<p>Take a look at Texasmom’s thread. She looked for free rides for kids who were not superstars and found them.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I’ve definitely found some more to add to my research list.</p>
<p>Anyway, here is more or less what I’d want in a college.
-Size doesn’t really matter to me. I feel like I would find be successful at a school of any size.
-I am prepared to deal with any location as long as I get good merit aid. Before this year I never thought of schools in the south, but as you can see they are the majority of my list.
-U of MN wasn’t ever my very first choice. I’d love to be able to attend Georgetown, but I know it’s not even close to possible. U of MN was the school my parents told me I would go to, and it’s the school I’ve been doing PSEO at. That’s all the connection I have to it.
-Ideally, I’d love to have be in an environment with like-minded individuals who know how to blend studying with other activities.</p>
<p>However, I honestly am ready to take anything that will offer the closest amount to a full ride.</p>
<p>sugar_sweet111,</p>
<p>Have you thought about a women’s college? Perhaps it might be something your parents would consider paying for (maybe they would feel you would be ‘safer’ there). Smith College provides both need-based and merit-based aid, and even provides funds for ALL students to cover summer internships and projects.</p>
<p>You mentioned U Mass in one of your earlier posts. Smith College and Mt. Holyoke (women’s colleges) are both part of the 5-college consortium (Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Amherst, U Mass, Hampshire) which provides outstanding academic and social opportunities. You can take classes, join clubs, etc at any of the 5 colleges. Free shuttle buses run all the time.</p>
<p>Smith is outstanding as are the other women’s colleges. Check out the website: [Smith</a> College](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu%5DSmith”>http://www.smith.edu)
Here are some facts: <a href=“http://www.smith.edu/collegerelations/SpeakingofSmith-0414.pdf[/url]”>http://www.smith.edu/collegerelations/SpeakingofSmith-0414.pdf</a></p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Also look at ASU. Their Honors College is quite good, and they give huge scholarships (even for OOS students). A friend of mine got a $90k scholarship, which basically covers everything.</p>
<p>Needless to say, he’s moving to Tempe next year to become a Sun Devil. :)</p>
<p>You are “borderline” for some forms of scholarship consideration.</p>
<p>– There is a chance you will be an NMSF, although MN’s cut-off last year was a little higher than your PSAT score. Pay attention to this, anyway. You should hear in the late-August/early-September timeframe.</p>
<p>– It might help to get into the top 10% in your school. This is something over which you have some control.</p>
<p>For in-state, check out [Academic</a> Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.morris.umn.edu/financialaid/merit1.html]Academic”>http://www.morris.umn.edu/financialaid/merit1.html), especially if you achieve NMF status. In addition U of AZ, AZ State U, and U of OK are all known to give excellent scholarships for NMF.</p>
<p>For others, check this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/211927-institutional-merit-based-scholarships-full-tuition.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/211927-institutional-merit-based-scholarships-full-tuition.html</a></p>
<p>Does MN have an agreement with a neighboring state to consider you in-state?</p>
<p>It might be helpful to know what major you are thinking of.</p>
<p>FYI, MN has reciprocity agreements with WI, ND, SD, and Alberta.</p>
<p>Go to the top of the Parent’s Forum and see the thread about four down, called, “Good schools for merit aid.” Lot of good info in that (scroll through rather than trying to read every post.) </p>
<p>On the last page, post #493 for example, mentions that No. Michigan Univ gives out a lot of full-ride scholarships and it’s rolling admission, so you can apply early and know early on where you stand. Other suggestions from that thread for schools with good merit aid (don’t know if that includes full rides) are: DePauw, Edgewood College in Madison, WI; Washington and Lee in VA; Univ of Montana, Montana State; U of Pittsburgh; Drake, University of Portland, Lewis and Clark in Portland; University of the Pacific (has prepharmacy).</p>
<p>it’s unfortunate that your parents will not help you out with your college expenses. Even more so that they are wealthy, and your qualifications are very good. </p>
<p>Check out this thread from CC, go to each page and just search for ACT on each. You’ll find a lot of possibilities. I didn’t go through it with a fine-tooth comb, but some of the colleges I saw that have outstanding merit aid that match your ACT score are: Colorado State, Kentucky, Utah, Dayton, Alabama, Illinois Inst of Tech, Howard, U of Denver, Louisiana Tech.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/211927-institutional-merit-based-scholarships-full-tuition.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/211927-institutional-merit-based-scholarships-full-tuition.html</a></p>
<p>There should be plenty more out there. Best of luck to you sugar_sweet. I hope you find what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That would be Manitoba, which lies directly north of Minnesota; not Alberta which is further west. Wisconsin-Madison is generally a terrific deal for Minnesota residents because you get in-state tuition but I believe most of their aid is need-based so you’re probably in no better shape with them than with U Minnesota.</p>
<p>Don’t confine your search to public universities. My general impression is that a lot of private schools are more generous with merit-based financial aid. But you need to target your search to schools where your stats fit well within the top quartile of their entering class in every category, and then I think it’s advisable to contact them directly. If Mom & Dad refuse to pay for college I imagine they’re not going to foot the bill for a ton of college applications, either, so you’re not going to want to apply scattershot and hope someone comes through with a big merit-based financial aid offer. You need to get some colleges actively pursuing you and making merit-based financial aid offers upfront.</p>
<p>Sugar - When you speak with your parents, you might ask them to imagine how different your family life would have been had you lived across town and just commuted to their house for scheduled appointments. That’s how college life would probably be if you commuted from home. As a parent, I’d love to hang onto my daughters and enjoy having them at our home, but I knew that it was time for them to get out into the world and expand their horizons. I also know them well enough to have faith in their maturity and decision-making, so I have no fears that they’ll be influenced or corrupted by outside influences. Staying at home and commuting to a local school is a way to compile academic credits, but compiling credits is not the same as a higher education (you know that; you have 50 credits, but I doubt you’ve had a true college experience). Starting out as a commuting student is the best predictor of poor college outcomes that I know.</p>
<p>As a fellow Minnesotan, I’d say you’re very close to being a National Merit Semifinalist. If the cutoff happened to drop down a couple of points this year, you’d be golden. If you were to get NMSF status, a variety of colleges will send you mail offering full rides. Some I remember are: U of Texas, U of Oklahoma, U of Southern Florida (or maybe it was Central), South Dakota something or other, Hamline (if you wanted smaller), and many others. </p>
<p>Otherwise, I would seriously considering sitting down with your parents and explaining to them how they are screwing you over.</p>
<p>It’s not impossible to do what you are doing, it will just take a lot of work. You also may want to look for colleges that include travel costs, and even stipends in their offers. Will your parents pay traveling fees?</p>
<p>Really? I didn’t know it was possible to gage the chances of receiving a good merit scholarship upfront (apart from just looking at the avg. test scores), hmm… I’ll try to check that out, maybe call their admissions offices.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve looked at the reciprocity, but I’d usually be in the exact same spot as with the U of MN. That’s why I have Iowa State, because their scholarships seemed reasonable, and the reciprocity price is the best out of all the other schools I think. </p>
<p>I’ve scrolled through the “Full Tuition thread” although sadly I think I won’t be able to get a lot of the scholarships because my stats aren’t stellar. Right now I’m thinking that a range of mid ACT scores anywhere from 18-25 will give a likely chance of getting their scholarships. I’m afraid that shooting for anything higher might not work out. </p>
<p>Does that seem like the right range?</p>
<p>the University of Iowa has a really good pre-med program i’ve heard and the cost is almost identical to iowa state. Also I’m pretty sure you would qualify for the presidential scholarship there as well</p>
<p>Some schools make merit aid pretty automatic. Check out the Michigan State Honors College, for example:</p>
<p>[Scholarships</a> for Incoming Freshmen](<a href=“http://honorscollege.msu.edu/scholarships/incoming_freshmen.html]Scholarships”>http://honorscollege.msu.edu/scholarships/incoming_freshmen.html)</p>
<p>You’re very close to stats that would trigger an automatic merit-based aid package that includes tuition remission, $8,000/year in merit aid plus a $2300 annual stipend for working as research assistant to a professor. They also have some (apparently discretionary) additional merit scholarship funds available and it’s worth talking to them in advance about your chances of getting that. It seems to me you’re just the kind of OOS student they’re trying to attract. This is not quite a full ride, perhaps, but with summer jobs and such you could possibly swing it. All you need to do is re-take the ACT and bump your score up one point from 32 to 33 and you’re home free. I can’t imagine you wouldn’t get accepted: they have an admit rate of 73% and your stats are stratospheric compared to their 75th percentile, and you’re clearly in the range they’re looking for in their Honors College. It’s not a bad school, comparable in some ways to Minnesota–they tie for 71st in USNews rankings, though I think Minnesota has a few more high quality departments/programs.</p>
<p>Look, the main point is to give you leverage with Mom & Dad by showing them you have other options, right? So get that ACT up to 33 and you can make a pretty persuasive case that because you can go to college on your own at Michigan State, they really ought to reconsider and pay for you to go to Minnesota and live on-campus as you had originally planned. Either way you’ll be on your own, but if they cave and do it your preferred way you’ll be closer to home and the family relationship will be less strained. </p>
<p>It’s also worth searching around for other automatic triggers like this. No better ammunation in the discussion than hard data,</p>
<p>Haha, yes, if I got NMSF I’d be in even better shape. But I don’t want to completely depend on that since it’s not very likely. The threads that people suggested have been really helpful, especially texasmom’s. </p>
<p>I’ve tried to talk to my parents, but my Mom kind of has a short fuse. The second I mention college she starts yelling at me about how I’m spoiled and I should be happy to stay and live at home while I can.</p>
<p>try university of delaware. they dont mind offering OOS students large academic scholarships.. i think its 22k/year for OOS and when i applied i got 12k per year for purely academic.</p>
<p>also, my ex who was VERY smart got pretty sick scholarships to UMD (OOS also) one from the acutal school and then another from the engineering school.</p>
<p>also apply to outside scholarships. i mean ANYTHING you remotely qualify for. i know my GC had lists of some pretty rediculous ones when i was in HS. every 1/2k will help</p>
<p>Here is a thread for students taking out loans without a co-signer. Yes, debt is bad, but it is extremely difficult to be a full time student and be able to pay off college costs at the same time. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/443522-find-srudent-loans-best-rate-no-co-signer-req.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/443522-find-srudent-loans-best-rate-no-co-signer-req.html</a></p>
<p>You can also spend the next couple months studying a couple hours a day for the SAT/ACT and try to improve your scores if you’re worried about them being too low. three months can do a lot.</p>
<p>Check ou the SUNY schools. (State university of New York). The are pretty inexpensive for out of state.</p>