Please Help With College List--Need Merit Aid

College Search & Selection
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<p>I am a high school junior from a rural public school in Mississippi and my parents won't take out loans, so Ole Miss is probably where I'll go as my EFC is close to $30,000, but I have a 33 on the ACT from this December and a 2060/1410 on the SAT from last December. ACT can be superscored to 34, but math is my weakness; I've got a 35/36 on all parts but math, and my highest score is 28 there. For MS, my 211 PSAT will most likely get me a National Merit Finalist spot, and I've participated in mission trips to Honduras, MS Governor's School (where I won an award for best Critical/Creative thinking), Lott Leadership Institute (at Ole Miss), Star Talk (a Chinese intensive at Ole Miss), and I've talked to my counselor about Girls' State, so I'll probably do that. I'm filling out the forms for TASP, but I have no illusions that I'll get in. I have taken a couple classes at my local community college (mostly to boost those math skills). With a 4.0 unweighted gpa, I will most likely be valedictorian; I'm taking the highest level of courses my school offers, and I will have had two years of Spanish and two years of German by the time I graduate. Along with cheerleading and officer positions in several school clubs, including National Honor Society and Student Council, I also volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, our Methodist nursing home, a local Women's Shelter, Meals on Wheels (with my church youth group) and our homeless kitchen. I also dance and cheer for my dance studio for nearly fifteen years, sing in the area youth chorus and perform at our community theater. I do plan on trying for a year in Germany with CBYX as well before I start college. What I do and have achieved is fantastic for my area, but again, I have no illusions that it sets me apart nationally enough to get a full ride at a school like Georgetown, especially as teenagers in more populated areas have more resources and opportunities. </p>

<p>I'm really interested in neuropsychology (I am fascinated by the physical cognitive/neuroscience evidence available with fMRI), international studies, public policy and politics, economics, cultural and linguistic anthropology, and languages. I'd like to be a humanitarian for an NGO or the UN working with children's rights and women's rights, but I also like the idea of being a neuropsychologist maybe. Whatever I do, I want to improve people's lives, so I am considering majoring in International Studies and Chinese (I will take classes in my other interests and settle on one for a minor), and I need a school that could give me a full ride, and preferably one that has a choir open to non music majors.</p>

<p>In looking at other schools that say they offer Chinese/ (East) Asian Cultures and Languages (Studies) as a major, I have discovered that they are often limited in number of classes, and no one yet has answered me regarding the average proficiency levels of graduates. I have also looked at whether they have language dorms and honors programs, etc. </p>

<p>What do you know about merit aid awards at the following schools: Tufts, TX@Austin, Brigham Young, Richmond, Mississippi, UVA, Wisconsin-Madison, Georgia Tech, Chicago, Washington St. Louis, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Kansas, USC, Arizona State, and Georgetown? What are my chances for each?</p>

<p>I would love Georgetown and Princeton, but sometimes I feel that I am financially limited to Ole Miss; yet I want more, and I want to know that wherever I go, I will be prepared to step up to a higher tiered graduate school. </p>

<p>So of these schools, and given that I will probably take the ACT and SAT again, which schools should I most definitely apply to?</p>

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<p>You should investigate schools/ and the threads/ that talk about the possible full rides for NMF students. There are also a lot of threads about merit scholarships. Take some time and comb through those strings, there is a wealth of information there. Also a great thread from momfromtexas … - on how to get merit scholarships. If I can find some of the threads, I’ll post back, but the information is on the different boards already. I would say with your stats, EC’s, test scores, a lot of merit is possible - if you target the right schools. You can find a lot of this info on the school’s websites, on the individual pages for the schools you list, and by pulling the “common data set” for the schools you are interested in, which will tell you how your stats compare you to their last class. That helps tell you if you might be in the top percentage of applicants, which you will need to be in, for merit.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>NMF Scholarships</p>

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<p>Another
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1151-financial-aid-scholarship-resource-threads-start-here.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1151-financial-aid-scholarship-resource-threads-start-here.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>One of the threads from momfromtexas, not the original one …</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3485476-post1.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3485476-post1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Here’s an example of what you can come up with - with your interest neuropsychology … and Baylor has a great medical school … they also give full tuition for NMF … and have Chinese, at least a minor that I can tell with quick research. That might be a very affordable option.</p>

<p>As a participant in the National Merit Program, Baylor awards full-tuition Regent Scholarships to National Merit Finalists who list Baylor as their top college choice.</p>

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<p>Wow, you sound like one amazing kid.</p>

<p>Does Ole Miss have an Honors College? Does it offer opportunities in the areas you mentioned?</p>

<p>Have you looked into U of Alabama? They offer full rides to NMFs.</p>

<p>Best wishes, whatever you end up doing.</p>

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<p>To add to the excellent advice above, please check out the University of Pittsburgh. Their admissions process is rolling, so you will want to submit your application as soon as possible (September!) for the best odds at getting merit aid. They do offer full rides. </p>

<p>Arizona State and USC offer significant merit aid to NMFs, though perhaps not full rides. Chicago, WUStL and Duke offer a very limited number of full ride scholarships. Tufts offers no merit money aside from a couple of thousand for NMF. </p>

<p>Best of luck with that TASP application. My hat is off to any student who manages to write all those essays! :slight_smile: If nothing else, you’ll have a great head start on your college essay writing.</p>

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<p>You should look into Rice University in Houston, Texas. They are very generous.
[Financial</a> Aid at Rice University](<a href=“http://financialaid.rice.edu/main.aspx?id=62]Financial”>http://financialaid.rice.edu/main.aspx?id=62)</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Your profile would put you in the running for some of these.</p>

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<p>Another resource for you:</p>

<p>[MeritAid.com:</a> Search Merit Scholarships, Academic Scholarships, Merit Awards - Merit Aid - Search](<a href=“http://www.meritaid.com%5DMeritAid.com:”>http://www.meritaid.com)</p>

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<p>Honestly, I have read all of the National Merit posts and many offer small sums. I need to balance that information with the strength of the programs in my interest areas. Thank you all. I have researched colleges with a strong Chinese program and those which I fall at the top end or just above their middle 50%.</p>

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<p>USC is pretty good with merit aid. Brigham Young tuition is very low. They may have merit aid, as well, but you may have to be a member of their church.</p>

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<p>Please check out:</p>

<p>Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College (HTC) now offers a B.S. degree in Neuroscience. The HTC is a unique and exciting approach to undergraduate education. Modern neuroscience is a highly interdisciplinary field that brings together ideas and methodologies from a variety of traditional disciplines such as biology, chemistry, psychology, philosophy, physics and mathematics. The Honors Tutorial Program in Neuroscience provides students with a solid interdisciplinary foundation in modern Neuroscience and allows them to pursue their individual interests within one of four major sub disciplines:
* Cell and Molecular Neuroscience
* Systems and Computational Neuroscience
* Cognitive Neuroscience
* Neuroethology </p>

<p>[Ohio</a> University Neuroscience Program](<a href=“Neuroscience Research Area | Ohio University”>Neuroscience Research Area | Ohio University)</p>

<p>[Ohio</a> University: Honors Tutorial College:PROGRAM DESCRIPTION](<a href=“Honors at OHIO | Ohio University”>Honors at OHIO | Ohio University)</p>

<p>Oh, and btw, with your stats, you would automatically get a minimum of 75=80% of your tuition paid for. </p>

<p>My son graduated from HTC in 2009 and as I said in another thread, it was the best choice he ever made.</p>

<p>The HTC uses a tutorial approach to classes in your major, with one-on-one sessions with your professor.</p>

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<p>Are your parents willing and able to cover the $30K EFC (without loans)?</p>

<p>If so, you may have best results from selective private schools that are need-blind, no-loan, and meet 100% of need (which will be $20K-$25K at these schools.) If not, how much can they cover? If it is much less than the EFC, I would not expect the most selective private schools to make up the difference with merit aid.</p>

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<p>No, they aren’t willing to cover more than living expenses (about $10,000/yr.)</p>

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<p>You might also look for private schools where you could get full tuition scholarships - about 10K would cover, or come close to room and board.</p>

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<p>BTW Wash U has significant merit - they superscore both the ACT and SAT for those scholarships.</p>

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<p>As a NMF, you’d get half-tuition at USC (which still leaves the annual cost at >$30K) and you’d get $30K per year at U. of Arizona (which offers Chinese), where the cost of tuition, room and board for OOS students is currently between $33-34K.</p>