<p>Wow! Thank you for the plethora of scholarship information. I’m going to start looking into these schools and some in state schools that might offer substantial merit aid in order to see if any of them fit my criteria.</p>
<p>Would it be easier to defer need based financial aid since it is not technically a scholarship? What are the differences between merit aid and need based financial aid other than that the latter is given based on income?</p>
<p>I also wanted to know, how important is the rigor of my classes when it comes to college admissions? Basically, is doing the IB program worth it when it comes to college admissions? My high school’s IB program is ranked number 1 in the state which is the only reason why I travel around 1.5 hrs walking and taking public transportation in order to get to school. I don’t want to drop out of the program now but if it is not worth it, I’m not sure if I see the point of killing myself one more year in IB instead of doing AP classes which in my school are definitely easier than IB due to the rigor of the IB program at our school.</p>