hm they should all be yearly. budget is 20k but full ride is preferred (though with my stats that’d be pretty difficult)
Yes, that’s the idea!
It’s great that you’re researching various schools and the types of scholarships they offer. That’s an important component of finding a school that is affordable for you and your family.
A couple things to note:
As @twogirls mentioned, check to see whether the scholarship is automatic (i.e. if you have these stats, you will get this award) or whether those are the minimum stats to be considered for an award. When you’re finding your extremely likely schools, you want to make sure the scholarship is an automatic one. If a school needs a scholarship that you’re not guaranteed to get, then it becomes a riskier option and is no longer a safety.
For scholarships like the Stamps or Banneker/Key, they are extremely competitive (generally students granted these awards will turn down schools like Stanford or Harvard to attend).
You may also want to look and see how a school is classified, in terms of commuter vs. residential. This can be found on the overview section of a school’s page on the College Board’s site: College Search - BigFuture | College Board.
Residential colleges are what many upper middle class families think of when they think of “college life.” Lots of clubs, activities, and things going on on-campus. Commuter colleges are those where people tend to live off-campus, frequently well off-campus, so they come for classes and then leave. Additionally, there are some residential colleges that are sometimes referenced as suitcase colleges. These are colleges where students may stay on-campus during the week, but then pack up and go home on the weekend. There is no source I know of that delineates whether a school is a suitcase school. To find out that type of info, you will need to talk with people who know the school.
All of that to say, I think you have a good attitude and plenty of time to research and find a list of colleges that is appropriate for you. There is no need to rush and have a list in the next week. Take your time, explore various options, and let your family come up with a solid budget (i.e., we have X in savings and if we spend Y that we were putting aside for your college, we can then afford Z/year for college rather than, maybe we can afford Z?).
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Check to see if your family is eligible for Illinois Commitment. Nice financial aid if you qualify.
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" * Your family income is $75,000 or less (effective fall 2025)"
does this mean before or after taxes?
I don’t know. Please check their website for more details.
WCU is aboit $20k all in. It’s an NC promise school. But hard to get to.
If OP wants to be in a diverse city, look at UAB. A more ‘techy’ city UAH. Both have transport.
Many OP mentioned are competitive, so not automatic.
WVU may work. ASU won’t - the campus mentioned was not the main.
Yes to directional Illinois and Michigan schools and don’t discount Louisville.
You can keep Miami on but it’s unlikely to make budget.
You may not like it but with your current or improved stats - it’s south to hit your cost targets and if you want to be in the city, you can add Memphis. Ole Miss and MS state will hit but are not in a city.
These are ‘assured’ to hit. Schools like UMD are a million to one shot. Try but they are Hail Mary’s and you need the assured.
Which do you have that is assured to hit $20k ?? I hear WCU. UNM was close. I mentioned UAH, UAB, U Alabama, Miss State, Ole Miss, maybe Memphis. Who else ??
Your stats get you those low prices. The full rate is much higher except WCU.
That assured to hit price school is the most important.
You have lots of time to think about it.
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You and your parents should use the net price calculator on each college website to get an idea of what need based financial aid will be like.
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Lafayette says they will meet need for students whose family income is 200K or less. However they are not need blind when doing admissions. And I think they will ding you if your parents have a lot of equity in their home.
Ooh okay! Their acceptance rate is somewhat on the lower end. I’m aiming for higher scores when I test again so my scores can be higher than their average range.
That certainly can be the case. However remember that at many of the schools you listed lot of kids get rejected with 35 ACT or 1500 SAT. My D18 had a 4.0UW, 35ACT, good but not great ECs and she got rejected at Brown, Princeton, UVA and UNC and waitlisted at Vandy. But she got great merit money at Clemson and Udel. She went to Clemson and graduated in 3 years with AP credits. She got a full ride to UF Levin school of law and just started a “big law” job in Miami. So although she was very disappointed not getting into any of those elite schools, it all worked out great and she graduated from law school debt free.
Just an example of how a very successful path can be created at schools that don’t have the “prestige” or rankings. Find a place that is affordable, is in a location you like work hard in college and get good grades and you can be successful.
I know others on here @tsbna44 and @Mjkacmom had kids who turned down more “prestigious” schools to go somewhere they really liked and were very affordable and it has worked out great for them.
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If you want an open curriculum at a reasonable cost, consider Evergreen State College. It’s in Olympia, WA, the state capital. Cost is about $50,000 for out of state students before any financial aid.
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I really appreciate all the previous suggestions given and I’ve been looking into some already. I know I still have time before applying.
I’ve been trying to look for automatic full ride scholarships for people with lower stats like mine, but I couldn’t find any, well, because I know those are pretty rare and there are only competitive full rides at top universities. But are there any lesser-known schools that offer automatic significant merit for people with lower stats? I
I was reading this on my phone and thought I might’ve wrote it! I don’t see that well. My daughter was so glad she made the choice she did choosing UDel over Villanova (she applied after the big basketball win, she and her friends drove there to tour right after), graduated in 3 years and loved it, prepared her for her DPT program at BU. My daughter at Clemson is graduating in May with 150 credits. Could’ve graduated last May but she loves her classes, professors, advisors and fellow students so stayed 4 years. All of the extra classes are academic, nothing “fun,” she’s preparing for actuary exams. Having had 5 in college, it really is what they put into it.
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A couple HBCUs do but the renewal conditions can be drastic and in many states as a 20th century legacy they’re less funded.
Full tuition can be found but full rides are now almost extinct. Most universities can justify covering tuition for students they really want but not cover housing&food (unless your parents are really broke, and even then most universities don’t cover that, hence issues of homelessness and food insecurity along college students).
Look into St Olaf: you could apply to the music scholarships (audition required and if you receive a scholarship you must participate in one of the music ensembles but do not have to be a music major) and compete for the merit scholarships. As you must have derived from the chart shared upthread, it’s very good for pre PhD or premed. That might get you to full tuition.
Another lower cost option for you:
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thank you! though i dont think i should apply to any bs/md or similar programs because my gpa is too low but I’ll look into st. olaf fs.
You could look at BS DO programs. The LECOM program is an interesting one because they have partner undergrad schools. You must apply to and attend one of those colleges.
I’m not sure you can get the cost of undergrad below $20,000 a year, however.
Perhaps @momsearcheng can comment. Her kid is in the program doing undergrad at Rhodes. But there are a number of partner undergrads.
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UIC’s program is a high reach but if admitted should be affordable.
Seconding the LECOM program.
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This will be many schools. Until OPs family dies NpcS, we don’t know. $20k is what they can or are willing to pay - but the schools care about their formula, not OP’s desires.
That’s why I noted the schools I did. And if a price is firm, one needs to trade off and accept something thru don’t necessarily want, including geography.
Hopefully OP will update - but for now has a lot of time to determine budget, school’s perception of the budget, and explore.
You’ve been given a list n4.
There are many but will they get to your budget is the question.
Merit, per se, isn’t relevant.
Can they hit your cost is what matters - see my list above and there’s more. You had E Michigan.
C Michigan - in the boonies - will get you to aboit $20k with auto merit - not in the south.