What are my chances to get into pretty good colleges with full ride.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi :slight_smile:
I’m rising senior and wondering if you guys can give me any advice on college admission chances. I want to major in neuroscience. If you are wondering, I don’t really care whether I go to Ivy or not. I will go any colleges(Top30~80) that offer me full rides even though it would be really hard.
So, here is my brief high school records. I went to a boarding school for two years, and I transferred to a public high school in a different state as I got permanent residency.

SAT I - 1580/1600
SAT II - Math 2: 800, chemistry: 800, bio : 800
GPA : (my state only includes 11&12th grade gpa as I transferred.) So the current gpa I have right not is only 11th grade gpa unweighted: 4.0/4.0
9th
7 honors classes (all As)
10th grade
Ap physics C:mechanics
Ap calc BC
English 10
World history II
choir
Latin I&2
(all As except for English :B-…)
I received 5s from both bc calc and physics c.
11th grade
Ap stats
Ap bio
Ap us history
Ap psychology
Honors English 11
Honors Latin 3&4

  • Straight As, (5s from ap stats, bio, psych & 4 from us history)
    12th grade (this year)
    Ap Literature
    Ap Latin
    Ap chemistry
    multi variable calc and linear algebra in local community college
    P.E.(graduation requirements…)
    honors civics(another graduation requirements…)
    Ap environmental science(state graduation requirements…)
  • I will work harder than ever to maintain good gpa this year. AP lit will be definitely a challenge as English is my second language.

ECs
sports : (x country:9-12, lax:9-12)
clubs : (brain club:president since junior, math team, gay alliance club(vice president)
volunteer works from mental health center and specialized enrichment programs for kids on autism(10-12),
singing& performance club(9-10))
Awards
National Korean astronomy competition (gold medal) - 2014
regional math competition (1st place in 9th grade level) - 2014
state math competition (10th place in 11th grade level) - 2014
regional math competition (2nd place - 10th grade level) - 2015-2016
AIME qualifier - 2016-2017
regional brain bee 2nd place
Summer enrichment
sophomore to Junior( umich - math course: it is related to neuroeconomics!, neuroscience online class from brown)
Junior to Senior (scientific journal on neuroscience - did not get any awards)

No matter what I did in high school year, if I can not get full rides, I can not go to any university as my family can’t afford.
I hope I can go to any college rather than working at Mcdonald’s. haha…

2

What is your GPA and SAT score?

3

sorry I forgot the most important thing… please find it as I have posted it

4

also I am wondering if I am considered the first generation attending college. Both of my parents went to college in a different country but not just America…
Even though they have college degrees, they know nothing on American educational system or college admission process… I am struggling to figure everything out by myself as there are more than 800 kids just in my grade, so my counselor can’t give me any thoughtful advice.

5

There are schools that will give full rides for your stats, they are not the greatest schools because they are trying to attract top students. The top schools don’t have to offer merit aid (which is what I assume you are looking for) but there are still a few that will (extremely competitive). Look at University of Florida/Alabama and other state schools in the top100 and see what they will offer.

6

You’re unlikely to be considered first generation, though being an immigrant might intrigue some schools.

Few schools offer “full rides” – tuition, fees, R&B – but your stats are impressive and you should be able to find a school, especially if you qualify for work study, etc.

Right off the bat it looks like you’d qualify for University of Alabama’s Presidential Scholarship (25k per year for 4 years.)

Here is a list of schools you should look at… please note it hasn’t been updated in a while so you will have to check with each one.

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

7

No, you are not first generation- sorry. It’s not about having support for navigating the college admissions process, it is about growing up wit the experience and expectation of education.

You have a classic stellar Asian profile (pros/cons), and can credibly include some of the super-selective / meets full need famous name schools.

HOWEVER.

You have to get your parents to sit down and run the numbers to see what your Expected Financial Contribution (EFC) would be. Whether you (or they) think that they can afford anything, even universities that “meet full need” get to decide what they think that your need is. There are calculators on every colleges web site to help you run the EFC for that college. Here is a list of colleges that meet full need:

http://www.thecollegesolution.com/list-of-colleges-that-meet-100-of-financial-need/

The list is a little old, so double check on the colleges that you are interested in. You should be able to build a good list of safeties, matches and reaches from that list.

8

You can look through this list (but you should confirm the information is updated). You may want to look into UAlabama and Temple in particular. Focus on affordably rather than ranking. http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

And as others have noted, you are not first generation.

9

" I hope I can go to any college rather than working at Mcdonald’s. haha…"

My daughter works at McDonald’s and is starting a pretty good university in the fall so maybe you shouldn’t be so insulting. At least she works.

10

Re: #7

Check on school web sites for updates, since that list is somewhat old. For example:

  • Alabama no longer gives full out-of-state tuition for 3.5 GPA / 32 ACT. Instead 3.5 GPA / 33 ACT gives a fixed amount that is slightly less than full out-of-state tuition, and 3.5 GPA / 36 ACT is needed for full tuition plus one year of housing and a few other things: http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php
  • Temple discontinued its automatic big merit scholarships after a year when too many students enrolled on them and went over their scholarship budget.
  • Howard no longer lists its automatic big merit scholarships anywhere on its web site.

Note also that full *ride/i is less common than full tuition.

11

When I worked at McDonald’s they had a very good scholarship program. btw in our suburban Texas town McDonald’s is hiring starting at $10.15 an hour…

12

Thank you @collegemom3717 for the realistic advice and useful website. And I really appreciate everyone else who helped me. @OspreyCV22 , I am sorry if you felt offended. I did not really try to intentionally offend someone. Congrats to your daughter that she will be attending a good university! All the good luck to her, and I hope God be with her and your family. What I wanted to say in my post was actually describing my situation. If I can not go to any colleges, I have to earn money in some way to support my family, and it is really hard to get a formal job with only high school diploma.

13

If you are instate for North Carolina check out the NC State Goodnight Scholar program. Even if you are not top 2% of your class you can nominate yourself starting October 15th. But I think you need to have the rest of your application in by October 15th as well.

14

Are you/will you be a National Merit Semifinalist? There are some full rides available for NMFs, like the Patterson scholarship at Kentucky.

15

What state are you in? That may be relevant.

As mentioned, full tuition/room/board is much harder to find than full tuition. If a school might give full tuition only, you’d have to find a way to cover room, board, and expenses. If you work hard in the summer and a reasonable amount (8-10 hours a week) during the school year you should be able to cover much of your expenses. And over four years you can borrow $5500/$6500/$7500/$7500, which would cover half or somewhat more of room and board. You’d need to have your parents (or something else) cover the rest of your room and board and expenses (maybe $4000-$7000 a year).

You should look for a list of schools that “meet full need” (about 60 or 70) and “meet full need without loans” (about 15 or 20 schools, most of them within the top 20 of universities, or top 10 liberal arts colleges). If your parents’ income and assets are such that they can’t even contribute $4000 a year, you still might get enough financial aid at a meets-full-need school to afford to go.

And with your stats, you should apply to at least a couple of top 20 schools with great financial aid. For a few schools, families making $60,000 a year or less contribute nothing other than for expenses. You certainly can’t count on getting into any top 20 school, but it’s at least a possibility.

16

Good advice, but there is something crucial the OP has not told us yet.

He wrote “No matter what I did in high school year, if I can not get full rides, I can not go to any university as my family can’t afford.”

This is not the same as saying the family is low income. It could be the parents are satisfied with their lifestyle and are unwilling to give any of it up, even if their EFC is $40K. It is premature to talk about financial aid until we have a better idea of the family income or EFC estimate.

17

OP, what was your GPA at the boarding school (9th & 10th grade)? You can calculate it based on the grades obtained during that period or it should be available from your transcript? What is your overall GPA (9-11th grade)?

What is your household income?

18

Are there any universities that you can commute to? Full tuition is probably more realistic than a full ride. Please consider universities that you can commute to and live at home while attending.

19

Here are full ride scholarships from the top #30 and the link to the rest of the list. Again these scholarships are extremely competitive for any top school the farther you go down the list the easier it will be to get one.

3 University of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois)

Stamps Leadership Scholarship
This scholarship covers tuition and fees, room and board, and a $10,000 enrichment fund for students who demonstrate leadership, perseverance, scholarship, service, and innovation.

8: Duke University (Durham, North Carolina)

Robertson Scholars
This scholarship pays full tuition plus fees, room and board, and also gives funding for up to three domestic summer experiences. The award is given to students who show purposeful leadership, intellectual curiosity, strength of character, and collaborative spirit.

13: California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, California)

Stamps Leadership Scholarship
This scholarship pays four years of tuition and fees, room and board, and an additional stipend for enrichment experiences.

15: University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Indiana)

Stamps Leadership Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition and fees plus $12,000 in enrichment funds. Winners are also given faculty and professional mentors. Students must be nominated by the admissions office. Selection is based on leadership, perseverance, scholarship, service, and innovation. A maximum of five are awarded each year.

University of Notre Dame

15: Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee)

Ingram Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition and stipends for summer projects. Students are selected based on commitment to community service, strength of personal character, and leadership potential. The application deadline is January 1st.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition plus a one-time stipend to be used towards a summer study abroad or research experience. Selection is based on academic achievement, intellectual promise, leadership, and contributions outside the classroom.

19: Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, Missouri)

John B. Ervin’s Scholar Program
This scholarship gives full tuition plus a $2,500 annual stipend. Applicants should excel academically, challenge themselves, demonstrate initiative and leadership in their communities, bring diverse groups together, commit to community service, serve historically underprivileged populations, and/or persevere through challenging circumstances.
Anika Rodriguez Scholars Program
This scholarship gives full tuition and a $2,500 annual stipend. Awards are based on academic achievement (strong grades and SAT or ACT scores), a commitment to serving historically underprivileged populations, the ability to bring diverse people together, application answers and essay, and recommendations received as part of the admission application.
Danforth Scholars Program
This scholarship covers full tuition. Applicants must be nominated by someone with extensive knowledge of the student. Calls for nominations go out to high school guidance counselors every summer.
Stamps Leadership Scholarship
This scholarship covers full tuition, fees, room and board, and supplies, and also gives a $10,000 enrichment fund. Selection is based upon the applicant’s academic achievement, leadership, perseverance, scholarship, service and innovation.

20: Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia)

Emory Scholars
This scholarship gives full tuition and enrichment stipends. It’s only awarded to the top students at Emory. The application deadline is November 15th.

23: University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California)

Mork Family Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition, plus a $5,000 stipend. Finalists are selected by USC faculty for interviews. The average SAT and ACT scores of recipients are in the top 1 to 2 percent of all students nationwide in addition to such things as academic achievement, talent, perseverance, innovation, involvement, and leadership. A maximum of ten scholarships are awarded each year. Finalists will be notified of scholarship award status by April 1st.
Stamps Leadership Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition, plus a $5,000 annual enrichment fund ($20,000 total). Candidates are selected by USC faculty for interviews. The average SAT and ACT scores of recipients are in the top 1 to 2 percent of all students nationwide in addition to such things as academic achievement, talent, perseverance, innovation, involvement, and leadership. A maximum of ten scholarships are awarded each year. Finalists will be notified of scholarship award status by April 1st.
Trustee Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition. The average SAT and ACT scores of recipients are in the top 1 to 2 percent of all students nationwide in addition to such things as academic achievement, talent, perseverance, innovation, involvement, and leadership. A maximum of 100 scholarships are awarded each year. Candidates are selected for interviews by February. Finalists will be notified of scholarship award status by April 1st.

24: University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)

Stamps Leadership Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition, plus an enrichment fund up to $12,000. You have to be nominated by the University for this scholarship based upon such qualities as leadership, scholarship, community service, innovation. A maximum of ten are awarded every year: five nationally, and five for California residents. Invitations to apply are e-mailed on February 1st; applications are due mid-February.

24: University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia)

Jefferson Scholarship
This scholarship covers full tuition, fees, room and board, books, enrichment program and personal expenses. Students must be in the top 1-2% of their high school senior classes and must be nominated by an eligible school. A maximum of thirty-four scholarships are awarded each year.

27: Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)

Nancy Susan Reynolds Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition and a stipend. Selection is based on scholarship, achievement and personal interviews. The application deadline is December 1st.
Stamps Leadership Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition and an enrichment stipend. Selection is based on educational achievements, academic motivation, maturity and character. A maximum of five scholarships are awarded each year.

27: University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

Stamps Leadership Scholarship
This scholarship covers the full cost of attendance plus up to $10,000 in enrichment funds for about 18 students admitted through early action annually. Selection is based on academic achievement, exceptional talent, leadership, and service and community involvement.

30: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)

Morehead-Cain Scholars
This scholarship covers full tuition, room and board, books, a laptop, and funding for research and summer opportunities. It is open to students from a designated nominating school. Current nominating schools are located all across the globe and can be found here.
Robertson Scholars
This scholarship gives full tuition plus fees, room and board, and funding for up to three domestic summer experiences. It is awarded to students who show purposeful leadership, intellectual curiosity, strength of character, and collaborative spirit.

20

Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program
This scholarship pays full tuition and provides summer opportunities at Boston College to selected early action applicants. A maximum of 15 awards are given every year. Students must be invited in for interviews by a selection committee. The early action application deadline is November 1st, and students will be invited in for interviews in late January or early February.

32: College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, VA) 

College of William and Mary Stamps 1693 Scholarship
Stamps 1693 scholars receive full in-state tuition, fees, room and board, and $5,000 for independent projects. (Out-of-state students are eligible, but must pay the difference between in-state and out-of-state costs). All applicants are considered for scholarships and will be contacted by the selection committee to submit additional materials if they are chosen as semifinalists.
William and Mary Scholars
William and Mary Scholars receive the full in-state tuition and fees. Scholarships are offered to academically strong applicants who have overcome adversity and/or would increase campus diversity. All applicants to the college are considered.

32: University of Rochester (Rochester, New York)

Renaissance & Global Scholarships
This scholarship guarantees full tuition and individual mentoring. Selection is based upon academic curiosity and excellence, social awareness and involvement. A maximum of 20 are awarded each year.

34: Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia)

Stamps Presidents Scholars Program
This scholarship gives full tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, a laptop, and $15,000 enrichment funding. It is awarded to the top 1% of students at Georgia Tech who also have shown a dedication to leadership and service. To be considered, students must apply by the early application deadline of October 15th.

39: Boston University (Boston, Massachusetts)

Trustee Scholarship
This scholarship awards full tuition plus fees. Students must have exceptional academic credentials and display intellectual and creative adventurousness.  The application deadline is December 1st. Students will complete the regular common application but submit an answer to one of the Trustee Scholarship prompts as their essay, as well as completing a small supplemental essay.

39: Tulane University (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Dean’s Honor Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition. Selection is based on general achievements and a creative project. A maximum of 75 are awarded each year. The submission deadline is December 5th.
Paul Tulane Scholarship
This scholarship gives full tuition. Selection is based on general achievement and additional writing components. A maximum of 50 scholarships are awarded every year. The application deadline is December 5th.
Stamps Leadership Scholarship
This scholarship awards full cost of attendance and additional enrichment funding. Students must apply for the Dean’s Honor Scholarship or the Paul Tulane award and will be nominated from that pool of applicants. Selection is based on academics, leadership, perseverance, and innovation. A maximum of five scholarships are awarded every year.

44: University of Illinois (Champaign, Illinois)

Stamps Leadership Foundation
This scholarship covers the total cost of attendance as well as an additional fund for enrichment activities. A maximum of five are awarded each year.

44 University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin)

Chancellor’s Scholarship Program
Chancellor’s Scholars receive a full-tuition scholarship and a $400 book stipend every semester. They need to maintain a 3.0 GPA and full-time student status to remain eligible for the award through their college careers. Supplemental applications for this scholarship open in November and are due in February.

East Coast Schools

American University (Washington,DC)

Frederick Douglass Scholars Program
This scholarship gives full tuition, plus additional money for fees, room and board, and books. You will need at least a 3.3 unweighted GPA or a 3.5 weighted GPA and a minimum of 1190 on the SAT or 26 on the ACT to be a competitive scholarship applicant. Preference is given to first-generation college students and students who are committed to working with minority communities in the USA. The application opens on September 15th.