Full ride from merit - Is it a thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can afford college and expect a full ride?

There’s a big gap between not qualifying for need-based aid and being able to afford a 90K a year private university.

Right!

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is. I know of only ones from public universities, and they are very hard to get...

UVA, VCU, UMD, UNC

[Anonymous]

Lots of schools have some version of a named scholarship that offers full tuition to a limited number of top students. Google each school + full tuition scholarship to see what you can find and how to apply. If you don't find anything, you could always ask admissions what is available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can afford college and expect a full ride?

There’s a big gap between not qualifying for need-based aid and being able to afford a 90K a year private university.

Clearly the school things they can afford it. Or, your kid goes to a state or cheaper school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's possible to get a full ride for merit, but not at a 90k/year private school. I went to school for free in the early 2000s at a giant state flagship because they had a program designed to lure in National Merit Scholars. This was tuition, room, board, plus ~$3k/semester in spending money. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the University of Alabama is offering the same or a similar deal now. That's the kind of school where you can get a full, need-blind merit scholarship, not Yale.

+1

[Anonymous]

If you want (or need) substantial merit aid, you’re going to have to go down a tier or two (or three) in the prestige/selectivity that is the max your student could be admitted to. The top schools don’t need to sweeten the pot even for very strong candidates, they can take their pick. But if your kid would be competitive for a T10 admit, a T50 school that really wants them may toss in merit aid to try to bring in a candidate they know can get into a more selective school. Etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can afford college and expect a full ride?

There’s a big gap between not qualifying for need-based aid and being able to afford a 90K a year private university.

Right!

Someone who identifies as UMC has a very large income and choose not to save. OP is not asking for some help, they are asking for a full ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can afford college and expect a full ride?

There’s a big gap between not qualifying for need-based aid and being able to afford a 90K a year private university.

Clearly the school things they can afford it. Or, your kid goes to a state or cheaper school.

Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to understand the process better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's possible to get a full ride for merit, but not at a 90k/year private school. I went to school for free in the early 2000s at a giant state flagship because they had a program designed to lure in National Merit Scholars. This was tuition, room, board, plus ~$3k/semester in spending money. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the University of Alabama is offering the same or a similar deal now. That's the kind of school where you can get a full, need-blind merit scholarship, not Yale.

I don't think that's quite true. There are expensive private schools (not Yale, but a few notches down) that do offer full tuition or even more than full tuition merit scholarships.

For example, here's one for U of Rochester: https://admissions.rochester.edu/handler-scholarship/.

Similarly, here's the full tuition scholarship for USC:https://dornsifeadmission.usc.edu/financial-aid

Just do a search and see what you find.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can afford college and expect a full ride?

There’s a big gap between not qualifying for need-based aid and being able to afford a 90K a year private university.

Right!

Someone who identifies as UMC has a very large income and choose not to save. OP is not asking for some help, they are asking for a full ride.

No mention of savings was in the original post. It looks like there are some schools that do offer more merit to students with good stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's possible to get a full ride for merit, but not at a 90k/year private school. I went to school for free in the early 2000s at a giant state flagship because they had a program designed to lure in National Merit Scholars. This was tuition, room, board, plus ~$3k/semester in spending money. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the University of Alabama is offering the same or a similar deal now. That's the kind of school where you can get a full, need-blind merit scholarship, not Yale.

I don't think that's quite true. There are expensive private schools (not Yale, but a few notches down) that do offer full tuition or even more than full tuition merit scholarships.

For example, here's one for U of Rochester: https://admissions.rochester.edu/handler-scholarship/.

Similarly, here's the full tuition scholarship for USC:https://dornsifeadmission.usc.edu/financial-aid

Just do a search and see what you find.

The Rochester link says that significant demonstrated financial need is a prerequisite for the scholarship. But sure, many schools have a limited number of "full rides" available for a handful a kids who apply for that school's named scholarship separately, but OP is talking about getting a "full ride" based on just the academics entered into the NPC. That's not the same as winning a separate prestigious award.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 4.0 uw 36 ACT 5s on all AP exams this year got accepted to an Ivy, top SLAC, 2 T10s and 3 T20s...

not a SINGLE one offered any merit aid (no matter what their website said). We don't qualify for any need-based FA.

He did write emails to a few schools after acceptance, basically said nicely: your are SOL.

Full-freight $90k/year.

I find you have to go lower, lower---he was offered $25k year for 5 years from a T60 school. And he got into all top in-state schools.

Applied to what major? What were some of the most difficult APs taken?

[Anonymous]

WVU will give full merit scholarship for high stats kids.

[Anonymous]

UMiami, Tulane

[Anonymous]

DC got the equivalent of VA in state tuition in merit at U South Carolina for Business. Not a full ride, but enough to put it on par with some other choices. Also is a Capstone Scholar.