<p>Merrimack, Providence, Stonehill, Wheaton. Holy Cross, Umass Dartmouth how do these schools fare for merit money and do they meet the need determined by fafsa></p>
<p>generous sorry typing in the dark</p>
<p>Dartmouth does not give merit aid - neither do any other Ivy League schools. They are generous with need-based aid, however. Dartmouth and the other Ivies will require you to file the Profile (as will most other private institutions) as well as the FAFSA as part of your finaid application. These schools make their own assessments of each family's expected contribution. </p>
<p>Of the schools on your list, I'm only familiar with Providence. The last time I looked at their site, it showed that they do give merit aid, though it appeared that there is also a need component to several merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Maybe you're looking for anecdotal information, I don't know. But to answer these types of questions, my favorite source is probably the U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges online edition. It's $14.95 a year, and can save you lots of money in the long run.</p>
<p>A free option would be collegeboard.com. Navigate to the College Matchmaker. Type in the name of the school and you'll get an overview. Click on Cost and Financial Aid, and you'll see a breakdown of financial aid, average awards, etc. To save a list of schools, just sign in. </p>
<p>For instance, this is what collegeboard.com says about Stonehill:
Financial Aid Statistics</p>
<pre><code>* Full-time freshman enrollment: 618
* Number who applied for need-based aid: 519
* Number who were judged to have need: 398
* Number who were offered aid: 398
* Number who had full need met: 113
- Average percent of need met: 82%
- Average financial aid package: $17,917
- Average need-based loan: $4,798
- Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $13,594
- Average non-need based aid: $11,272
- Average indebtedness at graduation: $19,712 </code></pre>
<p>Another factor to consider is that most private schools also use the CSS Profile to determine need, in addition to Fafsa.</p>
<p>
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Umass Dartmouth
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<p>As you know Umass-Dartmouth is a public university where you if you are instate you will have a lower tuition rate.</p>
<p>from their website, it seems they only give scholarships in engineering and math</p>
<p>Wheaton in Illinois has a "reduced tuition" for all it's students. Our friend's S was a NMSF & former class president + on the football team. He didn't get any merit $$$, as I believe they may only give need-based aid. The friend says Wheaton has fund-raising regularly on campus that all families are expected to participate in to help keep costs low for everyone.</p>
<p>Lurkness's advice is sound. I buy the book, but I am an oldtimer who likes the hard copy. What is particularly useful is the % of students getting merit aid, and the average merit award. About half of that % will indicate what top %tile you should be in to get that kind of merit money. I say that because about half or more goes to special students that the college is seeking above and beyond academic stats, and unless you have that kind of hook, you will not be eligible for those funds. An applicant whose test scores and grades puts him smack dab in the middle of the pack is unlikely to get merit money when 15% of kids are getting money. If the average merit award is $10K, you need to be in the upper 7.5%, (by my estimates, no scientific reason or rationale, folks, so feel free to adjust) to expect to get that. If you are waaay up there in stats, you may be eligible for some of the limited full tuition or near full ride money. There are usually only a few of those babies, so the line is long for one of them.</p>
<p>This data may not be current but in the past both Holy Cross and Providence provided a max merit award of 50% of tuition per year. That roughly translates into a max of 15-16k. More generous than some, not as generous as at Villanova which provides about 30-40 full tuition scholarships yearly to its top applicants.</p>
<p>The first place to find out about merit aid and financial aid policies is to check the web sites of the colleges that interest you.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, I have found it difficult to find specific info on merit awards, particularly the % of kids who get them at a school, and the breakdowns when I peruse the websites. It's easier to get some idea if a school is giving out merit money, and good financial aid, and then verifying specifically on the website. That second step is important because second hand info statistically has a greater chance of being wrong, by error or being outdated.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, I have found it difficult to find specific info on merit awards, particularly the % of kids who get them at a school, and the breakdowns when I peruse the websites. It's easier to get some idea if a school is giving out merit money, and good financial aid, and then verifying specifically on the website. That second step is important because second hand info statistically has a greater chance of being wrong, by error or being outdated.</p>
<p>Someone interested in those schools is probably referring to Wheaton College in Norton, MA.</p>
<p>Here is another way to get merit information:</p>
<p>Enter college name and Search.</p>
<p>Eg, under Wheaton (MA), find:</p>
<p>1,568 undergraduate students
201 non-need-based awards were made
Average non-need-based aid: $10,760</p>
<p>Divide:</p>
<p>210 / 1568 => 13% of students received merit aid, of an average of $10,760 per year.</p>
<p>mol10e's information about academic merit scholarships at Providence College is inaccurate.</p>
<p>Students invited into the Liberal Arts Honors program are provided with a merit scholarship in one of three amounts: $15,000, $21,000, or full tuition. There are approximately 1,000 freshmen in each entering class and generally 125-135 students are invited into Liberal Arts Honors.</p>
<p>So, approximately 12-13% of the class receives a merit award. There are approximately 25 full tuition awards, 45 $21,000 awards and 60 $15,000 awards. The actual number depends upon how many students accept the offers.</p>
<p>There is no competitive advantage to applying early action. Students in both the early and regular pools receive equal consideration. EA students are notified about LAH/merit in early January, regular decision candidates are notified about a week after admission decisions are released. No separate application is required.</p>
<p>Usually with an average award of $10K a year, there are those who may get full tuition, or $20k a year, which leaves a lot of $5k and under awards. When the cost of attendence for a school is about $35K, a year that is still a lot for a family to come up with. My son got alot of merit offers, but most of them were under $5k even with SATs that were probably in the upper 10% of those schools. The state school options at about $15K even without merit were still better deal, and when they threw in a $10k award, the cost differential was tremendous as compared to the most generous and least expensive private school.</p>
<p>Congrats on your S getting some great offers to choose among. Merit $$$ in sufficient quantity to "cushion" the expense of college is possible, but so much depends on the student & U. My S who was a NMF was given slightly > 1/2 tuition awards from 2 private Us & a full-ride as an OOS from a public U. He chose one of the privates & has been very happy there, tho it did cost considerably more than we would have paid if he choose the full-ride, of course. Neither he nor we wanted him to go to in-state flagship U as it was not a good match & we have not heard enough positives about their engineering school, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Another interesting (and free) source of comparative stats is <a href="http://www.princetonreview.com%5B/url%5D">www.princetonreview.com</a> where, if you register and sign in, you can also pick up subjective comments from students. For example, Providence College:
"at PC, "the student body has a strong community and familial vibe. We get along great." And why wouldn't they, most students ask. "We're all the same." Nearly all of our survey respondents agree that "PC is overwhelmingly white. Students tend to be Catholics from New England." They also look as though they "stepped right off the pages of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog. It would be shocking to see someone who didn't look practically just like everyone else. They are typically athletic, involved partiers, but very much your average preppy college student." Cliquishness is common. "Although most students here are friendly, there is not very much interaction between social groups beyond the friendly conversations. Basically, everyone finds a group of friends and sticks with them, morning through night, for the next four years," notes one student. As for religion, "masses are quite well attended, although this doesn't always translate into moral behavior during the other six days of the week."</p>
<p>The problem with Princetonreview reviews is that they take a reading of the median student at a place like Providence and then promote that vision as representative of the campus at large. As we have been talking about kids who are likely to receive merit money in this thread, that median view is not going to be very relevant since the kids who are going to receive large merit money rewards are likely to be in the minority. for these kids a review which would like at that slice of the Providence student body who are high achievers in terms of opportunities for academic resources, social opportunities, etc would be much more helpful.</p>
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The problem with Princetonreview reviews is that they take a reading of the median student at a place like Providence and then promote that vision as representative of the campus at large.
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Good point. I would argue, though, that the "minority" experience (if indeed our typical merit-award student really differs significantly from the majority) will be profoundly affected by that majority culture, and it's useful to know how it's perceived. NOT that I'm suggesting princetonreview or college board or U.S. World Report or any other commercial rating agency is above reproach, but all of these influence perception and thus reality.</p>