<p>My son is just finishing tenth grade. He took SAT's a month ago and got a 2130, perfect on writing 800, reaqding 660, math 670. He goes to a private school in NJ. He takes all honors classes and AP classes. We don't rate the class because most kids are already at the top of a lot of schools. GPA is 4.30, very invloved in so many things. To tell you the truth I'VE PAID A LOT for his education up until now. I'd really like to get some kind of scholarships for him . I also need to know if he does get scholarship money will it be deducted from the ESTAMATED MONEY I should be able to pay9???). Neither his father or myself have a college education. Would he be considered a 1st generation???? He has a grandfather that did get a college degree.</p>
<p>There's no simple formula for scholarship money. There's need based and merit based. Since you've paid a lot of money for private school I'll assume you probably won't qualify for need based. Colleges may or may not offer merit based scholarships depending on the 'full package' (SAT, Class Rank, GPA, other factors the specific college is looking for, etc.) and the level of the college and the amount of money it has allocated to scholarships. A student might get a full ride at one of the colleges and nothing at another. </p>
<p>There are outside scholarships as well that could be looking at a smorgasbord of factors. Meaningful community service opens up a lot of opportunites for scholarships.</p>
<p>Although he has great scores, so do lots of other students. Look to extracurriculars to help him distinguish himself.</p>
<p>You state "I'd really like to get some kind of scholarships for him" - I hope you really mean that you'd like for HIM to get himself some scholarships. He's the one who'll apply and the one who'll need to qualify.</p>
<p>The big thing to keep in mind is that to get merit money you have to go to a school well below (in rankings) where you would otherwise get in. Colleges use the merit awards to attract kids who would not go without the $$$. The bar is already set high for kids who go to private schools and NJ is one of those states that makes it harder. So sure, he can get merit aid, but with current scores it will not be at a top college.</p>
<p>srinaldi, he has a good start toward merit aid. The 2130 is an impressive first effort. It suggests that he may do well on the PSAT/NMSQT test when it counts next year. </p>
<p>A 2130, 4.3 weighted, no rank will get him some money at several top 100 LAC's and Uni's but will not qualify him for major scholarships that are score based as most of them only consider CR +Math, and require well over his combined score on those two elements. They don't give extra points for taking it in the 10th grade. </p>
<p>As an example I am posting the UMiami scholarship chart for 2007-8.</p>
<p>Singer Scholarship Top 1% class rank
A+ average
1500 SAT I or 34 ACT
Full Tuition
$32,000 annually
$128,000 total for four years</p>
<p>University Scholarship Top 5% class rank
A average
1400 SAT I or 32 ACT
$24,000 annually
$96,000 total for four years</p>
<p>Dean's Scholarship Top 7% class rank
A average
1350 SAT I or 31 ACT
$16,000 annually
$64,000 total for four years</p>
<p>Trustee Scholarship Top 10% class rank
A average
1300 SAT I or 30 ACT
$11,000 annually
$44,000 total for four years</p>
<p>Collegiate Scholarship Top 10% class rank
A- average
1280 SAT I or 28 ACT
$8,000 annually
$32,000 total for 4 years</p>
<p>Several schools that have been as transparent as UMiami in the past are redoing their merit aid calculators to match up with changing times (DePauw and TCNJ, for two).</p>
<p>Now to your specific question about merit scholarships reducing your EFC. No, ma'am. They don't. They reduce Costs of Attendance. In other words, you have a school that costs $40,000 and an EFC of $20,000, means your demonstrated need is $20,000. Let's say your son gets a $20,000 merit award. $40,000 - $20,000 merit award = $20,000 remaining Costs of Attendance, and $20.000 COA - $20,000 EFC = Zero need. </p>
<p>While I'm dishing out the bad news I might as well tell you the rest of it :( private scholarships work the same way at most schools (although if you still are found to have need after the outside scholarship reduction, they will usually reduce the self help , loan and workstudy, portion first.) Let's say son wins the Daughters of Omicron Baking Scholarship for $20K, it works the same way as above. And yes, you DO have to report it to the college. LOL. Hardly seems fair does, it? But when they have limited need dollars to go around, they want it to go to the neediest by their calculation. </p>
<p>The only way to beat the system is to have your merit award outrun your calculated need. Example : need calculated at $20K, get a scholarship for $32K at a $40K school, you only pay $8K. </p>
<p>Sorry. It blew my mind a couple of years ago , too. ;)</p>
<p>srinaldi, I went back and looked at your previous 13 posts . All about this SAT 1 test [and a mention of 680 (?) MAth II C ]. Lighten up on this one score. And Dartmouth? Well, that's getting the cart way before the horse. It's a nice score for a tenth grader but a 1330 would be considered low for an un-hooked applicant at Dartmouth. </p>
<p>And it's confusing to speak in a students voice and a parent's voice under the same screen name. It confuses us. </p>
<p>As a veteran poster (thanks cangel) used to tell me when I got overly excited "Take a chill pill" . LOL.</p>
<p>As you can see his 1330 would qualify him for a "Collegiate" scholarship (but his lack of high school rank may disqualify him, and additionally their A- is unweighted). UMIami is considered by many as a very generous merit aid school.</p>
<p>As has been discussed by posters above, many scholarships are less formula based, and in fact many of the best scholarships do have components of community service , leadership, and extracurriculars involved- the Belk at Davidson, the Lay at Furman, and the Bellingrath at Rhodes to mention just three.</p>
<p>Don't get discouraged and for sure don't get too excited , just lace your running shoes up a little tighter and get back in there. Good luck, and remember - he has a good start but this is a marathon , not a sprint. ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
As you can see his 1330 would qualify him for a "Collegiate" scholarship (but his lack of high school rank may disqualify him, and additionally their A- is unweighted). UMIami is considered by many as a very generous merit aid school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>We were advised that UMiami will assume rank is met if all other conditions (scores, GPA) are satisfied by a student attending a school that does not rank. This may not apply to to other colleges across the board and should definitely be a question asked of each individual school being considered. A big rule of college admissions, don't assume anything. Always ask direct questions of each school as policies can vary greatly. </p>
<p>You've made a great start coming here early, there is a wealth of information on this board. Good luck.</p>
<p>The first step is to identify the type of school he would like (size, geography, urban/rural, big deal sports, frat or not, majors offered). Then look for schools which fit that and are in a range of selectivity. The reach schools won't give him merit scholarships. The 50/50 (aka match) schools might and the likely (aka safety) very well might. </p>
<p>His stats (especially with the expected improvement next year) will certainly qualify him for merit awards at some places. So he should spend time in the coming months identifying schools where he would be in the top 25% (better top 10%) of the applicant pool based on stats. </p>
<p>The reach schools won't give merit scholarships for (usually) two reasons - he won't be at the top of their applicant pool, and they tend to be schools which offer only need-based aid anyway.</p>
<p>My S got $22K/year from Tulane with SATs a bit lower than your S (710M/610V), similar GPA (122/100). He may have had geography going for him, so that is another factor to try to have in your favor for some of the schools he chooses. Recs and essays and the "holistic" picture count at some schools for the $$, others just publish what stats earn what.</p>
<p>Tulane is eliminating his major following Katrina, so he has to transfer. He will be going to a "better" (read higher ranked) school, but I can tell you that he has LOVED Tulane and is leaving only out of necessity. So, imho, don't worry about the fact that the merit $$ come at the lower-ranked schools. Choosing such a school also puts the kid in the "opportunity" seat - to be in the top 5% while there, get the research assistantships etc. Pluses and minuses to each approach, of course, but just trying to pre-empt concerns you may have or others may post about moving down a notch to get the $$.</p>
<p>You might also consider schools like Rice which are a great value anyway - top-ranked but with a COA about 25% less than its equals. There aren't many like this, but it's a great school and he would have the geography card in his favor there.</p>
<p>Read the "great merit aid" thread (a sticky) for more ideas on schools which might fit him, as well as some other factors to consider in evaluating merit aid (is it renewable? based on what criterion?...)</p>
<p>I think Cur's points about this student's SAT I are the most important on this thread (now, don't get a swelled head, Cur). I think this parent is seeing the 800 on the writing portion of his child's SAT and seeing stars that aren't there. There is still no evidence that even the elite schools are yet considering the writing score other than in a more general way. This kid's SAT I score that should be used to estimate chances for merit money or admissions is really 1330. Not bad for a 10th grader, but no great shakes, either. Even if he increases it by 100 pts in his junior year, it will be a good score and fine for consideration at many places like Univ of Miami and some LACs, but not really in the range for elite schools or much merit money at Top 50 LAcs.</p>
<p>The OP should still be observing and researching at this point. The student should consider some serious prep before the next attempt at standardized testing to see if he can bring up those SAT I scores into a more viable range if the schools his parent is mentioning are the schools that the student is interested in attending. The OP needs to be really searching out schools that are good fits for his/her child in terms of his statistics and interests. And if he/the student really wishes or needs merit aid, then these schools are going to be several tiers lower for the student to be a viable candidate.</p>
<p>Best of luck to this student and family!</p>
<p>I would also suggest getting your son ready for the PSAT in October. Many universities offer excellent scholarships (some full ride) to National Merit Semifinalists. However, private school students have a very high cutoff to be selected for semifinalist (somewhere around 225, I believe).</p>
<p>Actually, the cutoffs for NMSF are by state, not by type of school. Cutoffs for New York and Massachusetts, for example, are much higher than for Kansas or Alaska. These cutoffs can be found on the NMF website.</p>
<p>Thanks to all who reply. I never when to college myself so all the info everyone can give me, is a help. It's hard to know what roads to go down. Yes, the scholarship would be him getting it for himself.{make life a little easier on mom and dad} He is very self motivated although he doesn't have all the answers, even though he thinks so. Sixteen year olds. He is top 1-5 of his class. All honors classes. AP Calc this year. Six majors this year.National Spanish Honor Society. He'll be taking five majors next year with two independant studies. He's school really works with you if they know you can handle it. I do realize that lots of kids do score well. He took his PSAT's this year for practice and scored in top 4% of all Junior who took it at the same time as him. I'd have to find the paper to see what they were. They have to have community service hours to graduated, They need 50 but he already has over 100. Busy on swim team, drama club President, Sings in the musicals. Many other clubs also, So I think he does have the whole package, to what level We'll see. He said that he will be taking SAT's agian next year, along with his second time on his SAT II's. Again Thanks for all who reply.</p>
<p>srinaldi; you came to the right place for opinions. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>great scores, but, unfortunately, besides the UCs, I don't know of any schools doing anything with the Writing portion yet. </p>
<p>For merit $$ perspective, an Emory adcom said that all Emory scholars in '05 had a 1550+ (old test, so no writing). </p>
<p>But, not to worry...scores could to increase - since your S is taking Calc this year, he probably forgot all the basic stuff on the Math portion -- go back and review; and the reading will likely improve with another english lit class. Definitely take Math 2 subject test, btw.</p>
<p>Thanks for your info. It is a new phase of life for us as a family. I want to make sure we get the most out of it. He is a great kid and I always said he'll do great things no matter where he goes. I wonder how they look at first generation college apps. Does it include the grandparent? My husband and I didn't graduate my college but my father did. I know he's got a lot going for him. I just want toguide him in the right direction.</p>
<p>srinaldi:</p>
<p>The UC apps only ask whether parents are college grads - not grandparents. I don't know about other colleges but I'd expect them to be similar.</p>
<p>Quiltguru - my mistake, but there is a separate cutoff for students at private BOARDING schools. It's in the very fine print of National Merit stuff.</p>