Are merit scholarships a possibility?

devinl10
Tue, 03 Sep 2019 01:30:28 +0000

Hello,
I am a high school senior from NYC. My parents have been encouraging me to apply to several prestigious Universities that I love including UCLA, Stanford, Northeastern, Boston College, etc. My family is upper middle class, so we receive very little financial aide, but can’t nearly afford tuition at these schools, especially if I plan on going to grad school. My parents have this fantasy that I can earn merit scholarships at these top ranked schools and make them affordable. I’ve been trying to show them that in state tuition at a SUNY school is the best way to go, largely to no avail.

I understand this must vary from school to school, but in a very general sense, do I have any chance at earning merit scholarships at top 50 ranked schools? Here’s some info about me:

I go to a prestigious high school and have a 96 GPA with mostly honors and AP classes. I have a 35 ACT, and am very active within school clubs, with leadership positions.