I’m really trying to rely on merit scholarships since I don’t exactly qualify for sports/extracurricular related scholarships and I highly doubt FAFSA will give me much, but I honestly don’t know much about how they work. I don’t really care much about where I go as long as I can save the most amount of money.
I live in Connecticut and plan on applying to the following at the moment:
UCONN
Boston University
Northeastern (reach)
UMASS amherst and possibly lowell
ECSU as a possible safety
Quinnipiac
I’m an honors student with a 4.0 gpa (weighted), and in total will have done 4 APs when I graduate so I’m not an exceptional student but some advice on where I should apply for good scholarships would be super helpful. I know I didn’t provide much about who I am academically but if that would help with answering my question then let me know.
I think your best bet will be to start with UConn and the directional state schools (SCSU etc). It isn’t only about getting the most aid, it’s also about a lower cost. At Quinnipiac, for example, cost of attendance including room & board is over $66,000 a year ($51,000 to commute) but the maximum merit award is $28,000 which still leaves a hefty balance (38/23K) and that is IF you are awarded any money. Tuition at Southern is under $12,000 and room and board is another 12k or so, without any merit or other scholarships. The cost there is going to be lower than Quinnipiac even if you get the maximum. I didn’t look up the other schools you listed but I’m fairly certain the merit amounts would not beat the costs at your state schools.
Where did you find the information on QU’s max merit? I ask because that is what my son received and he has lower stats than the OP. He did not originally get that though. We did a merit review after he was accepted and they gave him more, bringing him up to the $28,000.
OP, I agree that your least expensive option will be the state directionals. What is your major?
Will probably major in something like computer science, at least that’s what I’ll go with at first since I’m still pretty unsure about what I want to do
@taverngirl I just did a quick search for Quinnipiac merit aid and there was a link to a list undergraduate scholarships. First-year student merit scholarships gives a range of $12,000-28,000. That was where I got $28,000 as being the max.
From experience, QU is expensive but they are pretty generous with merit scholarship money. Agree with helping mom, if money is the main factor stick with the state schools and possibly start off with community college and transfer. Good luck.
How much can you and your parents afford to pay for college? Check out the net price calculators for each of these schools and see what they say. If you need merit, be aware that any financial aid might reduce merit money so you’ll need a large enough award to cover the fin aid portion at a school.
It’s very difficult, IMO, to get full tuition or even half tuition at a school. Check out the awards available at your neighboring state schools as well as some private schools like Sacred Heart, Iona, UScranton. Maybe McDaniel, Ursinus, Susquehanna. Look at some of the Public universities out of state as well for what they have in the way of automatic scholarships for out of staters. Binghamton , Rhode Island, Maine as well as some southern schools.
Are you submitting test scores? What are they if you are?
Sorry for late reply, I believe my parents said they’d be able to pay $10k per year? Might be difficult when my sisters enter university in 2 years. I will be submitting test scores, but I just took my first SAT as it was postponed many times and don’t have the score just yet but my psat from last year was an 1150.
With that budget, you’ll need to focus on UConn and the state directionals. I have no idea what kind of merit UConn offers. Run a couple of Net Price Calculators to see if you’re eligible for any financial aid.