<p>Hello. Well, it's been almost 3 years since I've graduated high school. I decided to join my family's business after school, but it has recently gone down the tank (wasn't planning on that). My question is, do you guys know of any schools that will offer me a full ride academic scholarship or close to it? I had a 4.0 unweighted GPA, 2350 SAT, lots of clubs, state AP scholar etc. I was not national merit, however. I know for a fact that I will not be able to get any letters of recommendation, since I've fallen out of contact with my old teachers and such. Guidance counsellor has passed away too. So to state my question again, where can I get a full ride merit scholarship or close to it with a 4.0 GPA, 2350 SAT, but no letters of rec. (just test scores and transcript)? Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>Didn’t you have this question in another forum?</p>
<p>You have 2 problems…</p>
<p>1) most schools who give merit $$ only give incoming freshman scholarships to those who are current seniors.</p>
<p>2) if you’re applying for fall 2010, you’ve missed many deadlines.</p>
<p>Almost every school requires at least 2 letters of recommendation in order to even be considered for admission let alone scholarships. You need to find someone, either reconnect with teachers at school or someone you’ve worked for (not your parents because that would be a conflict of interest). Another problem is the economy right now, a lot of schools have cut back on their financial aid packages and even though your scores are great, they are admitting fewer students who need a lot of aid. At any rate, previous poster is right in that you have missed the deadlines for applying for this coming fall, so start concentrating on fall 2011 admissions and find people to write you great recommendations. You can always take out loans.</p>
<p>Have you considered taking one or two classes at your local community college? That would get you back in the habits of being a student and could result in current recommendations.</p>
<p>Taking community college classes could turn the OP into a transfer student so I think that is not a good idea. I think that right now the OP would be applying as a true freshman and would be eligible for full-tuition scholarships at many schools with those scores. </p>
<p>Some schools will specifically ask for a guidance counselor rec but your high school should still be able to help you with this.</p>
<p>Read the various full-ride scholarship threads. Good luck.</p>
<p>I suggest you go to your high school and talk to the principal for a letter of recommendation. Also, talk to your high school college counselor for his/her recommendations of colleges or universities to apply to which will meet your merit scholarship criteria. Community college is an excellent back up plan.</p>
<p>Your SAT scores may be out of date too.</p>
<p>Look at the merit aid thread pinned to the top of this board, and then read the scholarship parts of web pages of colleges that interest you.</p>
<p>Many colleges offering merit aid to h.s. seniors will offer the same to incoming freshmen who have taken time off. My S got partial merit aid after taking a gap year after high school.</p>
<p>You won’t need to retake your SATs. You will, though, probably need to get recommendations from your former GC (or at least a GC at your school) and teachers (take the time to reconnect with them).</p>
<p>Full ride – tuition, room and board, books, expenses – is increasingly hard to get, and you’ve probably missed the deadlines for most options. Check with your local community college. It may be affordable or may have merit aid covering tuition that you may still qualify for.</p>
<p>Almost every school requires at least 2 letters of recommendation in order to even be considered for admission let alone scholarships.</p>
<p>That’s not true. There is a thread on this board just devoted to schools that don’t require any letters of recommendations. Many (maybe even most) state schools don’t require any. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/802256-list-good-schools-have-fast-ez-apps-no-essays-no-recs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/802256-list-good-schools-have-fast-ez-apps-no-essays-no-recs.html</a></p>
<p>And, many auto scholarships don’t require them either. In regards to scholarships, he will have a problem at certain schools because he’s not a current senior. Some schools require that for scholarships. He’s also missed the deadlines for the best scholarships.</p>
<p>He might try applying next fall. He shouldn’t go to a CC because then he wouldn’t be an “incoming freshmen” at the schools who won’t care that he’s not a high school senior.</p>
<p>“That’s not true. There is a thread on this board just devoted to schools that don’t require any letters of recommendations. Many (maybe even most) state schools don’t require any.”</p>
<p>I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware of this. Personally I wouldn’t think that a school that didn’t require recommendations and essays would be worth going to, sounds very low quality.</p>
<p>One good thing about doing a couple years at a community college would be that the OP would be 24 in two years, and thus could be evaluated for financial aid as an independent adult, rather than as a dependent of his/her parents. That would mean that unless the OP has significant personal income or personal investment income in their own name, they would be eligible for A LOT of federal and institutional financial aid, since their personal income would likely be quite low. </p>
<p>Another option is maybe to think about ROTC? That’s a full ride scholarship in many cases.</p>
<p>*I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware of this. Personally I wouldn’t think that a school that didn’t require recommendations and essays would be worth going to, sounds very low quality. *</p>
<p>Uh, no. </p>
<p>UC Berkeley and UCLA (and all the other UC schools) don’t require teacher recs. Do they sound “very low quality” to you? </p>
<p>UC website:</p>
<p>Letters of recommendation.
UC does not require or solicit letters of recommendation for undergraduate admission.</p>
<p>Many, many state schools do not require teacher recs.</p>
<p>Wow really? I wish I had known that back when my kids were applying! We were mostly looking at privates but still, I remember agonizing over essays and hiring a college admissions counselor.</p>