<p>About a year ago I posted the details about doing a college search with the goal of obtaining a free ride (tuition, fees, room and board). The thread went way off topic with many comments about the reason why a parent would consider this approach. (I never answered those questions about my family.) I think the thread can still be searched by using my poster name.</p>
<p>I still see posts occasionally from parents and especially students who have few options for funding their higher education. Here is the update including names of universities that offer the possibility of a full ride. None of the universites on the list require the student to be in-state. A student can be competitive with an SAT score of 1410 and weighted GPA of 3.8. Some on the list are possible for students with SATs as low as 1250.</p>
<p>I have 2 sons who are currently on full ride scholarships. Son #1 had a 1250 SAT and 3.6 GPA. He is in his second year at a 4th tier public and has a 3.5 GPA. He has been enjoying exploring classes in fields that are not part of his major. Son #2 had a 1410 SAT and 3.8 GPA. He is in his second semester at a 3rd tier public. He had 5 free ride scholarships to choose from. He is enjoying learning how to study and to socialize at the same time. He currently has a 3.3 GPA. Both sons need to keep a 3.0 GPA to keep their scholarships.</p>
<p>Again I recommend the book Honors Programs and Colleges by Dr. Joan Digby. Both of my sons are in honors programs, one has a scholarship that requires it and the other son does not have to be in it. I am happy to provide information on the search and the scholarships but again I do not want to discuss the personal reasons for this type of search.</p>
<p>Note: It is probably past the deadline for the 2007 search season for most full ride type scholarships that are institution based. the list that follows is not exhaustive.</p>
<p>Arkansas Tech
Henderson State
Louisiana Tech
Stephen F Austin State
University of Missouri at Kansas City
University of Arkansas
University of Southern Mississippi
Millsaps
Drury
Drake
Southern Arkansas
Pittsburg State (Kansas)
McNeese State
Southeastern (Louisiana)
Northwestern (Louisiana) </p>
<p>With above 1410 SAT, students may be competitive for
UT Dallas
Univ. of Kentucky
Univ. of Alabama
Univ. of Pittsburg
Univ of New Mexico
Oklahoma State</p>
<p>How generous of you to re-post this, especially after the ridiculous negativity that happened with the original posting. This is a perfect example of how CC posters can be helpful to each other.</p>
<p>xig and I were two of the congratulators (strains arm patting himself on the back ;)). </p>
<p>I do have info on Millsaps . That is a very competitive school for scholarship and is a top 100 LAC . Great school but D (and her very high stats) was NOT given a full-ride there. They have a required scholarship weekend (choice of 2 as I remember) and they require an impromptu essay and then a meeting with scholarship committee members to discuss what you wrote.</p>
<p>D received a lower offer than we would have thought. Talked to her adcom and it was raised substantially. D felt that they may not have thought she was serious about coming, even though she had given them plenty of love on the trip.</p>
<p>I am so glad you're back, Momfromtexas. I have directed kids to your old site many times. Thank you ever so much for your list. I am so glad your kids are thriving at their colleges. Lots of kudos to them and your for going through this research and for sharing it with us.</p>
<p>Momfromtexas, thanks for that thread. It is the one and only one I saved in my "favorites" to study in detail and I found it most helpful in planning strategies for my D, who already received two full-tuition scholarships. She's hoping for more $$, but we'll see. To be honest, most of the people I know from my middle-class "real life" are extremely interested in this type of research and I'm glad you got me thinking, because I believe that I've been able to help a lot of people understand the whole confusing process and save money while still ensuring that their kids get a good education. I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>Though not always total free rides, the University of South Carolina has a number of scholarships available that can get very close to it. They allow stacking scholarships up to the total cost of attendance. Any grant over $500 comes with in-state tuition remission which is currently worth about $15K annually. One interesting thing is that departmental scholarships are often held until AFTER someone accepts rather than being used as a hook for attendance. My D was named a McKissick Scholar with 2K a year combined with in-state remission. With a 50 point higher SAT she would have qualified for McNair Scholarship which is worth $4K a year plus in-state tuition.</p>
<p>She was later awarded a departmental scholarship worth $6K a year making the total cost of attendance about $6K annually, had she won the McNair it would have been reduced to $4K.</p>
<p>Our experience with them has been nothing but positive and we have been incredibly impressed with the level of personal attention we have gotten at every level of contact with the University. They are REALLY working hard to bring in strong dedicated students and to improve their overall student body by offering financial rewards for deserving students.</p>
<p>To add to the list of other good full rides in the southeast (note- these are very competitive and usually less than 20 students get them each year through an interview process):</p>
<p>-Clemson University offers its National Scholars program, which is basically a full ride with some added benefits.
- The University of Alabama offers its Academic Elite scholarship, which not only covers the cost of education but appears to have a very generous stipend attached to it. They also have a bunch of honors programs for top students as well as other well-paying scholarships, especially for national merit finalists.
- The University of Georgia's Foundation Fellows program
provides one of, if not the best comprehensive package of scholarship $$, study abroad, and other special programs of any scholarship in the country. Highly recommended.</p>
<p>Other full-rides (I think all involve interviews and are very competitive) that I found during my college search:
-Southwestern College in Texas
-Truman State's Pershing Scholars program
-NC State's Park Scholars
-Boston U's University Scholars
-Emory U's Emory Scholars
-UNC's Robertson and Morehead Scholars
-UVA's Jefferson Scholars
-UMD's Banneker/Key Scholarship
- Rhodes College's Bellingrath
- Georgia Tech's Presidential Scholars program
- Michigan State's Alumni Distinguished Scholarship
- Indiana University's Wells Scholars program
- Wake Forest's Reynolds and Carswell Scholars programs</p>
<p>Thank you for the repost. When I rethink reasons that one might want to do this, it makes a lot of sense. There are families (married and single head of household), but cannot afford to pay for college, and financial aid would just not be a solution. This is a great alternative. </p>
<p>I am glad to learn that your boys are thriving!</p>
<p>MomfromTexas, do you have any idea of the number of free rides available at any of the schools on your list?</p>
<p>For example, I'm an Alabama resident, and I know that at the University there are many full tuition scholarships - basically one for anyone with stats over a certain level (I'm sure they eventually run out of these, but I haven't heard of anyone who applied before, say Jan 1, not getting one with the appropriate stats), but fewer of the ones with the perks - free laptops, etc, and I really thought the true free rides were rare.</p>
<p>However, remember, that for most middle class folks, free tuition and perks will be enough, because the general cost of living is low enough down here that the R&B is doable - I actually thing R&B is more than tuition at Alabama, but the books and laptop covers a lot of other "going to college" expenses.</p>
<p>By the way, the full tuition with perks scholarships at Alabama are first come first serve. My daughter applied to Alabama in October, after a change of mind, and she got full tuition, but no offer of perks, although she could have gone to a scholarship event and possibly got more. A friend with definitely lower stats applied in August and got the perks without going through the competition.</p>
<p>I have a good friend whose two sons both got free rides, one at Alabama, the other at Ithaca College. The Alabama son got his with NMF and was in the honors program, editor of the school newspaper, journalism major, got an internship for a semester in DC with one of the national news services (Bama let him graduate a semester late and extended his scholarship). </p>
<p>The younger brother is at Ithaca College now on what I think is called the Park Scholars program. It is the only free ride they have but I think it is just for communications majors. He decided he wanted to be up north so he majored in comm just to get the money. He loves it. They give him a ton of stuff and he's double majoring in theater and doing script writing as his comm concentration (to fit in with the acting/theater thing). This boy got to use his scholarship to spend a last fall in an acting school in Dublin and now is at Ithaca in London on his scholarship. He will use savings to do Ithaca in Los Angeles this summer. His dad wants to be him.</p>
<p>What's wrong with getting a good education for free? Most of these schools have good honors programs, and with the extra opptys they provide you can really have a terrific time and save money for grad school/career start.</p>
<p>We have a D at Pitt and they give great scholarships. One thing with them is that under Pa. law, they must pay dollar for dollar the full value of your scholarship to any foreign university you might go to if you do study abroad. So that makes study abroad much more affordable, and especially if you are oos, 'cause they are paying even more money to the foreign school. You of course have to pay the difference if the study abroad costs more than Pitt, but it's still easier to do with the scholarship, and they have additional study abroad scholarships that anyone can apply for as well.</p>
<p>A good scholarship program can literally open up a world of opportunity and experience for a kid.</p>
<p>MomfromTexas, My kudo's to you for being brave enough to wade into deep waters yet again. And, thank you for sharing what you have learned with others.</p>
<p>Saigen, Those are NOT the stats of an "average" student, and don't let anyone tell you differently. Those are actually stats that are way above average on the national level, and they're attractive enough to earn substantial merit money at many schools. So, I'd suggest you describe a bit more about what you are looking for in a college - size, location, possible majors - and see what suggestions turn up that way.</p>
<p>Mercymom, that's great info. Thank you! D has been offered a full-tuition (not full ride) scholarship to Pitt. We're visiting next month, and I'm going to tell her, "Look for things to like!"</p>
<p>I am looking for pretty much ANY college that offers public relations as a major, and that would give me at least full-tuition. without that, i would have to resort to SUNY schools, and I am really more interested in leaving the state.</p>