But are any of these close to full ride (like PVAMU and Tuskegee mentioned previously)?
Close to full tuition. Not ride. As many said full ride, such as Johnson at W&L or SMUâs version are tough. So you need an entire list of strong merit to boot. Just bcuz they have them doesnât mean youâll get them. But schools like Bama, Ms State, Bradley (private), Arkansas, Arizona, Mizzou are aggressive and will give you an indication b4 you apply as to what you will receive vs a top LAC, IVY or Gtown type that only offer need based aid. Others like Miami Ohio, Pitt for minorities, South Carolina, Florida State (for 31 Act) wonât tell guy the $ up front but they are reasonable after the merit they provideâŠlike $30k or under all in.
Then you have regional or directional colleges that are cheap.
In other words you can try for free but still need to have aggressive backups as a fall back bcuz the likelihood of free, if you donât have substantial need, is not good.
3 Likes
I agree with @collegemom3717 and @MYOS1634 . When S20 was in this process last year, no private schools (that he applied to) within a 3-hour drive of us offered enough FinAid to be affordable. However, comparable universities 5 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours, 15 hours away and further offered much better FinAid. Not all schools, but some. It is true that some schools value geographic diversity enough to do what it takes to attract students from far away.
1 Like
Sorry for the late reply. Itâs been a crazy buzy week.
@ghgal04 , as the parent of a minority child from a neighboring state, Iâd be happy to share/help. Iâll read through the thread and see if I can add any general info. Also, feel free to PM me if you have any questions youâd rather not post publicly.
BTW, your stats look great and youâve done a wonderful job so far. The hard part now is going to be how your craft your college search, how much research you do to prepare and follow through on this part. Many students focus 99% on HS class work and 1% on the college search and research part. For students in your situation seeking your desired outcome, much more preparation is required. Coming to CC and starting this thread was a great step.
Youâve received a lot of good info/help so far. Iâll see what I can add.
4 Likes
Whew! I just did a quick read of the thread.
My initial impression is your #1 most affordable options are going to be VA public universities. Specifically, I think VCU will be a great option for you and should be affordable though not necessarily âfull rideâ. GMU should also be a target for you. I love the Hampton-Roads area and lived in the Tidewater area for a couple of years, but you may feel that CNU is too close to home, though I think it too would be a good option.
Your next tier of affordable options are probably going the be several HBCU mentioned by @ucbalumnus and @ChangeTheGame . Several HBCUs offer very generous scholarships for students with stats like yours. Ultimately, youâll have to decide if you want to move from VA to MS/AL/etc to attend one of those HBCUs. Be mindful that famous name brand HBCUs (Howard, Spelman, etc) usually reserve their best merit aid for students with 1400+ SAT scores.
There is a group of public universities in some states (AZ, SC, OH, FL, etc) often mentioned as being generous with merit aid. I donât think any of those schools will offer enough merit aid to get you a full ride or even near full ride. At best youâll receive full tuition, but that will still leave R&B and fees - and itâs unlikely youâll receive full tuition from those options anyway. Apply to any of these that interest you, but I recommend you do so knowing it probably wonât be a realistic option. And honestly, unless your desire to escape VA is stronger than your desire to save money, I think youâll have just as good (or better) educational options in VA, and at a better price for you.
I also like the recommendation of the New Mexico schools. They will be affordable for your stats. However, as with the options in the previous paragraph, they wonât necessarily give you a better education than you can achieve at a VA public university. Consider NM (and maybe UT and NV) if exploring parts of the country outside VA is as important as cost, but if cost is the first and only concern, you may end up in VA.
Lastly, I have to say Iâm not very confident of your private university options. Many of the most generous FinAid packages from private universities for students with similar stats will include Need Based aid. With your familyâs income being above $150K, not many schools will offer you any Need Based aid. Without Need Based aid being a big component of the overall FinAid package, Iâm not sure many private universities will be more affordable for you than your in-state public options.
Certainly, continue to research and apply to several of the options mentioned so far in this thread. Definitely check out the Colleges That Change Lives list. If getting out of the state is a priority, options like LaSalle may end up comparable in price to your instate options - but again, itâs not academically superior to your in-state options.
If it hasnât been mentioned, please fill out the Net Price Calculators for 2-4 public universities in VA that interest you and tell us the estimated cost for your family. That will give us a baseline price that other options will need to meet to make them a consideration for your situation.
Good luck!
9 Likes
Another school that offers several full tuition scholarships a year is Lewis & Clark college in oregon. If you want to be a medical doctor Wayne State has a full ride BSMD program focusing on helping marginalized communities. Santa Clara University has a full tuition scholarship, as does Mount Holyoke as someone mentioned. I believe Bryn Mawr College does as well.
FWIW, I would look to apply to colleges that have low diversity scores that are looking to increase their stats in that area, especially with BIPOC students i.e. Santa Clara University Scholarships - School of Engineering - Santa Clara University, TCU, SMU, Pepperdine (this is also a way to increase their ranking btw). Consider private colleges or public colleges in non-diverse states. You may not qualify for a full-ride because of your GPA, but many of these schools are creating special programs to increase opportunities to diverse candidates, especially in STEM. Also, the tech industry is partnering with universities and pouring money into additional programs that support black women specifically, so do some research and see if you can find and apply for these programs. Start early, APPLY EARLY ACTION, if you donât get what you want, ask to be reconsidered. Use your resources from your school, sponsorship and mentorship is key. Consider taking coding classes and focus on biomedical engineering or computer science - the convergence of medicine and computer science is an exciting job field and could yield more scholarship offers. The tech industry is trying to rehabilitate its image and is more interested in diversity than the medical field, and you can use this to your advantage. Also - I think you have a great GPA, you have achieved so much, and you should be so proud of yourself! Donât let a few Bâs get in the way of achieving your dreams.
2 Likes
Check out Vanderbilt. I worked with a student 2 years ago who got a full tuition merit scholarship because they wanted her. Also look at Carleton College in MN. They are very dedicated to students not graduating without debt and itâs an outstanding college that changes lives.
~ Donât Sweat the Essay, Inc.
If your parents had any reason to move to Georgia before the start of fall, youâd get a full-tuition scholarship to any in-state public school by graduating from a Georgia HS with a 3.5 (though Iâm betting thatâs not very likely). Barring that, hereâs a link to the webpages of schools that have online merit scholarship calculators - you put in the data and they tell you how much youâll receive. Again, bear in mind that the schools that will offer you merit aid will be ones for which youâre overqualified for admission.:
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=merit+scholarship+calculator
Maintain that GPA and get your SAT up to 1360, and Troy University (in Alabama) will give you tuition+housing. Get your score up to a 1450 and theyâll pay for your meal plan, too. (Transportation costs are on you and your family no matter what, of course.)
Details at Troy University Undergraduate Scholarships (youâll need to scroll down and expand the section titled âFreshman Scholarshipsâ).
2 Likes
Hey there!! First of all, well done in school and preparing so well for this!!
My advice is to work on getting that SAT score up, or maybe trying the ACT.
In addition, my alma mater is the University of Alabama, which offers full ride scholarships based on test scores. As a national merit scholar, both my undergraduate and graduate degrees are tuition free.
Look into UAâs programs and campus life, itâs a great place to go to school. Winning at least a dozen national championships in various sports doesnât hurt either.
Other schools I considered because of test-based scholarships: University of Oklahoma, Arizona State University, Michigan State University
Best of luck, hope this was able to help a little!
1 Like
Just as a slight correction, Alabama doesnât give automatic full-ride scholarships, and they no longer give automatic full-tuition scholarships for anything below a 4.0/1600âthey scaled back their quite generous program a few years back. (IIRC, the entering class of 2017 was the last group that could get automatic full-tuition scholarships for anything below a 4.0/1600.)
They do still have quite good automatic tuition benefits that the OP could qualify for with a higher SAT scoreâand in fact, with @ghgal04âs current stats theyâd get an automatic scholarship, just not a huge one: see https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/out-of-state/.
1 Like
Thereâs a list to check at
Ah right, thatâs my bad!! Thank you for the correction, I forgot they changed their scholarships.
I can say, it still is an excellent place to study!!
Iâd suggest filling out the black common application.
I sponsored a student last year and some surprising scholarships came out of it.
3 Likes
Check UT Dallas! They have a ton of merit-based full-ride scholarships 
3 Likes
You could look at Western Carolina, Elizabeth City State (HBCU) and UNC-Pembroke in North Carolina. All have $2500 tuition/per semester for OOS.
Might be worth looking at NC A&T (HBCU in Greensboro) too.
We have a friend who got a big scholarship to Mary Baldwin U in Staunton and she said lots of people got them. Iâm not sure if it was a full ride, but close I think. Staunton is a cute town.
1 Like
Update because I canât figure out how to edit the OG post again: At the end of Junior year my weighted GPA is now a 4.03. I took the June 5th SAT and scores come out July 14th so I will see how that changes things!
2 Likes