What are my chances of receiving merit & other advice needed!

Paying for College
1

Hello everyone!

I’m a high school Junior, currently stressing about affording college. Many of the schools I’m looking at are private and therefore carry hefty price tags. Unfortunately for me, my family appears too middle class on paper to receive much financial aid. Despite the colleges’ idealistic views of what I should be able to afford, I desperately need aid and will be looking to apply to schools that offer ample merit scholarships. If you have any experience receiving merit scholarships listed from the schools below, please share your wisdom with me.

The schools I am currently looking at are:
Virginia Tech (cheap & in-state), William & Mary, University of Richmond, Lehigh University, Albright University, Arcadia University, Dickinson University, Gettysburg College, Trinity College (I’ve heard they do offer financial aid, but it is not publicized), and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

I also really like Tufts (my dream school), Connecticut College, and Williams College, but from what I understand they offer little to no merit scholarships.

A little background about me:
My GPA is about 4.45 and I am taking five AP classes this year. Next year, I will be taking four AP classes and one dual-enrollment course. I scored a 1370/1520 on my PSAT (in the 99th percentile), and will be receiving my ACT and SAT scores in a few weeks. I am a member of my school’s PEER organization, National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Math National Honor Society, and Student Council Association. I am involved in numerous clubs, including being the president of a community service club, as well as the president and founder of a field hockey club. I campaigned and worked alongside the local field hockey league to get field hockey added to my county’s high schools as a varsity sport. I play travel field hockey and work as a tutor and field hockey umpire. In college I want to double major in biology and international relations, as I want to pursue a career in either veterinary medicine or intelligence.

To summarize, what do you think my chances are of receiving merit and which schools offer the most in merit scholarships? Also if you have any suggestions for schools with large endowments/that offer plenty of merit scholarships, please feel free to add your two cents. In general, I would prefer to go to a small-medium sized school on the east coast, in an urban/suburban area. Also, studying abroad is very important to me, and I’d love a school with a very aesthetically pleasing campus and small faculty-student ratio.

I apologize for the word vomit, thanks for reading! :smiley:

2

What your test scores? Unweighted GPA? Running a net-price calculator, how much are schools saying your family can pay? How much can your family afford to pay each year?

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@purpleacorn My unweighted GPA is a 3.99. I received a 1370/1520 on my PSAT (the new style), and the last part is something I will have to check on tomorrow.

4

Depending on your test scores, some of these might be affordable options:

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

Check out the Colleges That Change Lives book or website ctcl.org for lesser known LACs that offer merit scholarships.

Muhlenberg (Allentown, PA) and Clark (Worcester, MA, a CTCL school) offer sizable merit grants.

Fortunately, you also have many good in-state options in Virginia to fall back on.

5

Rollins College in Florida ticks all of these boxes. You seem like a good candidate for the Alfond Scholarship at Rollins. http://www.rollins.edu/financial-aid/as-cps-financial-aid/scholarships/alfond-scholars-program.html

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@mamaedefamilia Thank you for the suggestion!

@dadof1 Rollins College looks like exactly what I’m looking for- thank you!

7

Muhlenberg and Ursinus come immediately to mind. Best of luck to you!

8

Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut pledges to meet 100% of demonstrated need for incoming students, and that information is well publicized on the school’s website. If you apply as an Illinois resident, you may be eligible for merit aid as well, and this fact is also publicized on the school’s website.

9

Doubtful the OP, who is in-state for VTech, can apply in-state as an Illinois resident.

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Noted; to be clear, my post is referring to Trinity College applicants in general.

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@nicoleica

Based on the following snippets from original post:


[QUOTE=""]
I desperately need aid and will be looking to apply to schools that offer ample merit scholarships.

My GPA is about 4.45 … I scored a 1370/1520 on my PSAT (in the 99th percentile), and will be receiving my ACT and SAT scores in a few weeks.

In college I want to double major in biology and international relations, as I want to pursue a career in either veterinary medicine or intelligence.

if you have any suggestions for schools with large endowments/that offer plenty of merit scholarships, please feel free to add your two cents … Also, studying abroad is very important to me, and I’d love a school with a very aesthetically pleasing campus

[/QUOTE]

I would suggest looking into the University of Mississippi for the following reasons:

PROGRAM FIT: Ole Miss has an excellent program in the Croft Institute For International Studies, where you can pursue a BA in international studies. Ole Miss ALSO has the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies where you can pursue a minor in that field. So the combo platter of international studies and intelligence/security really fits well with your academic / career goals.

Croft Students also must do a semester or a year of study abroad, which checks another box on your list. Croft also requires you to concentrate on a specific language/region, in conjunction with their Dept of Modern Languages. Ole Miss offers the Chinese Flagship program, one of only 12 in the nation, so if you have any interest in Chinese you should really give it a look.

The Barksdale Honors College is a highly rated honors college with a very strong liberal arts emphasis. This will give you some measure of the experience of a small liberal arts college, within a larger university.

Here are some links to these programs:
http://croft.olemiss.edu/home/
http://ciss.olemiss.edu/
http://chinese.olemiss.edu/
http://www.honors.olemiss.edu/

If you could somehow get accepted into ALL of these that would create a really cool and unique college experience.

MERIT AID: Automatic Full-Tuition scholarship for 33 ACT / 1440 SAT (CR+M). virtually Full-Tuition scholarship for 32 ACT / 1400-1430 SAT (CR+M). plus opportunities to add additional scholarships that could cover room and board, which is already cheaper than many universities. here’s more info:
http://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/#8

http://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/

CAMPUS: no firsthand knowledge, but Ole Miss is known for having a gorgeous campus.

there is still time to apply for Ole Miss Summer College for High School. if you can get your ACT/SAT back before May 1, you can qualify for scholarships for up to full cost (program fee, room, meal plan. my son can go to both summer sessions for free (the program would have cost us $4000 otherwise). the deadline for 2nd session is June 1,
which is especially relevant for you because that’s when they have the Intelligence & Security Studies Program, and you will certainly know by then if you qualify for a partial or full scholarship. so here are the links for Summer program:

http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/schs/index.html
http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/schs/programs.html#ISS
http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/schs/about.html
http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/schs/financial_information.html

oh and Alabama give full tuition scholarships for 32 ACT / 1400 SAT (CR+M)

hope this helps

12

The University of Richmond gives approx. 45 full-ride/full tuition scholarships each year for high stats students in a range of interest areas. The school has around 3,000 undergrads with a very nice suburban campus not far from downtown Richmond. UR has one of the highest rates of participation in travel abroad programs. I have 2 daughters who attend UR on scholarships, and they they love it there. It has small classes, good professors, good advising and career counseling. Scholarships are very competitive, but if your SAT/ACT scores are high, you may be competitive. Be sure to visit.

Since you are looking for big merit which exceeds your need, it would be a good idea to add some schools with guaranteed merit for stats to your list along with schools where you have a chance to win large, competitive merit. Another poster pointed out big merit opportunities at Ole Miss, and U of Alabama and Temple U in Philly are 2 other good choices. Florida State University offered my youngest daughter the equivalent of in-state tuition and some additional merit, making it cheaper than our own State U.

In VA, Virginia Commonwealth University also has nice very merit scholarships for in-state students, including a full-ride presidential scholarship for in-state NMFs, Richmond is a nice city, with lots to do, great restaurants, etc. W & M is a wonderful medium sized option which may be affordable for an IS student. They do also have a small number of full-ride scholarships for very high stats.

13

You might get scholarships from VCU, Shenandoah, Hampton, WVU, also Ohio State (apply before Nov 1).

Temple gave automatic full tuition for 3.8 GPA (academic courses) and 32 ACT, 1420 SAT CR & M this year

14

@BelknapPoint My mistake, I meant merit, not financial aid.

@Wien2NC Thank you so much for the information, it really does seem like the programs are unique and could benefit me immensely- you’ve given me a lot to think about!

@mamag2855 I have toured U of R once so far, and I fell in love with the campus. Like you said, the opportunities available there seem top notch, and if I do receive a scholarship there, more than likely that’s where I will attend.

@mommdc Thank you for the suggestions!

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@nicoleica - The point of all these posts is that you are in luck because you seem to be so flexible in your choices and you have the stats for lots of merit aid. So many on CC have zeroed in on one school and are crying about not affording it. Many schools fit your criteria, so have fun investigating and good luck.

16

And one more suggestion, my son’s school, one that will give you a nurturing, yet intellectually exciting experience: The Honors Tutorial at Ohio University. And, by the way, the campus is gorgeous and the school is known for having some of the friendliest students in the nation. Take a moment to check out the campus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otFKWsg0r-o

and the HTC: https://www.ohio.edu/honors/ (that’s my son on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro -Uhuru Peak)
and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScM27YglA2s

and HTC Biology: https://www.ohio.edu/honors/future-students/programs/biological-sciences.cfm
(fulfills requirements for grad study in veterinary medicine)

17

Oh, and merit money: https://www.ohio.edu/admissions/tuition/scholfinaid/signature.cfm

OHIO Premier Scholarship
Four-year renewable scholarship
Amount of award: Up to full in-state tuition
OHIO Signature Scholars who are admitted to an Honors Tutorial degree program are eligible for consideration for this scholarship.

OHIO Trustee Award
Four-year renewable discount applied to non-Ohio resident surcharge
Basis of award: Academic merit
Amount of award: $1,000–$7,000 per year
Admitted students must earn a minimum ACT composite score of 22 (or a combined math and critical reading SAT score of 1020) to be considered. Award amounts are offered on a sliding scale based on both standardized test scores and academic performance in high school.

(with your stats, you’d qualify for the higher end of that, so all of that should add up to approximately 75-80% of tuition in merit scholarships)

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@digmedia The HTC program looks incredibly unique! I assume your son is finding it an incredibly valuable experience?

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@nicoleica - THe HTC program worked well for my son, who is very independent and self-driven. The individual attention and the support for outside projects was excellent. For example, my son wanted to learn about something the school did not teach, so it paid for him to go to that class at Stanford one summer. It also supported projects requiring international travel.

As for my son finding it a valuable experience, here’s an update: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1863254-sorry-i-cant-hold-it-in-any-longer-update-p1.html

MTV VMA VFX winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47dtFZ8CFo8
2015 Demo Reel: https://vimeo.com/123982157