Reality Check

<p>Looks like St. Olaf’s largest scholarship is $24K/year, leaving about $30K/year remaining. Which will go up a bit each year as well (as will all schools). I am not sure the OP’s stats will snag him the top scholarship there, either (31 ACT/2100 SAT).</p>

<p>They do meet need so worth a look if he/she checks out the web site and finds it compelling.</p>

<p>Should the OP consider Questbridge?</p>

<p>I’d definitely apply to Tulane and see if you get merit aid. </p>

<p>@happy1 but Tulane is selective and I’m not sure if I would get accepted</p>

<p>^^Nothing is guaranteed, but to me it looks like your stats are above Tulane’s average so it seems worth a shot.</p>

<p>But isn’t it also competitive? Do they give merit aid to a good percentage of freshman applicants?</p>

<p>Note that many of the automatic scholarships listed at <a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/&lt;/a&gt; use unweighted GPA and SAT CR+M (rather than CR+M+W). Be sure to check your qualification for such scholarships carefully (you only reported weighted GPA and SAT CR+M+W and ACT, and your ACT does not seem to be sufficient for the Louisiana Tech full ride, which needs a 32 ACT or 1400 SAT CR+M as well as a 3.0 (presumably unweighted) HS GPA).</p>

<p>That list also lists Temple’s automatic scholarship as needing a 32 ACT or 1400 SAT CR+M and a 3.75 (presumably unweighted) HS GPA.</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus‌ I do qualify in the stats posted before in the post:
GPA: 3.957/5.624 (unweighted/weighted)
SAT: 2150 (1440 M+CR)
ACT: 31
AP: World, Psychology, Lang, Cal AB/BC, US HIS, BIO, French, Macro, Lit,
Clubs: French Honor Society (2 years), English Honor Society (2 years), Biomedical Club (2 years) others plus continuing these</p>

<p>Internship at Florida International University in Psychology
150 hours community service church pianist
also hours from internship</p>

<p>Temple GPA is weighted academic core plus foreign language according to a human who I finally reached on the phone after a serious phone tree. According to this person in admissions they weight honors, AP and IB.</p>

<p>Well my foreign language is 4.0 so do I qualify?</p>

<p>According to what an admissions person told me about how GPA is calculated you seem to have room to spare. If you have any question just make a spreadsheet of your grades including just what they use. It also wouldn’t hurt to call them yourself to confirm how they and/or other schools calculate. Again . . . it looks like you will be golden, but it never hurts to confirm.</p>

<p>Rhodes College also participates in the Bonner scholarship program. If you have demonstrated interest in social justice, community service, etc., then consider applying. I believe it is a stackable scholarship. It requires you to volunteer for a certain number of hours per week. This would cover most of your expenses given the merit plus Bonner. <a href=“http://www.rhodes.edu/finaid/611.asp”>http://www.rhodes.edu/finaid/611.asp&lt;/a&gt;. Rhodes also has strong ties with the medical community within Memphis, including research opportunities. I’d look for LACs co-located with research hospitals, St. Olaf/Mayo, Rhodes/St. Jude.</p>

<p>Good call on Bonner @Knoxpatch. I have a friend whose D has Bonner at a different school and it has been a great thing.</p>

<p>79K is actually low enough for financial aid at many colleges.</p>

<p>You might look at University of Richmond. They do Bonners. Plus, UR is a full needs school and at 79K, you could get substantial grant money (they aren’t loan free but stick to the direct loans… don’t add in private or plus.) They do have competitive merit scholarships for full-rides but they are very competitive. Lovely school.</p>

<p>Someone mentioned Willamette as well. Another really nice school that gives generous merit to your stats.</p>

<p>Willamette gives great merit but gaps</p>

<p>So willamette and Rhodes are viable options to look at and possible dad to my application list?</p>

<p>Bump</p>

<p>Willamette does gap many people but there are some smaller merit opportunities to bridge it that aren’t so difficult to get. D’s stats were a little lower. She ended up with 30K in merit (academic and a talent scholarship for which only a handful of kids applied for… and they flew her out to audition.) After grants and direct student loans, the gap was only about 2K… still a gap but not too terrible and about what we would have paid instate for a UC (including the student loan.) Keep in mind that the stronger candidate you are, the nicer your grants will be too (weaker candidates get more loan than grant.)</p>

<p>In the end, D chose another school with a stronger financial aid package and area of study but she really did like Willamette. Probably more a school for the student whose only chance for aid is merit but it was a free application for D, an early acceptance (applying early action you find out in a couple weeks,) and a really nice experience.</p>

<p>OP, if UG make a difference or not all depend on the intended major.<br>
It is fairly easy to see if you get a Merit or not and even approximate how much. We knew couple places that tend to give incredible Merits to top students. Frankly, this is the easiest research. D. did not apply to a single place that would not give her Merit award and ended up attending in-state public on a full tuition Merit. However, UG name was completely irrelevant for her future, which may not be the case with you. D. was planning to go to a Medical School and she knew that as long as she has high college GPA and a decent MCAT, she would be fine. As a 4th year Medical Student attending a medical school that was her dream way back in HS, I can tell you the she has accomplish her mission. But there are fields where name of your UG will make a difference in your future. </p>