New to Mizzou

Financial Lemon-Aid

I am attending Mizzou for a approximately $1,100 per semester. Yes, you read that correctly, $1,100 for tuition, room/board, extra fees, and books, and I want you to pay just as little bank as I am.

You don’t have to have a 36 on your ACT or a 5.0 GPA because believe me, I sure didn’t have those (if you do though, great!) I have 10 scholarships, grants, and other forms of financial aid that bring down my cost at Mizzou. Here are my tips on how to start sipping on financial lemon-aid to get hefty Mizzou costs down real low.

Mizzou’s Automatic Scholarships

So Mizzou offers these awesome scholarships that you get as soon as you are accepted. They are automatic scholarships that are put towards your bill ASAP. Automatic Scholarships range from $1,000 to $15,000 and are based on things like your ethnicity, ACT, grades, major, and residency. These are the easiest scholarships to get because you don’t have to do a single thing!

MU Annual Scholarship Application

Make time during your busy senior year to fill this application out because I received three scholarships from this one! Answer simple short answer/essay type questions like why you want to go to college and why you need financial aid.

There is even a section you fill out on scholarships associated with your major. Those scholarships are easier to get because not every student at Mizzou has your major. Even if you are in a major with lots of people, like journalism, agriculture, psychology, or business, you still have a good chance at getting those scholarships. Just spend a little time every week updating and filling out the application. It’ll be done before the December 1st deadline before you know it.

FAFSA

It’s crazy to me how many people don’t fill out the FAFSA. I swear to god that my parents told me not to fill it out because they thought I wouldn’t qualify for any financial aid. Their jaws dropped when I was offered $1,500 a year in grants. 

Moral of the story:  fill out the FAFSA no matter what! What is the worst thing that will happen? You won’t get any money, but the best thing that could happen is a full ride. You just don’t know what you’ll be offered, so do it!

It takes less than an hour to fill out, so you might as well. Even the busiest person has that much time at some point.

Scholarships All About You

If you are a human being, there are hundreds of scholarships that describe you in some way. Sit down and think about ways you are unique, or ask other people who know you fairly well what makes you different. Some questions you should ask yourself include:

Have I decided on a major?

If so, there are organizations and people who want to give you money so that you can get a degree in that major. 

Am I a person of color?

Ignorant people often assume black people get free college. While this is far from the truth, there are scholarships that you are eligible for that can help you pay for your university costs.

Do I have any talents or interests?

Having hobbies from playing a sport to being on the speech & debate team can get you scholarships, especially if you continue your passions in college. I got several scholarships for singing, and I wasn’t the best singer in my high school choir. Turn your after school activities into money.

Do I have any bad circumstances in my life?

Things like illness, death, and trauma are awful. Take the negative experiences that life has unfairly thrown at you and try to make the best of them by applying for scholarships you’d be ineligible for otherwise. There are organizations that want to help you get money to go to college because of your hardships.

Are there scholarships offered by my high school?

Weirdly enough, you can only apply for certain scholarships if you have attended certain high schools. Take advantage of that! If you were home-schooled, no problem, there are scholarships specifically for home-schooled kids.

Final Notes

Stay positive! Don’t assume you are not good enough or too good for financial aid.

Make time! I don’t expect you to fill out 30 scholarships by tomorrow. Make time regularly to fill them out. I used to do it every school day during my study hall.

Set goals! Plan out how many scholarships and grants you want to apply for by a certain date, or have a dollar amount that you want in financial aid by graduation.

Don’t stress! If you are unable to get enough scholarships and grants to cover all of your college costs, there are always other options, such as student loans. 

Apply to Mizzou and Get Accepted

Compared to some other universities, applying to Mizzou is super easy. Make sure to meet these requirements, and getting accepted will be a breeze!

Courses

As of this post, you need to make sure you finish the following courses by the end of your senior year:

Mathematics: 4 Years

English: 4 Years

Science: 3 Years

Social Studies: 3 Years

Foreign Language: 2 Years

Fine Arts: 1 Year

Knowing these requirements is SUPER important because these college admittance requirements might be different from your high school’s graduation requirements. Like my high school only required 3 math years of math and didn’t even have a foreign language requirement, so make sign up for the classes you need!

Test Scores at Ranking Schools

If your high school ranks like mine did, you need to make sure you meet the requirements on this chart

ACT    SAT Before March 2016    SAT After That    Class Rank

24+     1090+                                 1160+                  Any rank with 2.0+ core GPA 23       1050-1080                          1130–1150          Top 52% 22       1020-1040                          1100–1120          Top 46% 21       980-1010                            1060–1090          Top 38% 20       940-970                              1020–1050          Top 31% 19       900-930                                980–1010          Top 22% 18       860-890                                940–970            Top 14% 17       820-850                                900–930            Top 6%

Are you a little confused? That’s okay. Find your test score on the chart and then see if you fit the class rank Mizzou wants.

For example, let’s say you got a 22 on your ACT and ranked 117 out of 461 students. First, find 22 on the chart under ACT. Look over at the Class Rank on the chart. If you got a 22 on the ACT, then you need to be at the top 46% of your class or higher.

To find that percent, take your rank (in this example, 117) and divide it by the number of total student (in this example, 461.) Punch the numbers in your calculator and you’ll get 0.2537 blah blah blah. Move the decimal over by two towards the right to make it a percentage, so now your number is 25.37%. Round your number up, just to be safe, to the nearest whole number. In this case, the nearest whole number rounding up is 26% Ta-dah! You have your class rank percentage. 

Look back at the chart. You needed to be at 46% in your class rank with a 22 ACT. You have a 26%, so you’ll have no problem getting accepted! This works the same way if you took the ACT. Just make sure to check the date of when you took your test! Whether your test was taken before or after March 2016 matters!

Test Scores at Non-Ranking Schools

No rank? No problem. Just use this chart! 

ACT    SAT Before March 2016    SAT After That    Class Rank

24+     1090+                                 1160+                 2.0+ 23       1050-1080                          1130–1150         2.80 22       1020-1040                          1100–1120         2.90 21         980-1010                          1060–1090         3.05 20         940-970                            1020–1050         3.20 19         900-930                              980–1010         3.35 18         860-890                              940–970           3.50 17         820-850                              900–930           3.65

Use this chart just like how I described how to use the other chart, except you do not have to do any math! Instead, find your class rank. If you need your class rank, go online to the website your school allows you to access your grades or ask a guidance counselor.

Transcripts

Have your high school guidance counselor send your transcript to this address:

230 Jesse Hall Columbia, MO 65211

Filling Out the Application

Okay, so Mizzou makes this part super easy. You put in basic information about yourself and then you are done! No essays or anything! The Office of Admissions looks at your transcript, ACT or SAT (be sure to have those scores sent to Mizzou!), GPA, class rank, and personal info. That’s it! I love how Mizzou doesn’t mess around with silly essays or unnecessary questions. They get right to it!

Getting Accepted

You will know when you have been accepted when you get that awesome acceptance email. You’ll get an acceptance letter, too, but the email tends to come first.

Final Notes

If you do not have all of the required classes or the GPA/class rank/ACT or SAT on this post, still apply. You will still be seriously considered as an applicant.

Do not freak out if you do not get a response right away. Getting accepted takes time!