<p>Daughter has done well, not phenomonal, but is top 10%, NHS, AP, etc. Her SAT scores were okay. Being tutored over summer in hopes of improving. She is looking at Marist, SUNY Buffalo, Gordon College to name a few. My questions is regarding scholarship monies. Is she better off applying at more mediocre schools to get more money, or should she stick with better schools and get less money? She is also a hispanic student looking to study medicine.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>There is aid based on merit and aid based on need. Need-based aid isn’t connected to the selectivity of the school. Merit aid is - it’s only offered by schools to attract the type of students that the school couldn’t otherwise hope to attract. If your D lowers her aim in the hopes of getting merit-based aid, she’d have to lower it to the point that she would be the outlier in terms of ability and accomplishments. And even then, there’s no guarantee that the school would offer merit aid. She could choose to add a couple applications to schools at which she thinks she’d be “overqualified,” but I wouldn’t recommend limiting a search to such schools for the purpose of seeking scholarships.</p>
<p>I would definitely encourage her apply for the Daniel Acker Scholarship at UB, which is full tuition and other perks and gives preference to minority/first gen students. Qualifications are a 90% HS average and a 1200 SAT/24 ACT. Is she competitive enough for the guaranteed seat program for pre-med there? If so, she can certainly gain many scholarships at the private schools as well.</p>
<p>As far as your question goes, it depends on how you define “mediocre”. I would not judge a school based on a list but feel it depends on the program, faculty, and fit for the student - socially, academically, and financially. We found some wonderful schools that aren’t ever discussed here on CC, as well as public U’s that were surprisingly good in terms of what my D was looking for. So, I would have her apply to schools she actually wants to attend, being careful to have financial and academic “safeties” which should also be schools that she’d be satisfied with. </p>
<p>Many of the pre-professional kids have to be careful not to load up with so much undergrad debt that their career plans are limited if they don’t actually continue. At the same time, they do want a respectable undergrad degree and solid pre-professional advising and access to the “resume builder” opportunities. For us, UB was the best option even though it wasn’t initially a school my D thought she’d like (on paper).</p>
<p>Some threads worth reading on this issue are:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/63770-best-schools-give-most-merit-based-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/63770-best-schools-give-most-merit-based-aid.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>