Money! (Merit Scholarships)

Paying for College
1

<p>I guess this is a pretty individualized question, but I am trying to decide which colleges to apply to which will maximize both the quality of the school and the probability of getting a full ride/ near full ride. (My parents are not committing to pay for my college education.. :\ )</p>

<p>I like HPSMC, but none of these give merit aid.</p>

<p>Of schools that <em>do</em> give merit aid, I have been looking at USC, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Central Florida, Texas A & M, UT Austin, and University of Houston.</p>

<p>My impression is that Washington University in St. Louis and UT Austin are the best academically, but a lower chance of getting a scholarship? (If anyone put out a probability, it would be really helpful to me..I've no idea on the chances.) I'll apply for Danforth and Moog in WUStL and the National Merit one for UT Austin.</p>

<p>USC seems a bit below those two, but there might be higher likelihood of Trustee Scholarship? (Don't want to write the whole stats profile, but 2360 + 3 x 800 + 4.0 + some extracurriculars)</p>

<p>Then, final level, UCF, Texas A & M and University of Houston have guaranteed a full scholarship to National Merit finalists, but I don't think these are good schools :(
If someone could offer opinion here that would also be helpful~ I never heard of them prior to getting junk mail :P</p>

<p>So, to sum up, I have already paid the application fee for WUStL and USC, but I would really like to have some solid plan for me to be able to pay for myself in college in case my parents are going to be stingy. Where else would be good to apply? I think I like UT Austin the best, but I don't know how good their National Merit program is for out of state students.</p>

2

<p>When you know your parents are unlikely to pay anything it’s always a good plan to apply to your state school.</p>

3

<p>Bear in mind that colleges give big scholarships to students who are significantly overqualified for their college. What’s the purpose of the scholarship - to land a few students who wouldn’t otherwise go there. So your easy full rides will be at lesser universities, and schools like Wash U will have stiff competition for a limited number of spots. But why not go for them? Though they’re on the wrong side of the country for you, I’d suggest the Belk Scholarship at Davidson, the Robertson Scholars at North Carolina and Richardson Scholars at UNC and Duke. You could also see if your HS counselor would nominate you for the Jefferson Scholars program at U.Va.</p>

4

<p>GO to the Financial Aid forum and look at the stickies at the top. There are a couple about good merit aid schools.</p>

5

<p>Thanks to everyone who has posted.</p>

<p>I was more interested in any commentary about UCF, A&M, and University of Houston…I think they’re probably as good as any other schools guaranteeing full rides for National Merit, but I was wondering which of the three is the best academically.</p>

6

<p>Could anyone offer a comparison of the three?</p>

<p>(I essentially want to choose which one of them to apply to, but am not in a good position to make that distinction in any way other than randomly.)</p>

7

<p>In terms of name recognition and rankings - Texas A and M I think has the highest of the three you mentioned. (UCF, UH, A&M). It has a fine reputation as a science and engineering school. It tends to be “conservative” in its political leanings- lots of ROTC on campus. </p>

<p>UH is huge, with many commuters. It has certain departments that rank very highly indeed- hotel and restaurant management, pharmacy for example. But it’s prestige/ranking is much lower than A and M overall. </p>

<p>I know nothing about UCF. </p>

<p>The WUSTL scholarships you mention are extremely competitive and difficult to get. As are the various full tuition scholarships at UT-Austin. My daughter, now a freshman at Princeton, was in the running for these scholarships, but alas, did not get them.</p>

8

<p>i don’t know anything about UCF.</p>

<p>and i would take texas a&m over u of h ANY DAY!</p>

<p>uh might be ok for some departments, but it is in a yuck part of town!</p>

<p>i went to texas a&m. huge school. very conservative. lots of tradition and spirit. huge alumni network. some departments are really good, and i don’t know about others.</p>

<p>not sure if you meant full ride or full tuition scholarship, but if you meant tuition, i think there are a lot more schools that will give a NMF full tuition. baylor is one.</p>

<p>what will you major in? and where are you coming from?</p>

9

<p>hi! thanks for the reply</p>

<p>I’m from the CA Bay Area. Full ride (including room + board) would really be preferable…I guess I could try to get a job to cover a few thousand per year if I go for just tuition.</p>

<p>I guess I’m in a bad position because I really seek out a top education to prepare me for medical school/ grad school/ research career, but at the same time will likely have no parent support even though I can’t get any financial aid. (Parents have money v_v)</p>

10

<p>Some schools with full rides (you’ll have to dig through these to see what suits you) (there are lots more with just full tuition - check the stickies)
Wake Forest University Winston-Salem NC [Wake</a> Forest University](<a href=“http://www.wfu.edu%5DWake”>http://www.wfu.edu) Joseph G. Gordon Scholarships
Brandeis university [Financial</a> Services | Brandeis University](<a href=“Office of Student Financial Services | Brandeis University”>Office of Student Financial Services | Brandeis University)
Miami University Harrison Scholarship Full ridehttp://casnov1.cas.muohio.edu/honors/honors/harrison.html
Wayne State U in Detroit … NMF’s get a full ride … tuition, room, board, fees, laptop, study abroad.
University of Massachusetts at Amherst has 4 year, full-ride for National Merit Finalists.
UMASS Dartmouth & UMASS Lowell offer full-ride scholarships (called Commonwealth Scholarship) for SATs of 1400+ & recalculated (by MA Dept of Education standards) GPA of 3.7 (Dartmouth) or 3.75 (Lowell).
University of Southern Mississippi National Merit finalists get a full ride at, as well as $4,000 to study abroad and a laptop.
Missouri Southern State University Evans Scholarship Awarded to students in the Honors Program
Covers tuition, textbook rental, activity fees ACT 28 or better
Students with ACT of 31 or better receive room and board also.
Washington and Lee University. [The</a> Johnson Scholarship :: Washington and Lee University](<a href=“http://www.wlu.edu/x20142.xml]The”>http://www.wlu.edu/x20142.xml) The Johnson Scholarship
The University of Richmond has a program called Richmond Scholars. [University</a> of Richmond](<a href=“http://www.richmond.edu%5DUniversity”>http://www.richmond.edu).
Syracuse University [The</a> Coronat Scholars Program](<a href=“http://thecollege.syr.edu/CoronatScholars/index.htm]The”>http://thecollege.syr.edu/CoronatScholars/index.htm) Coronat Scholarship
Indiana University [Wells</a> Scholar Program at Indiana University](<a href=“http://www.indiana.edu/~wsp/]Wells”>http://www.indiana.edu/~wsp/) Wells Scholarship
Michigan State University [Home</a> | Michigan State University Office of Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.msu.edu/Undergradu...holarships.asp]Home”>http://admissions.msu.edu/Undergradu...holarships.asp) Alumni Distinguished Scholarship
Clemson University [Clemson</a> University : NATIONAL SCHOLARS PROGRAM : The Clemson National Scholars Program](<a href=“Clemson University National Scholars Program”>Clemson University National Scholars Program) Clemson National Scholars
University of Kentucky <a href=“http://www.uky.edu/AcademicScholarsh...holarship.html[/url]”>http://www.uky.edu/AcademicScholarsh...holarship.html&lt;/a&gt; The Otis A. Singletary Scholarship
University of Utah <a href=“http://www.sa.utah.edu/finance/schol...man/merit.html[/url]”>http://www.sa.utah.edu/finance/schol...man/merit.html&lt;/a&gt; University Nonresident President’s Club Scholarship
Morehead State <a href=“http://www.moreheadstate.edu/files/projects/scholarships/scholar%20guide%2008.pdf[/url]”>http://www.moreheadstate.edu/files/projects/scholarships/scholar%20guide%2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
Presidential Scholarship full tuition and university housing scholarships
Commonwealth Scholarship full tuition scholarship
Marshall University [Marshall</a> University Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.marshall.edu/sfa/]Marshall”>http://www.marshall.edu/sfa/) Society of Yeager Scholars
University of PittsburghHonors Challenge Scholarships- Full tuition
Chancellor Scholarship- Above + room and board [University</a> of Pittsburgh](<a href=“http://www.pitt.edu%5DUniversity”>http://www.pitt.edu)
Rhodes Bellingrath Scholarship Full-ride [Rhodes</a> College | Home](<a href=“http://www.rhodes.edu%5DRhodes”>http://www.rhodes.edu)
University of Delaware Eugene S. Dupont Scholarship, full ride for 4 years, plus $2,500 for study abroad.
[Scholarships</a> | admissions.udel.edu](<a href=“http://admissions.udel.edu/finance#merit]Scholarships”>http://admissions.udel.edu/finance#merit)
North Carolina State University [Park</a> Scholarships at NC State](<a href=“http://www.ncsu.edu/park_scholarships/index.php]Park”>Home - Park Scholarships) Park Scholarship
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill <a href=“http://studentaid.unc.edu/studentaid...olarships.html[/url]”>http://studentaid.unc.edu/studentaid...olarships.html&lt;/a&gt;
The Carolina Scholars, Davie, & Pogue scholarships are all full-ride ONLY if you are out-of-state.
Tulane Dean’s Honor Full-ride [Tulane</a> University](<a href=“http://www.tulane.edu%5DTulane”>http://www.tulane.edu)
Furman Lay Scholarship Full-ride <a href=“http://www.engagefurman.com%5B/url%5D”>www.engagefurman.com</a>
Idaho National Merit Scholar Award for the Class of 2008 [University</a> of Idaho](<a href=“http://www.uidaho.edu/]University”>http://www.uidaho.edu/)
National Merit Finalists of the Class of 2008 guaranteed a full-ride
Regis University [Student</a> Resources](<a href=“404 - Page Not Found | Regis University”>404 - Page Not Found | Regis University)
Natural Science Scholarship full-tuition scholarship
Knox -Early Admission Program to Medical School [Early</a> Admission Program to Medical School - Knox College](<a href=“http://www.knox.edu/Academics/Courses-of-Study/Medicine/Early-Admission.html]Early”>http://www.knox.edu/Academics/Courses-of-Study/Medicine/Early-Admission.html)
Scholarships [Scholarships</a> - Knox College](<a href=“http://www.knox.edu/Admission-and-Financial-Aid/Scholarships.html]Scholarships”>http://www.knox.edu/Admission-and-Financial-Aid/Scholarships.html)
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnatus Scholarship Competition [Student</a> Financial Aid, University of Cincinnati](<a href=“http://www.financialaid.uc.edu/cincinnatus.html]Student”>http://www.financialaid.uc.edu/cincinnatus.html)</p>