College alternatives for Wesleyan, Vassar, etc.

<p>Since my family doesn't qualify for FA I've switched gears in my college search. I was previously touring Wesleyan, Vassar, Amherst, etc. and am looking for schools where I have a good shot at getting merit aid. So far I love University of Puget Sound and Oberlin, though at Oberlin I bet I wouldn't get as good offers as at UPS and other less selective colleges. </p>

<p>My mom likes Sewanee, but I can't see myself at a 70% Greek school.</p>

<p>I guess overall I'm looking for less preppy, less selective but still strong LAC's that offer merit aid.</p>

<p>Edit: I hate using the word "preppy" to describe groups of people. I'm looking for a student body with a more liberal/artistic bent.</p>

<p>How much merit do you need? A few thousand? Half tuition? full tuition?</p>

<p>The answer depends on (1) how much aid you are looking for, and (2) your stats - GPA/SAT/ACT.</p>

<p>And you are sure you don’t qualify for need aid, right? Asking because some kids make assumptions.</p>

<p>^^^
Yes, they’re sure. The parents used NPCs. They have a high income and the child has a trust fund.</p>

<p>Sorry, didn’t check back posts.</p>

<p>To be honest, I’m not sure how much aid we need, but I don’t think I necessarily have to get half the tuition. My parents are willing and able to contribute a lot (they paid maybe 30k for my brother and said they’d do the same for me, or more, unless our situation changes); it’s the money in my trust that they’re encouraging me to be conservative with.</p>

<p>Oh, and stats.
3.9 GPA at nationally recognized magnet/2030 SAT/32 ACT
EC’s: started my school’s lit mag, president of 3 organizations, over 100 hours service for 1 education enrichment program, etc.</p>

<p>I gather you want to leave Louisiana. The $30k your parents say they can pay will MORE than cover the costs of attending LSU…as you know.</p>

<p>Have you considered any of the SUNY schools? Their costs for OOS students is within this price range, and they are great schools. </p>

<p>Look at the thread by Bob Wallace on merit aid. You would certainly be eligible for merit at many schools. </p>

<p>Have you considered schools like Rhodes, Trinity (San Antonio), or any of the smaller LAC schools? Some might offer you sufficient merit to attend.</p>

<p>I would STRONGLY prefer to go out-of-state; my local safety is Tulane because it has a LA Initiative program that offers good merit aid. I’d attend LSU Honors except that LSU is giant. And I’ll check out your suggestions!</p>

<p>Hendrix fits your requirements for liberal/artsy, and I believe your stats would qualify you for participation in the Hays scholarship competition (for a full ride). The college has a good literary magazine and the Oxford American is published in the same town if you want to try to work on a professional one.</p>

<p>Knox College in Illinois is also worth checking out…their literary magazine is award-winning and their writing program is great.</p>

<p>Look at Macalester, Willamette, Lewis and Clark. It sounds like the schools in Colleges That Change Lives may meet your needs. Check that out. </p>

<p>You are wise to be considering costs carefully even with the finances available.</p>

<p>A lot of Catholic schools are offering deep discounts in tuition for qualified tuition. ALso look at SUNY Geneseo, UNC Asheville. Denison has good financial aid as does a lot of the small schools in Ohio. Antioch is free while its getting recertified. College of Charleston has upped its price but still not way up there. Goucher has some merit money as does Hobart William Smith and Hofstra.</p>

<p>I’ll share some of DS’s experiences this past year in hopes that they might help.</p>

<p>He got a relatively large merit award (and no need-based award) from Goucher. Net price (not taking into account any loans) would have been ~$32,500 for 2013-14.</p>

<p>Hampshire College also gives straight merit awards. I don’t think any of them would bring the cost down to $30,000, but it would be better than nothing. </p>

<p>I agree that you might want to look at SUNY Geneseo. Even though you mention LACs, you might want to consider SUNY Binghamton too. Also, New Paltz isn’t as selective as either of those, but it’s not at all preppy and is a good, artsy LAC. Plattsburgh might be a good candidate too. Cost with no FA should be below $30,000. If you want a shot at merit money, apply as early as possible. New Paltz hardly gives any FA; I believe Plattsburgh is more generous. Don’t know about FA at Geneseo and Binghamton.</p>

<p>Bennington College offers merit aid as well, though I found it difficult to figure out what the range is and how it’s awarded. </p>

<p>New College of Florida is a small LAC that gives good merit aid to out-of-staters and, given your stats, should bring the cost down quite a bit lower than $30,000. </p>

<p>As an FYI, DS ended up not going for one of the LACs and opted for University of Vermont instead. He’ll start Fall 2013 in the honors college there and the merit awards he received brought the cost down to the $30,000 level (with no need-based aid and not counting loans). As with the SUNYs, if interested, I’d suggest applying early and at least for last year UVM provided motivation for doing so by waiving the application fee for EA applicants.</p>

<p>Thanks! I hadn’t heard of of New Paltz or Plattsburgh. I actually have a cousin at UVM, so I could easily learn more through him. SUNY might be a harder sell to my parents than the Colleges That Change Lives, but they seem like good schools to me, and I’ve been receiving materials from them for a while that I haven’t flipped through yet.</p>

<p>SUNYs that give merit: U of Buffalo, Albany, Stonybrook, Oneonta, Oswego, Cortland, Brockport, Geneseo</p>

<p>Binghamton does not give merit- not sure about the ones that were not mentioned ie New Paltz etc. Even without merit the schools are more reasonable than most for OOS students.</p>