Full College Scholarships

[punkin]

The way to get a full ride scholarship is to look WAYYYYYY down the rankings to schools where your high scoring student may not get the type of academic challenge, the type of professors ,nor the type of peer interaction she is expecting in a college. Not everyone is prepared to do that.

 

[MrsPete]

Hackcollege.com shared this article which shows how rare the full college scholarship is: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-m...ion/how-rare-are-full-ride-scholarships/4265/

We often discuss college funding on this board so someone may be interested in the article.

I'm not at all surprised at this. LOTS of students get little scholarships: $1000 here, $500 there, but having a full ride -- or even the lion's share of the cost -- is rare.

The way to get a full ride scholarship is to look WAYYYYYY down the rankings to schools where your high scoring student may not get the type of academic challenge, the type of professors ,nor the type of peer interaction she is expecting in a college. Not everyone is prepared to do that.

That's A WAY to get a full ride scholarship. One of the counselors at our high school told me that my daughter could definitely get a full-ride nursing scholarship to a certain small private school in our area -- but it's not one that we'd consider.

 

[FINFAN]

Unfortunately, even with the best education, how can one predict what the job
market is going to be like in the next 4 years? There is no guarantee of jobs upon graduation and graduating with $$$ in debt seems ridiculous. DD is a senior, great grades, tons of community service. She applied to 4 schools (schools that fell into her list of criteria for the perfect school for her). Out of the four she's heard from two (both with scholarships). Haven't heard from the others yet. Right now she's leaning towards going to the in-state public school, where she received a partial scholarship. This won't cost us much more than we are paying now for her private high school. Why this college? Because it offers a great program, she can study abroad, and she can graduate without debt - the best graduation gift we can give her. What's her stake in it? Maintaining the grade point average every year to keep the scholarship.

That is awesome that your DD has so many schools to choose from it can make such a huge difference. My DD had 6 in this country that offer a competitive 4 year BA degree in her major, Canada was next so we were looking out of state from the get go raising costs. Knowing the job market 4 years out, you're right no way to know, but knowing what type of education will help you mid -career and further? Key. As far as our costs, not our DD's fault we live where not one in state school offered her choice, Another bonus is she has taken a huge step toward her independence so we know she will be confident interviewing no matter what the locaton becasue she is used to being on her own already. It has been extemely rough on us back home to have "lost" her at 18 like that, but the way things arel ining up back here in IL, I am glad she is confident in branching out. Also she attended public high school saving us any possible private tuition during those years, worked and saved from age 16 and as soon as she knew the costs she was up against gave up her love of horseback riding to save $...so she has really shown us her value if a quality education. She also will not need a masters, so overall, she made a very good decision. Believe me, if we had a quality option that allowed no debt, it would have been the front runner, but not at the cost of the rest of her career life.

 

[bella77]

I'm a school counselor, and I would love for all of my students to get a full ride, but it's so rare! For those of you with seniors waiting to hear about scholarships, here's some hope. We had a kid last year with a 4.0- plus gpa, a 34 act, and a 2200 sat, plus he was super involved on campus. He wanted to go to a public state college, and originally got a tuition scholarship. Later, though (toward April), the school cane through with full tuition, fees, room and board, and a stipend to use for traveling abroad. Sometimes they just have to get an idea of their financial aid status before handing out the big money!

 

[csharpwv]

Ahhhhh - a thread near and dear to my heart!

OK - I am a college Admissions Counselor/Recruiter -
I'm one of those folks that you see at College Fairs - I visit countless High Schools each year - I travel THOUSANDS of miles a year - and help countless students find out if my school is right for them.

The school I work for is Fairmont State University - we are located in Fairmont, WV - about 1.5 hours south of Pittsburgh, PA.

For an OUT OF STATE student with a 3.0 GPA and around 990 (Critical Reading and Math) on the SAT we GUARANTEE each and every out of state student at LEAST $1,500 in scholarship aid. That lowers our OUT OF STATE
-Tuition
-Fees
-Room
-Board
total costs - with the scholarship mentioned above -
$16,300 (approx)

Top quality education - BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS - low student teacher ratio - cutting edge majors - nationally recognized faculty members - NCAA Division II Athletics - trend setting Art, Music , and Theater programs. Our production of RENT was featured on the front page of the Lifestyle section of the NY times.
Our National Security & Intelligence program is one of very few in the nation to have access to an open source intelligence lab right on campus!

We are affordable - we are accessible - and we reward average "B" students.

Check out our image film to find out more about us!
I graduated from FSU in 2006 - and am very proud to invite students to be part of a history that traces its roots back to 1865.
Check out the video! No - really - go do it!
http://www.youtube.com/user/FairmontStateMedia

If you know of any students that are looking for college options - have them take a look at us!

By the way - we only offer three FULL scholarships - and those are only open to WV resident students.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

My DD is in her second year at a small private 4 year college. DD was a good athlete in H.S. (Lax and Capt. Swimming and Diving). She was Vice President of her class and held down 2 jobs. She was very active in school and was a B student. SATs were good but not great. We were very fortunate that she received 5 scholarships. They were small ones some were $250 and others $1000. Tell your children to apply for everything they can. She was awarded a scholarship for a student pursuing a science degree and she is in a nursing program. No one else in nursing or science applied . Even $250 helps to cover books etc. We had calls from a few schools for Diving and she was promised money but didn't feel that participating in athletics in college was going to be good for her. She knew it would be tough. When I talked to one of the people from one of the colleges she was applying to they said they now look for well rounded students. They like to see kids who have had jobs and who are involved in their communities. Community service was a large part of the applications and some of her financial aid award was because of her involvement in the community.She ended up choosing the school she is at because of their success rate on the Nursing Boards and how small the campus is and because they were able to offer her a very nice financial aid package. We had her all registered at a state school and it ended up being cheaper for her to go to a private school because they can give out more scholarship money. Lesson learned....have your child apply, apply, apply for all scholarships they can and don't give up on the private schools until you receive your financial packet and award letter. Get them involved in their community volunteering and get people to write letters of reference stating that they gave back to the community. Good luck to all of you who have college bound children it is a wonderful yet stressful and sad experience.

 

[Sadie22]

The way to get a full ride scholarship is to look WAYYYYYY down the rankings to schools where your high scoring student may not get the type of academic challenge, the type of professors ,nor the type of peer interaction she is expecting in a college. Not everyone is prepared to do that.

That was not our experience and we live in the same state. There are great public and private schools in Maryland. U of MD College Park does not offer as much scholarship aid per student because of so many able applicants but look to the other schools in the state. A student can get a great yet affordable education, including full scholarships for well-rounded students.

 

[punkin]

That's A WAY to get a full ride scholarship. One of the counselors at our high school told me that my daughter could definitely get a full-ride nursing scholarship to a certain small private school in our area -- but it's not one that we'd consider.

Why not?

 

[csharpwv]

That was not our experience and we live in the same state. There are great public and private schools in Maryland. U of MD College Park does not offer as much scholarship aid per student because of so many able applicants but look to the other schools in the state. A student can get a great yet affordable education, including full scholarships for well-rounded students.

Sadie22 I agree with you - I recruit in the state of MD (living right next door in WV) There are some really great schools in MD - but there are some schools that really aren't good at all - and cost twice as much. There are some private schools in MD that have a MAJOR price tag that in all honesty are not even as selective or challenging as some community colleges I have visited.

The days of a big price tag or even high profile school name equating a high quality education are over.

I am currently working with a transfer student who chose one of MD's most prestigious private schools - and he is transferring to the school I work for because his classroom experience was below the challenge experienced in high school.

Our much smaller state institution is more selective by at least 15% than a much larger flagship institution in the state last year.

Cost does not equal quality, and just because a school has a 'high profile' does not mean that the quality of the education is high.

Plus - most people have no idea how nauseating it is to hear a parent say how much their child - who has had little to do with the college conversation during an admissions visit/appointment - deserves scholarship funding. Some of the best students I have recruited have proven themselves by discussing the college admission process with me, asked intelligent - informed questions, discussed their dreams, and made sure that the school was a good fit for them.

When it comes to college scholarships - kids need to be their own advocates.
It's time for parents to take the back seat - it's time for students to get in the drivers seat - and begin the long journey to their future - to their own destination.

College is time for students to take the reigns of their future.

 

[punkin]

Hmmmm, what's with my signature? Why is every "a" blanked out?

 

[jgates]

Punkin - appears to be a board problem right now. I am getting it sparatically on different pages & threads.

I seriously thought my blood sugar was crashing & my vision was screwing up!!! Then realized it was the site!

DD has 4.0 & should receive one of the 2 scholarships provided which have $2250 per year for 4 years. Hers is the highest ACT of the 3 students left with a 4.0 & that is the 'tie-breaker'. So hoping we hear the 'Yes' on that within a couple of days.

However, that unto itself can be a disadvantage. When DS received this a few years ago, many people were under the impression it was a full ride vs. the $2250 per year. Consequently he received NO other local scholarships. We had an outright argument with someone who was rude & nasty & insisted he didn't need anything else because he was getting everything handed to him.

 

[joy!ous]

While I applaud those with great athletic ability, I wish our values would change with respect to the availability of scholarships. The funding for athletes is so prevalent, while students who are solid (although perhaps not top 5%) are disregarded when it comes time to sharing the funding. Too many students who have solid grades, and score high in standardized tests and yet have no athletic prowess, are limited to pursuing community college educations. While not without their value, they do present limited options, especially with regard to international studies, and exposure to a greater variety of faculty and class subject matters.

Other countries view sports as more "intramural" and put greater emphasis on the potential academic success of the student...

 

[punkin]

honestly other than the big football and basketball programs other athletics don't really offer much in the way of scholarships either.

 

[MrsPete]

Why not?

It's a small school, only slightly bigger than our high school; thus, it isn't able to offer the same range of classes and opportunities that a larger school can offer -- I feel sure she'd feel it was too small quite quickly. It doesn't offer any athletics, and although she wouldn't be a player herself, she would like the atmosphere of going to a big football school. Like most of the private schools in our state, it isn't really on par academically with the average public university.

It's one of those private schools for kids who didn't work hard in high school . . . but whose parents have deep pockets and are willing to pay. It's not what I'm looking for for my kid.

 

[roadtripper]

There's a great program called the Posse scholars program: http://www.possefoundation.org/ that offers full tuition to some of the nation's most prestigious colleges and universities. Room and board are also covered if the student has need. It is primarily for kids from cities, but they don't have to be first generation college, or a particular ethnic or racial background. In our city, students have been accepted to Union, Bucknell, Centre and Hamilton on full tuition Posse scholarships. Posse is looking for leadership qualities and for students who will be able to help each other with the transition to college--they go with a "posse" of 10 scholars in their year, and there are 40 total at each school.
DD 16, will possibly be nominated this year. She likes a few of the eligible schools, which is great. Worth looking into if your child has leadership qualities and is interested in any of the Posse schools in your area.

 

[imsayin]

While I applaud those with great athletic ability, I wish our values would change with respect to the availability of scholarships.

I beleive there are more academic scholarships available than athletic scholarships.

Also, if you're a girl, you have a much better chance at an athletic scholarship (thanks to football & title IX).

 

[csharpwv]

While I applaud those with great athletic ability, I wish our values would change with respect to the availability of scholarships. The funding for athletes is so prevalent, while students who are solid (although perhaps not top 5%) are disregarded when it comes time to sharing the funding. Too many students who have solid grades, and score high in standardized tests and yet have no athletic prowess, are limited to pursuing community college educations. While not without their value, they do present limited options, especially with regard to international studies, and exposure to a greater variety of faculty and class subject matters.

Other countries view sports as more "intramural" and put greater emphasis on the potential academic success of the student...

PM me joy!ous!!!

I Recruit in Baltimore - and if your student has a 3.0gpa and a 990 (Reading & Math) we offer $1,500! That drops tuition, fee, Room & board cost to $16,300 per year. Plus there are some majors that have in-state tuition available to MD residents.

I have visited 90% of high school in Baltimore City - and about 80% in Baltimore county - chances are I've been to your child's school!

See my previous post about the school that I work for!

 

[dizkids]

I was interested in reading since my oldest will be a freshman in high school but page 1 is not readable to me. Ok page 2 and 3 are good : )

 

[tasha99]

I didn't get a full ride (heck, I'm going to have a huge student loan debt for 10 years) but I did get a substantial scholarship that paid 90% of my unmet need for my junior and senior years, and almost $40,000 in grad school money. I went to a state school, but it would have covered any school in the country.

I actually applied for it twice. The first year, I was turned down. The second year, I did 2 things differently--in the year between, I volunteered my butt off. I still had great grades, but I had lots of community service other than helping in my kids' schools. I also changed the shift of my essay on writing a failed novel from "I love to write and hopefully will get published someday" to "life lessons about commitment and time management learned writing a novel." I went to an interviewing workshop to practice, because I had no experience with panel interviews.

I guess my advice to people applying for scholarships is to be persistent and to realize that good grades aren't what set you apart for every scholarship. I felt like what they were really looking for was someone who would continue the mission of this particular scholarship, which is giving back and community building.

 

[IDoDis]

My state gives free college tuition to state schools for four years with the state lottery scholarship. Any high school state resident student with at least a 2.5 GPA can get the money, given they start college the first normal semester after graduation (basically in the fall semester).

The first semester is not covered, but a bridge scholarship to cover part of the tuition is available. Once the student is able to prove he/she can maintain at least a 2.5 gpa that first semester, the lottery scholarship kicks in after that for 8 semesters. Books and fees are not covered though. Also, if the student's GPA falls below the 2.5 or they don't attend full-time even for one semester, they lose any remaining scholarship money.

My DD wants to be a doctor. We have one of the top med schools here (UNM), so she'll most likely stay around and try to get in here. There's also a program for high school students to get a full ride into an undergrad med school program. Dorms, books, fees, and tuition are all covered. Students have to agree to practice medicine in the state in a rural area for at least 3 years after graduating. That program is pretty competitive to get into, but at least I know the undergrad tuition will be covered with the lottery scholarship either way.