<p>I'm looking for colleges (mostly outside of Florida, where I live) that offer full to nearly full ride scholarships.. I have a 4.3+ GPA and it will be higher.. My ACT's I will predict to be a 28-29ish area..</p>
<p>The schools can be 1st or 2nd tier..</p>
<p>My parents make I think let's say 40k a year.. household of 4. Dad was a college dropout and my mother graduated high school.</p>
<p>I have no preference just looking for additional schools to look at.</p>
<p>Loyola Marymount is a beautiful school and I wish I could attend, but it's too damn expensive.</p>
<p>You should most definitely apply to the GATES MILLENIUM SCHOLARSHIP as well as the Coca Cola. The application is rather extensive but if you begin now, you’ll should be fine! To find more info about both scholarships, you should do a GOOGLE search. Goodluck :)</p>
<p>Yeah, I had the same problem. I’m a white male from Florida and found out that public OOS schools, although cheaper up front, offer worse aid than a private school. Lesson learned: apply to private schools. I imagine you won’t be able to get a full ride from a tier 1/2 OOS school - at least for doctoral and national universities - maybe a tier 1/2 baccalaureate college.</p>
<p>If your family only makes only 40k a year (I think my family income was between 75 and 100k at the time), you stand a decent chance of getting a decent amount of need-based aid. I imagine your EFC will be between 5 and 12k (I know, big range), but if you attend a school that covers everything but that amount per year (very good deal, especially if you land a merit scholarship - even if it’s pretty small). I would suggest using this non-comprehensive list to start your search and finding a school you like:
[CSLF</a> : IF : Colleges That Meet Financial Aid Need](<a href=“http://www.cslf.com/investinyourfuture/payingforcollege/collegesthatmeetneed.htm]CSLF”>http://www.cslf.com/investinyourfuture/payingforcollege/collegesthatmeetneed.htm)</p>
<p>All of them will give you easily scholarships that cover over half the costs since your EFC won’t be <em>that</em> high.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re from Florida, why don’t you take the SAT? Several of my friends didn’t even take the ACT, although everyone that was collegebound took the SAT.</p>
<p>Note that while you may think you’re very low income, the feds will not. The cutoff income for an Automatic 0 EFC is $30K. See if you can qualify for Simplified Needs (see pages 4-6) which will exclude your family’s assets from consideration.</p>
<p>Also, do check and see what Florida’s state aid would bring you and what the restrictions are. Are there any states with reciprocity where you could use that aid?</p>
<p>You would be a solid candidate for some merit aid at many schools but I think a full ride would be more attainable at a Tier 3 school. Here’s a current liist of schools that have a no/low loan pledge - slightly different than the '08 list above of the schools that promise to meet need. Some of those schools meet need with quite a bit of loans!</p>
<p>I think Rice would be a good school to look at - they meet 100% need with no loans if income is less than $80K and they’re need-blind for admissions. Vanderbilt does as well.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind -
while you may get enough help to fully cover tuition, you may not get enough to cover room and board. Depending on the school this could be unaffordable to you.</p>
<p>Even though you WANT to go OOS - you really need to give colleges that are nearby and in-state a shot. Have a back up.</p>
<p>If you’re from Florida, why aren’t you looking at Bright Futures…or is your ACT score not high enough? If that is the case…take the SAT and hope for the best.</p>
<p>"One thing to keep in mind -
while you may get enough help to fully cover tuition, you may not get enough to cover room and board. Depending on the school this could be unaffordable to you.</p>
<p>Even though you WANT to go OOS - you really need to give colleges that are nearby and in-state a shot. Have a back up. "</p>
<p>I never said I want OOS, and the colleges in state are definitely backup. I’m applying to the University of Florida but I’m not sure if I can get in. The schools a tossup. That is probably my #1 choice. That’s also why I stated FULL-RIDE, which covers room and board.</p>
<p>I’m just trying to keep my options open here.</p>
<p>“If you’re from Florida, why aren’t you looking at Bright Futures…or is your ACT score not high enough? If that is the case…take the SAT and hope for the best.”</p>
<p>Trust me, If I stay in Florida, I can get all of my college paid for, and then some, and then scholarships.</p>
<p>“Also, if you’re from Florida, why don’t you take the SAT? Several of my friends didn’t even take the ACT, although everyone that was collegebound took the SAT.”</p>
<p>Why does it matter? If I can do better on the ACT who cares what my SAT is, and I shouldn’t bother sending it in. I took it once and my Math was pretty high with the other two not so great. Colleges accept either and I’m taking both once more before I apply.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Read the threads by Momfromtexas who found full rides (or darn close to it) for her kids.</p></li>
<li><p>Remember that full rides are not all that plentiful at any college. In most cases, they are reserved for the tippy top applicants to the school…and even then…not very many are awarded. Many schools have NO full ride (including tuition/room/board) scholarships.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>However, it doesn’t hurt to ask does it?
And even though someone here might not post a full ride they’ll probably offer some other good scholarships. I’ve gotten some good information already…</p>
<p>LMU10,
Based on your username I assume that you really want to go to LMU. I will be going there in the fall. They only hand out 10 full rides a year and about 20 that are worth 22,500 per year(COA is 52,083). You have to interview for both of these and be chosen by the faculty. I had similar stats as you. I had a 1330/1600 SAT which is about a 29 or 30 ACT. My GPA was 3.9. I was awarded a scholarship worth 15,400. They gave me multiple grants on top of that, work study, and student loans(5,500 worth) to cover all expenses(tuition, room/board, and personal expenses). All schools have institutional grants that are given to people in financial need, like yourself. Don’t just look at the scholarship amount and be discouraged. If the school truly wants you, they will include grants on top of the scholarship. They did this for me and I don’t see how your situation is any different. My advice is apply to all the schools you are interested in and wait for your financial aid packages to compare. If you are going to apply to LMU, apply early action and complete your CSS Profile and FAFSA the first day you can. I know I filled my FASFA out on January 1st. This will ensure you that funds won’t run out and you will be one of the first to be awarded a package(typically means more money). Just remember that there are both scholarships and grants to be awarded. Good luck with applying to college and being from Florida will help you when applying out of state(universities look for a variety of students).</p>
<p>Your best bet is to look for colleges that meet 100% of the need. They often have their own formula of calculating your need which makes it different than the FAFSA Expected Family Contribution, but it is in the ballpark. For instance, Lafayette College in Pennsylvania is one of these and if you parents income is under $50,000, the package they put together includes no loans! Great school, great opportunity. All the Ivy Leagues meet 100% of need. Also, some of the better Liberal Arts schools like Swarthmore, Trinity etc. Apply to the Ivy Leagues and other schools with large endowments…they have more ability to help. My mother is unemployed and my father is not in the picture in any way, shape or form. I did the FAFSA and CSS Profile. I had to request that they not consider my father’s income which isn’t much anyway since he is a fork lift driver and wouldn’t cooperate even to tell us how much he makes for the forms. It’s a lot of work, but they waived it. I’m going to Smith College because I felt they gave me the best package with only $3500. in loans. I also got the Pell Grant and work study and Smith gave me a grant to make up the rest except for the amount they felt my mother should contribute which was $1300. Lafayette decided my family contribution would be $5000. They gave me work study and I got the Pell and beyond that Lafayette picked up the rest with no loans. Look at the better schools. It would have cost more for me to go to a state school than to Smith or Lafayette. Another great school that is very very generous is Clarkson University(famous for ice hockey team) in upstate NY. I could have gone there for a $2500. loan and work study. It’s far, but a very cool and innovative school. Close to Canada. The better private schools is your best bet. Also interesting is Berea College in Kentucky… if you get accepted,(35% acceptance rate) everything is free including your books, computer etc. They have a restaurant on campus and all the students have jobs. My guidance counselor went to visit the school and said it is really nice… You have to have good grades and low income… you would qualify based on your stated income.
Also, York College in Pennsylvania - the tuition, room and board is only like $13,000 maybe because it is kind of rural. Hope this helps you and anyone else looking for a way…</p>
<p>Besides Questbridge (already suggested) there ARE schools that meet full need. My daughter applied to Brown, Yale, and Wellesley (and is going to attend Wellesley) precisely because of their commitment to meet need. I work at a local public university in our midwestern state and it’s less expensive for her to attend Wellesley than to attend the state school where she’s eligible for a 1/2 off dependent tuition waiver (because of my employment status). At Wellesley, if your family income is less than $60,000 (as is ours) there are no loans. Of course, many of these schools are difficult to get in to, but it doesn’t hurt to try.</p>