Still confused about college list

Basically, have twice the list you’d planned: one list if your arents agree to pay 30-40k, one list if they want a full tuition to full rides scholarship.
The two lists will be VERY different.

I don’t see BC as a good option, since there would be no chance for merit aid and it doesn’t sound like need based aid would be likely either.

I agree. Run the NPC on BC, just in case, but while it meets the “list 1” criteria it most absolutely does not meet the “list 2” criteria.
Right now list 1 is pretty set, list 2 iis what you need help with.

Would any of these schools work for list 2?
Florida State, South Florida, UNL, Kansas State, or Ole Miss?

If they have automatic full ride scholarships for your stats, then they can be safeties. (However, I am not aware of any such scholarship at these schools.)

If they have competitive full ride scholarships, then they can be reaches.

Check out the scholarships there. “List 2” should have at least the possibility of full tuition scholarships for your stats.
Also, did you register for the August SAT and September ACT?

Kansas State won’t have an full ride scholarships for your stats but will meet your list 1 criteria.

Which colleges do offer full tuition scholarships for my stats?

Try http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21089443/#Comment_21089443 , but verify on college web sites in case of changes. These are automatic for stats. But if your parent contribution really is $0, you need a full ride or close to it scholarship, not just full tuition.

I don’t think their contribution really is $0. If it is though, and I don’t get any need based aid, I’ll just go to community college because I don’t really love any of the schools that would give me an automatic full ride.

If you go to community college, would you be able to afford the last two years of a four year school that you transfer to?

@ucbalumnus Yes

I know this has kind of been my question all along, but I feel like I need to ask it one more time.
Would applying to Vanderbilt or Brown be a waste of an application fee?
Since I’m now working on my essays and actually starting my applications, I just want to make sure my expectations aren’t too high and I apply to enough schools that are actually realistic.

Extra21 - the consensus view appears that Vanderbilt or Brown are very high reaches. Not a “waste” the same way a lottery ticket isn’t a waste. Depends on how you value your time, effort and fees versus the possibility of attending your dream.

I can tell you definitively that if you don’t apply you won’t get in. Conversely, I can also say (as I would to almost all kids) you are likely to waste limited resources by applying in exchange for the small possibility of attending V or B.

Good luck either way and know your achievements to date ensure you will get into a great school. There are a lot of them out there.

OP,

There is a thread here on CC that lists full tuition scholarship schools. Here’s a website that lists 111 schools that offer full tuition merit awards: http://thecollegematchmaker.com/111-ridiculously-awesome-full-tuition-schoarships/

Sure, there are schools where you’ll be competitive for full tuition scholarships. The catch? They’re probably not the sorts of schools that you’d be interested in attending. Full tuition awards are very competitive, and to even be in the running, you’ll need to be a considerable notch above the typical admit. For instance, Ivy League admits sometimes earn full tuition waivers to Vandy (there were some students right before the May 1 deadline who were considering such offers and asking for opinions here on CC).

For you, OP, you’d need to identify those institutions where you stand way above the typical admit. A full tuition award is essentially the college’s way of saying, “Wow! We would really love to have this student, so much so that we are going to throw a lot of money her way.”

For instance, Eureka College in Eureka, IL offers six Reagan scholarships (Ronald Reagan graduated from Eureka), which cover full tuition for four years. But I highly doubt that you would consider Eureka, a tiny (and I do mean tiny) regional LAC that most people have never heard of (undergraduate population is under 600, I believe).

I don’t know. Maybe there are options that are a bit above a school like Eureka, but you’re sort of in that awkward spot, OP. You’re obviously a bright (very bright) student, as evidenced by the schools you are considering, but honestly, one has to have rock star stats to have a shot at full ride scholarships at most schools. For example, in the very long “results” thread (over a decade-long), one student turned down Yale and Amherst to accept a full tuition scholarship at Rhodes C., an excellent LAC in TN. That’s what it takes to earn a full tuition award at Rhodes; you need to be an elite student.

Here’s hoping that your parents wake up and become more involved with your college application process. You might remember my post from earlier. I too am from IL, and my parents also were not at all interested in filling out the FAFSA or caring about my college path. It’s tough.

I think you have a shot at Vanderbilt Peabody E€ so go for it. Applying RD or to another college than Peabody would push the application into the ‘waste’ pile.

@Hapworth Thanks for the advice! Do schools ever offer scholarships besides or more than the ones that they list on their websites or are those usually it?