Hello! I plan on going to an out of state university (Due to the fact that I want to move back to my home state that I moved from) but as of lately I am really concerned about scholarships and my chances to get enough money to go out of state.
Graduated 10th grade with a 4.6 GPA, top 7% of class with 3 Honors/1 AP
Plan to take 4 AP/1 Honors Junior Year
Involved in Key Club, NHS, Link Crew, Hiking Club, Best Buddies + part time job
What will strengthen my application besides these?
Depends on what school and in what state. Your SAT and ACT scores will come in to play. So might the major.
For instance, If you are looking to get into UT Austin as an out of state student, Good Luck. For McCombs School of Business or Cockrell School of Engineering, as an OOS and if you have stellar credentials, your chances are slim. Not impossible but slim. For other less competitive majors, your chances might be a little better. UT doesn’t give much money. To anyone. They don’t need to.
If you qualify as an academic admit to Texas A&M, you are guaranteed admission to the school but not your major. Mays College of Business and Look College of Engineering are holistic review so your credentials need to be highly competitive. There are ways to receive instate tuition at TAMU. Look up what you need to qualify.
If you are wanting to attend the University of Alabama, if you have good credentials, they have very good aid.
Depends what your home state is. Each state has its own policies so you’ll need to specify.
Financial aid mainly comes from the college, so if you apply to a university that doesn’t give any (UT, UCs), you won’t be able to go.
Your parents no longer live in that state so they’re no longer considered residents (in some states, if they kept a house, their voting registration, and their driver’s license in the state they may still be considered residents, but it’s highly dependent on the state.) Therefore, you’re not considered “in state” for tuition purpose and must pay the OOS surcharge.
If you come from a state without merit scholarships, you’re better off with private universities since they don’t distinguish between IS and OOS; however, your test scores will likely determine eligibility, so “prep” seriously over the summer, take the PSAT very seriously - it’s a giant scholarship competition where the winners can get full rides - and plan on taking the SAT or the ACT in the Spring, as well as any subject tests in June.
To strengthen your application, pick one activity and push it to the max, ie., become exceptional at it (regionally/nationally-ranked, published, make front page news in a state or national outlet…)