<p>In fact, its thanks to those threads that i even found CC. my discovery of college confidential went like this:</p>
<p>Googled:what the heck is the PSAT? -> what is national hispanic recognition program-> how to qualify for the NHRP -> thread on CC about NHRP TADA! thats how I wound up here</p>
<p>I have looked through the scholarships thread, but aren’t the majority of those scholarships competative or limited to a certain number of students? </p>
<p>As for the rigor of my schedule…well I’m not entirely sure how an adcom would view it
My counselor will most likely put down my sch. as most rigorous, but I’ve taken a bunch of gym classes(2 hour blocks this year and last year as well as a 1 hr semester gym class during freshman year)
So basically my counselor will say my sched. is great, but i don’t know that someone else would view it as great, im not sure if that makes sense</p>
<p>That won’t give NMF, no problem. Look at the catholic universities, there is a lot of variety. Some of them are pretty generous and although some scholarships are competitive instead of automatic they can help.</p>
<p>What about a women’s college like Mills? (May be too small for you). It is not what I call conservative, but it offers excellent merit aid to to students, and has cross registration with UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>There are some schools that give nice merit packages to NH & NA finalists; you may want to look into those routes, but those will probably not be small, Catholic LACs.</p>
<p>OP, I wasn’t trying to minimize the work you’ve done for your education. In this case I mentioned CC as the low cost way to get your degree. U Dayton is a good recommendation. You can also look at test optional schools. [Optional</a> List | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]Optional”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>
<p>OP–I don’t want to give you any false hope because some people here have listed some great schools you would most likely be admitted (USD, USF, Dickinson, etc.), but if you are hispanic, first generation, can speak Spanish, and are not wealthy (like lower middle-class or low-income) I think you could be admitted to much more competitive universities. You shouldn’t be afraid to apply to some highly selective LACs like Williams, Bowdoin, Washington and Lee, Davidson. Basically, if you do some research and find out which schools are not super diverse (so Occidental and the Claremonts wouldn’t be in that category) you would be a very competitive applicant. The beauty of being admitted to a NESCAC/W&L/Davidson is that they will meet your EFC with full grants so you don’t have to worry about loans or merit-aid. Some of these school also have fly-in programs for low-income/minority students so you can visit these schools for free. </p>
<p>Now, I have no idea if those schools are a good fit for you, but I think some of the other posters are short changing which schools you can be admitted. The difference between going to a Middlebury and a Catholic school like USF/USD is that you will have massive loans at the Catholic school where the more elite LACs have larger endowments and many have no-loan aid packages. Also, some smaller schools known for lax in addition to the NESCAC schools would be Whittier, Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Franklin and Marshall.</p>
<p>I think that the OP’s chances at a good LAC have been a bit underestimated here. Besides very decent stats, the OP is a Mexican American from Idaho–a URM from an underrepresented state. My D, a white girl from California, with almost identical stats and also needing full aid got into American, Tulane, Skidmore, Whitman, Berkeley, Lewis and Clark, Puget Sound, and a few others with at least $20,000 a year in scholarships to most of them, grants and financial aid on top of that, and small loans to make up the difference. This was last year when colleges were even more or just as worried about their endowments. Schools like Whitman that are need blind in admissions are good to consider. She was wait listed at Bowdoin–need blind and SAT optional (those 2 factors together were a good target that we appreciated a bit too late for the most selective schools). But I think this girl has great shots (with money) at some excellent schools.</p>
<p>I posted this at the same time as you alum08, and I just want to concur. the URM issue will be a big help to her.</p>
<p>I think the student needs to look strongly at schools that will give big money to National Hispanic scholars. </p>
<p>Be aware that some schools that give NH scholarships also have a minimum SAT or ACT req’t. </p>
<p>Schools like UDayton will give about a $10k merit scholarship for her stats, but not enough to make the school likely affordable for her family - since the COA is about $45k per year. </p>
<p>It doesn’t look like the student’s parents will be taking out Plus loans since they already have debt and it doesn’t sound like they’ve borrowed for the sibling’s education. So, likely their intention is to spend a similar amount (if they can afford to double what they’re currently paying - maybe not).</p>
<p>Instead of asking her parents how much they will borrow, she needs to be asking how much will they contribute. Once that figure is known, better suggestions can be made.</p>
<p>I highly recommend the book “Choosing the Right College” by John Zmirak. It takes a bit of a different approach than many college guidebooks. The author is Catholic and the book considers which schools may be attractive to those from a conservative background. I found it in my public library, and then bought a copy from Amazon.</p>
<p>University of Scranton? It is in the correct size range, and is a Jesuit University. I know a couple of people who went there and loved it. PA is quite far away from Idaho, however.</p>
<p>That’s the NHRP scholarship thread that I referred to and which the OP has already read. It was started by a parent on the Hispanic Students forum and is very complete.</p>
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<p>ANY substantial merit scholarship is going to be competitive and limited. The trick is that you need to find schools where you will be at the tippy top of the applicant pool for that scholarship or for that school. That’s why I didn’t list some of the very selective schools with URM scholarships (eg. WUSTL, UNCCH, etc.) to start with, although I’m not saying you shouldn’t try for them. But the schools I listed and most of the ones on the NHRP thread are more within reach.</p>
<p>As a MA student from ID with almost a 4.0 UW, this should help you quite a bit. It is also good that your GC will mark hardest schedule. Have you done anything beyond of school that shows support for you academics (eg. college classes, summer programs)? Like I said, right now the biggest thing holding you back is your testing, so hopefully you can raise that your next sitting.</p>
<p>Once again, you really have to get your parents to run some FA calculators, it is vital that you have a reasonable idea of how much, if any, FA you will qualify for BEFORE you make a college list.</p>