<p>I really don't want to go in-state. That being said, I know I probably will.</p>
<p>My parents are divorced but my mother has a pretty high five-digit salary. Unfortunately, she's only saved about $30,000 dollars for my college education, but the fact that she makes as much as she does cancels out a lot of need-based aid (our EFC is 18k p. year on the online calculator, but she says she won't pay anything above 10k a year for school). A couple of the schools I'm looking at don't offer merit-based aid, either (guess I should scratch Northwestern off the list). So unless I get a full ride somewhere, or at least paid tuition, I'm screwed. Ten thousand a year is a short, short leash.</p>
<p>Personally, I have worked through high school and saved about $3,000 dollars for myself (not great). I have great stats: ACT 35, GPA UW 4.0 (W: 4.12), heavy extracurriculars w/ several club leadership positions, 5 AP classes total (okay that's not great either, but I have a job!), and volunteer history. I'm in the top two percent of a class of over four hundred, but it looks like it's not getting me anywhere.</p>
<p>I'm looking mostly at public universities, with a couple of stretches like Stanford. Should I stop psyching myself up for amazing colleges at the other end of the country, and just resign myself to the inevitable state university?</p>
<p>Quite a few of the LACs would probably give substantial merit aid to someone with your stats, particularly if you look outside the top 20 schools. This could end up being a fabulous option for you: limited expense, as well as a very good chance to work with faculty members on research projects right from the beginning. The key is choosing some schools that you would like AND where your stats would put you at the top (or nearly so) of their class.</p>
<p>I think that your options are actually very good.</p>
<p>^^^Agree, that with your stats you could be in the running for full tuition or full rides at many colleges. In addition to LACs, you should also look at schools like Tulane, Brandeis, WUSTL, Emory, Vandy and BU. There are sticky threads at the top of this forum which would be helpful for your scholarship search.</p>
<p>But I don't really want to go to an LAC.... schools of less than five thousand make me itch. Are my chances for merit aid decent at public schools?</p>
<p>The schools I listed are not LACs, only Brandeis is smaller, at about 3K. Also, add UMiami to the list.</p>
<p>It sounded in your first post like you didn't want to go to a public school?? You can take advantage of the WICHE/WUE program to attend a neighboring public at reduced tuition. There are some publics that have merit aid for OOS students: UMichigan, UVA, UNC-CH (all of these have relatively few scholarships and are extremely difficult to get), but there are others. If you are a NMS, there are others such as UArizona.</p>
<p>Try "tier II" schools with merit like Baylor, Whitworth, Rhodes, etc. Look for less famous schools that may have a $0k COA but offer you $10-15k in merit plus maybe some finaid down to your 18k EFC</p>
<p>I've already looked at a lot of WUE schools... I haven't really considered the "tier II" schools somemom mentioned but I guess I need to rethink that.</p>
<p>Here's the methodology I'm using to look for scholarships for my daughter. Her stats are GPA 3.9 UW, 4.4 W, SAT 2060, her school doesn't rank, ECs are sort of weak is/will be a 4 year varsity athlete (team captain sr year). </p>
<p>I'm using the US News rankings list. I started at with the University of Washington, which is our in-state school, which we can afford and into which she will almost undoubtedly be admitted. It is number 42 on the list.</p>
<p>Then for each school after that on the list, I've been visiting the college's financial aid/scholarship website to see if that school offers any scholarships (a) for which she is qualified; and (b) which offer enough merit aid to make them affordable for us; with (c) the intention of finding a good school that offers her preferred major and where she can be happy that will offer her a full ride scholarship. Or, at the very least, make it more affordable than the UW, taking travel expenses into consideration.</p>
<p>Some of the schools I've found that offer good merit aid:</p>
<p>Ohio State
Boston U
U of Georgia
U Conn
Purdue
U Iowa
U Delaware
Miami/Ohio
SMU
Syracuse U
U Alabama
Texas Christian</p>
<p>And there are more. I haven't even come close to exhausting the list. There is merit money available, but you need to be willing to invest some time to find it.</p>
<p>Thank you-- this is by far the most helpful post I've seen, especially since a couple of those schools were already on my list (reassuring). I'm trying my hardest to do the research to find merit-based aid, but it's hard when I'm an only child with no savvy siblings... and clueless parents. Thank God for CC.</p>
<p>If your mother can chip in $10K a year, which will cover room and board at most schools, you'll also want to look at full tuition scholarships (as opposed to full ride). Then assuming you're willing to work during the school year, you should be able to handle the rest of the expenses.</p>
<p>Check schools that have announced new financial aid initiatives. Since you mentioned Stanford, this will give you an idea on what might happen with a sub 100,000 income and some savings. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Stanford University today announced the largest increase in its history for its financial aid program for undergraduates. </p>
<p>Under the new program, parents with incomes of less than $100,000 will no longer pay tuition. Parents with incomes of less than $60,000 will not be expected to pay tuition or contribute to the costs of room, board and other expenses. Students will still be expected to contribute their earnings from work during the summer and academic year. </p>
<p>The program also eliminates the need for student loans.
<p>^^ yes, that's part of the reason that Stanford is my "Ivy" of choice. But first I have to get in, which is borderline impossible thanks to stiff CC competition, lol.</p>