Absolutely stuck

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I am a high schooler very much lost on which college would be best among:
Rice
Pomona
Claremont Mckenna
Scripps
Harvey Mudd</p>

<p>I understand visiting would be the best idea, but it doesn’t sound like I will ever get a chance to go to California before applications start rolling around.</p>

<p>Overlooking my personal stats (GPA, standardized test scores, etc.), I am seeking advice from college parents or students or anyone who has had experience with these colleges.</p>

<p>My most important priorities are, in this order:</p>

<p>Full ride on merit aid: although it is unlikely that I qualify for financial aid, I am determined to not make my parents pay for me. This is a huge, absolute top priority. My parents have done a lot for me, so even though I suspect I will get a lot of ‘not gonna happen, impossible’ or ‘just ask’ responses, I am a bit naive as a non-college student, I suppose.</p>

<p>Awesome academics: I know these are all renowned for great academic, so this might be a little pointless</p>

<p>Specialization in international relations/science double major: I have heard of the CMC full tuition scholarship specifically for what I want. I have no idea which school is mutually best for this major interest, though.</p>

<p>Graduating in 4 years or less: this one probably depends on personal course load/summer classes, but I do NOT want to graduate in 5 years. I have AP credit, which I know Rice will take but the Claremonts take very little of. </p>

<p>Study abroad: yep.</p>

<p>I would like to go to grad school. Maybe med school, maybe specializing in one of the majors. I want to be thorough with my education. I do know I want to help people. My goal is to find a job that requires travel in order to do that. I love traveling and culture.</p>

<p>I know there’s a ‘best fit’ that just needs to be tested by visiting, but… hopefully that <em>extremely</em> picky information is enough to advise a best fit. </p>

<p>Hope this gets some replies. </p>

<p>Thank you. :)</p>

2

<p>You’re more likely to get a full ride at schools where your credentials are well above the averages for the school. I would apply to an instate-public for a financial safety. I assume you’d find an honors college there that would be more fit to your needs as well. Sorry, but I don’t know much about your listed schools.</p>

3

<p>For a full ride on merit aid, you may have to look elsewhere. It does not look like these schools have full ride merit scholarships.</p>

<p>Rice: [Financial</a> Aid at Rice University](<a href=“http://financialaid.rice.edu/main.aspx?id=62]Financial”>http://financialaid.rice.edu/main.aspx?id=62)
Pomona: ?
Claremont McKenna: [admission</a> - scholarships - default](<a href=“http://www.cmc.edu/admission/scholarships/]admission”>Beyond tuition and fees: Expanding opportunities for all CMC students | Claremont McKenna College)
Scripps: [Scripps</a> College : Fellowships and Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.scrippscollege.edu/academics/fellowships/index.php]Scripps”>Academic Experience | Scripps College in Claremont, California)
Harvey Mudd: [HMC</a> Merit-Based Awards](<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/costsandaid1/typesofaid1/scholarshipsandgrants1/hmcmeritbasedawards.html]HMC”>Merit-Based Scholarships | Harvey Mudd College)</p>

<p>Claremont McKenna appears to have the biggest ones, but they are full tuition, not full ride. Also, they are competitive.</p>

<p>You may have to look elsewhere for safety level full rides, like in the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt; . There are also reach level competitive full rides like Robertson at Duke and UNC, Morehead - Cain at UNC, Park at NCSU, President’s at Georgia Tech, etc…</p>

4

<p>Pomona does not offer full rides either. It only offers financial aid, no merit aid. </p>

<p>If you are that set on a full ride, you need to look at lower tier schools. Check out the link in the post above.</p>

5

<p>

Convenient but not helpful, particularly with schools on this level. They are extremely competitive.</p>

6

<p>If you are already acknowledging that you are naive, why not overcome that and talk to your parents about college finances? Everyone’s parents have done a lot for them, but many parents WANT to pay for their children’s college careers. They see it as a gift they do for their children.</p>

<p>As for the schools, just apply, and see where you get in. But if you want a full merit scholarship, you may want to shoot for some less reachy schools. All of the schools on your list are extremely competitive just for admission. You don’t even have Pitzer, which is the least competitive of the Claremont Colleges.</p>

<p>Where are you from (state)? You may want to look into Alabama’s and UA-Huntsville’s scholarships. UGA has a competitive full scholarship program, too.</p>

7

<p>You seem to want a “full ride merit” at schools that don’t give “full rides”.</p>

<p>You mention a “full tuition” scholarship at CMC but that only covers tuition. How would you pay the other $10k-15k to go there. YOU can only borrow $5500. </p>

<p>Getting merit at some of your listed schools is a total lottery win…and doesn’t seem like ANY of them would give you a “free ride.” You certainly cannot expect “free rides” from top schools for merit. That’s unreasonable.</p>

<p>Even schools ranked below those you listed don’t give full ride merit except in rare instances …again, a lottery win.</p>

<p>WHAT WILL YOU DO if none of those top schools pick YOU to award a full ride??? What will you do? Go to a CC??? You need to be reasonable!!!</p>

<p>You either have to:</p>

<p>1) Accept the fact that your parents will have to pay for some/all of your college costs…</p>

<p>or</p>

<p>2) Apply to some schools that you know FOR SURE will give you full ride merit as safety schools in case your Top Schools do not pick you for big merit. </p>

<p>What are your test scores and GPA?</p>

8

<p>Scripps has 2 full ride merit scholarships: (New Generation and Leonetti)</p>

<p>[Merit-Based</a> Scholarships | Scripps College Admission](<a href=“http://admission.scrippscollege.edu/scholarships]Merit-Based”>http://admission.scrippscollege.edu/scholarships)</p>

<p>But they seem VERY, VERY COMPETITIVE…</p>

<p>Good Luck in your search!</p>

9

<p>You need to aim a little lower if you are looking for full rides</p>

10

<p>Come up with a list of schools that have the majors you want and where you are a good candidate for admission. Then cross-reference that list against the data on this site:
[Best</a> Values in Private Colleges, 2011-12](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/privatecolleges/]Best”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts)
or this one:
[Colleges</a> and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com”>Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com)</p>

11

<p>Rule of thumb: the more selective the college, the less likely you will get merit aid (ANY merit aid, let alone a full ride).</p>

<p>Case in point: Harvey Mudd College is one of the most selective colleges in the country (more so than some Ivies, more so than nearly any other LAC). For 2011-12, HMC awarded 33 merit scholarships. The average? $10,981. Presumably, virtually all the merit recipients must have had stats in the top 25% of entering students (which at Mudd, covers fewer than 50 students). The 75th percentile SAT scores for entering HMC freshmen in 2011-12 were 770 CR, 800 M, and 770 W. 95% of all HMC students were in the top 10% of their HS classes, so virtually all the merit recipients must have been A students in demanding classes. On top of all that, they probably had impressive ECs or awards as well. </p>

<p>Pomona vies with HMC for most selective LAC in the country (and does not award merit aid at all). Rice and CMK are not too far behind.</p>

12

<p>Rule of thumb: the more selective the college, the less likely you will get merit aid (ANY merit aid, let alone a full ride).</p>

<p>Very, very true. That point seems to be lost on some people. Highly selective schools have a gazillion apps from students with high stats, so why would they offer large merit awards to a bunch of kids? Why would they need to?? They might offer a small number of merit awards to “hooked” students to help with talent diversity or ethnic or regional diversity. </p>

<p>Even the mid-tiers aren’t offering many/any full rides to students with high stats…just too expensive.</p>

13

<p>Rice is an amazing place that would seem to fill your requirements. And they do give merit aid amounting to a full ride, but maybe not all in one package. They offered my daughter several scholarships and programs that combined was very close to a full scholarship.</p>

14

<p>In other words, don’t get discouraged by all the naysayers. My daughter made it her mission to get merit money, researched places that gave it, and ended up with a lot of good offers. Ultimately she turned down Harvard for a full ride at another great school. No debt for her, no debt for us. Go for it!</p>

15

<p>^I am very happy for your D, but if she was in the position to turn down Harvard, she must have had exceptional stats. It’s hard to give advice to the OP without knowing more about how competitive an applicant he/she really is. If the OP is not Harvard-caliber, then saying “shoot for the moon” is likely to end in disappointment, and the student should be advised to research realistic alternatives.</p>

16

<p>kroe…</p>

<p>NJSue is exactly right. Your D’s stats must have been phenomenal…scores, GPA, AND ECs/Awards since she was accepted to H. Yes, such a student who “casts a wide net” over schools that are known to give merit for exceptional stats, would catch some “big fish”.</p>

<p>However, we have no idea if the OP fits that same description. If the OP has stats like 2240 SAT, 3.9 GPA, typical ECs, then likely schools like Rice won’t be throwing merit because they have hundreds others with similar stats.</p>

17

<p>Luckily she didn’t listen to the advice on CC, where she was told she was just the same as a ton of other students, score and EC-wise. No harm in taking a shot at what you want–you most certainly won’t get it if you give up before you start based on the advice of others.</p>

18

<p>There is also no harm in buying a lottery ticket as long as you don’t expect it to pay your bills.</p>

<p>The OP has also said that his family is unlikely to qualify for financial aid, so if he wants a “full ride,” he will most likely have to go way down the scale of selectivity. The top schools with the best financial aid budgets give no, or very little, merit aid, and they use it to apply towards the family’s EFC, as Harvey Mudd’s website indicates: "…any merit awards received will be coordinated with other need-based aid to help meet a student’s demonstrated financial need and will not be used to help reduce the family’s calculated contribution.’</p>

<p>Certainly the OP can apply anywhere and see how the chips fall, but it’s a good idea to have a fallback plan.</p>