<p>My kids were all required to apply to at least one school that offered a guaranteed full-ride and/or full-tuition for their stats. These schools were considered their financial safeties. They didn’t choose them lightly – they knew all along that they may well have to attend one of them, if none of the others panned out, and they took just as much time and effort evaluating their full-ride/tuition school as they did all the other schools on their lists. That way, no matter what happened with all the other schools during the admissions process, they each knew they had a school they could attend, like, and afford.</p>
<p>To me, it seems like a waste of “resources” to bypass these full-ride schools during the application process. The kids with the stats to earn such large awards are fortunate to have those opportunities. Why throw that opportunity away?</p>
<p>Your daughter would be wise to research her full-ride school very carefully and choose one that she really can see herself attending, even if such attendance would be considered a compromise. She doesn’t have to CHOOSE a school right now – she only has to choose where to apply. After all the financial aid packages roll in, she can choose the school.</p>
<p>In the end, she may be very happy that she included that full-ride financial safety on her list. Or, she may never need it. But why throw that opportunity away this early in the game?</p>