Hi! I’m doing college research and planning to apply to selective colleges, Here are some fast facts:
-rising junior (class of 2020)
-live in Tennessee
-4.0 UW GPA
-101.2 cumulative percent average
-34 on ACT
-1500 SAT
-1480 PSAT
-President of HOSA and enrolled in Heath science career track (more advanced health science classes)
-President of newspaper club
-founded Model UN Club, current President
-treasurer of Spanish NHS
- National Honor Society
-Lead United (teen volunteer program)
-Youth Leadership Clarksville (selective program for leaders in my city)
-Mayors Youth Council (selective program for leaders in my city)
-Mayors Emerging Leaders (selective program for leaders in my city)
-Varsity and Club Volleyball
-Yearbook executive staff member
-Student Council representative
-Key Club
-Multicultural Club
-5th place at a Math Team competition
-TSSAA Distinguished Athlete
-recognized Athlete Award of Merit
-I am a founding board member and current secretary of St. Vincent de Paul, a 501k nonprofit through my church
- volunteered during summers at our local hospital
-i was an intern with my school system to increase STEM programs among elementary school kids
-treasurer of Science Olympiad
-competed member of Speech and Debate
-I was the lead student on a youth leadership initiative at my high school
-ran a no texting and driving campaign with Vanderbilt and HOSA
-I’ll have taken 11 APs by the time I graduate (World History, US, Human Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Spanish, Calculus, Language and Comp, Lit, Enviromental, Physics)
-700+ volunteer hours
I still have a year until I have to apply for colleges, and I know I can improve my test scores, but what else can I do to boost my college resume?
I’m hoping to go to a selective college (I’ve toured William and Mary, Georgia Tech, UVA, Notre Dame, UNC, Vanderbilt, Boston College, Georgetown, and Duke and I love all of them.) what are my chances of getting an out of state scholarship to one of these schools? I can pay up to $20,000 a year, including room and board, but no more.
Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Boston College, Georgetown, and Duke are private, and your financial aid will be the same regardless of your state of residence. Run the Net Price Calculators for these schools (Google the school name and “net price calculator”) to see what their algorithm shows your Expected Family Contribution would be. If it’s $20K or under, then you’re in good shape to rely on need-based aid (applying to these schools as well as less-competitive match and safety schools that also offer good need-based aid); if not, then you’ll need to consider other strategies.
At W&M, GT, UVA, and UNC, unfortunately it is nearly impossible to get to an out-of-pocket under $20K as an OOS student unless you can win one of a tiny number of ultra-competitive scholarships.
You have excellent stats so far and should have many good options, but making finances the first filter will avoid a lot of potential disappointment. Thus far you are on track to being a competitive applicant for all of the schools you listed; but these are also schools that turn away more competitive applicants than they accept. It’s important to identify some less-rarified schools you could be happy with as well.
What are you hoping to study? Are you hoping to play volleyball in college? If you would be recruitable for Division 3 but not for D1, then there are many excellent D3 schools with generous financial aid. You have only been looking at D1 schools so far.
Run those NPC’s and update us on whether the aid you qualify for matches your budget. That’s the critical first step.
check out the colleges on these lists-
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2006094-2017-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-p1.html
http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2016/04/04/best-major-universities-for-national-merit-scholarships-part-two/
note that some of the information on the last list is erroneous, so you’ll have to check individual colleges websites - for instance- USC offers ONLY 1/2 tuition scholarships to NMF’s who have been accepted- NOT full tuition scholarships.