Demographics
US Citizen
NC Resident
Homeschooled
Male, non-underrepresented
Cost Constraints / Budget
Looking for Foundation Fellowship or similar
Intended Major(s)
Mathematics and Business/Finance
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
uwGPA: 3.97 (1 B)
Weighted: 4.4 (5 point)
UGA GPA: 4.0
SAT: 1580 (non-super)
ACT: 35
Coursework
1 AP Calc BC 5 10th grade, 13 Dual-enrolled at community college, everything else Honors
Awards
AIME qualifer x3 (will qualify again in Senior), best score 7
Extracurriculars (Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Varsity and Club Soccer all 4 years, All Conference MVP x1, Team x3
Soccer Referree
400 hours volunteering/service projects
Team leader for an international business program
HS ministry leadership team
Essays/LORs/Other
LORs: Relatively strong (though I haven’t seen them obvi)
Essays: Not the best writer but solid
Do I have a decent shot at rull ride Foundation Fellowship or something similar at UGA? What are the chances of being invited for finalist weekend, something arond 5-20% or more like <1%? How would my chances at UGA compare with Woodruff at Emory?
Might be better for the Woodruff at Emory University as the U Georgia Foundation Fellows heavily favors Georgia residents judging by the most recent group of Foundation Fellows. Of the 20 most recent Fellows, 16 were Georgia residents & two were international students.
You appear to be well qualified for the Foundation Fellows scholarship other than lack of Georgia residency–which is not mandatory.
I think when you are talking about ultra competitive / top tier scholarships - whether the W&L Johnson, SMU Presidential, 1693 @ William & Mary or even the program my kid is in at College of Charleston (Fellows) - they cannot be chanced…
Clearly you can get into many/any school but does that mean you’d get the highest level of scholarship - no.
These are not just stat and award based - they typically have an interview component - so that’s the other thing - so yes to UGA and UGA Honors (as is needed) is possible but not assured.
But a top Fellowship or similar program at other schools - no way to chance you.
Are you seeking this for the incredible enrichment offered or for the financial benefits?
I see your logic, rn I’m just trying to get a relative idea of which scholarship programs are worth applying to and which are so unlikely to be not worth the time/money. I looked at UGA because they are a very solid finance school with great programs (for Fellows and just generally), but OOS coa is definitely not in my budget.
It’s ok to have “hail mary” schools - but know that for what they are.
In regards to finding affordable schools, I don’t know if you have demonstrated need or not but if you do, many fine schools meet need. You can run the net price calculator to see the cost to your family (have mom/dad do it). But in addition to UGA, look at the SMU Presidential and W&L Johnson.
WIth your stats, Alabama will be worst case $20K for tuition, room and board with $28K off automerit and more possible- and Culverhouse (the B School) is respected. Not sure your outcome intent but…
There’s other schools too with strong merit - U of SC, Miami Ohio and more but they aren’t auto merit.
btw - if you get a UGA scholarship as mine did and her test wasn’t close to yours - it’d be 1/2 the OOS differential or possibly the entire OOS differential. It’s not assured - but would that put you into budget?
FSU is another solid b school - you’d get an OOS waiver and be mid 20s.
Not sure of your target budget - but strong schools do exist (depending on what your career outcome is) - so you can take a hail mary approach with some schools and combine it with a fail safe approach at auto merit schools.
If you run some private NPCs - from a U Penn to a Rochester to a U Miami - you can see what the expected contribution from you is to see if schools like these should find a home in your application list. Some kids don’t qualify for need - but their parents limit what they can spend.
Since I’m from NC it’d take a lot of merit money to beat UNC Chapel Hill Kenan (it’d have to be significantly cheaper, and we have very little demonstrated need). I’ve looked at a lot of the schools you mentioned but I’ll definitely check out Miami Ohio. Thanks!
Oh, you had a post prior saying - where can I go for cheaper - was that you - and you got lots of choices that weren’t cheaper.
I think in this case, you stick with UNC and NC State as an assured - and go for W&L, SMU, and if you like UGA and other b schools with full ride home runs -put in for a few.
But if you’re the same, you also had career goals that UNC might fit better with.
I’d simply re read the last thread but throw out all the schools that don’t meet your goal - cheaper than UNC.
Why are you so against UNC - other than direct admit, etc.
btw - you might add W&M to your list and its 1693.
Just know everywhere is a high reach because you’re highly unlikely to get the money you need.
Given OPs only goal is to beat UNC pricing, I think any of these suggestions are fine.
They’re all Hail Marys.
How much work does OP want to spend for what is unlikely, but not impossible a positive result?
But applying to Emory and asking for merit consideration (the box you need to check) isn’t wrong.
Like the other Hail Mary scholarships it is highly unlikely.
If UNC is safe (OP says), NC State is a backup, and OP has the time, pick 5 or 6 Hail Mary’s you like or 10 or whatever - and try. It’ll be work !!! And unlikely, but not impossible of course, to get a return.
That’s what I was thinking. Your instate option is great.
Have you considered SMU at all? It was suggested in your other thread.I think the presidential scholarship, while not guaranteed, is within reach.
Do you have to have a full ride scholarship to attend college? Or can your parents contribute towards your costs? And if so…how much.
I think you need to go back and read your other thread and all the recommendations made in it. I’m not sure you will find better suggestions than that thread has.
In terms of the Foundation award at UGA…it’s highly competitive, and favors instate students. But you can give it a try.
No, definitely not in the category of misinformation if you read my post carefully.
The distinguishing aspect was that 80% (16 of 20) Univ. of Georgia Foundation Fellows were Georgia residents whereas the OP, a resident of North Carolina, is not a resident of Georgia. Of the 4 remaining Foundation Fellows scholars, two (2) were international students which left just 2 spots.
Foundation Fellows are also strong candidates for all Ivy League schools as well as for Duke.
The most recent group of Woodruff scholars at Emory University included 29 students (however, 32 student bios are shared in the announcement):
I am not sure where the UGA Foundation Fellowship numbers mentioned above came from, but here are the last few classes of data.
Class of 2028: 25 students, 8 OOS, no international students
Class of 2027: 20 students, 9 OOS, no international students
Class of 2026: 28 students, 7 OOS, 1 international
Class of 2025: 29 students, 11 OOS, 4 international
Note that before being considered for Foundation Fellowship, students must be accepted to UGA. UGA does aim for a class of freshman that is 80% in-state students, which makes it a bit more challenging to get accepted to UGA as an OOS or international student. But once past that hurdle, I don’t see OOS or international as a disadvantage when it comes to being awarded the Foundation Fellowship.
Edit to add: these numbers are as of Fall 2024, so the numbers in the older classes have likely shifted a bit with the addition of mid-term Fellows. Still, the numbers for classes of 2025-2027 shouldn’t be too far off the original entering class info.