Shakuan
Why are merit-based scholarships offered by colleges demanding very high test scores and GPA's?
In the modern age, having a 2400 on the SAT (at least the previous version) and a 4.0+ GPA seems to be the only way to be fully-funded by universities, and for some that doesn't even cut it. Doesn't such standards discourage students from applying to those institutions? I understand that colleges want the "cream of the crop," but I don't agree with the way they are approaching that goal. Can anyone provide a counterargument or another perspective on the issue? Thanks! #college #scholarships #colleges #college-selection #scholarship
2 answers
Frank Lemmon
Frank’s Answer
Great question! The scholarship scene may often seem setup to benefit only the "best of the best", so I understand how you feel.
There are other scholarships available with less stringent requirements, which may provide you with tremendous financial benefit, too. For example, schools that participate in the Western Undergraduate Exchange program are worth looking at. What WUE does for the participating Universities is to eliminate (or greatly reduce) the "out of state" penalty for "other home state" students that qualify for it. So, if you're considering a school in the Western U.S., but outside your home state, check out if WUE is available for that school. If accepted for WUE, the general requirement is that you'll have to maintain a "B" average, but if you do that, you'll save significant cost in the process.
My company offers a free scholarship search service which may be helpful to you, too. The cost is underwritten by providers who are looking for students to match their scholarship requirements. Check out www.chegg.com, top toolbar, "Colleges", and select "Scholarships" to get started. No cost to sign up for the site to just look around; it's useful to fill in your "Profile" info to help the scholarship search process.
Thank you for this information! I never knew about the WUE, but I'll definitely share this with other students looking at colleges!
Shakuan
Kelsey Peterson
Kelsey’s Answer
There are actually quite a lot of different scholarships and financial aid available. Speaking from experience, I was more of a B student than a straight A student, but still qualified for some academic scholarships. I combined those with outside scholarships - from Scouts, the Hospital I volunteered at, community scholarships, and family income based financial aid. Yes, I still had to take out student loans, but my school helped me apply for government subsidized loans with a better interest rate than private loans.
You don't need to worry about school being fully funded just by academic scholarships, and shouldn't feel like you can't apply if you don't have a 4.0 GPA. Colleges also look at the type of courses you take (honors, AP, etc), and your extra curricular activities.