<p>Okay, first, emmacollete’s list in post #2 above is ridiculous! Even if you could get admitted to any of them (they are ALL high reaches!), NONE of them are going to give you the merit aid that you need!!!</p>
<p>If you’re looking for merit aid, you need to look at schools with average GPA/SAT scores well below yours . . . making you the exceptional candidate that the school is willing to pay for. Put simply, if a school’s average applicant has an SAT score of 2150, why would they want to pay extra for a candidate with that score? (And if their average is even higher than that, why would they even consider paying for you???)</p>
<p>Look at this thread on [guaranteed/automatic</a> merit scholarships](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html]guaranteed/automatic”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html). That means that if you have the required stat’s, the scholarship the school offers is guaranteed. You don’t have to compete for it. Some of these are full tuition scholarships!</p>
<p>Also, don’t limit yourself to large universities. Some LAC’s (liberal arts colleges) offer very good merit aid. But again, you have to focus on the less competitive schools. Don’t worry - you’ll still get a great education!</p>
<p>P.S. All those extracurriculars are lovely, but what’s going to count for that merit aid you need is your ACT score (if that’s the test you’ve decided to focus on). So, do what you can to get that score up! Merit scholarships tend to be very numbers-driven.</p>