High SAT/downward trend GPA - Where should I apply?

whokilledkenny
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 03:29:41 +0000

My stats are as follows:

SAT I…haven’t taken yet but I’ve scored between 2290 and 2340 on practice tests
SAT II…I will probably take literature and US history. I expect over 700 on both.
UW GPA (out of 4.0)…currently 2.94, will be most likely be a 3.1 by the time I apply
RANK…currently 136/434
AP…Euro (4), Lit (predicted 5), us history (predicted 4)
SENIOR YEAR COURSE LOAD…most rigorous available (all AP/honors)
MAJOR AWARDS (USAMO, Intel etc.)…none
EXTRACURRICULAR’S…playing piano since I was 5, Student Council Association 11th &12th grade, year round swim team 9th grade, varsity letter on hs swim team all 4 years
JOB/WORK EXPERIENCE…currently applying for part time jobs
COMMUNITY SERVICE…none
ESSAYS…I’m a fairly good writer and I’m counting on my essays to overshadow my GPA
TEACHER/COUNSELOR REC…they’ll probably be very generic
ADDITIONAL REC…I’m probably going to ask my piano teacher to send in an additional rec. She’s been my teacher most of my life and I know she’ll write an amazing recommendation.
STATE…southeastern VA
SCHOOL TYPE…average public school ~2000 kids
ETHNICITY…black
GENDER…female
INCOME BRACKET…too much money to qualify for financial aid and not enough money to afford the sticker price

The reason why I’m starting a new thread on this topic instead of referring to the countless other Low GPA/High SAT threads is because, unlike the other threads, my GPA is more of a downward trend and isn’t caused by any extraneous situation. It’s caused by pure laziness and lack of motivation that started around second semester of sophomore year.

9th grade UW GPA: 3.41
10th Grade UW GPA: 2.73
Predicted 11th Grade UW GPA: 2.56
Current Cumulative GPA: 2.94 (UW)/3.32 (W)

My problem is that my GPA puts me out of reach of most scholarships, but my parents still expect me to get a full tuition/full ride scholarship because they cannot afford the sticker price at most schools. Also, my PSAT scores did not grant me NMF so NMSF scholarships are out of the picture. So my question to you is: Which schools provide generous merit aid for people with stats like mine?

I’m looking for a school that is somewhat difficult to get into (a.k.a. I don’t want to attend a college that is used by most students as a safety school) and has a traditional and large greek system (big sorority houses, greek row, etc.). I would prefer that the school be in or near a major city and not be in Virginia but neither of those criteria are make-or-break factors for me.

So far I’ve looked at the Morrill and Eminence scholarships at OSU, Forty Acres scholarship at UT Austin, the Presidential scholarship at USC, the Chancellor scholarship at UW-Madison, the Regents tuition waiver and Classic scholarship at UGA, the Gator Nation scholarship at UF, the Robertson scholarship at UNC, the Presidential scholarship at UMN, the Banneker/Key at UMD, the Deans scholarship at Lehigh, and the Johnson scholarship at W&L.

To be honest, all of these colleges are high reaches but they all really fit what I’m looking for in a school.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and any responses are greatly appreciated!