Great ideas, I will take note and have my daughter take a look at these with us. I think the north is tough. Lots of great schools up there though. We’ve been up north all of our lives, moved to Carolina from New York.
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Some of the most selective colleges offer no merit scholarships.
In general, larger merit scholarships are more likely to be gotten at colleges where the applicant is “overqualified” for, if the college offers larger merit scholarships.
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She would get very substantial merit at 3rd tier liberal arts colleges, but frankly, with her level of achievement, she will not find many peers there. I’m really hoping she gets into Chapel Hill - that is where she will find her peer group, plus it fits your wallet.
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Here are the NC public universities that may be small or medium sized:
| Campus | Approximate enrollment | Anthropology | Biology | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth City State University | 2k | N | Y | N |
| Fayetteville State University | 7k | N | Y | N |
| NC A&T State University | 13k | N | Y | N |
| NC Central University | 8k | N | Y | Y |
| UNC Asheville | 4k | Y | Y | Y (concentration within modern languages major) |
| UNC Pembroke | 8k | N | Y | Y |
| UNC School of the Arts | 1k | N | N | N |
| Western Carolina University | 12k | Y | Y | Y |
| Winston Salem State University | 5k | N | Y | Y |
Looks like anthropology is the scarcest of the three possible majors at small to midsize NC public universities.
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Thank you very much for this!! Asheville has all three, and yes, anthropology is not well represented! She is pretty undecided on majors, which puts med/large schools in the plus column. So much to consider.
I am going to recommend College of Wooster as a possibility. She would be very strong candidate, their merit would put her in range of your price and it offers all the majors she is currently interested in. Left leaning, about 2k students, a little over 6 hrs away from your area if I guessed correctly.
ETA: I don’t know if Ohio is verboten to your child - the entire state was to all three of mine. But its an amazing school if the location isn’t a road-block.
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@LisaMBA how would this family that doesn’t qualify for need based aid pay for Davidson. They have $36,000 a year saved for college.
I didn’t check the majors…but would Miami Ohio be too far away? It might be worth checking.
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Davidson has generous merit aid for high achieving students: Scholarships | Davidson
Then it’s worth a try. But only 4% get these scholarships. This poster could be one…but absolutely needs a very generous award to make Davidson affordable.
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Any suggestions?
Is Lafayette too far? She may get merit there.
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If she’s open to the midwest and interested in smaller schools, Beloit is known for Anthro, and it’s quite generous with merit. (Maximum merit award is 45K/year, which would make the net cost around 24K, so it’s not too farfetched that she could get enough to make it work.) There’s both a major and a minor in Spanish Language & Culture, plus there’s a substantial and growing Latinx population locally. https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/1-in-5-people-in-beloit-are-hispanic-heres-how-they-are-making-sure-the-youngest-thrive-in-school And of course they have bio, and they’re well-regarded for STEM across the board. (Not within a six hour drive, though… more like double that…)
Beloit and Wooster, suggested above, are both “Colleges That Change Lives” schools. You may want to peruse that website for additional ideas. ctcl.org Not all give enough merit to meet your budget, but some do.
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UNC Wilmington has all three of the majors she is considering and the price would be right.
I was pleasantly surprised by the campus when we visited. She would be on the high end of student stats, but honors college seems robust. Beach could be a plus, especially if marine biology is a potential interest within the biology field.
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You say that high assets will keep you from need-based aid. Just to make sure you know— money in official retirement accounts (401k/IRA) is shielded from financial aid assessment for all colleges; equity in your primary residence is shielded for many (but not all) colleges. Money in a 529 plan is assessed at 5.6 percent (as is all other parent assets).
Have you run the net price calculators for schools of interest?
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I don’t know that you’re going to get everything on your daughter’s wishlist. I’d take a good look at some of the NC publics (Asheville?), but in looking beyond those, then these are some which I’d look at to see if they’d be a suitable compromise:
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Furman (SC): About 2300 undergrads, may not be as liberal as your D is hoping for, but the town is a blue spot in SC
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Coastal Carolina (SC): If you’re considering College of Charleston, then this one may also want to be in play. About 9800 undergrads.
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Emory (GA): This one probably ticks off everything on the list…except price. But Emory is one of the few Top X schools that gives merit aid, so she could give it a shot.
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Mercer (GA): About 4900 undergrads here.
The above are all within 250 miles of Davidson, NC, so should feasibly be within your 6-hr driving limit.
Thinking a bit further away:
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Rhodes (TN): About 2100 undergrads in this Memphis city, and there are about 5-6 direct flights/day from Charlotte.
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U. of the South (TN): This one’s 6h8m driving from Davidson, NC, so just outside of range. There are about 1700 undergrads here. Depending aspects of being “liberal” matter for your D, this may or may not work.
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Transylvania (KY): About 6h17m drive, with about 1k undergrads, in Lexington, KY, so there would be a bit huge population of other university students should she decide she wants more interactions.
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Ohio U.: About 19k undergrads. Definitely larger than aiming for, but it has a very well-reputed honors college and it’s 5h13m from Davidson.
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College of Wooster (OH): About 2k undergrads…already mentioned, but one I really think is worth pursuing.
For anthropology, I’d also take a good look at U. of Kentucky (about 22k undergrads), and if she’s a National Merit Finalist, she should get big merit aid there. U. of Louisville is also another contender if she decides to go for a larger school (about 16k undergrads) and there’s a lot of merit aid opportunities there, too.
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Thank you for your good suggestions! I will reply in more detail soon!
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The issue though is she’s looking for a liberal student body and to not be a # - so many of these won’t be that. But I agree that there needs to be openness to hit $36k.
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I am surprised no one has mentioned Washington and Lee, and the Johnson scholarship yet.
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That’s fair but another Hail Mary and we don’t know if the student has name concerns.
Likely not liberal meaning although @DramaMama2021 shares her student’s fantastic experience. Again it’s another Hail Mary but being bi racial could help.
I saw OP said maybe a chance at NMSF. If so, that’s the golden ticket. Hopefully that happens.
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Denison draws a good number of students from Charlotte area, it’s about 6 hours drive. Merit could be $30k a year which would make closer to a financial target. Admissions is 17%, so no sure thing, especially as the school looks for active, engaged students more than stats, but a very special place.
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