem and 720 in Maths 2 I think I probably am good enough to get some merit aid. As I am educated abroad in Germany, the conversion of GPA is somewhat confusing (I should have a ~3,6; which is extremely good for german standards). Class Rank is 1/102. I also have extremely good techer recs and ECs.

Unfortunately some merit aid won’t be enough; I would need a full ride or something close to a full ride.

Which universities would give me that merit aid on the base of my academic achievement?

The two most important factors are:

  1. Academic excellence
  2. Campus/Weather (I love Beach campuses - like UCSB or USD; however, their merit aid is severely lacking)

Thanks a lot for your help

P.S.: I really don’t want to study in Germany! I feel a strong sense of belonging to the US and I hae already spent the last ~14 years here in Munich.
P.S.S.: I am still applying to Harvard (just for the possible acceptance letter)

Sorry if this kind of question has already been asked before :wink:

2

http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html

3

First - don’t expect much ‘HELP’ with your vague and all caps thread title of ‘HELP’.

Second, you already answered your own question by including the link to the Yolasite.

Third - you are not being realistic - you want a merit based full ride but you think that there is a magical, hidden list which is not part of the Yolasite and includes better schools which suit your interests (which by the way, you did not even list your interests).

4

Thx @bodangles

University of Alabama is already on my list.

Any other suggestions? (Especially merit scholarships?)

5

Thank you @Madison85

I changed the title, sorry about that. :wink:

What I ment with interests is 1. High academic rating and 2. Nice campus /weather, e.g. beach campuses.

The link to the yolasite are all opportunities I am considering; what I am asking here for are similar scholarships that are not automatically awarded and therefore don’t appear on the link.

6

Do you know how much your parents will be willing to pay to fly you back and forth to the US? How much can they/will they contribute for books and incidentals? Do you know what the weather is like in Boston (Harvard is 10 miles away or so from Revere Beach- which I don’t think is the kind of beach you are talking about), 2 hours from Cape Cod (very nice beaches, but again- only relevant during July and August when you won’t be attending college).

Everyone’s dream college is Harvard. But if you are looking for weather and beach, it’s a weird dream IMHO. UC Santa Barbara- this I understand. But Cambridge Massachusetts??? (and I’m a native Bostonian- who loves the weather- but that’s 'cause I love snow and the autumn leaves…)

7

http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/

8

@blossom

I specifically stated Academics as Number 1 priority.

That means Academic excellence is the most important factor. (And in the case of Harvard the academic excellence even excuses the horrible weather :wink: )

9

USC and University of Miami have merit scholarships. Also, for a less competitive chance at high merit, Florida International and Central Florida.

10

Thanks @palm715

The thing with University of Miami is that for the Stamps Leadership Sholarship one has to attend a hosted weekend (I live in Europe) and the Jenkins Sholarship is only open to residents of AL, GA, FL, SC, and TN.

USC is already on my list.

What do you mean with Central Florida? University of Central Florida or College of Central Florida?

11

They are large public universities in Florida. We looked at them for my daughter with similar stats. And I should have said South Florida, not Central. I think Central only gives a big scholarship for National Merit. As other posters have stated, the chances to get the merit you want at the prestige level you desire, especially with the added request of sand and sun is very low.

12

Welcome to the world of a lot of high performing kids. You are part of a large crowd. Competitive full rides are few and far between and you are pretty late in the game for the search. For example, GT’s application deadline for their presidential scholarships is Oct 15 (or it used to be. I would expect it is still that early.) Those types of scholarships are also not going to be dependent just on stats, but usually require additional major leadership roles that have had a significant impact on your community. The competition for those types of scholarships is fierce.

If you think the schools listed on that link do not fit your needs, your best choice would be to make sure you have admission to a school in Germany b/c the schools found in that link (and a handful of others of similar ranking) are the only schools which guarantee merit $$. And most are free tuition, not full ride. Free tuition may leave $12000 in remaining costs.

13

Thank you @Mom2aphysicsgeek

I only realised the fatality of my situation yesterday. I, too, wish i had started earlier :confused:

If I keep my class rank up I will be offered a full ride at one of the best German Universities at the end of senior year. With my stats getting into any German University shouldn’t be difficult.

I want to study medecine and in Germany the medecine system is different (it only takes 7 years). I feel that my chances of admission to a US medical school would be extremely low, if I did my undergraduate in Germany. Also I want to continue living in the US.

Free tuition is, while not ideal, still good. My parents would need to pay for Housing and Food in Germany, too, so they agreed to pay for it if I studied in the US.

Aside from my stats I have a huge EC involvement (instrumental and athletic) and leadership roles, so I do feel competitive.

14

[QUOTE=""]
feel that my chances of admission to a US medical school would be extremely low, if I did my undergraduate in Germany. Also I want to continue living in the US. <<

[/QUOTE]

Very true…almost impossible to get into a US med school with a foreign (non-canadian) degree. Most or all US med schools require that at least a certain number of courses be taken in the US.

Since you are a US Citizen, your best bet is to go to undergrad here.

I wouldn’t recommend going to any west coast schools, particularly any in Calif.

You will not qualify for much/any merit from USC. USC rewards high stats…ACT 35+ (and even that isn’t assured). An ACT 33 is very good, but not high for USC.

If you are SERIOUS about going to med school, then you should be looking at schools where your stats are high. Undergrads in the US heavily weed their premeds, so the weaker students at the school often get weeded out.

At virtually all US undergrads, only about 25% of the freshman premeds ever apply to med school…and of those, only 50-75% get one acceptance to a US MD school.


[QUOTE=""]
University of Alabama is already on my list.

[/QUOTE]

Have you applied? Your transcripts may take awhile to get there and the deadline for merit is in about 6 weeks.

My son did his premed undergrad at Alabama with large merit scholarships and is now a 3rd year med student. Alabama has very good premed advising and does write Committee Letters.

So far, what is your list of schools that would give you free tuition?

@goldenmaster

15

But even if he got free tuition, wouldn’t housing and food, books and supplies, travel costs and insurance be well over $15,000? I doubt his parents pay that much for him to live in Germany. Also are they willing and able to pay for US med school?

16

You might be competitive for merit scholarships at Michigan State University. I am not sure how Out-Of-State versus International status works, but you could conceivably be awarded a tuition grant that would allow you to pay in-state tuition and a scholarship worth $15,000/yr that would cover that tuition. The application deadline is November 1.

The Lyman Briggs residential college has many Pre-med students.

17

@mom2collegekids @mommdc @greeninohio Thanks for the answers.

Just an update: After long discussions with my parents, it seems as if there is a budget. I don’t know the size of it, but it should pay for an undergradute. However, financing med school might be a problem then. Also my father told me that that budget was there in case I had an enterpreneurial idea or want to finance an apartment.

I personally believe that the best way that kind of money can be invested is in my education. But I would rather go to a non-known undergradute college and then to an Ivy Med school than the other way around. Nonetheless admission to an Ivy School is not guaranteed (The accepance rate for harvard Med school is even smaller than that of Harvard college). Maybe I will even have a change of hearth and decide to major in something completely different and not go to med school at all (though very unlikely).

I always thought Heidelberg and LMU (the two best german universities) were my safeties, but it seems as if I can’t even go to them if I am to fulfill my dream of living in the US as a doctor.

My current plan is to continue applying to Ivys (Harvard application went out yesterday :D), but also apply to some automatic full rides and competitive full rides. Whether I will decide to spend the money on an Ivy will then only become relevant if I am even accepted. :wink:

My current list is:

Dream Schools (the usual suspects):

Harvard
Stanford
Yale
Princeton
Hawaii Pacific University/ University of Hawaii at Manoa

Full Rides and schools that award merit aid:

University of Alabama
Loyola Marymount University (Trustee Scholars)
USC (will take that one out @mom2coIIegekids)
Tualne University (Dean’s Honor Scholarship/ Paul Tulane Scholarship)
University of Buffalo (Presidential Scholarship)
Louisiana State University (Stamps/Chacellor’s)
Rollins College (Alfonds Scholars Program)

Unfortunately I didn’t find any Hawaii university that would give me merit aid…

@mom2coIIegekids What med school is your D/S at right now?

And generally I don’t want to major in Pre-Med. I thought that isn’t required for med school?

18

You’re a US citizen. You don’t need your parents to pay for med school. You have full access to fed loans to cover your med school costs.


[QUOTE=""]
But even if he got free tuition, wouldn't housing and food, books and supplies, travel costs and insurance be well over $15,000? I doubt his parents pay that much for him to live in Germany. Also are they willing and able to pay for US med school?

[/QUOTE]

Yes, costs would be more than living costs in Germany. He can borrow $5,500 himself, if needed.

He doesn’t need his parents to pay for med school. He’s a US citizen.

19

<<<
@mom2coIIegekids What med school is your D/S at right now?

And generally I don’t want to major in Pre-Med. I thought that isn’t required for med school
<<<<

There is no such thing as a “Pre-med major” at 99.99% of schools. Absolutely NOT required for med school.

Most premeds major in: Bio or Chem or Math or English or History or Eng’g or Music or whatever.

Med schools don’t care what you major in as long as you take the premed prereqs, which are just regular bio, chem, physics and math classes…nothing medical about them.

@goldenmaster
My son is at UAB School of Medicine (technically called The University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham) but people call it UAB Med for short. It was his top choice, so we were very happy he got in.

20

I think you should adjust your list to include fewer reach schools and fewer schools that have highly competitive merit awards and add a few who have automatic or close to automatic merit awards. You are probably underestimating the competitiveness of the admissions pool at the elite colleges you’re applying to as well as the pool competing for merit aid at lesser schools. It’s fine to apply to a couple of each, but the time required for essays and supplemental materials is going to make each application less than it could be if you only focused on a couple. Your scores/credentials are very good, but not good enough to make you stand out. Applying to less prestigious academic schools would be more effective from a cost/benefit standpoint in regard to your time.