I know this
And as I (and several others) have said - some colleges won’t offer merit to test optional applicants. Read that sentence again, please. Don’t assume that you’ll be offered merit without a test score. You’ll have research each college you plan to apply to, and see what their policies are. Have you done that for William & Mary, Wake & UVA?
Additionally, but I’m sure you already know this, some colleges (quite a few, actually) don’t award automatic merit - so it’s not as easy-peasy as checking a box on the Common App. You’ll have to submit a separate scholarship application, with additional essay and in some cases, additional recommendations from teachers & counselors - so quite a bit of additional work for you.
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I appreciate everyone replying. But PLEASE do NOT underestimate my knowledge about this!!! I understand essays take a long time to write. I’m willing to write 20 for scholarships. I DO NOT CARE! A chance at money is a chance at money. I will take that chance if I think I got one. I already finished my app essay, so I’m ready to do the scholarship ones. Mainly my issue is safeties right now, I’m gonna take my chances with the matches when it comes to scholarships.
I’m just seeing a lot of repetitive info, and I know a lot about the college process. I don’t know much about the financial part, but I’m trying to learn from this thread. I just want recommendations on some colleges. That’s all. I appreciate the ones I’ve gotten, but if there’s any more recommendations, I’d love to hear them.
The thing is most of the ones I’m trying for scholarships are test optional. As i said. WVU was a POSSIBLE reach. Never said I was gonna apply there
ONCE AGAIN, I never assumed I was getting merit!!! Where are you people getting that from???
I do NOT want this unsolicited advice that I’m fully aware of, and do NOT need. I just wanted some safety recommendations. Please stop scolding my match and reach choices 9that I may not even apply to). I will not tolerate the disrespect.
I AM FINE WITH TAKING EXTRA STEPS!!! MONEY IS MONEY AND I KNOW MY POTENTIAL. I was not expecting anything from UVA. As i have said for the 50th time
I said a CHANCE at merit. And I was not referring to UVA when mentioning that
Sorry - but some of the schools on your match list aren’t realistic for your stats (and your reach list is a very high reach list with pretty much ZERO merit possibilities). You could always retake your SAT or try the ACT. It’s fine to have one or two schools for a “shot in the dark”, but you need more schools that can FOR SURE get into and are affordable for you. You say you know a lot about what it takes to get hefty merit scholarships, but your posts don’t seem to indicate that.
People on here are giving you great insight, but you don’t seem to want to hear it. If that’s the case, then close the thread and do it your way.
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sigh test optional for admissions does not necessarily mean test optional for scholarship consideration.
Never mind - I’m out.
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Listen to @Mwfan1921! I recently counted, and I wrote 39 essays between June of junior year and December of senior year for college stuff! I’m a weirdo who absolutely loves writing, and it was a lot for me. I got super burned out and was an absolute mess for a lot of senior year. In addition, supplemental essays for colleges is very different from scholarship essays, and schools are all different from each other, so it’s difficult to re-use essays (in my case, I only reused one short essay).
I love the rec of App state! Also saw Truman state higher up, another good one. Maybe look at Guilford? I’d never heard of it, but it shows up on the high merit list that was posted earlier and is in your geographic range.
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Even if you are admitted to W&M (which is going to be difficult for you even if you are allowed to apply test optional) you are not likely to get any merit money from them – certainly not in the amount that you need.
Have you discussed your admissions strategy with your high school guidance counselor? If so, what does s/he say?
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OP, you are heading for the rocks, and the posters here are trying to help you. You say you know everything you need to know, but, bluntly, you do not.
It seems to me your big stumbling block is paying for college. But I don’t see you focusing on exactly how you will solve the problem. Sure, you are applying for scholarships, but tens of thousands of other kids are too, and I think there’s a high likelihood of you coming up short.
You need a Plan B – a plan for what happens when you don’t get enough scholarship money. If you never need your Plan B, great! But if you do, you will be glad you have it.
I often predict success for high schoolers based on their posts – who knows if I’m right, or not?! But for you I predict more trouble than you would otherwise have with your attitude. What you put out in life is what you get reflected back. I’m not saying this to be a jerk. I say this to help you avoid problems I see coming up.
And with that, unless there are specific questions, I’m out
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Nah, I know I can get in if I write a killer essay, and apply test-optional.
No, peopel are being disrespectful, and badgering me about advice I didn’t ask. Cough* about my potential to get into my matches and Reaches (which I never said I was getting into) cough* All I asked for was to recommend safeties 
Good because you legit just said two seconds ago that it was about “admission” BYE
I can’t even see my counselor. My family is not rich. I know we will get some aid. I do have a longer list of schools I didn’t post here. I’m sick of people ripping on my stats. I don’t have to be a national merit finalist, the national spelling bee winner, etc to get into a good college. Which I feel like is what people are trying to tell me here. I know I can get into some good schools with my stats. I know people with a WORSE record than me who got into Pitt, W&M, etc. I’m not taking it. My MATCHES & REACHES are not supposed to be easy. I could possibly get a good deal out of them. Now the safeties that I REQUESTED having help with, I do need lots of money from. So that’s a different story. I never asked for unsolicited advice about scholarships from my local schools, applying to scholarships being a tedious task (implying that it’d be too hard for me), and saying bad things about my matches. THIS is why I’m upset.
All I wanted advice on was safeties. I just want to hear more suggestions to feel things out. I don’t want to go where I’m not happy.
The issue is not just about getting into good schools, safety or other, but being able to afford them – otherwise, what’s the point of getting admitted if you are unable to attend?
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My problem rn is that I feel like people are giving me unsolicited “advice” on topics I didn’t ask for. Like how applying for scholarships is tedious (as in it’d be too hard for me), that I’m not “good enough”, and more. I know kids with worse stats than me who got into these schools. You also have to realize my background is WAY different than other kids. I did not have support from my parents growing up, I’m first-gen, I come from a rural school, I didn’t have opportunities the other kids had, and more. Which colleges do take into consideration. So, I don’t appreciate people ripping on me. Yes, I understand these schools are good and not “easy” to get into for anyone, but why not try?
But that was about my reaches/matches, I just wanted some advice on my SAFETIES. Everyone was telling me how I can’t afford my matches?? I didn’t really expect to be able to afford some of the schools on my list, so I’m currently looking for some match schools where I may be okay financially. But safeties is my main predicament, which is why I came here, not to have my matches bashed.
Everyone else was being a jerk first, so I’m not gonna tolerate being abused any longer. Wish I could get some mental help I can’t
But they aren’t giving me that financial advice on SAFETIES! I didn’t expect to afford some of my matches or reach schools. I’m applying to them for their programs and possible opportunities. That’s why. Everyone is mentioning how my reaches and matches are “too much” this thread was about safeties. Then I asked if anyone has some match recommendations because I’m still looking for some of those, and then everything broke loose
I think what folks are trying to convey is that you can’t go to matches or reaches, unless you have a large college fund or will be eligible for a lot of FA, you can’t afford them. For the colleges you should be applying to, the essay isn’t going to make any real difference with merit, which is usually based on GPA and test scores. You will be competing against students with 4.0 GPA’s with a lot of rigor (you don’t have a lot of honors classes) and 1500+ SAT’s. So many are chasing merit these days, due to the high cost of tuition and how many middle class families aren’t eligible for FA. My kids couldn’t get costs down under $30,000 in state, OOS, or private. They chose to go away, they have loans to supplement. They all chose majors that have good employment prospects partially due to having loans. Most worked very hard innHS, did everything right, but due to us not being able to drop $300,000 on each of them, they aren’t at the most competitive schools, and that’s okay.
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What are your safeties and which ones look like they will be affordable per the net price calculators? You now have info about exactly how much you can take out in loans during the undergrad years and how to figure out if a safety is affordable. A safety isn’t a safety if you need to win a competitive scholarship to make it affordable.
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