Trying to get a full scholarship, but applying late

Paying for College
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<p>I've compiled a list of schools which either offer full rides to anyone with a certain ACT/GPA combination or which pay most or all of the tuition for anyone who gets accepted and demonstrates financial need.</p>

<p>The problem is that I can't apply until after I have my February ACT score, since my current score is a 29. I am predicting a 33 on the February test--34 if I'm lucky, 32 if I'm unlucky.</p>

<p>Most of these full rides are contingent upon applying before a deadline (which I've already missed). Am I screwed? I can't pay for college and I refuse to take out any loans, so my only option is to get a full ride or close to it. If I apply to a school which gives automatic full rides to certain ACT/GPA combinations (and I meet the requirements), what are the odds that they'll be lenient and let me attend during the '09-'10 school year? Should I ask each of the schools (i.e., would it be a school-dependent thing)? Does anyone have any similar experiences (getting accepted somewhere but missing a scholarship deadline)? If I don't get a scholarship for this school year I'll simply have to wait until the '10-'11 school year.</p>

<p>Should I apply now and make a note on the applications that the schools will be receiving updated an updated ACT score? Since I've already missed the deadlines, would this matter? If I can't get the scholarship for this year, but I'm accepted and qualify for the scholarship, is it a sure thing that they'll give it to me if I attend during the '10-'11 school year?</p>

<p>Also: does anyone know of any schools which give full rides to certain ACT/GPA combinations even if the application comes in late? Or, alternatively, any non-institutional scholarships for ACT/GPA combos which don't have deadlines that have already passed?</p>

<p>I'm worried that pretty much all of the scholarship money for the upcoming school year is gone, period. :(</p>

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<p>i'm sorry, but i think theres a reason they call it a deadline.
good luck though!</p>

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<p>but you may want to phone the schools in case.</p>

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<p>The procedure would have been to *apply before *the deadline, then submit your new (potentially scholarship-worthy) scores when they became available. If they exceeded the requirements and the scholarships were guaranteed for those scores, you would have had a good chance at getting them simply by asking. Missing the deadlines is a huge mistake. Sorry.</p>

<p>Try submitting your application as soon as possible. You have nothing to lose.</p>

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<p>First of all a 29 isnt sufficient for a full ride at most schools, even schools like bama require a 31 plus. Second how do you predict going from a 29 to a 33+. Thats incredibly difficult to do. The bell curve makes it much harder you realize. You need a backup plan. Third you need to call the schools and see if theyll even consider the score. Many (ie bama) gave most away there scholarships in the early round.</p>

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<p>Many of these scholarships have deadlines because the students being considered are either being notified soon, or are being invited for interviews soon. The applications for most of these are DUE by December 1 to allow time to process these applications and make selections.</p>

<p>You can call them and ask. Perhaps there are some schools that have later deadlines for other types of merit aid for which you may qualify.</p>

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<p>I know that a 29 isn't good enough for a full ride. My score is going to be between 32 and 35, and I'm predicting a 33. When I got the 29 I was taking the test cold, with zero preparation. I also hadn't taken an adequate plane geometry course, and I needed another semester of algebra to be truly prepared. Also, my reading and English scores were freakishly low (for me): 32 and 30. On both of the practice tests that I've taken recently I got 36 in reading and 35 in English.</p>

<p>Since then I've taken a college algebra course, and have taken two practice tests from the Real ACT book. On the first practice test, with no preparation (save for having taken the extra math course), I got a 31.5, which would be rounded up to a 32. I then went through the first half of a plane geometry book, took another practice test, and got a 32.25. Right now I am going through my college algebra and trigonometry textbooks, taking the chapter tests and reviewing what I need to review. </p>

<p>I know that going from a 29 to a 33 is difficult (it's a jump from the 95th percentile to the top half of the 99th percentile), but to be honest I would have gotten a 33 the first time had I been adequately prepared. I didn't even know how many questions were in each section, how much time I had, exactly what would be covered, etc. So I disagree about needing a backup plan. If I somehow score under a 32 in February, I will retake the test and almost certainly get a 32+ (and probably a 33+) the next time.</p>

<p>It sounds like I may be out of luck for the upcoming school year. I couldn't really have gone back and applied sooner because the idea of retaking the ACT to get a free ride only occurred to me a month ago.</p>

<p>I will probably email all of the schools which offer the scholarships and ask them if they'd be willing to work with me.</p>

<p>What about late applications to schools which pay for any student who gets in and demonstrates financial need? I don't suppose there is a deadline for that?</p>

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<p>Yes, the deadline would be the application deadline. If you missed that, you are probably out of luck. And then there are financial aid deadlines. Also, in another post you mention you have been in college for a quarter - doesn't that make you a transfer student? Are you sure the scholarships you are hoping for are available to transfers?</p>

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<p>I would be p!ssed if they made a distinction, since I basically went to school for a quarter, realized how insanely expensive it was, and dropped out. </p>

<p>I guess I should look into that, but I'll be mad if I'm disqualified for an entire category of scholarships because I attended college for a quarter. I wouldn't even want to transfer any credits from that quarter.</p>

<p>I also took courses at a community college while I was in high school, but I don't see why that should matter either.</p>

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<p>Transfer deadlines are usually later than deadlines for first time freshman. There are also specific scholarships for transfer students. Look it up on the college websites, and you will see which ones you are qualified for, and what the transfer deadlines are (most from what I have observed are Feb 1 or March 1).</p>

<p>There will essentially be benefits to being a transfer student (and I don't know if they will consider a new ACT score as a transfer). The biggest benefit is of course different deadlines, which clearly you need. So, utilize that quarter in college to your benefit, and good luck.</p>

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<p>Well, hmm. I definitely need to be able to use a new ACT score, since my current score is a 29 and I'm trying for a 33. I don't particularly want to transfer my credits from the quarter I took, since I got a B, a C, and a D--technically "average", but when compared to my other stats, pretty bad. That whole quarter was a bad time for me, as I was stressed out about looking for a job, paying for school, etc.</p>

<p>I also took six courses at a community college--but I took these while in high school. My GPA from the CC is 3.7 or 3.8, much better than my mediocre performance during the quarter at University.</p>

<p>You don't suppose I could utilize the later deadlines by applying as a transfer from the CC, and declining to transfer my University credits? If I could do that, get the later deadlines, and still be able to use a new ACT score, I would be golden. The only problem would be going through the list of schools I've compiled and striking out the ones whose full rides are only for new students, and perhaps finding some full rides for transfers (if they exist).</p>

<p>Any and all advice is appreciated. Allow me to say two things: thank you to the people who have replied with useful posts, and thanks for nothing to the people who have replied with useless, snarky posts along the lines of "A deadline is a deadline, you're an idiot."</p>

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<p>They will see you when you graduated from high school, and schools request transcripts from all colleges attended, so you won't be able to utilize only your cc credits. I don't know about the ACT score. First, check out the requirements for transfer student scholarships, as they will be different from the regular scholarships (probably won't mention ACT or SAT scores, but perhaps some colleges look at transfer student's scores). The main issue with the D, isn't that you won't be admitted but that that course won't transfer in as credit.</p>

<p>If money is your biggest worry, perhaps looking at FAFSA or better yet, go back to the cc as a full-time student for a year, and then transfer. Many universities have agreements with their state's cc's guaranteeing transfer in as a junior, with a certain gpa in cc, and certain basic courses taken.</p>

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<p>Rocket Surgery (Re: Your complaints about those attempting to help you.): I am sorry you are unhappy with the responses you have received. However, I have re-read all the responses, and the only "snarky" post is yours (the last part of #11), and the only poster to use the word "idiot" was you (same post). In addition, posters have gone out of their way to be encouraging and offer alternatives while answering YOUR questions about a difficult situation. I clicked in here because I just thought of a few suggestions to add, but clearly you have no interest.</p>

<p>You seem very committed to pursuing your college education, and I wish you luck and success.</p>

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<p>"I've compiled a list of schools which either offer full rides to anyone with a certain ACT/GPA combination "</p>

<p>care to share the list?</p>

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<p>Examples:</p>

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<p>Oh, really? You mean the don't just do it for fun?</p>

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<p>Anything that starts out "The procedure would have been" is useless, and not advice. I obviously know that I should have applied before the deadlines.</p>

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<p>Oh, thank you! I was foolish to plan to increase my score, and more foolish not to have a backup plan. Because of this post, I'm going to learn how to be a butcher (just in case). Never mind that my post was not about increasing my score, nor did I seek advice on the matter of whether or not it would be plausible to do so.</p>

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<p>Another startling revelation! </p>

<p>To be fair, your first post (alamemom) was both snarky and useful, as was tocollege's. 3321, though, was the only poster who managed to be helpful without also being snarky and/or condescending. So a big thank you to 3321, a small thank you to alamemom and tocollege, and thanks for nothing to everyone else.</p>

<p>AL34, here are the schools which offer full rides (or close to it) for ACT/GPA combinations:</p>

<p>Louisiana Tech University
University of Dayton
University of Alabama
Kansas University
Howard University
Alfred State College (New York)</p>

<p>And this is a list of schools which supposedly cover all or most of the costs for students who are accepted and demonstrate financial need, taken from an article on today.msnbc.com:</p>

<p>Swathmore College
Harvard College
Princeton University
Rice University
Yale University
Williams College
Amherst College
California Institute of Technology
Pomona College
Stanford University
University of Virginia
New College of Florida
College of William and Mary
State University of New York at Binghampton
Florida State University
North Carolina State University
University of California
City University of New York
University of Georgia
The College of New Jersey</p>

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<p>ASC</a> Distinguished Scholar Program | Alfred State College</p>

<p>great deal, too bad it's just for freshman students</p>

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<p>Rocket Surgery, having now read all of your 16 posts to date, I now greatly regret that I was in any way a help to you. I am comforted that you found my straightforward reply to your question "I don't suppose there is a deadline for that?" to be snarky. It was not, at the time, meant to be.</p>

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<p>^Those aren't the schools that cover "100% of demonstrated need". I believe those are just the schools that have the least amount of student debt after graduation. You should also take in account that for the public unis (which a lot of them are), they probably look at student debt for in-state students which can be substantially different if you're OOS.</p>

<p>According to Wake Forest University the 27 schools who are "need-blind" and "meet 100% of demonstrated need" are:</p>

<p>Amherst College
Northwestern University
Boston College<br>
Pomona College
Brown University
Rice University
Claremont McKenna College
Swarthmore College
Columbia University
University of Chicago
Cornell University
University of Notre Dame
Dartmouth College<br>
University of Pennsylvania
Davidson College
University of Rochester
Duke University
Vanderbilt University
Emory University
Wake Forest University
Georgetown University
Wellesley College
Haverford College
Wesleyan University
Mass. Institute of Technology
Williams College
Middlebury College</p>

<p>I believe there are a few other schools who aren't on the list who fit the bill too like University of Richmond and UVA.</p>

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<p>How nice. The only snarky posts I've made were in response to someone who claimed to have scored a 35 on the ACT but couldn't decipher a simple table and someone who basically posted, "My daddy's too rich for me to get free money, waaaaaaaah".</p>

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<p>I'm looking around online right now, and I've noticed a trend: a lot of the scholarships available for transfer students require at least 45 previous college credits. </p>

<p>So, basically, having taken six courses at community college and three courses at university, I'm ineligible for both first-year scholarships and transfer scholarships. Brilliant.</p>