Current Weighted Cumulative GPA: 3.9
ACT Score: 31 (first time score, plan to retake and do better)
English: 30
Math: 30
Reading: 33
Science: 30
SAT Score: Not yet taken but plan to do well
(new) PSAT Score: 1340 (98th percentile)
Schedule
Freshman: Honors Algebra 1 (only honors course offered)
Sophomore: Honors Geometry (1 of 2 honors courses offered)
Junior: Honors Pre-Calc: highest math offered for juniors, Spanish 3 Honors: elective (2 of 6 honors courses offered)
Senior: AP Calculus, Advanced Physics Honors, Semester Honors English, Spanish 4 Honors (many different honors courses offered)
Electives: Psychology, Advanced Drawing, Spanish 3/4 Honors, AP Calculus, Advanced Physics Honors, Into to STEM,
Now that you have an overview of everything I’ve done in high school academically here are my other qualifications:
-Hockey Cheerleader All 4 years (2 on varsity)
-Spanish Club President
-60+ service hours Junior Year
-National Honor Society (hopefully)
Okay so now that you know my exact situation…What are my chances of getting a full tuition merit scholarship from Miami U Ohio? The website says that anyone with a 3.5+ GPA and 32+ ACT/1400+ SAT with rigorous coursework are eligible for half-full tuition. (assuming I get a 32+ ACT next time) Do I have a shot at getting full tuition? And how can I improve my chances of getting full OOS tuition? Any info is appreciated. Thank you!
@stem143. I can’t answer your question directly, but perhaps I can give you one data point. My son is a freshman engineering major from Arizona. He attended the number two-high school and top charter school in the United States and graduated with a 3.6/4.0 GPA. (The school does not rank.) He was captain of his basketball team and made all-State in his division. He took and passed 13 AP exams with an average of 4.53, including 5s on AP Computer Science, AP Physics B, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Physics C (Electricity and Magnetism, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, and AP Calculus Biology. He worked about 140 volunteer hours at a local hospital. He scored a 33 on his only ACT exam, including 35 on Science, and 34 on Math. His award from Miami was $20,000/year.
If you look back on this forum, you can get some more data points and better assess your chances.
Best thing you can do is score 34+ ACT / 1450+ SAT and get As in the most challenging coursework available at your high school. I think the largest OOS scholarship + the UASP scholarship total is just shy of full tuition. They will want to see some good extracurriculars and service - but I think key factors are test scores, GPA and coursework… and the higher those are, the more money they are likely to award.
@stem143 I am no expert on Miami; my son is a junior just like you, so the info I’m giving you is just from what I’ve read and/or my opinions.
You know right off the bat that a 31 on the ACT isn’t going to stand any chance of full tuition; the minimum required is 32. From reading the comments others have made, you really need a 33 or 34. Remember, though, that Miami superscores, so if you take the test several times and your highest score is 32, chances are your superscore will be one point higher.
My son has no hope of attending without a full-tuition scholarship. He has taken the ACT three times. After the second time he had a real 34 and a superscore of 35. He will take it twice in April, once for the state and once that he will pay for, in an effort to make a 36 superscore, which I think will help his chances. You might not be able to get your score that high, but I bet you can get your superscore up to 33 or 34. The more times you take it the higher the odds that you will have a high score in a single subsection, even if your composite isn’t that high. Do that enough times and you can put them together for a good superscore. So just take these tests and keep taking them.
Also, it sounds like you attend a small-town or rural high school. The redesigned SAT has less higher-level math and instead has comprehensive coverage of Algebra and Geometry, with no calculus. Since the SAT is also accepted, you might try to really bone up on the SAT math and take it a couple of times.
You really should not take the ACT 5 or more times! At a certain point you need to resign yourself to the scores that you are getting - how many do you think you will send to a school - to me that looks bad. Once you are an undergrad, you need to be able to compete at the level at which you represent yourself. Retaking the test that many times to me is a detriment to your child’s transcript - just my opinion. A 34 is a score to be very proud of…
I agree with @pandabear68 I have heard that more 4 times starts to become detrimental - it looks bad and even if you get a higher score the 5th time it doesn’t carry the same weight. I wouldn’t take the ACT or SAT more than 3 times. Also, my DD had a 35 ACT and perfect GPA with maxed out AP classes and terrific ECs/service and she got $24k/year merit + $2k/year UASP scholarship for total of $26k/year. That’s still $4k/year short of full tuition - maybe they give more for a 36 ACT?!
@pandabear68@4X529s Miami doesn’t require that every ACT test taken be sent. If you take the test six times and finally manage to make a 36, you can send just that one test,or if you can cobble together two or three of the six tests to make a 36 (or whatever), that’s what they will see. So they will never know how many times someone has taken the ACT. My nephew took the ACT eight times over three years; his first score was a 24 and his final score was a 34. He got a special award for having the highest ACT score in his high school.
And I do think a 36 might well have gotten 4X529s’s daughter full tuition rather than the almost-full package that the 35 got her. My view is that it can’t hurt to have a 36.
My D is now a freshman in college (not at Miami), and she received the full tuition scholarship with a 35 ACT and 3.9something GPA. A 36 is not required.
Of course a 36 isn’t required! A 35 isn’t required either, nor is a 34 or a 33. Life is a numbers game, and the more you can improve your stats, the more likely you are to have a positive outcome.
My point about taking the test so many times has nothing to do with the school seeing it - I just believe that at a certain point you’ve done your best! Especially when we are talking about very high scores. These kids do not need that type of pressure.