Looking for merit scholarships. 35 ACT 4.9 GPA lots of volunteering and ec’s, awards, etc. I applied to Coca Cola but am looking for others. I’ve spent the last 3 or 4 hours (I’m home sick) and all I come across are need based.
The best merit comes from the schools themselves. You’ve got great stats. There are lots of schools who wouldn’t charge you a dime for tuition. It might be a better use of your time to research merit granting schools. I’ll bet you can find one you love.
Yes, I have researched those schools and have already applied to many of those EA as my back up plan. I am pretty sure I’ll be offered full-tuition at some of those but I am trying to cover room and board. Also, trying to get merit so I can afford to attend one of my reach schools if I get accepted since some don’t award any merit scholarships…only financial need scholarships. Parents make way too much for me to qualify for anything but are unable to contribute to my college expenses.
Will your parents really not pay anything towards college? Is their income over 200k? If so, I’m sorry to tell you that unless you can win a super big scholarship, you probably should stop wasting your time with schools that are reaches for you. The odds of coming up with a quarter of a million dollars in scholarship money to attend Stanford, Harvard, et al, are really, really slim. So slim, it’s probably not worth your trouble.
My daughter was in that boat. We were willing to pay up to 30k, but knowing we wouldn’t get financial aid, we eliminated the Georgetowns and Princetons of the world. Our D did receive some first year scholarships for a total of 3k. And I think only winning first year scholarship money is pretty typical, even for top students. If I were you, I would start focusing energy on schools that offer competitive full scholarships - you’ve got a good chance for one of them. Think of these schools as financial reaches. You know you’ll get in, it’s just a question of whether or not you’ll get enough money to attend. What kind of school do you like?
Off the top of my head, I know Fordham offers full scholarships.
Do you have any special knowledge or skills? Are you a budding rocket scientist?
@courtneythurston was awarded $200k in scholarships but they weren’t based only on stats.
@halfemptypockets I’ve applied EA to a number of schools that I will be competitive for full scholarships as well and I would be happy to attend them. Just want to take a shot at some reach schools if possible. I don’t want to look back and have any regrets. I’m willing to do the work of applying for more scholarships, I’m just am having trouble finding them. Most are for the poor, minorities or for overcoming extreme adversity.
You’re having trouble finding them because private entities have little/no motivation to fund large four year awards to students with affluent parents. Why would they bother?
There are very few private awards for four years as it is. There are extremely few that are for large amounts that don’t consider “need”. Coca Cola is one, not sure if there are any others.
I don’t think the coca cola one even covers half the costs.
Check with your parents’ employer to see if they offer any.
It’s really unfortunate. I know many students at my school whose parents make a lot of money, however, they do not wish to contribute large amounts to education. Just because parents have it doesn’t mean they are going to give it to their kids for school. And just because a family makes a lot doesn’t always mean they have an extra $65,000 a year lying around, they may have debt or other family obligations that prohibit large amounts of money for college. A high achieving student at my school is boasting that if she gets into an Ivy she only has to pay a few thousand dollars a year to attend. Many of the elite schools will have either very, very wealthy families or very, very poor families. There is going to be very few middle to upper middles class students. That’s not a well-rounded class.
Oh well, that’s life. I will continue to look for scholarships but will be happy to attend any of the schools on my list. Another thing I am considering is taking a gap year to work and save up some money to attend one of my reach schools. I have a lead on an internship on the west coast that could pay a good salary.
How was your PSAT score? Some schools will give full ride for NMF.
Also which state are you from, what is your intended major?
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Another thing I am considering is taking a gap year to work and save up some money to attend one of my reach schools .
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@jr2016 When I read posts like this I have to ask…
What is the plan… To save some money towards the FIRST year?
This isn’t a well-thought out plan. You’d spend a year working as much as you can, maybe save $15k-20k… And that’s only if with only a high school diploma you somehow got a job that paid about $15 an hour and you save as much as you can paying taxes.
And, how would that $20k pay for one year of a reach school? And how would the other 3 years get paid?
The honest answer is that there aren’t many outside scholarships based solely on stats. Apart from very oddly specific ones (ie achievements in one specific area – there are plenty of those, but they’re typically small), Coke is what really pops to mind.
But Coke is “only” 20k.
@mommdc Yes I’ll most likely make NMF. I am aware of many full ride and full tuition scholarships and have applied to many of those schools. What I am now looking for are outside merit scholarships so I can attend one of my reach schools if I get in. None of those offer merit scholarships or anything for NMF. I have just heard back from a corporation that offers a large merit scholarship that is not widely known so will apply for that one but am looking for others.
@billcsho Nothing from parents employer unfortunately but thanks for the suggestion.
how much will your parents pay each year??
what is your major and career goal?
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have just heard back from a corporation that offers a large merit scholarship th
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how much is that award and is it for all four years??
@CourtneyThurston Wow, I was really impressed with your bio and you gave very good advice on your site. There was actually one scholarship that you were awarded that fits me perfectly. Also, I don’t mind doing the work for smaller ones as they could add up. I have already sent all my college apps out so I have plenty of time.
You are likely in the same situation as many students, your parents are too well off for you to qualify for need based aid, and not well off enough to afford 65,000 dollars per year for an education. It takes many fairly well off people 30 years to pay for a house of that value. It is highly unusual for a 17 year old to raise those kind of funds on their own, it takes some extraordinary talent or luck.
For the mere mortal upper middle class kid, you have to let go of the reaches that only offer need based aid. It is what it is. You have great stats, which are not only the result of your brains and hard work but also the advantages you have had growing up in a well off family. Use these stats to your advantage and go for those prestigious competitive scholarships that some schools offer and automatic ones at others. You will be just as proud to tell others you got a full ride somewhere as you will that you got admitted to xyz Ivy. Especially since you won’t likely be able to go xyz Ivy because you can’t afford it.
And you have all of the advantages of being a top student at one of the merit schools.
@NorthernMom61 I would be happy to go to any school on my list but I will not give up on my dream schools. It’s not in my nature. I will use the little my parents are giving me and try to raise the additional funds through scholarships. Like I said, I have already applied to all my schools so I have plenty of time to apply to outside scholarships, internships on campus, etc. I don’t want to look back later and say I should have tried harder. If I try every avenue and come up short well then I will have no regrets and will happily attend one of the other schools I was accepted at.
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How much will your parents give you? @jr2016
Good luck as you try to get your awards, but be sure to look at this from a 4 year situation. Some awards will only be for freshmen, so if you cobble together enough awards to pay for frosh year, but not the others, then you don’t want to have to leave after frosh year.
Good luck.