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My parents have expressed that they aren’t willing to pay anything for my college, which I’m fine with. My sisters all managed to have their college paid for, granted they all went to cheaper public institutions.
And I’m not saying I need both good need-based and merit-based,
I’m just saying is that I need enough to ensure that I won’t have a metric crapton of debt.
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You’re mistaken. YOU can only borrow $5500, so you DO NEED a LOT of merit. You need more than full tuition.
Many of the suggested schools above will not be affordable. Creighton isn’t going to give you full tuition, much less more than that.
Your $5500 loan won’t even cover room and board, much less fees, books, etc. You have to budget about $15k for the “non tuition” expenses. That is why you need a HUGE merit scholarship.
And, YES, merit gets applied FIRST, when it’s from the institution.
You need to get much more familiar with the funding of your education.
did your sisters commute to college?