<p>I currently live in South Florida and I'm entering my senior year of high school. I really want to go to the University of Miami next year, but I cannot afford it without a significant scholarship. What would my chances be (scholarship-wise) with these stats?</p>
<ul>
<li>5.4762 weighted cumulative GPA</li>
<li>4.0 unweighted GPA</li>
<li>Ranked 1/valedictorian in a class of 499 students</li>
<li>ACT composite score of 30</li>
<li>SAT composite score of 2110 (Critical Reading: 650, Math: 730, Writing: 730)</li>
<li>SAT subject tests (Math II: 610, Biology--Ecology: 660)</li>
<li>In the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program</li>
<li>265.5 community service hours</li>
<li>Varsity Swimming & Varsity Water Polo for high school</li>
<li>National Honor Society (NHS); Historian</li>
<li>National Art Honor Society; member</li>
<li>AP/IB scores so far: AP World History (1), AP European History (3), AP Calculus (1), AP Statistics (5), AP Psychology (5), AP English Language (3), IB Geography (5)</li>
</ul>
<p>Not sure if these really matter, but:
- AP Scholar
- National Merit Program high scorer (possible National Merit Scholar)
- Organized sports participated in: soccer, track, volleyball, swimming, water
polo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu
- Dual Enrollment student
- Babysitter for family with six young children (for over six years; pretty much my job lol)</p>
<p>If you’re a National Merit Finalist, you’re automatically guaranteed a 16k scholarship plus 1-2k extra. If you’re able to bring up you’re ACT to a 34 or 35, I’d say you’re guaranteed 24k plus a possible Singer/Stamps invite. But your GPA and class rank will definitely help a lot.</p>
<p>You’re very similar to me. I had a 4.0 unweighted and a 2140 SAT, strong involvement in a varsity sport like yourself, NHS, and a decent number of other extracurriculars. I was accepted and got 24k/year and a Singer invite (though I was not awarded the Singer). I think you’ll be looking at the same…though it should be mentioned that Miami’s applicant pool seems to be getting stronger every year.</p>
<p>Recommend you retake the ACT and SAT both - try to get at least 33 on the ACT and increase your reading score to 700. With those you are clearly in the 20k-24k area.
Keep in mind UM’s cost of attendance this year for entering freshman is closing in on 60k, assuming you’ll live on campus. So, even with a 24k scholarship, you’re looking at maybe ~34k out of pocket for the first year. Could be less depending on several other factors (additional merit scholarships & grants from UM, outside scholarships, need for a computer, where you buy your books, etc).</p>
<p>Miami No. 1 in average size of freshman merit scholarships for larger schools. </p>
<p>Check this article in the New York Times and click on the link to the left for a sortable chart with merit-aid totals for more than 600 schools:</p>
<p>The Education Life section in Sunday’s NYT newspaper has another chart that filters out the smaller schools and lists the 100 most-generous colleges for merit aid that have at least 2000 undergrads. That has Miami first.</p>
<p>I know UM’s official estimated cost is almost 60k, but the actual bill is actually a lot less. For me, it’s around 52k- well, waiving the health insurance helped. </p>
<p>Don’t forget that UM’s also REALLY good with giving Fin. Aid too, not just scholarships. Ofcourse, I don’t know your family’s economic background. But in my case, UM gave me double the amount of financial aid compared with other private schools- so I know it’s not just because of my background, but also UM itself. Also, it helps that you’re a Florida resident- Bright Futures and state grants add up to a lot of money. </p>
<p>Plus with your stats (I agree with the others though that it doesn’t hurt to take the SAT/ACTs again), I’m sure you’ll get the 24k plus Singer invite.</p>
<p>Don’t worry so much- apply and keep up the good work senior year! I’m going to be a Freshman this Fall and I actually have a $600 credit in my UM bill (getting paid to go!)! :)</p>
<p>I’m late to this conversation, but I recently applied EA to Miami. I was wondering what some people on CC thought about my chances for merit aid. I don’t fulfill any of their scholarship guidelines exactly, but fulfill one part in each type of scholarship. If it helps I also got a $22,000/year scholarship to Tulane. I have a 1340 SAT (CR+M) 2100 (CR+M+W), 4.56/4.6 W GPA, rank 17 out of 450 in my class (top 3.7%) and tons of extracurrculars. I’m an EMT and am involved in Student Government as well as other activities. What type of merit aid do you think UMiami would award a student like me?</p>
<p>lexie30: My DS also got $22K to Tulane, but Miami is top choice. I did the financial calculator on Miami’s website (again) the other day and it came up with $20K scholarship. But he’s got a 32 ACT, so that’s one difference from you. Not sure how strict they are with their scholarship thresholds. Is $14K one of the options? I thought it was $11K, $16K, $20K or $24K.</p>
<p>I live in New Jersey and I’m a senior in a public high school.</p>
<ul>
<li>3.83 unweighted GPA</li>
<li>Ranked 12 out of 330 students</li>
<li>SAT composite score: 2110 (Critical Reading: 720, Math: 660, Writing: 730)</li>
<li>SAT subject tests (Chemistry: 730, US History: 770)</li>
<li>250 community service hours</li>
<li>National Honors Society</li>
<li>National Spanish Honors Society</li>
<li>AP scores so far: AP Chemistry (5), AP US History (5), AP Language & Comp (4)</li>
<li>AP Scholar</li>
</ul>
<p>Other things that probably don’t matter:
current Vice President of Red Cross Chapter at High School