Scholarship suggestions?

Paying for College
1

<p>I am a junior at a public school in Richmond, Texas. My high school was just built and mine will be the first graduating class. I am interested in going to Rice University, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, UT Austin, or MIT. MIT is my number one choice.</p>

<p>Stats:
Sophomore PSAT score 227 - 234
SAT score: 2400
AP Computer Science A
AP US History
AP Chemistry
AP Spanish 4 (and maybe Spanish 5)
AP English 3 and AP english 4
AP Physics
AP Govt and Economics
AP Calculus
Orchestra (play violin) for 7 years
AP computer science 2 (AB)</p>

<p>I plan to get 4s and 5s on all my APs</p>

<p>Orchestra President: 10, 11, 12th grades
Debate club founder and Vice President in 10th grade, President in 11th and 12th grade
CHess club founder and president 10, 11, 12th grades
Science club co-founder and vice president 10th, 11th, 12th grades
Member of Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)
Member of and officer of NHS
Member of Spanish Honor Society</p>

<p>Member of Region Orchestra
School Symphony Orchestra concertmaster
OUtstanding soloist at several orchestra competitions
Solo and Ensemble Contest Rating of one on a division one solo
Orchestra Outstanding Leadership award</p>

<p>Went to National History Day state competition in 10th grade for a group performance
Organizer of the school talent show in 10th grade
Math peer tutoring 1hr/week
approximately 100 volunteer hours</p>

<p>volunteered at a rural school in India for approximately 100 hours during the summer</p>

<p>Debate
Placed at several local competitions in LD Debate and Extemporaneous speaking, but never went to state competition
School Outstanding LD Debater award</p>

<p>Participated in several UIL competitions and Computer Science competitions
I was on the school UIL and computer science team
placed in several computer science competitions</p>

<p>Class rank 4 out of 421</p>

<p>GPA unweighted: 4.0
weighted 5.68</p>

<p>AMC school champion in 8th grade
took AMC and AIME in 9th grade</p>

<p>I get subject awards in several subjects at the end of each school year</p>

<p>I know that I will have very strong teacher, principal, and counselor recommendations.</p>

<p>I know that these stats are very vague, but maybe you guys can give me an idea of what my chances might be at the aforementioned schools.
If you need more information from me, please ask.
Because I am in 11th grade, some of the above stats are predicted/estimated</p>

<p>I have posted my stats to give you an idea of my abilities and interests.</p>

<p>I seriously need some big time scholarships if I am going to even think about attending MIT or Harvard. Can someone recommend any good ones? I have tried so many scholarship search websites, but I am not happy with the seach results. Too many small scholarships worth only a couple hundred dollars. I am looking for a few reputable, big scholarships. It would take me decades to save $160,000 with $200 scholarships.</p>

2

<p>There is a lot of competition for the "big" scholarships. Your stats are great, but there are a lot of students out there that are as bright as you are. </p>

<p>You probably know a lot of what I am about to write but here goes:</p>

<p>Harvard, Yale, MIT, Cornell - no merit scholarships. What is your family's financial status? Will you qualify for need based aid? Ask them to fill out an EFC (estimated family contribution) calculator. (Just google EFC) Of the four schools listed above, Cornell is probably the school that gives the least need-based aid. But it's also the school that is easiest to get into. </p>

<p>Rice- They do have merit scholarships, I think that all students who apply are considered, but double check for yourself. Never take the word of CC posters as being correct. If there are separate applications for merit aid make sure you meet the deadlines. </p>

<p>UT - I have no clue.</p>

<p>Scholarship suggestions:
Discover tribute award - application becomes available in December for Juniors(double check the date)
However, you have to demonstrate that you've overcome an obstacle or hardship. Do you have anything that meets that criteria?</p>

<p>Coca Cola Scholars for your senior year - applications due by Oct. 31. If you check out the link on CC you can see that it is very competetive to make the first cuts, but the initial app is easy and you demonstrate a lot of leadership. </p>

<p>Definately sign up for Fastweb. Most people feel it's somewhat useless, but it does list most of the major corporate scholarships. You have a year to familiarize yourself with the requirements of each and possible fill in any "gaps" in your resume. There are a lot that focus on "community service", Remember, many well qualified students have community service - make yours unique. Several of them require that you demonstrate "need." Again, check with your parents if you haven't already. </p>

<p>As far as chances for your schools, you are definately "in the running." But as you are probably already aware, beyond that none of us knows what the adcoms are looking for and a lot of kids with perfect stats get rejected at the ivys. </p>

<p>Just a suggestion:
Add a few more safeties to your list (still great schools based on your stats), and then show interest in those schools (ask for info etc) so they don't think of themselves as safeties (yield) You may be surprised to find that you get offers of full rides at a great schools and can always consider an IVy for grad school. </p>

<p>Good Luck and let us know how things work out.</p>