<p>katytibbs, is that officially posted anywhere?</p>
<p>my D received $18000 in merit scholarship at American!! 31 act, 2000 sat, 3.83 gpa</p>
<p>Recently the Ivys have been giving out a lot of need based and merit based grants i know for a fact that harvard and brown are, so dont let financial aid be a problem.</p>
<p>It is important to have realistic expectations and a back up financial safety plan (with several schools that student can attend with NO aid) that will work, as money IS tougher to get for everyone these days. Many schools have taken huge hits in their investments and don't have as much to offer for any aid--merit or need-based. It is also tough for some folks to know whether they will retain their jobs and be able to help with tuition & other college costs. Making wise choices and keeping options open is KEY to being able to sleep at night--for students and families.</p>
<p>My daughter also received $18,000 ($72K/4 years) in merit scholarships at American University. 3.93 gpa, 1170 R/M SAT. That still leaves over $100k /for 4 years!!! The inflated tuition prices are shameless. I can only give her $30k....I still have 2 more kids to get through college. That's $90k out of pocket. If she chooses to attend American, she will probably have $100k in student loans:( The inflated tuition and "large" scholarships are a sham.</p>
<p>Also, ....realistic expectations???? A back up financial safety plan??? That leaves an in-state school for most average families. Some kids bust their a$#$ to get into a very good college. Typically an "in-state school" doesn't fulfill the dream of a "very good college". I know, I know....there are exceptions.</p>
<p>ksabbo, about the inflated prices being shameless, I agree with you! Most people on this board believe and keep repeating that even the full pay student is getting a discount because everyone is being subsidized.....yeah, right. </p>
<p>Congratulations to our D and to LaVie's D regarding American's scholarships. ksabbo, I think that going into debt for 100k for an undergraduate degree is insane! Hope it works out.</p>
<p>I have been hearing about good scholarships from American as well. I have high SAT scores, and my ACT should be decent (I got a 32 on my non-prepped-for practice test, so I'm aiming for a 29-30 on the real thing, hopefully 30-33 with a lot of prep work), but my GPA is in the dumps (3.6). I hope I get some good scholarship money from there, too. I read that they offer on average 96% of the demonstrated need. I thought this would be great because my EFC is 0, but now I'm worried... my EFC is 0 so frankly I wasn't considering the possibility that my financial aid package might stink.</p>
<p>American on average seems to only meet 68% of financial need according to this source:</p>
<p>Student</a> Aid on the Web</p>
<p>Very Important factor regarding financial aid "averages", etc. If a school indicates they will meet i.e. 85% of financial need. The financial aid package includes LOANS as well as grants/scholarships. I totally don't get how they consider the loans as fulfilling the need. Granted the loans may be more favorable than the standard private loan, but as far as I'm concerned...a loan is a loan! If you look on Collegeboard.com, the "average indebtedness" is typically listed as approximately $30k. How on earth do they come up with that figure? They AREN'T including loans in the financial aid package as "indebtedness". Any college bound kid and especially college grads should know ANY type of loan is debt.</p>
<p>Loans are loans. They suck! Paying for college if my responsibility. If I want to go out of state to an expensive school, unfortunately, I'm going to have to shoulder a lot of debt. For me, it totally sucks, but it's a reality. PrincetonReview has American listed at 96%, but if 68% is more reasonable, ugh. I'm hoping that I do not have to graduate with more than $40,000 in debt. The $30,000 number is probably realistic - CC is not a cross-section of the U.S. How many kids went to community college for two years? How many kids went to school in state? Those kids have considerably less debt than some of the high-reaching CC kids.</p>
<p>My S has been admitted to Uni Of Oklahoma Honors program. National Merit Finalist. Outstanding academics and ECs. They are offering almost a full ride. Anyone know anything about the program?</p>
<p>Notre Dame does NOT give merit aid (these cases are rare). Their aid is based solely on financial need. I have had this confirmed by students as well as the financial aid advisor himself. However, they do give generous need-based aid.</p>
<p>Texas A&M awarded me several scholarships amounting to $73,000 thus far. $2000 was made from being a NMSF, and another $34,000 from NMF with A&M as my first choice college. With my scholarship application, I earned the remainder.</p>
<p>To summarize my credentials:
- 4.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, SAT 2350, top 1% of class
- Student council president, two years as class president, and one year as Student Council secretary
- NHS member
- Orchestra member
- Three essays submitted with scholarship application.</p>
<p>Good luck and gig 'em!</p>
<p>A friend of mine just received the full tuition scholarship at University of Richmond. She was picked as a finalist then had to go to Richmond and audition for 3 days. It's valued at $143,000!!!</p>
<p>This is a helpful thread for students with high income who do not qualify for need-based aid. :)</p>
<p>You're going to get a good education anywhere you go so you could just apply to local schools that are still good schools but have trouble attracting good students and they'll give you good scholarships. A good "tell" for these schools are those with a high acceptance rate but a moderately high drop out rate and a big range of SAT scores (from very high to pretty low - because not enough competitive people go there). And usually small.</p>
<p>Slightly OT, but I found a page on finaid.org that lists schools with tuition freezes, cuts, and level tuition for all four years. Some info about schools that guarantee level grants for all years too. It seems to be up to date for the 09/10 year:</p>
<p>[FinAid</a> | Tuition Freezes, Tuition Cuts and Level Tuition](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>http://www.finaid.org/questions/tuitionfreeze.phtml)</p>
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<p>This is true, I’ve received 24k scholarships to both Tulane and UM. Unfortunately, they are not my favorite schools. :x</p>
<p>But they are both very good schools, and as a Miami resident, I can tell you that UM is looked upon very fondly for those that study medicine and health sciences and intend to do research.</p>
<p>For U of Richmond friend receiving merit scholarship + interviews required, can you update that info? What was the outcome & what are her plans now? We just visited U of Richmond & liked it.</p>
<p>I would love to know the stats of the Richmond scholarship award winner. My D was hoping for that based on her stats and their profiles, and didn’t even get to the first phase. When we inquired why, given her stats (4.0 UW, 8 APs with 5’s and 1 4, 2280 SAT) we were told it is a “holistic” evaluation. That reads minorities, etc… to me…not truly merit.</p>