Hi CC. I am looking to apply to school that will give me some form of merit aid. I am unsure of which schools are generous with merit aid and what kind of merit aid I would even receive. The problem is, my ACT score makes me eligible for many scholarship offerings, however, my GPA narrows these opportunities down. I will give you my stats, but let me know if you need more information.
ACT: 32 C
E: 27 M: 33 R: 33 S: 34
GPA: ~3.3 UW
All courses are AP/IB/honors, but my school does not weight GPA or do class rank
I took the SAT as well but did not score well on it. I am still waiting on SAT subject tests (I have taken Bio + Math II) and I expect to score around 700 for both of them.
Any schools that would offer me perhaps half tuition? 33%? Anything?
@mom2collegekids Like I said, my school does not weight GPA because we have an unorthodox schedule. We do not do class rank either. The 3.3 does not include PE and other classes like that, only courses that are APs/IBs/honors (all the classes I take fall into one of these categories). My intended major might be psychology. My parents spend about 100,000 per year
@STEM2017 The link you gave me only included full ride scholarships. While a full ride would be lovely, I would settle with half off or even 33% off tuition
My 3.3 GPA is due to rigorous course load (the school I attend is nationally ranked). However, on a positive note, it is on an upward trend, although when it comes to scholarship money that doesn’t really matter
Go to each schools website and look at the criteria for each scholarship. Full tuition will be listed but if your scores/stats don’t meet full tuition levels, they might meet 1/2 or 1/3 for some scholarships.
If you dig in, you’ll find some really great programs.
m2ck was asking how much your parents will spend each year on college for you. If the answer really is $100k per year, you’re all set. However, I suspect that $100k is how much your parents make per year. So, how much will your parents spend each year on college for you?
@JonathanJohnDoe - I think you have your terminology mixed up. Some of the colleges on those websites provide full ride scholarships, which cover both tuition and room & board (and other expenses), but most of them are just full tuition scholarships. There are also several that also provide half-tuition scholarships for students with somewhat lower test scores or GPA’s.
You can also put together your own list, by focusing on colleges where your GPA and test scores are above the norm for that school. Think about it this way . . . if your GPA/test scores are just average for a school, why should they pay you to attend? But if your GPA & test scores are way above the average, they’d probably be excited to have you - and may even be willing to give you a generous merit award to entice you to attend. So focus on those schools where it looks like you’d be the smartest kid in the room. (And don’t worry about feeling isolated once you get there - even if you have a higher GPA and/or ACT score than the average student, there will still be plenty of students with all sorts of accomplishments you’ve never dreamed of, who will challenge you in ways you can’t yet imagine!)
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The 3.3 does not include PE and other classes like that, only courses that are APs/IBs/honors (all the classes I take fall into one of these categories).
My intended major might be psychology.
My parents spend about 100,000 per year
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and you’re premed
and you don’t want an LAC
you want a near top 100 national university.
First Gen, white male
sorry, I missed the part that your school doesn’t weight GPA.
What is your GPA including ALL of your classes, including PE and electives???
Does that 3.3 GPA include your likely grades at the end of this semester?
Do you mean that your parents EARN about $100k per year? If so, please ask them how much they’ll SPEND each year on your college costs. $100k may sound like a lot, but if they don’t already have dedicated college savings, then they may find it difficult to pay a lot for college.