What are my odds of a (full) scholarship? And any advice?

Paying for College
1

<p>So I'm an A&B student going into Senior year. I have 5 siblings and we live in a rented half-house, so I'm going to assume my parents make less than $60,000, but money is tight around here. If it's relevant, my two older siblings both went to college with a full scholarship. Brother got 1500 classical SAT score, sister 1450 SAT score and 98 GPA. He went to Lafayette, she went to St. Joseph's. They are both in Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>The first two years of High School, I got pretty much Straight A's with a few B's here and there (final exam, Algebra II). However, Junior year, because of mild depression, anxiety, and laziness I plunged a bit. Got a lot of Bs. In AP US History I had an 87 average. In AP Calc I I had an 85 average. Honors English 94. Honors Physics 88. (If any of those are relevant.)</p>

<p>My GPA is either a 95.976 or 97.321. (The former on the report card, the latter on a website that the guidance counselor is supposed to update. It may have to do with weighted classes, or maybe not, I don't know.) For the sake of the forum, just assume it's the former, but also tell me what would happen if it's the latter.</p>

<p>My SAT scores:</p>

<p>1st: 680 Math, 620 Reading, 580 Writing (1880 combined) (1300 classic)
2nd: 650 Math, 640 Reading, 690 Writing (1980 combined) (1290 classic)
Combined: 680, 640, 690 (2010 combined) (1320 classic)</p>

<p>The first SATs I didn't really study. The second time, I read over and did some writing practice exams, and you can see the improvement. The guidance counselor said I could take the SATs for free because of my family's financial circumstances (reduced lunch and whatnot). Considering how much I improved on the writing, it's quite plausible that with studying I could do better on Math and Reading. But for now, go with 2010.</p>

<p>If it's relevant, next year I'm taking Dual Credit World Civ I and II, Honors Chemistry, AP English, AP Calc II, and Economics.</p>

<p>Considering all of the above information, what do you think my chances are of getting a full scholarship...at com. college, public, and/or private? Do just need a higher SAT score, higher GPA, am I done for, what? I really want a full scholarship. I get stressed and depressed very often (on and off), and the prospect of a 6-figure debt...I don't know if I could handle the emotional stress of that.</p>

<p>I'm looking into accounting, by the way.</p>

2

<p>I think you need to test again. Often to get the full tuition merit scholarships, you need about a 1400-1450 SAT (Math + CR)…especially if you want the school to have a good B-school. The slight difference in your GPA isn’t the issue…the issue is your TEST scores.</p>

<p>And, also take the ACT.</p>

<p>So, get some practice books from the library…have your older sibs give you some guidance/tips…and sign up for the Sept ACT, and the Oct SAT…and then retest again if needed.</p>

<p>You can take both the ACT and SAT with fee waivers.</p>

<p>You’re not going to have a 6 figure debt because that would require co-signers and your parents won’t likely sign for that.</p>

3

<p>@mom2collegekids:</p>

<p>Any real reason to take the ACTs if I’m already working to score well on the SATs? Wouldn’t it just be a waste of time? Or would a good ACT score be a fallback for a bad SAT score?</p>

<p>Also, I got the mainstream College Board SAT practice book. Is this a good choice? I don’t feel like spending money on a whole bunch of practice books just for a chance of getting a high SAT score.</p>

4

<p>Eyes… your stats aren’t going to get you a full ride based on merit. Buy if you sibling went to Lafayette for “full ride” he did it via need-based financial aid. Best merit scholarship at Lafayette is Marquis which is 20K or so, sounds like a lot but the schools is 55K per year. Focus your search on schools with good need based financial aid of which you can get in (like Harvard may be good but you would have slim chance of getting in).</p>

5

<p>Check out Kings College in Wilkes Barre, PA (since your sibs are in PA I’m thinking you might live there). They are very generous with financial aid and you should qualify to be considered for a full scholarship. Their business school has a very good reptutation.</p>

6

<p>Read the thread momfromtexas wrote on this forum called what I learned about full ride scholarships (or something like that). The specific scholarship information is old but the strategy she used isn’t.</p>