<p>I can't believe the advice I gave a parent was so wrong. Especially after being on this site. My friend's dd has no ec's, 1 AP course and average to good grades of a 3.4-3.5. She does have an outstanding ACT of a 31. I kept encouraging her to do something, anything at all in terms of ec. She did not do any sports, join any club, has extremely minimal volunteer hours. She hung out with friends, watched tv, played on the computer. The bottom line, she is very close to getting a full ride at an LAC. She has a full-tuition scholarship already and they sent her another letter saying she was in-line to also get room/board covered. I know it is probably the ACT score but I thought they would expect more well-rounded individuals who had some outside interests or hobbies. Her families income is high so these are not need-based awards. I am just totally confused because I know so many other kids who have busted their behinds to be a top candidate and get scholarships, doing extra work, being involved and they get very little and this person gets a full-ride. I know that life is not fair but this whole process surprised me.</p>
<p>Interesting. Can you say what LAC, or at least an idea of it. What lac will give so much just for a 31. Is their average a 25 or so?</p>
<p>No college where the average ACT is 25 gives a full-tuition scholarship for a 31 ACT. Especially to a B+ couch potato. Maybe one where the average score is >20 but even that is pushing it.</p>
<p>Is it possible that the parents are wealthy donating legacy?</p>
<p>NYU gave my DD a full ride “Scholarship”, it turns out to be a “full ride parents PLUS loan”…:)</p>
<p>Have you actually seen the letters awarding the scholarships? Or just been told about them?</p>
<p>As I told my d when she complained that all her friends were saying that they did X: “Well, you can say that, too.”</p>
<p>There are probably some LACs out there that don’t emphasize ECs much. And unless the student is a NMSF it’s hard to believe those stats for a full ride.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s one of the cases where the parents are fudging about the real financial award…</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1283698-kids-faking-acceptances-top-schools-eiewwww.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1283698-kids-faking-acceptances-top-schools-eiewwww.html</a></p>
<p>I have the same suspicions as Chedva</p>
<p>Nope, I saw the award letter myself. She is getting full tuition, around $30,000 for an Ohio school. I was told she has received a letter that she is still in the running for the room/board award too. The parents have not donated anything to this school either. I am as stumped as all of you and to be quite honest, jealous. My dd had lots of ec’s, same GPA but tests poorly. She has a 4.0 in college but got minimal scholarships. She was busy with school and such all the time and this girl is not at all.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t put it past a college to offer it’s merit awards to boost the score average. I bet it happens all the time.</p>
<p>My sister got a $10,000 merit based scholarship simply because she was “geographically diverse”. Don’t worry about it, she could’ve tried harder and got into a better school. It’s not like she got a full ride to Stanford or something.</p>