Colleges with similar vibe to Duke/Vandy with more merit $?

College Search & Selection
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I didn’t suggest it was easy. I think the school meets the criteria that the OP is looking for and there are merit scholarships. I also think Wake Forest or Elon could be great.

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Monitor Tulane’s website for virtual and in-person prospective student events. For example, my daughter participated in a live (but virtual from the comfort of her bedroom) Tulane Cahoot competition. Schedule an interview and do your homework before the interview. Apply EA.

In fact, along those lines, many colleges won’t give you any merit money unless you apply by a certain date. Monitor those dates carefully and be sure to get your application in by then. (Usually November 1 or 15)

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There are a lot of great suggestions here – and I echo Wash & Lee, Univ of Richmond, Furman, Wofford & Davidson – they all have great merit for tippy top students (which you will likely be a strong candidate for). Also, I’ve heard that Berry College in GA & Sewanee in TN both have great merit for top contenders, but I haven’t run the NPC or checked them out personally.

From personal experience, Creighton in Omaha has great merit & a low(er) starting price, so that may get you into your range — e.g. my kiddo’s COA after merit (of $29k) was $28k/yr – BUT his stats are not as high as yours, so I think you’d get more – plus be invited to compete for the full ride scholarships. Creighton appealed to my boys due to its medium size, in a mid-size city & the “rah rah” it has for basketball (we are a Duke family). Also, again from personal knowledge - U Miami has STAMPS & Singer scholarships (full ride) – but housing there is a BIG problem & an equally big gamble/headache that my kids ruled it out even with good scholarships/FA.

Also, have you looked in Texas? You may qualify for very large merit at TCU & Trinity University – both medium size schools.

Good luck - good news is your have academically placed yourself at the top of the heap for many great schools & options. Keep running the net price calculator & get your parents to commit to what the budget is so you can go into this journey prepared.

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Yeah, I think you may really like it. University of Tulsa has had a new president since 2021, and he has made a lot of positive changes, including really recruiting lots of National Merit Scholars–this upcoming class is projected to be 15% NM students! So you would have plenty of smart peers. It is a private school, and even though it might be a bit smaller than your ideal, I think it could provide all the resources you want, and does have D1 sports if you care. Tulsa is also a young and hip city with a thriving LGBT scene:

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How to demonstrate interest:

  1. Apply as early as possible. Within a month of the common app opening would be great.
  2. Visit. You live in LA, so it should be possible. They would expect you to visit since you live within driving distance. Sign up in advance for the tour and for as many events they have. Make sure to sign in when you arrive. See if you can sit in on a class in a subject area you are interested in.
  3. Open every email they send you. You don’t have to respond. Just open them and read them. If there’s something within the email to click, click it.
  4. Reach out to the admissions office with a question.
  5. If there are any optional essays, do them all.
  6. In your essay(s) reference something specific about Tulane that you liked when you were on campus or that you learned about through any sessions you attended.
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As a senior from North Louisiana that has gone through the college admissions process with similar stats and that is also a National Merit Finalist, I may not be able to offer a lot of advice based on experiences at certain colleges, but I can offer information on which colleges offer the most money and which ones you are likely to get into (which are most of them tbh).

I would say Tulane is definitely a great choice depending on what you want to major in, but even though they offer a lot of aid to Louisiana students, I have heard a lot of peers that are still struggling with the humongous price tag. Especially, when comparing to other schools in LA like LSU, it’s really pricey, but you would probably get in.

I personally received a really good offer for Fordham due to National Merit, and with stats like that you would probably also be eligible for consideration for the Cuniffe scholarship which is a full ride and within reach for you. If you want to get out of the South, this is the choice I would recommend. If not, the rest of my recommendations are in the region.

Emory is another choice that many people opt for because it’s slightly cheaper than an Ivy in terms of financial aid, but most of the people I know that chose Emory are upper-middle class kids with college funds, so this one really depends on your financial situation because it will probably still turn out pricey. Considering you said you won’t get much need-based aide, I presume that it won’t be too bad, but if you’re looking for a full ride, this may not be the option.

I personally wouldn’t recommend Tulsa, despite their lofty scholarship. You can get a lot of aide, and they offer free applications (I applied for free as a national merit semifinalist), so definitely apply just in case, but with your stats, I think you could shoot for a much higher-tier school. Not to discredit Tulsa’s academic status; that is simply my personal opinion.

Lastly, Alabama also offered a really good scholarship (everything except indirect costs), and you can apply for free there as well so I recommend it applying even if you don’t pick it.

A lot of this is really major-specific though, so take this as you wish. I wish you the best!

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Fyi, Vandy has ED2 as well.

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If OP only has 10-25k but family is full pay (she needs to see), she cannot ED anywhere.

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Thanks! I’m focusing more on not going into debt at all than prestige since I want to go to med school, law school, or a phd program after college. So since I know I can get a full ride to places, I’m not going somewhere I can’t afford without taking out loans since med or law school will require loans regardless.

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@tsbna44 My post was (respectfully) in response to someone saying that Vandy only offers ED1, which is incorrect. People read/review these posts for purposes beyond the OP. Need to make sure the information is accurate on here (respectfully.)

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@elise123 You have exceptional scores & grades. The best thing that you can do now is make an appointment with your school’s guidance counselor, explain your family’s financial situation and parental makeup and ask how that would be reflected in the process. Depending your GC’s contact list among admissions staff, perhaps you could get a professional opinion or two on your exact situation, or at least a guideline for next steps.

You’re thoughtful enough to be building the roadmap during March of your junior year with a highly competitive score locked in. You should be ok.

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Also worth noting that the merit deadline for Vanderbiltnis 12/1, so some students apply RD by the deadline and then switch to ED2 if they do not get accepted at their Ed 1.

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@ins just wanted to chime in that the Tulsa package is not just the money. They also have some great special programs, including the International Science and Engineering Program which allows for students double-majoring in science or engineering and a world language to spend a year abroad. Combining this program with the NMF scholarship and some of the other opportunities makes it worth another look, especially if the goal is little to no debt.

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I want to commend you for starting this search early! After going through it with my kid this year, I wish we had trimmed the list down. Many schools gave excellent merit, but few close to the full tuition we hoped for. My kid’s stats are similar to yours. Waitlisted at Vandy, rejected at Washington. Vandy has a lot of merit, Washington not nearly as much. In at Emory, Davidson, Richmond and a few SLACs. Good merit at many schools but not great. My kid will likely take the NMF package at Tulsa. We really liked it.

I heard another parent say, " You can chase money or prestige but not both." I think that is very true.

Oh, and there are no mountains around Duke :thinking:

Good luck finding the right school for you.

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You don’t know where you are with merit with Emory in December.

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I mentioned these two above, but I still think they’d be good options for you to consider, and for one, the window for scholarship consideration for next school year has already opened.

  • Wofford: Have your high school counselor nominate you for for the Wofford Scholars program. The nomination window for class of 2024 is now open and will close September 15. Since the start of school can be such a busy time for everyone, including counselors, this is a good time to get on the list. The scholarships can be worth between $60-250k over a 4-year period, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up on the higher end. As a Wofford Scholar you would also be eligible for consideration for the Richardson Family Scholarship, a full ride plus extra perks.

  • Furman: From the description, it seems as though you’d be competitive for the James B. Duke Scholarships which offers a full-ride. And if you don’t receive one, I think they would still give you generous merit aid.

These are some schools that have swing-for-the-fences opportunities that results in a full ride for a very small number of students that you may want to consider. These schools probably are not as challenging to get merit aid as at Duke & Vandy, but these will definitely still be quite challenging.

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This school only offers up to full tuition, but I don’t think the applicant pool would be as competitive as for the four schools just above.

Some of these schools do have religious affiliations. Santa Clara is a Jesuit institution. Most Jesuit schools have a strong orientation towards service, are very open to people of all (and no) faiths, and tend to be supportive of LGBTQ students (all of the above are true for Loyola New Orleans, which you may also want to consider). For Lutheran churches that are part of the ELCA Synod (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America…not to be confused with “evangelical” churches that are frequently nondenominational), they also tend to be more progressive and supportive of the LGBTQ community. Obviously, you would want to research more about these (and any) schools on the issues that you care about, but I believe the religious institutions listed here would be affirming of all their students.

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I am in another college parent group and someone got a full ride merit offer to Wake. That can’t be easy to get but would be worth looking into.

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