<p>Would you mind posting your stats and which colleges offered you a free ride or full tuition?</p>
<p>I would really like to know because right now it doesn't look like I will be recieving any financial help from my parents for college, so I am wondering what kinds of students are offered free rides and which colleges offer them...</p>
<p>The University of Miami is unusually open about what it offers for merit scholarships. See where you would stand:</p>
<p>Well in NJ...Rutgers offered me full tuition, and Montclair State would've given me a free ride if I had applied.</p>
<p>2260 SAT's, top 5% of class</p>
<p>um, every University of CA gives out their own Regents Scholarships, which can be full ride depending on your need. It basically covers all your financial need. so if you have very little need, then you won't get very much money. And the stats of the scholarship recipients are all over the place. I think they are starting to use this "hollistic" thing to choose their Regents' Scholars.</p>
<p>D received a full tuition scholarship at Denison for being a NMF.</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies.</p>
<p>STRAWBeRRYred89, do you think it was your SAT scores/class rank alone that pretty much did it for you?</p>
<p>Many public colleges have their info posted for top scholarships --- just look on websites. They will tell minimum ACT/SAT scores to qualify --- but most don't just give them automatically --- you still must compete against others with similar stats. Some private schools give automatic scholarships at certain ACT/SAT & gpa/rank levels. Others may publish info that states "typical recipient of this scholarship has ..."</p>
<p>It might be helpful if you let us know your stats & what you want in a school (size, location, programs, etc.). It would narrow things down a bit.</p>
<p>There's a previous thread about this. It lists a lot of colleges that give free rides...you should search for it.</p>
<p>I recieved full rides at Wake Forest, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, and the University of Georgia. I also recieved full tuition (and summer travel) at Duke and Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Aim for a high SAT score (at least 1450 on the old scale), a top-notch class rank (top 5%), and a community service project of some sort. A project is, in my opinion, the most important aspect of your resume if you plan on applying at high-ranked schools with the hope of scholarship awards.</p>
<p>Many colleges give good merit based scholarships that can cover the cost of tuition or full rides. You just have to check out the colleges that you were thinking about applying to...my son has enough merit based scholarships to come within a few hundred dollars of covering tuition at University of Missouri-Rolla....
ACT 31
GPA 4.0 unweighted
Ranking #1</p>
<p>I think it's important to point out that mathwizard is NOT a typical case! Don't expect to easily get what he got!! My D had a 34 ACT & very good community service projects ... and she didn't get what mathwizard got at Vandy (she didn't apply to the others, so can't comment on those). Full rides are very competitive ... and EXTREMELY competitive at the institutions mathwizard cites. Please do not think that this is easy. Curmudgeon has warned of this over & over in his threads. He recently heard from someone who was upset that they didn't get what they "expected." There is no way to know whether or not YOU will get what someone else got. You can research, apply to your personal best bets, and hope for the best. But no one can promise you anything. Do not count on full rides!</p>
<p>In agreeance with kelsmom, full tuition and full rides cannot be "expected" when applying to college. I was very blessed when going through the process, and things ended up working out well. The best thing you can do is work hard in high school, engage yourself deeply with your passions, and hope for the best. Good luck to you when you start applying!</p>
<p>^ This kid is also amazing!! Six count them SIX!! full rides/tuitions!! :-D He is very blessed indeed.</p>
<p>Um, I got full rides at UNC-Chapel Hill and USC-Columbia + travel and books there, too. PM me if you'd like my stats and such...it's a little odd posting them so publicly on here. :P</p>
<p>Lalanickols, I think it was both...I think Rutgers has certain cutoffs for the scholarships. I know that top 10% of your class and at least a 1350, I think, on the SAT's will get you into the honors program at Rutgers, prob w. a scholarship.</p>
<p>You need to look beyond the "stats". This would be true with not only the merit scholarships but also admissions to the highly selective schools.</p>
<p>You probably need a certain level of academic/testing stats to get your "foot in the door" so to say, and what this level is probably varies from college to college. But, after this, it looks like it really depends on your application in its entirety -- in essence, how you represented yourself on paper and would the reader come away after reviewing it with the feeling, "I really want this kid to be in my freshman class". You don't need a laundry list of EC's, or that national title, or anything else that the kids on this board think is really "important". What the kids on this board need to understand is that the application, in its entirety, conveys something that makes the applicant stand out from the pile. Until people start posting their entire applications on this site, none of else will ever get the full picture of what makes student a different than student b.</p>
<p>My son is a perfect example of the above. He has very solid grades - 96 out of 100% with a class ranking of #4 in a generic unknown public high school. No athletic team or musical membership. No national titles. No literary clubs. But is very dedicated to a few certain extracurriculars, which include tutoring and our local temple. Had officer status in NHS and the math team. Took AP classes, but not all that his school offered - only those that really interested him. His parents are both college grad/professional school grads, so no socioeconomic "hooks".</p>
<p>If you look at my son's "stats" you would think nothing spectacular in comparison to the countless other honors high school students out there -- in fact he pales in comparison to many who have posted their "numbers" on this board (but weren't as successful with the college process). So...why did my son do so well? I think the answer rests in his application, when reviewed in its entirety. My wife is friends with his guidance counselor, and his counselor told her last October after she reviewed his packets before the school sent them off to the colleges that he is going to be accepted to all his colleges and will get many high scholarship offers. And she was right.</p>
<p>He applied to 5 schools, and accepted by all: Brandeis, Brown, Fordham, RPI, and Stony Brook. Full merit scholarship at Fordham with Honors Program and also Stony Brook with Honors College, about 80% of tuition at Brandeis covered by a scholarship, and about 50% of tuition covered at RPI through grad. school and a free laptop computer. No scholarship at Brown, since the Ivy's don't offer merit scholarhships.</p>
<p>My son's applications, in essence, told a story about him: His essay, short answers, and extracurricular/awards sections all tied together. He used any part of the application that he could to convey who he was and what he was about. The extracurricular section he chose to not merely do the standard listing of activities. He included additional sheets that only included what he felt was his truly major activities and briefly described them and his involvement. When he was all done, they all tied together and showed a full picture of him. He only listed like 3 awards which he felt were his major ones. His essay was very personal (in fact it was about an experience that I never knew he went through) -- he took risks with his use of language in it, and when you were done reading, you just sort of went "WOW". His application revealed someone who is very philosophical and is asking questions about the human existence and the prejudices in our society, is mature, is learning from his mistakes, is driven towards a particular intellectual quest, and is very dedicated to the few activities that he is involved with. After you were done going through the application, you felt you really knew this kid.</p>
<p>So, my son, would be very difficult to judge merely on stats or a listing of activities and accomplishments. His qualities really shined through in the words that he chose to put on those applications.</p>
<p>^^^ The above post is fantastic --- not only is the young man incredibly mature & intelligent, but he was able to convey that on paper. That is very, very hard to do --- and it is absolutely what got him his acceptances/scholarships. Can most high school seniors do what he did? No. That is why he was so well-rewarded.</p>
<p>Not everyone can come off quite that well on paper, but the point is, everyone can learn from this & strive to use the application to distinguish oneself from everyone else. For those schools/scholarships that want more than just mere numbers/stats, this is what will put a student in the running.</p>
<p>For those who struggle with this, look for programs/scholarships that focus more on stats.</p>
<p>University of Virginia - Jefferson's Scholar, full ride + summer travel/study
UNC-Chapel Hill - Thomas Wolfe Scholar, full ride for creative writing (had to submit a 50 page writing portfolio, etc.)
University of Kansas - almost a full ride (they offer these to all National Merit Finalists)</p>
<p>2310 SAT, 3.9 GPA, state champion in debate + numerous other national/state debate & public speaking awards, some national writing awards, class president for 3 years, editor-in-chief of newspaper, etc. You can PM me or search my posts for more complete stats profile. I ended up choosing Yale with no money (sigh).</p>
<p>I agree with mathwizard - if I could go back and do one thing over again, I'd be much more involved in community service. I didn't realize until it was too late that comm. service is where all the money is.</p>