<p>My stats:
3.57 unweighted GPA 4.0 weighted. About the top 7% of the class or so
SAT's M770 CR690 W700</p>
<p>EC:
3 year varsity letter in swimming
3 year NHS
3 year spanish honor society
treasurer of spanish honor society
1 year debate club
volunteer at elementary school
a bunch of those meaningless talent search programs
AP scholar
national merit semifinalist (likely finalist)
maybe a few other things</p>
<p>I'm taking almost the most difficult schedule possible at my school, with the only AP classes offered that I have not taken being AP spanish and AP art history. Overall I'll have taken 8 AP classes after this year.</p>
<p>Also in extenuating circumstances my mom just died from ovarian cancer after a 3.5 year battle, and I have some strong essays reguarding my responsibilities with her and family stuff.</p>
<p>National merit makes me a shoe in at UF, and I applied for, but am a long shot at an Emory Scholars scholarship. My family nor I can afford to pay for a private school education, but my dad makes too much to qualify for enough need aid, so I'm looking at scholarships, and most recently Stetson has caught my eye. I see that they offer a few full ride scholarships which I MAY be in the ballpark for, called Edmunds scholarships. </p>
<p>Now comes my question, part one, if anyone knows anything about that scholarship am I in the ballpark? I'm looking at a finance degree most likely, so how would Stetson compare to say a UF Finance education (I'm assuming I wont get the emory scholarship, otherwise they're my first choice). I do like the idea of the smaller school feel, and it's close to daytona and orlando so it's not exactly in the middle of nowhere. I'm looking at likely going on for a graduate degree, and would want it from the most prestigeous school possible, would I be at a disadvantage if I came from Stetson verses comming from UF?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help and advice, anything you can share would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Btw.. are you a Florida resident? If so I assume you already know about Bright Futures..</p>
<p>You qualify for the 100% tuition scholarship (at a public as well as private institution) .. + $300 for any other college related expenses .. which means you'd really only have to pay for Room & Board and pocket money..</p>
<p>hope this helps, and excuse me if you already know this info</p>
<p>I probably should have mentioned that, but yes, I am a FL resident. Bright futures pays 100% tuition at any public university though, or the equivalent (about 3800 a year) at a private institution within the state, which still puts me about....$25,000 a year short of going to Stetson. </p>
<p>UF covets national merits, and is offering me $5500 a year plus a $2000 stipend for study abroad, in addition to bright futures and other scholarships, as well as preferential treatement in housing and registration dates. In addition my older brother currently goes there, and my dad got his undergrad degree from there back in the 70's. But as I said, I would probably prefer the smaller college feel of a stetson type school, although it is less prestigious.</p>
<p>looked at it, but I'm looking for a business school, plus most of the unofficial guides have New College's student body to be quite...eccentric.</p>
<p>Does Flagler in St. Augustine have a finance major? It has a very good reputation.....maybe better than Stetson and not too big.....Rollins is small, too, with an MBA program but I'm not sure how serious a place it is academically, and it is expensive.</p>
<p>Flagler I believe does have finance, but my problem with them is they take ALL of their money and reduce EVERYONE's tuition, while I'm looking for a full ride somewhere, as I already nearly have at UF. </p>
<p>Rollins I looked at, and is ranked #1 in the south (stetson is #4 in US news) and they DO offer 10 full scholarships, my only hesitation is you need to consistantly maintain a 3.6 GPA, plus they don't have any undergrad business major, the closest is Economics.</p>
<p>Look into Rollins College's "Cornell Scholars" program. They offer full-ride (tuition and room/board) scholarships to students with approximately the same stats as you. Their business school is stellar, and it's location in Winter Park ( 5 minutes out of Orlando) is unbeatable ( especially by Deland hahaha.)-----and they DO offer a fine International Business program for undergraduates.</p>
<p>I think the reputation of UF in Florida and nationally is hard to beat. Perhaps the Honors Program and Honors dorm at UF would give you the small school feel you seek. UF is ranked #50 among national universities by US News (if you trust such rankings). It is one of the best public universities in the country. UF's business program is ranked #26 nationally and the finance program is ranked #15. I can't imagaine that any other program in FL even comes close in terms of quality and reputation. Rankings aren't everything though...visit each school and ask LOTS of questions. Good luck and congrats on your National Merit award.</p>
<p>Yeah, That's pretty much what I expected to hear, and I will most likely end up at UF...I still have slight hopes at an emory scholars scholarship, but that's a longshot at best. </p>
<p>I think it'll be hard for me to not pick UF, especially considering that I have a slight interest in engineering programs which are not offered at the smaller schools.</p>