Merit scholarships - do they exist?

^^ That is the question I was just going to post! I think it is worth investigating whether this is an independent student. It’s also a student getting very close to 24 years old anyway so it might be worth waiting.

There are LGBT scholarships, so check with those organizations. There are many schools that grant more merit aid than those you’ve listed. If you like the military, you might also want to apply to the academies.