<p>I think we're pretty close to having a final list of schools S2 is interested in. However need based financial aid will be very important to us and merit where and if he can get it. I believe we have chosen carefully with these considerations in mind -- keeping in mind to include a wide range of schools. Am I correct in saying all of these schools typically come through for a student with high stats (4.0, Rank #1) and a good amount of need??</p>
<ul>
<li>Carleton College (Reach)</li>
<li>Georgetown (Reach)</li>
<li>Tulane (Match)</li>
<li>Trinity University (Match)</li>
<li>St. Olaf (Match)</li>
<li>Santa Clara (Match-Safety)</li>
<li>Colorado College (Match)</li>
<li>Marquette University (Safety)</li>
<li>University of Iowa (Safety)</li>
<li>University of Denver (Safety)</li>
</ul>
<p>University of Iowa is a state school and doesn’t offer much to out-of-state students. If you’re in-state for Iowa, then they may have some need-based funding but it’s doubtful that they’ll meet full need.</p>
<p>dont know most of these…and didnt qualify for need, however Tulane gave S2 great merit aid… 26K per year for act 33 and 4.2 wgpa. still left a pretty hefty chunk to cover though… but if your son applies early you may have a great shot at the merit aid.</p>
<p>Santa Clara is a GREAT university (DD is an alum). Their merit awards go to students at the TOP of the admitted student pool. They don’t meet full need with their need based awards. It would be a “wait and see” situations there. They give good need based aid to some and not so good to others. Since I personally LOVE the school…I would say…apply and see what happens.</p>
<p>I don’t believe Colorado College meets full need either…nor does Marquette or U of Denver.</p>
<p>I don’t believe Marquette meets full need either. Two years ago S received $12k/year merit, and I think the max at that time was $14k/year. Even though we received Perkins & Stafford loans, he received no other need-based aid.</p>
<p>Yes, I realize that some of these don’t meet full need. But I’m hoping for those schools, that once merit is factored in, it will be pretty close. Besides I think only the elite schools like Georgetown and Carleton on our list say they will meet full need.</p>
<p>Of any on the list Marquette might be most unpredictable.</p>
<p>Even if merit aid is available, it usually goes to students at the top of the pool of applicants. So not as likely at his reach schools. Just curious, where are you from? His match schools might be more likely to offer merit if he is “geographically diverse” compared to most of their students.</p>
<p>Would you consider adding an out-of-state public honors college to the mix? U. Alabama and ASU both have given some very strong merit scholarships to students whose SAT/ACT scores are also high.</p>
<p>I’d feel a little more comfortable if there were some other options that didn’t come with a starting price of $50K+ – right now I think Iowa is the only one in that category.</p>
<p>My kid didn’t apply there, but at our school Santa Clara didn’t do so well on the FA/Merit Aid front, though the top ten students in the class were a lot more likely to go to tippy-top schools, so not at all clear what any of them might have gotten at Santa Clara.</p>
<p>Georgetown doesn’t give any merit aid (everyone here already knows that). Carleton does, I believe. For the match schools…is this student at the TOP of the applicant pool? Seems not as then they would be safeties, right? The most significant MERIT awards go to the applicants at the TOP of the admitted student group. At Santa Clara, students admitted with distinction typically are the ones who get the larger merit awards.</p>
<p>In most cases, any merit award you receive will reduce your financial need by that much (and therefore, your need based aid would be reduced). Some schools do allow stacking of aid up to the cost of attendance…you should check to see if this is the case.</p>
<p>I agree…this list has a lot of schools on it that are in the “expensive” cost category…and none (that I know of) give any guaranteed merit aid. Might be worth looking for some schools with guaranteed merit awards based on this student’s stats.</p>
<p>I think you need more schools that give more assured aid. </p>
<p>As mentioned above, scholarships often replace aid…and at schools that don’t meet need, they often use scholarships to help reserve their institutional aid for other students.</p>
<p>With an ACT 33 and a 4.8 GPA, my nephew was offered 1/2 tuition at Santa Clara. But, that still left him with about $30k to pay.</p>
<p>How would you cover any gaps in aid? I think most/all of those schools will already have student loans in their FA packages.</p>
<p>agree with mom2ck… great stats at these schools (as i mentioned) Tulane still leave an awful lot to pay… schools that are cheaper overall and with guaranteed merit for your child’s stats seem to be missing from the list…</p>
<p>feel free to pm (again) if any more questions on the other school we talked about…but i understand from above list that it may not be in consideration anymore. :)</p>
<p>Carleton only does very limited merit and even then it is relatively a token amount. They do full need though. From the Carleton website:</p>
<p>“Carleton operates a need-based financial aid system, not a merit-based system. This means that we work to meet 100% of every student’s demonstrated financial need, rather than distributing scholarships or grants based on any past achievements.”</p>
<p>“Most Carleton financial aid is in the form of need-based aid. However, Carleton participates in three merit scholarship programs: the National Merit Scholarship Program, the National Achievement Scholarship Program, and the National Hispanic Recognition Program. Students who are finalists in these programs are eligible for Carleton scholarships of $2,000 per year.”</p>
<p>You can find lots of information about financial aid by downloading the Common Data Set files for these schools. Go to section H. Here are examples of the average amount of need covered by these schools, according to their CDS files:</p>
<p>The following are average merit aid amounts (rounded up) for the same schools, according to Kiplinger, along with the percentage of students receiving it.</p>
<p>To answer a few questions: we don’t have his ACT/SAT scores yet. He is off the charts in math abilities but not as much in reading comprehensive based on his ITBS scores, so I’m guessing his ACT will be around 31ish. Along with his 4.0 GPA and #1 rank, he also does 2 varsity sports, a 10-year performance related activity, speech, volunteer work and works part time. He just does not have the mind-blowing EC’s like some kids on CC.</p>
<p>Regarding the question of EFC . . . let’s just say it’s pretty low. We are business owners with a lot of expenses and deductions.</p>
<p>Also many of you are saying that we should add more schools with “guaranteed” merit aid. Someone mentioned Alabama and Arizona. However he says he’d prefer a midsized school around 5,000ish – give or take. What are some other examples of the “guaranteed” aid schools you’re talking about?</p>
<p>cbug, be careful in researching your EFC. Some of those business expenses and deductions may be added back in to the calculations. The financial aid forum here has had many discussions on this topic. Some parents have had surprises with their EFCs.</p>