OK, I played DIII baseball, and I just spent the last year helping our S search for a relatively conservative LAC with good merit aid. We crisscrossed the country, so here are some suggestions.
Denison U in Ohio. Great merit aid, DIII baseball, good athletic facilities, moderate politically. Current administration really trying to crack down on partying, but still some present. Strong academics.
Trinity University, San Antonio. Again, great merit aid with massive endowment (25th in the entire country on per capita endowment). Terrific DIII baseball, made it to CWS last year. Relatively conservative, located in Texas a conservative state. 2nd ranked school academically to Rice in Texas, and Rice is absolutely top-tier DI Baseball, which sounds out of reach for your skills.
St. Olaf. Definitely conservative, but the baseball team had a problem last year with hazing and was forced to stop playing their entire 2015 season. Also, take it from me, baseball in MN is terrible, since you have only a couple months of decent weather and end up practicing inside all the time. Strong academics.
Hillsdale. Very conservative, DIII baseball, but it is Michigan, another cold-weather school. You should get in, but not a shoo-in with your stats. They are getting increasingly selective in admissions.
Rhodes. Warm weather, DIII, good merit aid. Middle of the roadish on liberal/conservatism.
Furman University. Located in Greenville, SC, warm climate. Now they are DI in sports, but play in a lesser conference, so you might fit this athletically. Good school, ok merit aid.
Carleton and Mac are quite liberal, believe me.
Do some research on these and other suggestions. Hopefully something will strike a chord. If you want more specific info on Trinity, contact me directly, as my S is now enrolled as a freshman and I have spent quite a bit of time there.
Take a look at Vanderbilt, Rice, Davidson and University of Richmond. All have their share of moderate and conservative students and offer generous financial aid. Vanderbilt is urban but it’s in Nashville which has a more mellow vibe. You’ll have to check out the sports for yourself since I don’t know off-hand.
Vandy and Rice are not only DI in baseball, but they are absolutely top programs, with kids getting drafted into the majors left and right. OP is not going to make those teams if he is not already being actively recruited.
Davidson is an option, and, like Furman, they are DI for athletics but play is a lesser conference so he might be competitive. HOWEVER, very little merit aid. Great school academically.
I cannot add much on U Rich, as I am not directly familiar with that school, other than an excellent reputation.
Another option to think about is Creighton, and go for their Honor’s Program. Easy for you to visit, and you can gauge whether or not baseball might be an option for you there–might be too competitive.
They give very strong merit aid…but perhaps you want to get out of Nebraska.
You should look into Miami of Ohio (although it’s definitely more than 7 hrs away)
Don’t know about a baseball team there, or what Div the sports are, actually - but it’s a mid-sized public “liberal arts university” and it’s supposed to have a conservative climate, overall.
It has a good reputation in the Midwest for academic rigor.
If you have at least a 3.5 GPA uw, you should also get a nice merit scholarship there.
It’s also a public school, the OOS tuition is around 30k. Again, you would not pay the sticker price, probably half of that, maybe less, if your GPA is a 3.5 or better.
Check out University of Alabama-Huntsville. They offer big scholarships, and they post a grid showing exactly what scholarship you will get based on GPA and test scores. They also have a Division II baseball team and meet your other criteria (you can fly there). If you are possibly interested in engineering, they also have a great co-op program.
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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.
Okay–it’s freezing Minnesota, but take a look at Concordia College (Moorhead). More conservation student body that Mac or Carleton, bigger city than Northfield, more merit-based aid than St. Olaf.
In terms of baseball, the coach is Chris Coste, member of the 2008 World Championship Phillies and has the distinction of being the first player that originated from Division III college baseball’s MIAC to win a World Series.
Probably not at all what you’re looking for, but University of Nebraska - Omaha has this to say:
Regent’s Scholarship
Regents’ Scholarships are offered to residents of Nebraska that are graduating seniors of Nebraska high schools. Applicants with a minimum ACT composite of 30 and either a rank in the top 25% of their graduating class OR a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher will qualify for the award.
The Regents’ Scholarship covers undergraduate resident tuition and is renewable with a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher. The award is renewable for up to five total years or until 135 attempted credit hours is reached (not including hours earned through dual enrollment or AP classes) or a bachelor’s degree is earned.
Still leaves room, board, books, transportation, etc.
And I think they’re div 1 for baseball … but the first thing is to get an education.
Here’s a second for Sewanee and Denison, both of which meet a lot of your criteria (though not distance). Remember, you’re only at school for 32 weeks or so during the year, and that leaves a lot of time for being back at home during breaks.
If you’re considering Denison, maybe put Ohio Wesleyan on the list? Merit aid + Div. III baseball. I think it’s more on the moderate side politically for LACs.
Are your parents lower income or with a low EFC?
Or do they have a high EFC they don’t want to pay?
If they have a high EFC, you need to tell your parents that if they don’t pay their expected family contribution, they may need to take on Parent PLUS loans. The cost of tuition has risen so much that it’s impossible to “self fund” - you can self fund about $10,000 ($5,500 loan which is what YOU are allowed to borrow + summer job + work study/on campus job) whereas the lowest cost universities are $25,000 or so. The difference is where parent loans or savings or payments come in. Students can’t do it alone anymore like they could even 10 years ago.
Will they take on the Parent PLUS loan? Will they be willing to chip in for food, rent, gas money, books, anything? (After all, if you didn’t go to college and stayed at home, you’d cost them something so they could set that amount aside to help you pay for food at college, plus they’ll likely “claim” you meaning they’ll get a college tax credit which is supposed to go to you to help you pay for college, will they pocket it or will they refund it to you for educational expenses ?..) If they’d be willing to refund the tax credit and money for food, you’d be okay with some full tuition scholarships.
You could apply to UAlabama’s Honors College and with your current GPA/ACT score, you’d get into the Honors College and get Honors Dorm and an automatic full tuition scholarship, plus if you major in CS or engineering a semester stipend. The cool things are that it’s automatic (not competitive: all applicants who meet the requirements get the scholarship) and that the Honors College is very good, with many Honors classes.
With your ACT scores, you also stand a good chance at Pitt.
(If they request a Parent PLUS loan and are denied, YOU are allowed to take $4,000 more in loans).
If not: are you a NMSF?
If you’re lower income and they can’t pay anything because they make too little, you only have 2 weeks left to apply through Questbridge. If selected, you’ll get a full ride scholarship at some of the country’s top colleges.
My parents are both farmers and don’t make a lot, however they have a lot of assets (land, equipment, etc.). They would probably pay for rent and stuff like that, and would probably even take out a loan themselves as long as I paid it back. I looked at Questbridge and don’t think I have a chance at one of their scholarships because they look for people with minimal assets. I am a NMSF. Also, I have been looking at both Gettysburg and Washington and Lee and may be competitive for their merit scholarships.
Denison used to be a great choice for a NMSF (assuming you move on to finalist) with up to 34 automatic NMF scholarships, but it looks like those are now gone. I believe they still have good merit aid and you would be competitive for the full tuition scholarships.
Look at this list carefully. You are going to have to relax your criteria. You need close to a full ride and a full tuition scholarship at the minimum. Texas Tech might be a great fit in terms of the student body. Also consider Baylor. There are some great NMF scholarships in Texas. I would look at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa. The University of Alabama is farther away but has an excellent NMF scholarship.
