I am a high school student from California that is looking at SMU for merit-based scholarships. I am not too worried about getting in, but getting the scholarships and which kinda could make my decision to go to SMU. I have a 3.99 unweighted GPA, 4.32 weighted GPA. I have a 32 on the ACT, and am heavily involved in extracurriculars throughly high school, many of which I have been apart of for 4 years. I have also received many awards such as Seal of Biliteracy, AP Scholar with Distinction, California Scholarship Federation, and AP+PLTW Outstanding Student Recognition Candidate. What are my chances at getting a good amount of money from SMU to make it more affordable?
My intended major is electrical engineering btw
You will definitely get some merit aid; not sure if your stats are high enough to qualify as a Presidential scholar, which is a full ride. However, you qualify to apply for the Hunt scholarship, but emphasis is placed more on demonstrated leadership and service in addition to academic achievement. You may have better luck with merit aid at TCU and Baylor.
Good luck!
The Hunt scholarship requires a separate application, but would be well worth your time. You are automatically considered for the other merit awards. You should get a good bit of merit, probably at least $25,000/year with your grades and ACT. To get the Presidential Scholarship full ride, you probably need a 33 or above on the ACT.
My daughter had similar stats (GPA was around 3.9 but her ACT was also 32). She did not receive the Presidential Scholarship or the Hunt Leadership scholarship but she did receive significant scholarships from the university as well as the Lyle engineering school.
@azmomof3 Do you know anything about the J. Embrey Engineering scholarship? I saw it on the SMU website, but I haven’t seen any indication of how much is awarded and how often. I have similar stats as your daughter and I am interested in engineering. Could you shed light on how much Lyle gives? Any info would help.
@tmmydbsn you should search CC’s SMU forum (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/southern-methodist-university/) you can see stats of kids invited to interview for the Presidential Scholarship, also take a look at current winners (https://www.smu.edu/Academics/PS/CurrentScholars), their bios show lots of leadership and NMF awards.