<p>Hoping to get a merit scholarship does NOT make a school a financial safety. You have to know FOR SURE that you’d get enough merit. You should apply to a few schools that have ASSURED large merit scholarships for stats.</p>
<p>You need to find out how much each “parent household” will contribute (again, step-parents’ incomes/assets count as well. All parents (bio and step) have to report that info to schools like Swat, so if they won’t, those schools will not work out for you if you need aid).</p>
<p>What schools do have assured large merit scholarships? I looked up a list, but the schools seemed very obscure and the merit aid not very large… Also, what exactly happens if you get accepted binding early action and can’t pay for it?</p>
<p>Yes, you need safeties. I had a friend apply to some of the Ivies and W&M and were denied from all of her schools except for our state school. You definitely need to apply to a safety state school like VT.</p>
<p>For Early Decision: If the aid won’t work for you, you let the institution know that it won’t and you ask specifically to be released from the agreement. They will let you go.</p>
<p>Um, UVa and W&M never qualify as safeties. A financial safety would be a school that you know you can afford and are practically guaranteed acceptance to. Preferably, it would also be a school you would be perfectly comfortable going to.</p>
<p>Maybe a bit far, but ohio state gives great oos scholarships to a point for where it would cost almost the same as some of the lesser known schools that are notorious for giving alot of merit aid. They have one scholarship for oos with a 28+ act (or comparable m+cr sat) worth 12k a yr and then other merit scholarships that are combineable. When its all said and done, it would cost you around 8k a yr tuition. A safety ranked 55 is usnwr, doesnt get much better than that for a safety!</p>
<p>Run a net price calculator for Swarthmore. There’s no sense really applying there ED if you can’t afford it (afford what you’ll likely have to pay - the net price calculator can ballpark that figure for you).</p>
<p>I’d definitely have some financial safeties lined up. There’s only so much “you” can borrow.</p>
<p>Find out what you qualify for in need-based aid. Some of the schools mentioned on here (F & M comes to mind) do not offer merit aid and could be equally unaffordable (or affordable if the finances are low).</p>
<p>Otherwise, look for schools with merit aid. Pitt does offer merit aid. Send an app in to them since you like them, but do it fairly early as they’re a rolling admissions school both for admission and merit aid.</p>
<p>Lots of great LACs that could be academic safetys - Union, Trinity, Bates College, Colgate, Lafayette, Franklin & Marshall, Dickinson, Gettysburg. That said, you need to figure out some financial safety schools as well – maybe look into some schools that might give you merit aid (maybe Tulane, Fordham) and other in-state options (UVa, VaTech).</p>
<p>the net price calculator can ballpark that figure for you).</p>
<p>NPCs do not work well when parents aren’t together. Plus, there may be an expectation one one side for the “family contribution” to be split even tho one side earns a lot more, and the other side can’t afford the split amount. The parents have never been married or really even together during this child’s life. In those cases, it’s rare for the dad to pay a fair share for college. It may happen, but it would be rare. </p>
<p>If either or both parents’ households (parents + step-parents) have strong incomes, then the student may not qualify for much/any aid and if the parents can’t/won’t pay, the student won’t even have enough money to pay for an instate COA.</p>
<p>This student needs to get a commitment from each parent as to how much each will pay.</p>
<p>^^^ If they know a ballpark of what each family earns and puts the whole in, NPCs can work (at least with students at school they do). If the student doesn’t know what dad will do, then they won’t be of use - and financial aid, itself, can be in question if dad won’t give his details.</p>
<p>This is why I’m wondering why Swarthmore ED. Do they know they can pay? Borrowing that much by the student isn’t going to happen. If one parent qualifies to co-sign for the first year, they may not for later years.</p>
<p>Finances should be investigated a bit before deciding to go for an expensive school ED IMO. One can get out of a binding ED for finances, but why waste the effort and time? (Esp if applying to true safeties is contingent upon acceptance.)</p>
<p>I think you should try hard to warm up to the idea of applying to William & Mary ED.
You know you prefer WM over UVA. You improve your chances ED. It’s your best instate choice. </p>
<p>And above all else - it sounds like your family’s money situation is a huge worry. </p>
<p>I don’t think you could go as-wrong with the WM choice, and you could go-wrong on relying on your family to come through with the $$ for others on your list. The time is NOW (not summer, not fall) for your parents to give you concrete answers about their financial contribution.</p>
<p>If you like University of Pittsburgh, apply as early as possible in the fall and do the optional essay. It’s a safety and you have a good chance to get a large merit scholarship. You will be admitted before you finish your other applications so that you’ll have one in the bank. It has a very large endowment $ per student for a public school, and is known to be pretty generous. They also have top 5 departments in philosophy and psychology should those fields be of interest. They also have a honors program which provides more enriching classes.</p>
<p>Swarthmore has great FA. If it’s your first choice, apply ED because it will greatly increase your chances. You will likely get into W&M anyway, but it’s not a safety.</p>
<p>^^^ my friend applied to pitt early with similar stats (4.0, 2310) and got full tuition. And as @classicrockerdad said apply early! He applied in early october and heard back by thanksgiving</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I think I will apply early to Pitt for sure.
Also, financial aid isn’t too much of a worry for me (sorry if I’m being confusing) because my parents and step-parents are all very supportive with very good, stable incomes, its just that dialogue about whose paying for what hasn’t taken place yet. My mom is aware of the cost of Swarthmore and seems confident that it won’t be too much of a problem.</p>
<p>You need to start the dialogue now, and possibly get your parents to sign a contract saying they will pay x amount, or x percent of their income every year. You don’t want one of them to suddenly decide the other partner should pay all of the cost.</p>
<p>Just FYI, although I have seen others reporting good financial aid from Swarthmore, ours was terrible (none) this year. Other schools did not see our FA need the same way… do not count on great aid from them, especially if you have divorced parents and/or if your parents own a business. You need both academic safeties (and try to get that SAT over 700) and financial safeties. Your list is too top heavy. Great if you get into some/all of them with good aid, but have a backup plan of a few schools you are quite sure to get into and that you KNOW you can afford.</p>
<p>With 217 in PSAT, you have a high chance to be National Merit Semifinalist/Finalist in your home state. I would suggest you to look up the school list that give full ride to NMF and choose a couple safety schools there.
As for your SAT score, it is good except the Math score is bit low. You may either consider to retake the SAT or take a SAT2 on Math for that.</p>