<p>My son is a high school sophomore with a 3.8gpa. He hasn't taken the SAT yet but did well on PSAT. If his gpa stays the same and he does well on the SAT's should I be considering private or better public colleges with the hopes of him receiving scholarship money? I was going to stick to my state colleges primarily for the lower cost.</p>
<p>There is definitely merit money available at many private colleges, although not the tippy-top (10-20 ones). But there are tons of great colleges where he could get some merit for his stats. Depending on your state it might not bring it quite down to your state cost, but it can come down quite a bit.</p>
<p>If you give us more info, we can make suggestions. It would help to know:
- State you live in
- Area of study he is interested in
- Cost constraints
- PSAT score this year (10th grader, but it sounds like you have a score)
- Size preference if he has one
- Geographic constraints
- Anything specific he wants (EC, sport, etc.)</p>
<p>Consider both public and private! Let the process play out and see who offers a great package. Make sure it’s a quality school. Don’t simply look at the financial aspect of it.</p>
<p>^ But don’t ignore the financial aspect. If you can’t afford $60K/year for college then make sure your S knows that. Figure out what you can afford.</p>
<p>In addition to in state options you can certainly look for some private schools that offer good merit aid and where your son is in the top 75% or so of the admitted student range.</p>
<p>It’s certainly worth applying to a few OOS public or private schools and look at your state Us as safeties. Just realize that, to receive scholarship money, he will need to be at the top of the range for the schools he’s applying to. Many kids with great stats apply to schools where they fall in the middle of the range, and then wonder why they don’t get merit money. Merit scholarships are offered because a school wants to boost their stats, or because a student fills a unique niche. Just do have realistic conversations with him about how much you can afford - in many cases you won’t hear about merit money until well after acceptances are received, so you can’t make a decision until March or even April.</p>