Are your parents willing to pay anything? If so, how much?
To get a free-ride, including housing, without being a NMF, you’re likely going to have to consider schools that you’ve either never heard of before or are commuter/suitcase schools.
However, if just getting free tuition is fine, then there are some more schools.
Your ECs don’t really matter. It’s your scores that count.
Ok, your other posts indicate that you’re not low income, your family just wants to save funds for grad school.
Well, unless you’re a likely NMF, getting a free ride with housing isn’t likely unless you go to a commuter-suitcase school, which doesnt’ sound appealing.
However, if you’re ok with free tuition, then Alabama would give you that.
the full tuition award is assured for your stats as long as you apply before the scholarship deadline. You could apply now, and have your acceptance and merit award by Sept.
Alabama, Mississippi, and Temple are some good colleges where you would get full tuition. You could get a guanateed full ride at Louisiana Tech.
There are a lot of colleges where you would have a shot at full tuition or full ride, but competitive aid is difficult to predict. Smaller LACs would be a good place to look.
@Madison85, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe both Gates Millennium and Questbridge represent gap-filler scholarships. In other words, EFC is taken under consideration and the only two areas they fund are 1) student contribution, and 2) difference between “full need” and offered financial aid package. Since all QB schools meet full need, the Match really only gives relief from student loans and work-study/expected summer earnings. GMS is similar.
Any amounts designated as expected family contribution by the school still must be paid by the winner’s family. This is moot since Pell eligibility is pretty much required to participate in these programs.
Depending on which GPA they use the University of Alabama Huntsville would be a full ride for you (tuition, room and board). If you were interested in engineering I would highly recommend the school. I can’t speak for it’s other programs. For full tuition/full ride schools it is normally best to look at schools that you are a very top student for. Alabama seems to be a good state for looking at guaranteed scholarships
OP, here’s the good news. Of all the majors, actuarial science is one of the least dependent on a “name brand” school. What is critical is that you are able to pass the professional exams, which are very difficult (40% pass rates, from a self-selected body of test takers, most of whom put in the 300 recommended study hours per exam). And having a great gpa is also very important.
Employers don’t care as much about the name of the school, other than it’s very helpful to attend a school that gets a lot of insurance and financial consulting interviewers on campus. Find a school with an active actuary club; they get the recruiters on campus. Then, focus on schools well below your stats, or with auto merit that applies to you.
There are certainly some (very competitive) full-ride scholarships offered by specific schools. Being from Virginia, the Jefferson Scholarship from UVA and the 1693 Scholars Program from William & Mary come to mind. These are both incredibly competitive scholarships, but such scholarships do exist.
There is no efc if you are matched for QB ED. Its a guarenteed full ride if you are matched. Gates millenium is a full ride and a possible full ride for graduate school as well if you’re looking into nontraditional grad schooling. @ItsJustSchool
@phoebsters101, I had thought so, too, until I read the materials very carefully. From a practical standpoint, you will not be matched for QB ED unless you are Pell-qualified with an EFC of near-zero, with likelihood of maintaining the same financial profile for all four years. Few are matched, but there is great value in participating in the process, and many who are not matched are then accepted with standard FA packages, which are virtually the same as being matched, but are updated each year (not guaranteed for 4 years). QB Match is a gap-filler (from their website http://www.questbridge.org/ncm):
GMS is a gap-filler, meaning that the recipient will get a full ride, with the exception of the parental contribution (i.e. “met need”). GMS requires Pell Grant eligibility, so the parental contribution is very small. Two advantages of GMS are its graduate degree component and its portability (even to schools that do not “Meet full need” of applicants). From their website (https://www.gmsp.org/publicweb/aboutus.aspx):
In both of these cases, the sponsoring entity is very clear that they cover unmet need, that is, after EFC and any federal and institutional aid has been paid, but before loans and self-help (work study and expected summer earnings). Loans are typically either $0 or $5,500 - $7,500 per year for QB partner institutions, and expected student contributions is often around $5,000 - $6,000, so the programs can be very valuable to the student.
Thank you all very much for the comments and suggestions.
I am interested in Actuarial Science simply because I love Math - especially Calculus, Statistics and Probability. My math teacher recommended this career because of this.
I am fully aware that the college reputation doesn’t matter but would like to have a degree from a decent college, which would be helpful if I decide to grad school or an MBA in the future.
Also, I am looking for Merit based scholarships - especially getting a full ride with the Tuition.
Interestingly, I see Harvard or Stanford would be the cheapest (<20K including tuition & housing) but they don’t have Actuarial Science as a major.
On the other hand, NYU, UW Madison or Michigan, etc. who have Actuarial Science as a major will cost almost $52K, which is out of my budget.
My parents would be happy to pay for housing but if Tuition could be give for a good candidate who can pay back (as an alumni), that would be what I am looking for.
A good college SHOULD look into investing in (us citizens) kids for better ROI as a long term investment - at least, that’s my hope,
Apply to lots of schools that offer merit, don’t get too attached to a particular school, rather pick schools where you think you would be happy at any of them, and end up at the school that you feel gives you the best bottom line for the program you want.
Temple (mentioned above) has an outstanding actuarial science program located within their Business School. You would qualify for full tuition there plus two $4,000 stipends. One of my D’s very bright, very personable classmates is headed to Temple this fall specifically because of this program.