Before I say I'm done, any ideas on who could offer good aid to 34ACT?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello :D ! I really thought I was done with the whole selecting schools thing, but lately I feel like I could be missing out on applying to a lot of schools because of $$ when I could potentially earn a lot of merit aid.</p>

<p>Here are my stats;
White Female from NY, competitive public school
34 ACT, 2140 SAT
96 weighted GPA, no rank
8 AP classes by the time I graduate, 2 college courses, the rest honors
A bunch of leadership positions/community involvement
Income about $160k
My family can easily/comfortably afford to pay about $20k. The full $55k is out of the question without aid.</p>

<p>I'm already applying to: SUNY Geneseo and Binghamton, Brandeis, Cornell CHE, William and Mary, Barnard, UMass.</p>

<p>I want to stay on the Northeast; W&M was pushing it. I knew I was unlikely to get much aid because of my family's income, so I had kind of resigned myself to one of the two SUNYs (which come out to ~19k) but now I'm feeling a bit bitter that I'm missing out on prestige. So superficial, I know.</p>

<p>I know December 1 was the deadline for a lot of places but is there anywhere that any of you think would gladly offer me a lot of money? Thanks SO much!!</p>

2

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You may find something here.</p>

3

<p>[Alfred</a> University : Financial Aid : Undergraduate Freshmen Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/freshmen/scholarships.cfm]Alfred”>http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/freshmen/scholarships.cfm) </p>

<p>You are probably eligible for merit aid at Alfred University. They are committed to keeping costs down. (very little increase for my child from Freshman to Sophomore Year, she is in the College of Liberal Arts, running about $37,000 per year). COA at Alfred depends on the school: Engineering, Business, C.O.L.A. or Art & Design, as some programs are private, some are through NYS. </p>

<p>Princeton Review’s Best 373
Fiske Guide 2011
USNWR’s Great Schools Great Prices
Fiske Guide Best Value </p>

<p>2200 students, small classes (know your professors) Divison III Athletics, new Miller Performing Arts Center, great academics, no Greek Life, 50% Male, 50% Female (no gender disparity here) Established in 1836 in the small charming village of Alfred, NY. </p>

<p>Rolling admissions, there is an Honors Program as well which you must interview for.
Good luck to you!</p>

4

<p>If you are willing to look a little farther away, apply to Kenyon, Grinnell, and College of Wooster.</p>

5

<p>Most deadlines are not until Jan 1 or Jan 15. There are many other choices out there for your profile (though not sure your interests). All three that @twomules mentions are great, plus take a look at Goucher, Smith, Mt Holyoke, Bard, etc etc</p>

6

<p>Denison actually offers better merit aid than Kenyon.</p>

7

<p>Could be. No one in my family has applied to Denison, but my daughter was offered BIG bucks at Kenyon.</p>

8

<p>I second Grinnell. That huge endowment means very generous merit and financial aid at a top LAC.</p>

9

<p>DC may be too far for you, but my son rec’d a lot of grant/scholarship money at George Washington.</p>

10

<p>Thanks everyone! Denison is where my aunt used to teach, I never even thought to consider it before. GW is definitely not too far, I’ll definitely look into that a bit.</p>

<p>I suppose I’m just having some last minute panics :)</p>

11

<p>Denison is a fine school. One reason my D did not attend is that they do not let you use a scholarship awarded by them go with you on Study Abroad.</p>

12

<p>^ True. That’s why my D who attends Denison didn’t do study abroad. I guess you have to make your choices.</p>

13

<p>Establishing a college list is not easy under any circumstance, but much less so when Merit Aid is thrown into the equation… requires more flexibility and creativity.</p>

<p>Keep looking. I wouldn’t be surprised if you found a great college (Top 75 Nat’l Uni or Top 50 LAC) that would keep your total cost around $25k after Merit Aid… and that you would find more appealing than your current options.</p>

<p>OT, but I couldn’t help but comment on the phrase “comfortably afford” to pay $20k.</p>

<p>A general rule of thumb with financial aid is that a family out to be able to carve out 20-25% of their pre-tax earnings for college expense (which in cases means 35%-45% of take home income. I know that seem absurd, but that is the reality of “need-based” aid. Based on the little you posted, I’m going to take a guess that your EFC (Expected Family Contribution) on the FAFSA is going to be between $28,000 and $34,000. So don’t count on the need-based aid to make this work for Brandeis, Cornell, Barnard, etc.</p>

14

<p>^ I know, which is why I’m trying to love the SUNYs as much as I can because having those options there is really a life saver. I would be happy at either of them, I really would, but it’s frustrating to know that there’s so many other schools out there. </p>

<p>My parents have told me that if I get into Cornell (I’m applying to one of the instate charter schools) they’d “find some way to scrape up the money” but I’m obviously not going to force them to do that, especially with grad school afterwards. </p>

<p>I really just don’t know what’s going to happen with any of the private schools but knowing that there’s two great and affordable options even if I get 0 aid everywhere else has been an ENORMOUS relief.</p>

<p>Thanks again for the help everyone.</p>

15

<p>Everyone on CC raves about Pitt’s merit aid, and your stats would appear to put you in the running there.</p>

16

<p>Look at Tufts, Wesleyan, and Middlebury.</p>