<p>I live in Tennessee and I currently have a 25 on the ACT and a 3.5 GPA. However, at my school the grading scale starts with a minimum of a 93 for an A, and a minimum of an 85 for a B. I really want to get out of the south but I can't go out of state unless I get a significant scholarship. I am on the Debate Team and compete regularly, I am in the AP art program and I am half Ecuadorian. I have a 3.8 GPA for this year ( I am a junior) but I got 2 80s last year (these are Cs) and it brought down my whole GPA. I want to go somewhere in Colorado but if I can't get a scholarship I'm stuck here. Help?</p>
<p>When the college calculates your gpa it will be on the regular scale. I hate to say it but your best bet is the south, if you raise your act score you are almost guaranteed scholarships, or somewhere out west (like university of arizona).</p>
<p>Do you know what your PSAT score was? If you qualify as a National Merit Semifinalist and then Finalist, you can get good scholarships. Also, would you consider moving to Colorado and working for a year or two to gain residency. Colorado has a lot of help for residents - <a href=“Colorado College Grants: Free School Grants for Students in CO”>http://www.collegescholarships.org/grants/states/colorado.htm</a> Look at a number of different colleges - maybe one of them would like to have a student from Tennesee and is willing to scholarship for that. </p>
<p>With ACT at 25, it is not likely to get a PSAT above the cut off for semifinalist.</p>
<p>scholarships are mostly based on test scores, and an ACT is not often high enough.</p>
<p>Look at Colorado State, University of Arizona, San Diego State University. All have great financial aid</p>
<p>San Diego State does not have great financial aid for OOS. Most Cal States are looking for OOS that are full pay or close to it. @an6rew you probably meant University of San Diego which is private. There are 3 major universities in the San Diego, UCSD, SDSU and USD (University of San Diego). USD is the school which would probably give you the best financial aid as an OOS.</p>
<p>Some strange advice on here so far.</p>
<p>First, you won’t be able to get Colorado residency by living there for a year. Your parents would have to live there for a year, or if you wait until you are 22 then your domicile for a year can qualify you.</p>
<p>Second, OOS public schools in general do not give “great financial aid” to OOS students, and this is true for Colorado State, Arizona, and San Diego State.</p>
<p>If you want scholarships with your ACT score, you can look at some of the Louisiana schools like Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Lafayette - they give OOS tuition waiver for your stats. For Colorado, you would have to look at the lower tier schools in the state, where a 25 ACT is well above average.</p>
<p>@Gumbymom you’re right thank you. USD. Cal public schools are not the best with financial aid. However, UA is great with financial aid @BobWallace seeing as I am OOS and got an $80,000 scholarship. They are very generous when it comes to scholarships as long as you are of merit. </p>
<p>Merit aid can be generous even for oos student, however, it may or may not offset the additional cost for oos students. For instance, UMich offer $20k/yr to outstanding oos students. Even with that, there is a $33k/yr price tag on it and they do not meet need for oos students. There are, however, a few near full ride scholarships for both in state and oos students. Nevertheless, OP’s credential is not likely to get him substantial amount of scholarships. </p>
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<p>I took your “financial aid” to refer to need-based aid. Merit-based aid is totally different. This student has a 25 ACT, and will almost certainly not qualify for significant merit aid at Arizona without greatly improving that score.</p>