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I was wondering what kind of schools would give me a full scholarship--whether I could win a school prize pretty easily, or they'll give me one full out.

http://www.prstats.com/2009/display.php?user=zephyr1

By Ubercollegeman (Ubercollegeman) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 08:51 pm: Edit

I'm not a pro on this financial aid/scholarship stuff, so I'm not going to pretend I am. However, I do know that most of the top colleges in the USA do not give merit scholarships, so it might be hard to find one.

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 08:58 pm: Edit

The ivies, Georgetown, Stanford do not give merit aid. The only way you will get money from them is from financial aid (Stanford, Georgetown have some athletic scholarships). Pomona gives very, very little. Duke and U Ch have some prestigious awards but they are very tough to get. If you want to get a good resource to get some idea where you can get money, pick up a copy of the USN&WR Ultimate College Directory. It will give you average awards for each college, financial aid and merit. In the front of the book there is a list of schools that tend to give out the most money. That will give you an idea what the field is like for you.

By Thekev (Thekev) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 11:04 pm: Edit

Occidental

By Mariellergram (Mariellergram) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 11:42 pm: Edit

You'll get one from The College of New Jersey and Rutgers automatically for your SAT score. You could probably get one at Tulane too.

By Dazed04confused (Dazed04confused) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 11:39 am: Edit

Boston College and Fordham offer Presidential Scholarships that cover everything (except board I think) They also have special programs for their scholars that seem pretty cool.

By Ay_Caramba (Ay_Caramba) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 11:50 am: Edit

You will automaticallly get a full-tuition scholarship from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia since you have 1500+ SAT I and an A average. I applied there just so I would have that as an option in case other schools gave me like NOTHING. It's not a bad school either, ranked 13th for Northern Universities with Masters as the highest degree available. I'm not going there, but it's an interesting option.

By Par72 (Par72) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 12:21 pm: Edit

Might want to look at Colgate,Holy Cross,or Bates.

By Skapoor1 (Skapoor1) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 12:22 pm: Edit

I mentioned aid to my college counselor and he said I should apply to Vanderbilt because they are known for giving merit aid.

By Lisasimpson (Lisasimpson) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 12:37 pm: Edit

what do you need to get a rull ride at rutgers?

By Zephyr (Zephyr) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 02:15 pm: Edit

Occidental, someone said?

Can anyone tell me more about that?

What about, say, Pittsburgh? Would Michigan give me some dough? What about UVa or UNC?

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 03:08 pm: Edit

Here's a link to the merit scholarships available at Oxy - they can be very generous but do not give full rides: http://departments.oxy.edu/finaid/db/award_list.asp

Here's a link to merit information at U Mich - as you can see the largest merit scholarships there go to in-state residents: http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Types_of_Financial_Aid/Scholarships/Entering_Undergraduates/enterinfo.asp

In general your best bet is to just go to the financial aid web site of the schools you're interested in and click on merit scholarships.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 03:17 pm: Edit

Some additional ideas: The Emory Scholars program at Emory U or the Brown Scholars Program at Southwestern U in Texas (an excellent LAC) - both are full-rides I believe.

By Neobez (Neobez) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 02:13 pm: Edit

Your counselor was right about Vandy. . .I know several people who have been offered the full ride, or atleast a half tuition paid type thing.

It's not easy though, but with your stats it's very possible. Emory is tough but they also give them out.

By Julibean008 (Julibean008) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 04:58 pm: Edit

I know Duke has some good merit-based aid. Maybe full rides are only for instaters, i'm not sure, but there is definitely merit money out there. Check out the Robertson program or "AB" scholarships.

Also, it's not a top school, but American U in DC gives full rides, and you can get one I think!
Goodluck!

By Mariellergram (Mariellergram) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 05:09 pm: Edit

Lisasimpson, I think Rutgers requires a 1500 for a completely full ride. A 1400 or 1450 (I don't remember) gives full tuition but not room and board.

By Alongfortheride (Alongfortheride) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 06:11 pm: Edit

Check into the McDermott Scholarship at the University of Texas in Dallas. I believe most of the winners are NMSF or NMF, but I could be wrong. Kids from all over the country are coming in to do this one. It's full everything plus an allowance. Yes, you read correctly, they actually pay you to go to school there, and the quality of the school is very good!

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 09:00 pm: Edit

Do a search for SAT combined 1500 scholarship on google and see what turns up. This was suggested on the parents board (works with other SAT scores as well) and is a good way to turn up possible full rides at various schools. If not much turns up with the 1500, try 1400, or 1300.

By Jersey220 (Jersey220) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 03:08 pm: Edit

I am pretty sure that the full rides and most of the merit aid awards at Rutgers are for in-state students. A few of my friends are going there for free. You need to have a 1500 and be in the top 5% of your class.

To the OP, apply to Tulane if you are in search of a full ride. You can probably get their top scholarship (Presidential Award, I believe). I think its tuition, room, and board. You can also get other awards if you don't get the big one. I got 18k/year from Tulane with stats that are not as good as yours. There are other schools that offer full rides. You just have to look around for them.

By Ohio_Mom (Ohio_Mom) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 06:37 pm: Edit

Case offers merit scholarship - 22,000 is a number I have heard. Also, RPI.

By Vulcano (Vulcano) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 07:23 pm: Edit

Tulane, definitely.

By Chauncey (Chauncey) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 05:41 pm: Edit

Denison and Ohio Wesleyan are generous. Kenyon offers full rides, but only a handful.

By Oldman (Oldman) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 09:58 pm: Edit

Tulane and Georgia in the South.

By Alongfortheride (Alongfortheride) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 10:10 pm: Edit

Tulane offers the Deans Honor Scholarship, which it a competitive scholarship, and they will offer about 100. However, it is full tuition, but I don't think it covers room and board and books. So technically, it wouldn't be a full ride unless you qualified for need based aid. It is however, a very good scholarship.

By Anxious_Mom (Anxious_Mom) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 02:05 am: Edit

With your stats you would very likely receive Regents Scholarships at any of the UCs other than UCLA or Berkeley. (You would still be in the running, but it may not be a sure thing at LA or UCB because of how they divvy out their awards). Depending on your family's financial status, a Regents scholarship could be a free ride - or, if you have no "need" then the different UCs give different amounts of merit awards - this year ranging from a low of $1000 /yr at Berkeley, to $7500/yr at Davis, to a high of $11000/yr at Irvine. Combine the merit awards with low in-state tuition, and other perks (again, depending on the UC) such as honors programs, dorms and special seminar classes for Regent's Scholars, priority registration, etc and they can be a great deal.

You would also be competitive for a full-ride at USC.

Other colleges that give full (or mostly) rides for high stats like yours are University of Tulsa and University of Houston.

Generally, good quality colleges with good endowments, that are a bit lower on the rankings would be clamoring to give you lots of $ (to boost up their stats and rankings).

An interesting site for "guaranteed scholarships" for such things as specific GPAs, SAT scores, etc from a variety of colleges noted on the following website:

http://www.guaranteed-scholarships.com/

however, be sure to link the to actual college site from there to confirm the info.

By Hopkinslax (Hopkinslax) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 06:27 pm: Edit

I thought you need to be a resident to get a full-ride....???

By Missmolly (Missmolly) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 07:57 am: Edit

Zephyr,
If you need financial aid-the Ivys will help out. I think Harvard will cover most expenses if parents make less than $40,000 a year. University of Chicago and Washington University offer generous merit scholarships. Northwestern is cheap when it comes to National Merit money-offered my son $500 a year. Are you a National Merit Scholar??? If so, there are many schools that will offer full rides, such as Arizona State, University of Oklahoma, and University of Nebraska, and much more.....Your resume is excellent-Good luck! My son picked Washington University over several other schools because it felt like the best place for him (intuitive-I think) plus they offered him a merit scholarship.

By Iflyjets (Iflyjets) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 05:39 pm: Edit

Try some LACs, such as Furman, Grinnell, and Bucknell.

By Zephyr (Zephyr) on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 12:19 am: Edit

I am, sadly, not a national merit scholar.

By Klass (Klass) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 05:33 pm: Edit

Zephyr,

www.studentsreview.com
www.princetonreview.com

Two resources for checking out real student/alumni comments about each of your colleges.