Hello! I will soon become a senior and begin the college application process.
I see how competitive getting scholarships is and am anxious about getting enough financial aid. I am grateful that I have everything I need on a daily basis, but there is no money for college and I don’t want to drown in loan debt.
Here are the schools I wish to apply to:
University of South Carolina
University of Maryland
University of Georgia
George Mason University
George Washington University
I hope to major in international business and work in sustainability/ethics in the business world.
Here are some facts about me:
-I am a rising senior from South Carolina
-first-generation American, my parents are Colombian, I speak Spanish fluently
4.994/5 gpa
-part of an early college program (I will have about 36 college credits done by the end of high school) at the local community college, plus I am part of the college’s Honors Program, Phi Theta Kappa, and I have on their Dean’s list for 4 consecutive semesters
-President of the Academic Team
-Founder and Leader of high school’s recycling initiative, I was awarded a grant to do this
-Red Cross Club member
-National Honors Society
-regular volunteer at local arts center
-2 internships at the local Democratic party
-required to do 50 service hours per year (though I will end up with much more than that)
-art student and soon-to-be teacher’s assistant in art class
-will be attending Girls State program for American Legion this summer
Please give me some feedback in how good scholarships/financial aid offers will be for me.
Thank you so much!
What are your SAT/ACT scores? You can start by looking in the scholarship section at each school. It will tell you about guaranteed and competitive merit. Have you run the net price calculator?
As noted by @sybbie719 your SAT or ACT score is a key component to this search for merit aid anyway. Have you taken th SAT? Did you take the PSAT? If so, what was your score?
U of South Carolina has some generous scholarships for high achieving instate students.
Without knowing your SAT or ACT score, really…it’s Impossible to even guess about your scholarship potential.
As long as your SAT or ACT scores are high enough, you should qualify for the SC Lottery Scholarship money which is automatic at any SC school. Getting merit money as an OOS student at most public universities is difficult except a group,such as Alabama, which have set standards for automatic merit that can be as much as free tuition. Google schools with best merit aid and research those for fit. Though private schools often start with a higher price tag, many of them are more generous with merit which can make them just as affordable as the public schools. Since you are in SC, look at both Wofford and Furman. If your high school guidance counselor did not nominate you as a Furman and Wofford Scholar, get that done immediately. I know the Furman deadline for nominations is June 1st. These give automatic money of at least $5000 annually. There are many students there who got enough merit money to make those schools as affordable as USC, Clemson and CofCharleston. You ought to also consider C of Charleston. Also, Furman has a nationally known sustainability program. If you are a first generation college student as well as first generation American, that helps you qualify for some specific merit money that may not be limited to a particular school.
If you really want to reduce your overall costs, one thing you may wish to look into is if any of those universities will let you graduate in 3 years with the credits you already have.
Also, if majoring in international business, you may wish to do a study abroad semester and would want to look and see if there are any programs that would allow you to apply any merit scholarships to a study abroad program in a country you are interested in. (My oldest can apply her school’s merit scholarship to one study abroad experience that doesn’t interest her. IT’s going to cost $20,000 to go where she wants to go.)
Also - do you know what your family’s EFC is? There may be schools out there that will meet full financial need that you could get accepted to. (Although raising your ACT to 34+ would be extremely helpful in that area)
How much will your parents pay each year? Ask them, please don’t guess. We see later posts from a lot of disappointed students who thought their parents would pay more.
Unfortunately, transferring college credits is usually more a negotiation rather than a guarantee. Besides USC (which has credit agreements with my school), there is no guarantee that credits will transfer.
I am doing enrollment through actually college classes at a community college.
USC is great, but I’d preferably like to go to school in the D.C. area because of my career choice and because I’d like to live in a more urban environment. I have also been looking at community colleges in the D.C. area that have bridge programs with colleges there.
My parents are middle-class but with a tight budget, so no we are not low-income, but there is not much extra money laying around.
@thumper1 I recently visited those colleges in the D.C. area during spring break. I absolutely fell in love with the three colleges and the environment of D.C. (I loooovveed having access to public transportation).
I know wanting to leave SC is a bit unrealistic, but I just wanted to know how competitive of a student I am in terms of scholarships.
Those schools in DC area? You will be paying out of state rates to attend their community colleges. In addition, the living costs in the greater DC area are VERY high. Please be realistic about how you will fund this. You will get that $5500 Direct Loan, but don’t expect any additional aid from an out of state community college.
U of South Carolina had a very good international relations program. Please look into it.
It doesn’t sound like you will qualify for need based aid based on your parent income…is that correct? So are you hoping for a full ride merit award? Those are highly competitive at any school.
I hate tobe a Debbie downer…but I honestly don’t see you getting 100% funding from any of the schools on your list.
@thumper1 No no, I could never get a full-ride. But there are so many scholarships out there for me to apply for and I was wondering how realistic it would be for me to collect a nice sum of money from spending time applying to scholarships.
I am perfectly aware of the good international programs at USC. Gamecock fans are practically offended when I say I want to study IB somewhere other than USC, lol.
Yes you are right, my parents would probably not get financial aid
And don’t apologize for being a downer, I have big dreams, but I also need people pulling me back to reality. Thank you.
