FAMU scholarship is competitve
It would appear that my only option, then, is PVAMU. I suspect their scholarship is a bit less competitive than Tuskegee’s. If I don’t get the scholarship, I’ll just hope one of the prestigious meet-full-need-without-loans colleges on my list accepts me.
I think you should still apply to a variety of options. There are no guarantees and casting a wide net is a prudent plan.
@momofsenior1
Adding a safety or two is as wide as it’s going to get. There no point in me applying to “matches” where I have a good chance of getting in, but will be unable to afford. There is always risk, and I am prepared to run that risk.
So my list should be final as of now. 17 reaches (some high reach, some low reach/high match), and a safety (PVAMU).
PVAMU like Tuskegee is not a safety for anyone looking for a full ride scholarship for the same reasons Tuskegee is not a safety
You should look for schools that are going to be an afoordable option tgat doesn’t require your non-custodial parent info or waiver
What about Utah Eccles?
My point is that students and people who are recommending the schools take time and read the terms of the scholarship at particular schools. There are now fewer schools offering automatic scholarships to any/everybody who meets the requirements and submits an application.
Any school that is only offering a limited number of big scholarshios or full rides is going to be competitive. Even then nothing will trump the institutional mission: like state universities mission to be an an affordable option for their taxpayer base,
For HBCUs and Hispanic serving institutions the mission is rrying to be viable options for black and Hispanic students.
The fact is that there are URMs and there are URMs. Every black person not an URM at selective universites. There was an article in Harvard Magazine on Roots and Race that most black students are first generation children of recent immigrants and in fact there are very few blacks at selective schools that have multi-generational roots in the US (especially in the rural south, the delta, etc.). This group of students were not part of the group of minority students who were not provided equal access to education that is the subject of Amicus briefs on affirmative action.
Even though Op is Hispanic a Hispanic student with the same profile with multi-generational roots in the US of being coming from Puerto Rico (which still has not been rebuilt) will knock him/her out of the box. While the pool may not be wide, the talent in the pool is deep.
“What about Utah Eccles?”
That would likely require an ACT of 35+. I don’t think OP’s stats (even with hoped for improvement) would necessarily get full OOS tuition merit at Utah, let alone be competitive for the full ride.
OP, what @sybbie719 has said about HBCUs is true, but you can bring the odds in your favor by applying as early as possible to the schools that your stats qualify for full-rides. In my particular area of the US, I have seen 5 URMs in the last 3 years that have reached the score (1480+) that you are trying to obtain on the SAT with similar GPAs and all 5 got into multiple top 15 universities so you have a shot with a better score. My daughter received a competitive full ride scholarship at a HBCU (her scholarship cohort averages (3.8 GPA, 1371 SAT, 30 ACT) so don’t be afraid of the competition because you stack up. Keep putting in work and you can reach your goal of going to your choice school.
Check out Oakland university. Need a1450 to get an automatic full tuition scholarship. Auto companies offer internships regularly to the local universities.
If the full rides in question are competitive, then the OP has no possible safeties at all, except for an extreme financial stretch at UAH (full tuition scholarship + Pell + direct loan + work earnings). Not a good situation when everything else is a reach.
The Oakland University scholarship for a higher test score appears to full tuition, so it would be a similar financial stretch.
@ucbalumnus
Exactly. Most people think I’m being picky when I say I can’t find safeties. As you can see, that isn’t the case; there really aren’t any true safeties for me.
No matter. I will still try my luck with PVAMU.
@ucbalumnus FAMU scholarship offerings this past year where definitely competitive. My daughter applied in October (with 3.95 UW GPA and 1470 SAT) and was offered 30K in loans from FAMU as they focused on Florida residents, National Merit recipients, and young men (FAMU was much more interested in my 10th grade son when we visited). If she would have waited until early May, a scholarship offer may have been coming but my daughter had already made a final decision. We also visited Tuskegee and they told us that qualified students who applied early tended to get the scholarship offers until the money ran out.
@ChangeTheGame
When would “early” be, exactly?
@testprepishard “Early” for Tuskegee was by the end of their early action period which was November 30th. My suggestion would be to look up the important dates for all of the schools you are thinking about applying to. My daughter completed all non binding EA schools applications before the deadlines of each school and just worked to complete her few rolling admissions schools as soon as she possibly could to give her the best chances for institutional aid.
You will do just fine with a full tuition scholarship. My brother in law went to Wayne state university on a full tuition scholarship and was able to rent his own apartment and be debt free without any help. He worked during the summer and part time during winter. Got an internship at Ford his senior year, which led to a direct hiring afterwards. Went on to work for dell, southwest, amazon and others all with a computer science degree from a school nobody outside of Detroit would know exists. Oakland university is located in a wealthy suburb that is currently experiencing a labor shortage. You have the big 3 automotive companies that hire engineers from Oakland. Great paying jobs with a great cost of living. Oakland also has housing scholarships that you can stack on top of the full tuition scholarship and even competitive scholarships for engineering students. This is a great safety school.
@ChangeTheGame
Is Tuskegee’s EA binding?
@testprepishard Nope. Tuskegee’s EA is not binding… I haven’t seen any HBCUs with binding EA
@Artful4art
Erm, no, a full tuition scholarship won’t “be enough.” The housing grants are for Michigan residents only. How would I come up with the rest of the money?
If you look around on the site you will see several other scholarship options for international students for housing and scholarships for engineering students. You will easily find a job off campus during the summer months. This isn’t a first choice option for you but a can make it happen option. You will succeed if you’re determined to succeed. This school also has a free application so it costs you nothing to put it on the list.