<p>Hi,
Can anybody tell me what kind of GPA/test scores a student needs to get merit aid at Furman?</p>
<p>My daughter has about a 3.9 weighted GPA and a 3.6 unweighted GPA from a demanding private high school. She has taken almost all honors, and will have completed two AP classes when she graduates.</p>
<p>She hasn't taken SATs yet, but we anticipate around a 2000 combined score for all three tests. She is from New England. She is heavily involved in band and drama.</p>
<p>We will not qualify for need-based aid, but we'd really like some merit aid to offset the cost of Furman. Can anybody tell me if her stats are high enough for merit aid?</p>
<p>Also, does anybody know how hard it is for a student to get a part time job on campus or in Greenville to help with expenses?</p>
<p>As far as an academic scholarship, her stats sound about average at Furman, so I am not so sure that she would get a lot of academic scholarship money, but possibly some. Furman is very generous with scholarships.</p>
<p>If she auditions for music, and is an outstanding performer, I read on the Furman web site that she can qualify for a music scholarship to 50% tuition, I would assume that there is a chance that they will not provide that much unless she is a music major - but they do give music scholarships to non music majors. My son got a very generous music scholarship at Furman, despite it being his worst audition it was $6,000 MORE than any other school, but he is intending on being a music education major so that may have helped out.</p>
<p>She can probably get a work study job, when we recieved my sons financial aid package they automatically included work study. If not, there are plenty of businesses in that area, so I wouldn’t think that a part time job would be that difficult to find.</p>
<p>Also, everyone I have talked to has qualified for $5,500 in gov student loans (which was also included on the financial aid package), and if she is a SC student, she should qualify for the Life Scholarship (or better) and the SC Educational Tuition Grant of $2,600 (which is only for in state students going to in state private colleges).</p>
<p>At this point, don’t worry too much about money, just apply and see what happens.</p>
<p>I have no idea what specific numbers one needs to qualify for the different levels of merit aid but I was told by our ad con the highest amount of merit aid given this year is $15K per year.</p>
<p>If I had to guess I would say that the numbers change, they would award the merit based on percentages: the top X percent get the highest, the next X percent get the next level, etc.</p>
<p>I did hear that the music department has their own monies to award and that is separate from the merit aid awarded through the admissions office.</p>
<p>There are also named scholarships that a student applies for separately than if chosen for the final round they compete at a scholarship day event. </p>
<p>I think you will get Achievers scholarship with those stats. My Ds stats are similar and she got $12,500. I think Furman will surprise you in terms of being generous with merit.</p>
<p>Based upon experience with 2 kids who will graduate next year, I think she is in range for Achiever’s and Honors scholarships. If she has not taken the SAT ( remember Furman is quasi test optional) have her take the ACT and perhaps the SAT II subjects that Furman considers. As a prior poster said, there are a number of named scholarships that require separate application, interviews, etc. If your daughter has been extremely active in community service or has started a unique community program/ project then she should look at applying for the community service scholarship. </p>
<p>Furman is making a major push ( IMO) to increase recruiting from the NE-check out BobbyCT’s posts in the Furman forum. I believe that can also play a factor in scholarship offers. If DD is potentially an art/art history major, there are separate scholarships available through that department as well.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for the information. You’ve given me hope that my daughter could get some kind of merit aid at Furman, which would help to make the school a more reasonable choice for her. We visited the campus recently only because we were in the area, but we didn’t really expect the school to be a particularly good fit for her. But then she walked on campus and said “I love it here!” We have been to many, many colleges over the years (visiting campuses with her and with my older son) and she’s never, ever had that kind of reaction to any school, so suddenly Furman has shot to the top of the list. </p>
<p>She also liked Elon quite a bit, too, however, and that’s a whole lot cheaper than Furman so I was having a bit of hard time justifying the cost, especially if she was out of the running for merit aid at Furman, but maybe that’s not the case. </p>
<p>She wants to be an environmental science major, so she wouldn’t qualify for the music/art scholarships, and she hasn’t done any significant community service, but I do hope that coming from New England might give her edge. She’s taking the SATs in two weeks and the ACT in June and we’ll keep our fingers crossed.</p>