Are there any colleges/universities that will accept you on MERIT ONLY?

[katilac]

 

2)  that's not "merit" aid which is competitive (grades, SAT, awards, etc) by my definition - are you looking for is financial aid based on family need?  or maybe "diversity aid" ?

 

 

I'm not the OP, but I do think she is referring to merit aid that you automatically get if you have a certain GPA, certain ACT score, and apply by a certain date. So it is based on merit (test scores and grades) but is not competitive (anyone who qualifies can get it, not just the top 5 or top 20). 

 

At UA, for example, if an entering OOS freshman has a 30 on the ACT and a 3.5 GPA, they automatically get merit aid of 2/3 tuition. They may also apply for additional scholarships that are competitive. 

[idnib]

I haven't read all the posts but the causes of the University of California have an admission by exam option. The scores have to be pretty high, around 700 or higher on each exam, on average, and there are minimum scores for each exam so you can't completely blow one and then make up for it on another.

[quark]

Many, many great ideas here and a lot of information for me to process. With everything I have read, and I agree with good portion of what was said, how do I find something that would be of interest for a child who loves anything chemistry and anything math? Where we live the only thing that is remotely engineering or science related is a Robotics team but he is not interested in that.  There is a summer biochemical internship with local university but it is only for seniors in high school and we are not up to that grade yet. There is a talk of the county starting a science club but it looks to be more environmental science- study local rivers, streams, habitats and pollution effects on them- he is not very interested in that either. There is very little of chemistry involved here based on what the organizer told me.

 

He want to see how different components of material would work under different conditions, how by changing molecular composition would either improve that material of make it worse.

How different chemicals and compounds present themselves under different conditions and what can be done to utilize their particular properties to improve items we already utilize.

How different parts of medications interact with each other and with the human body and how changing the composition can improve medication effect and lessen side effects on the body. 

 

These are thing that this dc loves and I am at a loss where  to look for even remotely related.

I would love to hear ideas if anyone has any.

 

Thank you.

 

I haven't read all the responses yet. This is based on what we have done or what I had earmarked for future use:

 

Chemistry:

- Searched Amazon repeatedly for months on popular science books and bought/ checked them out from library

- Accummulated lab supplies on sale and set up garage lab

- Organized a small group of similarly chemistry-loving kids (just one more child might be enough) and searched on craiglist for a tutor who was willing to work with them on an affordable, flexi-time basis -- we did discussions, labs that we could manage at home and watched chemistry videos on YouTube and discussed those too

 

Other ideas...

- Contact local university's chemistry department (at a time when they are not busy) and ask how to contact grad students who might be willing to mentor your DS (some cold calling skills needed but not hard to do)...might not be easy to find because people don't want to take risks with mishandled chemicals but be clear that you are willing to bear responsibility and that any lab work would be based in your home (alternatively, look up potential tutors/ mentors on craiglist or wyzant) -- when I first did this, DS was 7 and already memorizing chemistry books and drug side effects/ diseases etc from his interest...no one wanted to take him or me seriously but it should be easier to achieve with an older child.

- Environmental studies do involve chemistry and don't believe anyone who says they don't. Look up green chemistry.

- Cold call local pharma labs and ask if someone would be willing to spend an hour answering DS's questions...or ask your pediatrician if s/he would be willing to spend some time explaining biochemistry to your DS

- See if local pharmaceutical company/ local university's chemistry department is willing to host a small field trip for your homeschool group...then take note of contacts you've made with these establishments and ask if your DS can send follow up questions etc.

- Start a monthly presentation day for your local group and have your child present his questions/ research etc to the group (and welcome presentations on other topics from other children)

 

Very similar for math, only that you might want to research math contests and camps, look for a local math circle, local math research opportunities etc.

 

Some university professors are open to younger students coming into their lectures and sitting in (or auditing), as long as the student is not disruptive. Ask to meet with the professor at his/ her convenience prior to doing this and see what happens from there. (We did this once but at that time, DS couldn't attend lectures because we lived too far away from the university. So if distance is an issue, ask if your DS can email the prof once a month or something like that with questions instead. It is even more persuasive if your DS can do the cold calling/ emailing to the prof.).

 

ETA, for math:

Your DS can also get involved in an online community like

AoPS (they have a Chemistry sub forum too I think?)

Brilliant.org

Project Euler (if he likes coding too, or team up with a friend who likes coding)

 

ETA2: none of what we did was specifically for college applications...it was to feed a specific need for challenge. My DS will not look well rounded in an application, at least I don't think so. My goal is to keep him thriving with the appropriate level of academic challenge based on what he loves to do...and then introduce other skills, ECs and subjects as fun extras and hope to goodness that something sticks and he leads a good life (like you, OP, we are also some time away from applications so I am not stressed about such things yet :laugh: ).

 

ETA3: If you are looking for more resources, Proto mag (free digital subscription) and HHMI (free lectures on DVD and free shipping) might be good sources.