My daughter got her scores a couple of days ago and found out that she scored a 35 composite on the ACT – 36 science, 36 English, 35 reading, 31 math. She is a junior and this is her first time taking the test and she probably spent about 10-15 hours prepping with the ACT prep book over the 2-3 weeks before the test. Obviously, we are very happy but are a little clueless about what it all means. She has a 4.0 unweighted GPA at a small, Catholic high school in Michigan and is taking what is considered a full-load of AP classes (since we’re so small we don’t offer a ton). She received a “5” on her APUSH exam last year and is currently taking AP World, AP Physics and AP English along with Chinese III and all other honors courses. When looking at the FAFSA, it seems like we will not qualify for any need-based aid and we have enough saved to pay for room & board to the University of Michigan (or the equivalent) with no loans at all, but do not have enough saved to pay full-ticket price to any other prestigious private colleges. Although we could probably stretch to do so, we have two more kids who are looking at college in the next 4-6 years as well and we are not anxious for us or our daughter to go into debt. I guess my question is two-fold: 1) Do you think it would even make sense for her to visit and/or apply to any of the really top-notch colleges (Harvard, Duke, University of Chicago, Notre Dame, etc.) if we don’t think it’s in the budget to pay the $55,000 or so per year those colleges cost? 2) Do any of the top-tier colleges offer merit-scholarships and, if so, would it be likely that she would get any money that isn’t need-based? Feeling a little lost and don’t want to limit her because of money, but also want to be realistic!
Not really necessary, especially because you are in Michigan & can get a heck of a bargain price at one of the top universities in the world. Boston College has a handful of big merit scholarships, & offers a setting and atmosphere quite different from U of Mich in Ann Arbor. It might be worth shooting them an application, but in general Ann Arbor is going to be tough to beat.
It would help to know what your daughter wants to study in college.
Consider Rice University in Houston, Texas. Also, several large state university honors colleges may offer your daughter an automatic full tuition scholarship based on her ACT score & GPA. Start with the University of Alabama & The University of South Carolina.
The 8 Ivy League schools do not offer merit scholarships–just need based aid.
I believe that Duke University offers merit scholarships as does Vanderbilt University. Emory University in Atlanta is another school which offers substantial merit scholarships.
If your daughter wants to study business, then apply early to Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
There are others. Keep searching.
Congratulations !
P.S. Just checked the University of Michigan’s in-state tuition rates. Seems as though you have an outstanding & affordable option if accepted to Michigan.
Many of the top notch private schools you listed actually run north of $70k all-in these days. Most of them do not offer merit aid. However, many of them have some of the most generous need based financial aid programs in the country – for HYPS, the calculated aid is 100% grant. I’d go ahead and run the NPC for some of those schools to see if your family would qualify for aid and what the net family contribution would be. I doubt the net price would be lower than UM, but the NPC’s are not that hard to run.
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Congrats on the great score! I assume she’s taking the PSAT next month, correct? She is capable of scoring high enough to obtain National Merit status which can open doors for some large merit scholarships (if you are willing to consider those colleges). Have her do some review/practice for the PSAT. She honestly doesn’t need to go to an “elite” college to get a great education!
A bit of advice: my youngest is now in college, and every college has been more expensive than what the cost of attendance showed by at least $2,000 per year. Also, if she’s planning on grad school, you absolutely don’t want to go into a lot of debt for undergrad. Be open to a variety of colleges and not just the “big names.” She can potentially get through undergrad with zero debt!
She is not entirely sure what she wants to study – she is leaning toward the medical field – doctor, maybe researcher. She is going to apply as a volunteer/intern at the big hospital near us in the next several months to try and see if that clarifies anything for her. She is definitely not interested in engineering and although she is a phenomenal writer and both my husband and I were political science majors and my husband is a lawyer, that’s not really grabbing her either. She is analytical and not a show-boater in the least, although she has really started to come into her own since high school started. She is a very strong soccer player (all-region), runs cross-country, is on student council and tutors pretty extensively through NHS and holds down a job – all while taking a heavy load of classes. I think she’s starting to feel the pressure of deciding what she wants to “be” and I am not quite sure if we should pressure her to really start figuring it out or if she still has some time. My husband was in the honors college at Michigan State and then went to University of Chicago for law school, which I think makes some sense – not spending a ton on undergrad and instead investing in grad school if that’s in the cards.
I think UM would make a ton of sense. It is a great school which can offer tremendous opportunities. And keep in mind that med school is very expensive if she decides to go that route.
And she has plenty of time to decide what route she wants to go. She is young and her ideas, interests can certainly change. My D didn’t figure it out until midway through college and many are later than that.
Academically she is qualified for all schools but since you didn’t mention ECs or other aspects that are required for a holistic admission to top schools I would go with UM as a great choice where academics is the largest part of the admission decision and your not going to getter a better deal than UM in state.
Many of the private schools that your daughter is academically qualified for are in the $70,000 a year range. I would run the net price calculator and see if these schools look affordable. I would also have her do some research on schools that give merit such as Vanderbilt, Duke, Emory etc. Keep in mind that schools such as Vanderbilt and Duke are very…very hard to get into… even with perfect numbers… and getting merit to these schools takes it to a whole other level. If she applies to any of these schools, I would let her know that attending is only possible if the cost comes down to xx… either through merit or FA ( FA doesn’t seem likely based on your post). I would also encourage her to apply to some other schools that would likely give her merit… such as the U of Miami for example. My friend’s child has similar stats and received the Stamps Scholarship. He attends …after applying to a wide range of schools …and either didn’t get in, or didn’t receive $ to reduce the cost.
You are very fortunate to have a school such as Michigan that your daughter can attend at an instate cost. It’s a great school that will offer your daughter many, many wonderful opportunities. Congrats and good luck!
I would look at some of the top LAC’s because she has clearly good scores and ECs. These schools will offer strong and prestigious academics as well as more generous aid. Even if they don’t give merit scholarships you should see if you qualify for financial aid using the net price calculator at a school such as Pomona or Harvey Mudd.
UMich, done deal unless there is some strong reason she doesn’t like it, like a preference for a small school or something like that.