I have been out of the game for four years. I am just wandering if there are any new schools that are giving out solid merit $$$. It would be for OOS. 1500+ or 34+. All the normal APs and ECs.
I know that some schools back off the merit $$$ every few years. I am hoping for 85-90% of the tuition and fees. My D19 ended up with 90% of tuition and fees OOS school ranked in top 100. She grabbed a departmental scholarship soph-sr to get to 97%.
I now have D23 coming along. She is interested in teaching HS.
If she is interested in teaching, she should go to school in the state where she wants to teach. Changing licensure between states is time consuming and expensive.
U Arizona, ASU, Alabama, U New Mexico, Miami Ohio would be a good place to start.
There are more schools offering discounts, which don’t have defined merit grids/programs.
If she wants to be a teacher it’s often best to attend school in the state she wants to teach, and of course to save $/not take on much, if any, debt.
I would like for it to be $14-15K per year for COA (not counting books and entertainment). I could live with $20K.
D19 is at Miami OH. Good school. They have ranges for merit in their grids so it is a bit of a crapshoot on what you get. I also think they are backing off the merit a little.
Check the requirements for a teaching credential in the state she wants to teach in. Is it the state of residency (for college tuition purposes) or a different state?
Also, what subjects does she want to teach? That can inform choice of college major (in addition to any teacher-specific course work).
Stats-based merit has generally been on the decline. PSAT-based (National Merit) also, but it seems to be somewhat more common than (other) stats-based.
Teacher salary schedules are often based on # of units after undergrad. She can look for a school where she will get her credential in 4 years and start teaching right away but, in general, she will be working at a lower salary. Alternatively, she can get her bachelors degree in whatever subject she wants and then get a teaching credential and/or masters at another school.
After undergrad, she will be seen as financially independent, regardless of whether you claimed her on your taxes the year before. You can find credential/masters programs that are subsidized (free) if you pay back by working for certain districts.
Many credential/masters programs are two years - a student receives the credential the first year and works as a teacher while completing a masters (evening) the second year. Others, utilize summer school and a student receives a credential and masters in one calendar year. Look at teacher salary schedules in your area to see how the salaries change based on units after BA/BS and what types of bonuses are offered for advanced degrees (masters, EdD, etc).
Bama, UAH, Mississippi State, Bradley, Hofstra, Truman State, Murray State might be the first I’d look at.
Arizona just raised tuition (to $41K) and dropped the top merit (needed a 4.0) to 32K from 35K but a 3.9 still gets $30K. They don’t look at test score.
Schools like Troy (may be free tuition and housing), Ole Miss, FSU and other Fl publics not named UF, Valdosta State, Southern Illinois, Iowa State, Eastern and Western KY, Murray State, LA Tech, Louisiana Lafatyette and Louisiana Monroe, Central Michigan, Southern MIss, New Mexico, New Mexico State, W Carolina, North Dakota and North Dakota State, PA regionals like Slippery Rock and Shippensburg, South Dakota and S Dakota State, Black Hills State, MTSU, Marshall, WVU Wyoming…
Schools like these will be cheap - under $25K total including room and board and in some cases much under.
What is your home state? I wouldn’t worry about top 100 - but I would worry about different states may have different requirements although I imagine most, if not all, are desperate for teachers.
I am in IL. We do probably have the best solution in state at IL St. It is a great teaching school. And it would be under $20K per year for sure. Although at MiamiOH she could possibly come in with 39 credits from AP.
In reality D23 would love to a be professor, but that is tough. If she passes the 4 APs she is taking this year like the 7 others she has already taken she won’t have much in the way of Gen Eds to take. She loves history and knows more than anyone I know. She is also a solid reader. So I could see her getting two majors (Hist & Eng). The wildcard is she did real well on the SAT on the math section and she decided on her own to take AP Calc BC. Which all of that is crazy because she has always disliked math as a kid.
She is a super interesting kid. I just gave up fact checking her in about 8th grade when spouted facts all the time because she was always right. Her memory is stupid good. She is quiet and stays out of drama, but somehow gets into leadership roles. She is the type that in the right situation could do something amazing(like some thinktank group) or just be content living a normal life.
I would love for her to get OOS and spread her wings and really experience college. But our main goal with both kids has always been get through undergrad with no loans.
Ironically D19 might end up in teaching but in a round about way. She started off at Miami as a BioChem/Span majors on a pre-med track. Pre-Med is out the door now and she moved to Bio/Spanish Majors with Education & Latin Am Studies minors. She has talked about teaching but in another state. She has been looking into those programs where you can start teaching while getting certified. Between AP, Research and normal classes the kid will end up with like 184 credits when she graduates. By graduation she will end up as an author on two research papers. Listed 6th on one and 4th on another. But all that did was let her figure out she didn’t really like lab research.
Btw, not putting all this out there to humble brag or anything. I believe D19 hit the wall while in college and decided she didn’t want to put in the work to be a doctor. She was super focused since middle school. And all of this is super tough for two parents who are Accountants and our lives was so much more planned out while in college and focused. We knew what we would be doing right after college. But we had to because we had student loans to payoff. My kids won’t have that if college is done right. Hence on the hunt for merit $$$. I just wanted my kids to have options after college where I felt I didn’t have that same freedom. I learned real quick being debt-free translates to freedom.
I’d like to suggest a new makor, information science, to go with history. Growing field of digitizing history. Python, same database , could teach hs comp sci/tech as well.
Looks like anyone can teach CS in Illinois. In California, CS teachers need a credential in math, business or ITE. Since there aren’t many places that offer business or ITE credentials, most CA CS teachers now have math credentials.
we did the merit search in 2020; and are looking again now; but D23 slightly lower stats than S20. Our S20 only did schools that didnt require essays - no special competitive co-horts. (well, he tried for one, but didnt make that). our lowest cost schools for his major included: AZ, Bama, Texas Tech, UNL and FSU. Miami OH and university of Tulsa were 6 & 7. all had tuition =/<9K.
I would love for her to be a math major. It was always my favorite subject, but I went the route of Accounting. I was ready to help the girls with math K-10, but I can count the number of times they needed help on one hand. We did make them figure a lot out on their own when they were young. Anytime I could turn something into a math problem I would.
We will have to see how Calc BC goes. Pass that test and you usually knock out 2 semesters in college. Although with a 3 I wouldn’t take the credit for the 2nd semester and would retake the class.
Our HS isn’t nationally ranked or anything but because we have 3900+ students they offer just about any AP class you want to take.
Generally, I would recommend trying the college’s old final exams for the courses allowed to be skipped with AP credit to check one’s knowledge by the college’s standards. While students scoring 5 are often quite ready to move on to the next course, those scoring 3 are more likely to at least need a lot of review.
Also, if she decides she wants to teach math, she may want to take more advanced math courses in college. If that is the case, repeating calculus will not only raise her GPA but will help her to be better prepared for the advance math classes.