We are relying on merit aid for college (we’d like to save $$ for grad. school). With a 1510 and 4.0 (weighted) what are the best schools that offer good automatic academic scholarships? I greatly appreciate any suggestions!
While some schools use weighted GPA for merit awards, many use unweighted…what is your student’s UW GPA?
Will your student be NMF?
What is your target annual cost?
This is posted in the U Alabama forum, which is a good place to look for automatic merit. Also look at Baylor, Clemson, Miami of Ohio, UT Dallas for starters.
Thank you so much! Sadly, he didn’t quite make the NMF cut. The U Alabama Presidential scholarship is looking like the best option; however, he’d like to check out other schools as well. I need to figure out his UW GPA. Likely major = finance.
So appreciate any and all suggestions!!
Automatic is tough. Especially for big dollars. Hardly any out there for full ride. But there are schools where those stats are likely to snag good merit. It’s just not guaranteed. Running NPCs should only snag you the guaranteed merit—try Fordham University, for example. But once you actually apply, it is a good possibility that a number of schools will come up with some generous awards. Just look at the Common Data Sets to make sure that you are not going after a paltry handful of scholarships, or that you have no chance at all for any money because some schools give ZERO merit awards. Each year, folks are disappointed, upset, confused when their kid with great profiles get NADA, nothing in any scholarships because they applied to schools that don’t give any.
UDenver, Delaware, Pitt, Tulane, Hofstra are just some names I’m throwing out there in terms of schools that I’ve seen give some good merit packages. In contrast, here are schools where you are not likely to get any of them BC(very few merit awards though the ones they give out are tremendous), Penn State ( merit awards tend to be small-though even OOS sticker price less than private schools), Penn, Cornell and other Ivy League Schools (they do not give merit money at all ) . You look at who is giving out how much in merit awards, using CDS, and so you have a fighting chance.
UT Dallas would probably give you full tuition and fees plus either $1000/semester or $3000/semester. It is not a guaranteed scholarship but with your stats that would likely be the result. It is a good school for STEM, premed and business. Apply early and you would know the results within 3 to 4 weeks.
Our experience was our lesser known, regional schools were the most generous with merit money. I would start by looking within your home state at schools where your child’s stats are above the 75th percentile of accepted students AND that have high acceptance rates (60%+).
U South Carolina does not guarantee merit but those stats would likely garner in-state tuition plus an additional $2,000-$4,000 per year, for an annual cost of $27-$29,000.
The Business School has a competitive Finance Scholars program that you might look into. The Honors College is consistently top-ranked. It requires a separate application with essays.
https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/scholarships/freshman-scholarships
https://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
http://www.aamu.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid/scholarships/_documents/academic-scholarship-brochure-2018-2019.pdf
https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/freshmen
I just wanted to give an update on UT Dallas. They appear to have changed the scholarship notification process. Previously, the student would be notified upon acceptance or within a couple of weeks. They are now saying AES notification will be going out in December.
What are the grad school plans? Is it professional school or are we talking about a PhD program
If undergrad is finance what would be plan for grad school? If he’s thinking MBA it might be better to spend more for top undergrad business school. MBA’s seem to have fallen out of favor.
I’ll second South Carolina if $27k/year is doable. Other schools maybe Arizona, Arizona State, WVU.
You could also consider Ole Miss and Kentucky.
Both offer generous automatic scholarships for high stat students. Your student would also be competitive for their Honors Programs.
https://www.uky.edu/financialaid/scholarship-incoming-freshmen
https://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/#8
Bama is one o the highest ranking schools that has assured very large merit scholarships for stats.
I think that when people see Bama’s auto-awards they think that there must be other similar (or more highly ranked) schools that offer the same. Bama is rather unique in its large offerings for a mid tier school.
When will you visit Bama?
Hello,
Thx so much for your info. on Bama. First time we visited we made the mistake of not going to the Honors College. This time as a NMSF I’d like to do this visit the right way! I want my DS to be wowed! (like we are as parents) Any suggestions on what would impress a 17 year old at Bama who’s not a Greek kinda kid. He’s outdoorsy, loves college basketball. We’re eager for him to like it! Thanks in advance for any advice!! Who do we contact?