<p>Hello, I am an upcoming senior and am starting to really narrow down where I am going to apply. I would really like to get some sort of merit aid as my family is pretty well off but getting my COA down to 30k or less would be really nice. I am a NYS student but not many SUNY schools appeal to me. I want to go to a big school with exciting athletics and a good atmosphere. I know I can get full tuition to University of Alabama but I wanted to know if there are any other schools in the same range that I could possibly get partial rides to. My stats are below:</p>
<p>Ranked 16/223
2090 SAT: 740 Math/660 CR/690 Writing (Taking ACT in fall)
3.6 UW GPA
All honors and college courses: 6+ APs (Hardest load possible)
Over 90% on every NYS Regent's Exam
Two Years National Honors Society
Employed for one year
Competitively Sailing for 2 years</p>
<p>Look at Hofstra U. It’s really getting GREAT reviews lately…its super “up and coming” especially if your into science.
It’s got a great school spirit…their lacrosse team is extremely popular.
But they have a good rep.with giving merit and your stats are above average…
no not guaranteed aid as I am sure the two people above me will reply with…but if you like the school, you have a pretty good chance of getting some money.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. I have checked out the automatic thread many times, and yes I want to go to a big rah rah sports school so LACs don’t really appeal to me.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’d be happy with a Big Ten school, but the cost may be pushing through your limits. The total COA for an OOS student to attend the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is about $32K. Wisconsin is slightly higher. Indiana-Bloomington is over $36K. Don’t expect these costs to go anywhere but up in the next 4 years, and don’t expect significant financial aid (need-based/merit) from any of them.</p>
<p>For private, top-100 schools, you’d need about $20K (or more) to get below $30K. Not too many of them offer enough merit scholarships at that level for someone with your qualifications (which are very good but not super exceptional.) The most generous include:</p>
<p>American
Brandeis
Case Western
Furman
George Washington</p>
<p>As for that $30K you think you can cover, does it already include loans and student employment? If not, then you might have some headroom to pay for Minnesota or another Big 10 school at the lower end of their cost range.</p>
<p>UNLV is under $30K for OOS students. Barely. For now.</p>
<p>Michigan State has outstanding merit aid available for OOS kids with very high stats and for whom rah rah is more important than the quality of the education. (Not that you can’t get a good education there, if that’s your goal.) </p>
<p>Check out U of Miami. Son had similar stats as yours last year and was offered $24k of merit aid with no separate application, and no fin aid ap either. It’s academically stronger than Alabama, and they are pretty rabid about their football. That brought net cost of attendance down to right at $30k. Tons of kids from northeast too. Good Luck!</p>
<p>It sounds like you need to apply to several rah rah schools to see what will work for you. Apply to some that have competitive big merit…and some with assured big merit as “insurance”. That way you’ll know for sure that you’ll have at least a couple schools with affordable costs.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies they have been very helpful. One thing I noticed about competitive scholarships is that they require a certain GPA to be eligible. Is this weighted or unweighted? Due to taking the hardest classes offered to me my UW GPA is rather low. Do students with easier classes and a higher GPA have the advantage here? Also, does anybody know how competitive University of Colorado’s Presidential Scholarship is?</p>
<p>That depends on the school. One school we’ve visited says they throw out the HS’s computed GPA and recompute based on their own standards when considering merit awards. Theirs is a simple process: academic core courses only, unweighted GPA, add one full grade level for any course designated as honors or AP.</p>
<p>American’s top merit scholarship was $20K/year this year, which leaves total COA>$30K.</p>
<p>Brandeis has announced a change to their institutional policies and is no longer giving merit scholarships to students without demonstrated need, unless they meet criteria for certain very specific programs (Russian-speaking Jews, kids from Waltham HS, or kids from Chicago).</p>
<p>Also, my reading of the GWU page also indicates that their merit scholarships for students without demonstrated financial need may be limited to one specific program, which, this year, was awarding about $15K, again leaving COA>$30. (They have some generous awards for students with demonstrated need.)</p>
<p>*Also, does anybody know how competitive University of Colorado’s Presidential Scholarship is? *</p>
<p>Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship. The Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship is available to out-of-state students who are in the top 25% of the admitted non-resident class at CU-Boulder. With this scholarship, you will receive $ 5,000 per year. You must submit your admission application no later than January 15 to be automatically considered. A separate scholarship application is not needed.</p>
<p>Presidential Scholarship. Each year, about 10% of Chancellor’s Achievement Scholars receive The Presidential Scholarship of $ 15,000 per year their freshman and sophomore years and $ 12,500 per year their junior and senior years. To be automatically considered, you must submit your admission application no later than January 15. A separate scholarship application is not needed. If you are selected to receive the Presidential Scholarship, you are not eligible to receive the Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship.</p>
<p>It’s hard to know without knowing how many OOS students are in the top 25%…and then 10% are awarded the Presidential. Don’t know if it’s the top 10%? Guessing that would be so unless the student offers some other hook.</p>
<p>So, if about 2000 frosh are OOS, and if 500 are in the top 25%, then 10% would be 50, and then about 50 would get the Presidential. But, that’s a lot of ifs and no certain stats.</p>
<p>Anyway…you might need to contact Colorado to ask how competitive it is and what stats have gotten that scholarship in the past.</p>
<p>Also…it doesn’t appear that Colorado considers the Writing score, but that could always change.</p>