<p>I'm a junior, and I have a college list full of colleges that are matches or reaches for me, but not many safeties. I'm pretty sure I could get into Ohio State with a full-ride, but I don't know if I would be happy there (I kinda want to get out of Ohio, preferably near or in a big city).
Ideally, I want to apply to safeties that could give me full-ride merit-based scholarships that are also places that I would still be happy attending if I got rejected everywhere else (and that would prepare me well for the MCAT & medical school).
Here's a quick overview of my stats:
3.92ish UW GPA, mostly APs/honors, 2340 superscored SAT, 223 PSAT (most likely NMSF), pretty good ECs</p>
<p>Take a look at <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</a></p>
<p>I’d suggest Pitt and Case Western. Both would give you significant merit money. Pitt would almost definitely give you full tuition with your numbers, and it would meet your criteria of being out of Ohio, lots of pre-med resources, and in a city.</p>
<p>I know you said you wanted to get out of Ohio, but Ohio Wesleyan and Denison will all give you a full ride most likely. Actually most Denison and OWU students are from the east coast, so you won’t have as much of the Ohio feel at those schools (OWU has a huge international pull).</p>
<p>Can you post the list of your top choice colleges? That way, it will be easy for us to suggest safeties.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure I could get into Ohio State with a full-ride,</p>
<p>Does OSU give full-rides for merit?</p>
<p>I believe so.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses!</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: Yeah, my mom’s friend’s son got a full-ride to OSU. It’s called the Honors Presidential and Medalist Scholarship Competition if you want to look into it.</p>
<p>confidential2015: I’m looking at Northwestern, WUStL, Columbia (dream school, but a reach), Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>Fordham in NYC (one campus in Bronx, one in Manhattan) is obviously “in a big city.”</p>
<p>It is Jesuit, but is very open and accepting of students of other faiths (they help you find nearby mosques or synagogues or other churches if you need them) and is very diverse.</p>
<p>They offer full-tuition to well-qualified National Merit Semifinalists, something like 300 offers a year. I got it with lower stats than you, and some people got it with lower stats than me. You’d almost certainly get that, plus possibly be in the running for a full ride (also covers room and board).</p>
<p>I’d have to suggest Pitt. Near a big city and gives a lot of aid.</p>
<h2>analgin…do you mean merit-based aid? because it doesn’t give a lot of need-based aid…especially to those who are OOS.</h2>
<p>*mom2collegekids: Yeah, my mom’s friend’s son got a full-ride to OSU. It’s called the Honors Presidential and Medalist Scholarship Competition if you want to look into it.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Even if OSU gives some “full rides” for merit, I don’t think he should expect to get it…they’re very competitive. the school only awards 15 of them to a mix of instate and OOS students. Your stats are high, but do you know how many high stats kids are competing for that scholarship?</p>
<p>Does OSU superscore? some publics do not.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that you won’t get it, but if you want to get a full ride, you should also apply to a school where you know for sure you’ll be given a full ride…an assured scholarship for stats…not competitive.</p>
<p>What’s your major going to be?</p>
<p>I’m actually considering OSU more and more as my safety. I’m also liking Fordham, and I’ll look more into Pitt.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: You’re right; I definitely don’t have a guaranteed chance at the full-ride scholarship. I don’t think counting on a full-ride to any decent school can be safe. </p>
<p>I’m look more for something along the lines of a school that I could almost definitely be accepted to and have a pretty good chance of getting a scholarship. I don’t think I made that clear in my post, sorry.</p>
<p>My mom’s friend’s son (wordy) had a good but not great resume in high school (he’s 22 now), so I thought I would have a pretty good chance at the scholarship too.</p>
<p>I want to major in economics, I think? I’m not sure. But I do know that I want to be on a pre-med track, so a school with good science programs (to prepare me for the MCAT) would be great.</p>
<p>Just to add to the chorus, my son is also OOS and got $10K in merit at Pitt with stats less than yours. If you like Boston, there are a number of good safeties like BU and NEU. But they’re expensive compared to a public like Pitt.</p>
<p>with this</p>
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<p>you should be able to get somewhere around a $20,000 merit scholarship at Pepperdine</p>
<p>Dickinson College has great natural science program and offers merit based aid too.</p>
<p>^^Did you check Emory University? They have full rides for around 250 freshmen.</p>
<p>Tulane would give you a lot of money (at least 25K/year and you could apply for the full tuition scholarship) and they have a good bio program.</p>
<p>Somebody already mentioned Northeastern University (as NEU) in Boston, but they said it would probably be more expensive. This won’t be true if you’re NMF, because they have guaranteed full-tuition scholarships for National Merit. (Their website says they’re not guaranteed, but this year several people have called in to confirm that it is. Also, when I emailed them my notification a few days ago, they told me they’d be updating my financial aid award to that scholarship, not that I was just in the running for it.) You’ll have to check again next year to see if it’s still guaranteed, but it’s definitely worth a look!</p>
<p>University of Rochester-in a city, would be a safety for you, but is an amazing school for the sciences, and premed. I’m not sure about aid, but I’m sure they would give you a lot!</p>
<p>Franklin& Marshall and Holy Cross. Holy Cross has great pre-med and science programs.</p>