<p>Those GT scholarships are very difficult to get. My son with nearly perfect SAT scores did not get one, and GT went right off the table for him. He did not even get selected for the process, so you did quite well being considered. As for outside awards, it’s very difficult to get a sizeable one, and even if you do, they are rarely for 4 years. I commend you for trying and you gotta play to win, but at this point it’s pretty much game over. I hope you get a paid for spot at Bama or UF, both excellent national schools. Truly, you’ll do well at either, or really any school as it seems like you are quite the student. It’s just that those awards are truly a lottery with very few getting the big prizes. </p>
<p>IF you cannot get your awards back from either school, consider taking a gap year, and giving it a nother go next year, using what you have learned in the process this year. Once you go to college, community or otherwise, you lose that freshman standing and getting ANY money becomes all the more difficult especially pure merit. So though you’ll save money commuting the first two years at a CC, you’ll likely have to pay full freight for the next two though if it’s your state U, it might be affordable. But those awards at UF and Bama look mighty good to me.</p>