<p>Presidential Scholarship
Must be an admitted incoming freshmen (all majors).
Requires: GPA: 3.0 (on unweighted 4.0 scale), and
ACT: 32 or SAT: 1400 (CR+M)
Unlimited awards which pay tuition, fees, and cost of regular dorm and meals for
four years.
Student must remain full-time and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0.
Application Deadline: Apply for admission by priority deadline of Jan 5. Updated
ACT/SAT accepted through December test date</p>
<p>As you say it’s a personal choice as to what is important.</p>
<p>I don’t think I said that. </p>
<p>many families consider education to be very important, but various situations occur (such as job loss, divorce, etc) where college funds get raided or a college fund can never be started. It’s not like they all preferred buying Lexus cars to paying for college.</p>
<p>And, I should have included “Divorce” as a line item because that often disrupts a family’s finances to the point where college isn’t affordable. I’ve seen people have to rack-up big debt in lawyer fees for divorces they never wanted. </p>
<p>There are many other situations which can cause parents to look for merit scholarships when they don’t qualify for aid which don’t indicate that they didn’t make education a priority.</p>
<p>Your words kind of suggest that these families just didn’t value education enough to make funding a priority. That isn’t fair. </p>
<p>I think most people on this board, myself included, see ourselves in one or more scenarios 1-9</p>
<p>Yes, but it’s not that black and white. There’s a difference between being out of a job for 2 months and being out of a job for 2 years. There’s a difference between having to help Granny with an occasional Rx and having to give her $1000 a month to pay for her housing. </p>
<p>don’t imagine I will get off without paying for my kids’ college.</p>
<p>Be grateful for your situation. And, if you do have a change in fortune, you may find yourself looking for less expensive schooling choices.</p>
<p>Northern Michigan U in Marquette, MI offers unbelievable amounts of scholarships. Check out their website. <a href=“http://webb.nmu.edu/FinancialAid/SiteSections/SourcesOfAid/NMUScholarshipsAndGrants.shtml[/url]”>http://webb.nmu.edu/FinancialAid/SiteSections/SourcesOfAid/NMUScholarshipsAndGrants.shtml</a>
The students I know that have gone there absolutely LOVE the place. it’s a well kept secret IMNHO.</p>
<p>“Be grateful for your situation. And, if you do have a change in fortune, you may find yourself looking for less expensive schooling choices.”</p>
<p>I haven’t made many posts on this board but I am supporting 2 kids myself as a freelance writer. I buy health insurance off the shelf (only one plan available in my state) with a $30,000 annual family deductible because it’s the only premium I can afford. I am: a) not overly grateful for my situation; and b) well aware that difficult choices must be made. Thanks.</p>
<p>Snow, you know you don’t HAVE to pay for your kids education. If you want to (by “you” I mean any parent), that’s great, but it’s not an obligation. A large number of families can’t or won’t, which is why students commute, go to community colleges, take gap years, or rely on merit scholarships while working and taking out loans. </p>
<p>You might be making the choice to make sacrifices for your kids’ education- and I applaud you for that. However, a lot of students have families that aren’t willing or aren’t able to make that same sacrifice.</p>
<p>Many parents who WANT to help their kids with college and will do whatever they can to do so. Some parents DO realize that there will likely be some parent contribution and are prepared to make it work. For some this can be more of a challenge financially. It is often said that college funding for many starts with the family. If the student is lucky enough to garner need based or merit aid…well…that is terrific…but the first stop is the family. It’s good to see folks here who are exploring financial options for their students including where merit aid is available, and where costs might be less.</p>
<p>*
I haven’t made many posts on this board but I am supporting 2 kids myself as a freelance writer. I buy health insurance off the shelf (only one plan available in my state) with a $30,000 annual family deductible because it’s the only premium I can afford. I am: a) not overly grateful for my situation; and b) well aware that difficult choices must be made. Thanks. *</p>
<p>then perhaps you might want to look for some merit school options for your children. Don’t know if your ex makes a good income, but there are schools that will consider his income and if he won’t contribute, then you’d be stuck paying his share. </p>
<p>Also, since most of the schools that do not require NCP info do not meet need, you may find yourself having to pay more than your EFC.</p>
<p>Last comment on this thread, it wasn’t about me, I just asked a question about an alternate world view that I was trying to understand. However just to respond to this:</p>
<pre><code> “You might be making the choice to make sacrifices for your kids’ education”
</code></pre>
<p>Yes, I am. I consider my retirement savings or getting a new car (I drive a 1999 Honda) less important than my obligation to educate the two human beings I chose to bring into this world. In the 21st century, a college degree completes a basic education (in my opinion). I plan to work as long as I am mentally and physically able. Cheers.</p>
<p>Tulane is rolling out a new scholarship next year called the Weatherhead. Will be a full everything-- even better than the DHS. She’d also have to have a lot of community service (and again- not availablle til next year, so if this is a curent senior, its too soon) [Weatherhead</a> Foundation gives Tulane $50 million for scholarships | NOLA.com](<a href=“http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2011/06/foundation_gives_tulane_50_mil.html]Weatherhead”>http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2011/06/foundation_gives_tulane_50_mil.html)</p>
<p>How about UT-Dallas? The Eugene McDermott Scholars Program covers it all. My D’s friend was awarded this scholarship last year – it’s a great opportunity.</p>
<p>[The</a> Eugene McDermott Scholars Program](<a href=“http://www.utdallas.edu/mcdermott/]The”>The Eugene McDermott Scholars Program - The University of Texas at Dallas)</p>
<p>UT-Dallas has other opportunities as well.</p>
<p>Hendrix College in Arkansas also offers some nice big scholarships, but they are competitive.</p>
<p>College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University has some very nice awards and will pay for the visit as will PITT. Pitt’s awards are competitive, but your candidate has the stats for sure.</p>
<p>Furman Univ. offers the Lay scholarship which covers pretty much everything. D’s classmate was awarded this scholarship this year. While it is not assured (it is definitely competitive), it is such a lucrative award that it probably warrants investigation. It’s also not as competitive as something like the Robertson at UNC, since Furman isn’t quite as high-profile. Furman also offers the Duke scholarship – full tuition.</p>
<p>[Herman</a> Warden Lay Scholarship Program](<a href=“Furman University | Top Private Liberal Arts University in Greenville, SC”>Furman University | Top Private Liberal Arts University in Greenville, SC)</p>
<p>Yes…she’s a current senior, so sadly too soon for the Tulane deal. 
That would have been awesome!</p>
<p>*a college degree completes a basic education *</p>
<p>Yes…and the OP’s family totally agrees. The child will commute to their state flagship (it’s not too far) if a full-ride elsewhere cannot be found. That is a fine alternative, so there won’t be a sacrifice of a college education. That was never an option for this family. </p>
<p>I just asked a question about an alternate world view that I was trying to understand</p>
<p>I have no idea what you mean by “alternate world view.” This family doesn’t seem to have such a thing. They know that their flagship is a safety option…and it’s a good school. They’re just seeing if there are any other options out there. They don’t want to later find out that their D could have gone to School X for a small amount of money…but they just didn’t know about it.</p>
<p>Again, I don’t know all the details of this family’s financial situation. All I know is that it isn’t good. Perhaps they’re thinking that if they could reduce what they pay for the next 4 years to - say - $5-10k per year - then that would allow them to get back on their financial feet. </p>
<p>If their situation is so precarious that it is making things very unstable for the younger kids in the household (perhaps they’re having trouble making the mortgage or a family business is unstable), then that is a responsible way to be thinking.</p>
<p>She should definitely read all the college mail she gets. With high PSAT/SAT scores, she should be getting a ton of mail. The smaller schools, less on the radar, seem to especially look for people who will bring their average SAT scores, etc. up.</p>
<p>Tulane is just beginning to reinstate their Computer Science program (it was removed after Katrina). Next year they’ll offer an introductory course. In a few years, they intend to offer something like a CS minor. They eventually want to reestablish a degree program in CS.</p>
<p>For at least the next 3-4 years, a CS program is not an option at Tulane.</p>
<p>So many schools have competitions for those all-but-books-and-a-ride-home scholarships. I know they are limited (my daughter’s was awarded to only 10 students), but it can be well worth it to pursue and compete for these! Don’t know tons about the CS majors at these schools, but in the midwest we know of University of Cincinnati’s Cincinnatus competition, the Whitinger Scholars competition at Ball State University in Indiana and the Yeager Scholars competition at Marshall University in WV…there must be others (often offered through a school’s honors college). With some research into the program, the extra hurdles of the competition (usually yet another essay, interviews, more recs…stuff these kids are already doing) it can definitely be worth it.</p>