East College Colleges known for merit & finl aid

Paying for College
1

<p>Looking for suggestions: Jr S 3.7 GPA unweighted (all honors and 3 AP classes ) ...</p>

<ul>
<li>ACT 30 (sat cr 620 / math 660 / writing 700 = 1980 - 3 sections / 1280 - 2 sections ) .... he is retaking both this spring</li>
</ul>

<p>-active extracurricular involved with all below all 3 years of HS and will continue senior year : 1- Varsity Lacrosse (looking to play club / intramural level in college)
2- bands - mainly tenor sax ( marching band, jazz , pep, school play PIT ) - leadership and good chairs . does not want marching band in college (as of now though mom thinks different ) ... also plays clarinet, and some guitar and piano.</p>

<p>-Good community service ( about 200 hours - after school program lacrosse /sports with children , playing sax at events like cancer runs etc ) . </p>

<p>-Looking for school size range about 4000 - 15000 max ( middle would be optimal) .</p>

<p>-Wants school spirit and sports to play part of social life - rah rah . </p>

<p>-Prefers decent szie city ,very active variety of night life with parties, fraternities , sports clubs, inside and also outside of campus , school events ... we are from a decent size town and used to lots of things to do . </p>

<p>-Looking for merit money & and will qualify for decent amount of Finl Aid according to EFC's . </p>

<p>-Trying to find schools that would come close'ish to SUNY tuition / R&B rates..</p>

<p>-On his list : Tulane , Lehigh , U Miami, Boston, Syracuse , GWU ( I went but dont think school for him ) , U Roch (?) , SUNY Binghamton & Buffalo / </p>

<p>-Much smaller schools on my list are the Liberal Arts that are better known for FA and better graduation rates/ smaller student to professor ratio, quality education : Lafayette, Franklin & Marshall, Dickinson, U Richmond .</p>

<p>-Not sure about Bucknell & Colgate ... seems like he probably would not get in ? </p>

<ul>
<li><p>East Coast 'ish - North to South </p></li>
<li><p>Major : as of the moment undeclared - business/ sciences? </p></li>
</ul>

<p>Thanks for additional suggestions !</p>

2

<p>There are lots of threads that cover this, one at the top of this forum. It spans many years and awards change from year to year so you’ll want to look towards the end of the thread:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-12.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-12.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This should get you started.</p>

3

<p>yes I have read the more recent posts of those threads…looking for more suggestions based upon my sons stats and type of school specifically he is looking for . thanks</p>

4

<p>[Kiplinger’s</a> Best Values in Private Colleges-Kiplinger](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts&state_code]Kiplinger’s”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts&state_code)=ALL&id=none
<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=prv_univ&id[/url][]=none”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=prv_univ&id[]=none&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>Those stats seem competitive for most of the schools you mention, but don’t seem competitive for merit aid at many of them. Is he dead set against a SUNY school.</p>

<p>Depending on the level of his playing, of course, Skidmore offers two size able music scholarships. That is smaller than what you’ve mentioned, but Saratoga Sorings does have a lot to do.</p>

<p>Clark gives merit money – also probably smaller than what you had in mine.</p>

<p>DD got offered money at UMass/Amherst, but it’s larger than your perameters.</p>

<p>Have you considered New Paltz?</p>

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<p>he is not dead set against suny … binghamton he might not get into. been tough… that was his #1 suny … #2 buffalo just so huge and not the best school unless he can get into honors program… he should get merit money at bufffalo as well… he does not mind going with lots of long island students - he wants students that will be similar to him - academically and socially. he does not want to be the very bottom end or very top end academically school wise ( we were thinking Emory , U Va …) … both known for good aid </p>

<p>-i just want him to have other options as well… he is good student, works hard to do well. </p>

<p>I have read so many books, internet articles / comparison…seems hard to find that niche on the east coast SIZE WISE with other specs based upon his grades ! </p>

<p>clark and skidmore I had checked them out as they were showing up on lists, and both had big increase in applications this past year I read ,but yes small, but also no frats…</p>

<p>new paltz i think too artsy . although he plays music, he is not an artsy kid… u mass definitely large , and I feel why pay alot more for another states out of state school when he can go instate our ny school probably for half.</p>

<p>also not looking for catholic/ jesuit etc based schools - more a school with mix of students and decent jewish student population .</p>

7

<p>I was going to second Clark as well. My son applied as a safety school, was accepted with a really generous merit aid package. We visited on accepted student day and were so impressed, all the way around. My older son was very sure he wanted to be in a city at a large college - he ended up at a small LAC in a small-ish New England town so you never know really until you visit. UMass/Amherst too gave my younger son a really nice FA package - we are out of state. Amherst is a wonderful college town. </p>

<p>Tulane is fabulous (says the proud alum) :-)</p>

<p>eta: Ithaca College is another school that might fit your son’s bill. It’s mid-sized, it’s in a great town, and seems have a lot of school spirit. </p>

<p>Good luck in your search!</p>

8

<p>My son had similar stats 3.8ish, 30 ACT/1290 SAT and had similar EC’s (a sport, 2 bands, etc., ) He got merit aid at every school he applied to except SUNY Binghamton (his only instate public school.) Merit ranged from 18K/yr at Ithaca and U of New Hampshire, several in the 22K-25K range (Hartwick, Alleghany, Juaniata,) $27K/yr at Hobart and $30K/yr from St. Lawrence.</p>

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<p>F&M stopped offering merit aid this past year, but if you had looked at a 2011-2012 CDS, you would still see merit disbursements. OTOH, Dickinson seems fairly liberal with merit, but I have only heard of cases where the applicant would otherwise be full pay. Perhaps a strategy of offering $18K knowing that family will be able to pay balance. Have only heard of two in that situation so quite anecdotal.</p>

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<p>I don’t think he has the stats for UVa. You might want to look into U VM, everyone who goes there seems to love it and Burlington is reportedly a very nice town. I have no idea whether they give merit to OOS students, though. (I’m wondering what you mean by “decent-sized” city?) </p>

<p>If he wants rah rah sports, how about U Conn?</p>

<p>I think highly of the U of Rochester, but it does not sound like the kind of school he is looking for.</p>

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<p>Consolation - we have a bunch of kids from our high school who go to UVM every year and every single one seems to love it there. I think it’s quite expensive OOS however and I’m not sure about merit money.</p>

12

<p>Burlington’s a fabulous college town (and UVa a nice school) if he likes the cold.</p>

<p>My niece is going to Clark next year – excellent merit and FinAid. It’s not what I’d call a sports school, though, by any means.</p>

<p>Ithaca is outdoorsy but not sure about athletics… I’ve heard that FinAid and scholarships are not great but doublecheck.</p>

<p>What about Muhlenberg? I think it has a sizable Jewish student body, would be perfect for your son’s stats, and has a sports scene, although not Syracuse-like. It’s smaller than you wanted, though.</p>

<p>Consider Denison in Ohio. Again, smaller than you wanted but sporty, beautiful, and good merit aid.</p>

<p>I think Tulane and Syracuse are great. What about Alabama? I’ve heard good things about that school too…</p>

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<p>Consolation - why are you thinking u rochester might not be school for him ? he saw U rochester in feb ( not an official tour as it was a sunday and we were seeing 6 upstate ny schools in 3 days ) - it was a cold snowy day … he thought it was ok - I think the students we met were not “his type” but I am not sure … I did not think that… he did not take it off his list just yet .not sure if he would even get in…</p>

<p>he saw Ithaca and did not like it . we did not have official tour (someone we knew showed us around - very quiet on a saturday afternoon ) .</p>

<p>I like muhlenberg - sounds great though small - financial and merit excellent when I did EFC!!! ( my daughter is 2 years behind and putting it on list for her ) … small and from what I heard quite artsy students , not much of night life, and very little spirit. </p>

<p>the out of state public schools, most seem to give a few $1000 in merit (some more than others like u del , u pitt ) but not enough to make it close to SUNY $$$ - still high $30000’s +++. ( u conn, u vt , u mass, u pitt, u del, wisconsin , maryland, indiana are all ones that were on our initial list but out of state rates make them $$$$) - unless someone thinks/ knows something different than what I appear to be figuring out from their websites… they would all be great schools rah rah , towns, nice size ( some rather large)</p>

<p>alabama I have been watching… at 30 ACTt , he would receive the value of 2/3 tuition* for four years ($19230 out of state which would be about $6410) which with r&b etc compares to suny (unless he gets merit from buffalo which I think he should get quite a few $1000 ) .

  • (unless his next act higher at 32 and then he would get tuiton free 4 years - just r&b etc ) - but I never hear of anyone going there from around here. but its a consideration </p>

<p>-denison I will check out again … it is very small. found it in "colleges that change lives book " .</p>

<p>I am hoping that he likes the smaller LAC colleges that I have on his list like lafayette, f&m , u richmond, dickinson . maybe once he sees will change his mind of going large !</p>

<p>so hard to find that middle size school - I need to fnd more schools like Tulane, Syracuse (they dont seem to be great with merit or finl aid - unless you live in syracuse area ) .</p>

<p>Tulane is his #1 choice, but in order to make it work he has to get one of their merit scholarships and FA . I hear some get no money , some $20000 or $25000 and some could get $35000 which is really what he needs to get in order to make it work with travel expenses etc .and starting price of $60000 still more $ than SUNY ! </p>

<p>looking for the colleges that meet atleast around 95% of need +$ .</p>

<p>keep suggestions coming…</p>

14

<p>What is the EFC coming out to be? Also run some NPCs for a few schools that guarantee to meet full need and are known to be generous, such as Colgate, Haverford. That gives you a good idea what a maximum package would be under PROFILE. Still no guaranteed, but a better idea. </p>

<p>From the choices you have listed, it looks like you have done a good job in gleaning out those schools with good merit money. A problem I see is that for your student to get one of the upper end awards, needed to bring the price down to about $20K, his test scores are not that competitive at those name schools. I say “name” because they are schools that are pretty well known. My one son with very good test scores got awards topping out at around $30K at some such schools, but the sobering reality is that the COA is over $60K. It’s not what you get that counts so much as what you end up having to pay.</p>

<p>In order for you to bring the costs down to the SUNYs means looking for schools with out the rating, reputation and recognition of them. That’s the reality of the situation. I think applying to some or even all of the schools on your lists is fine as you do have SUNYs as back up, but in order to realisticaly bring the price down there, you have to give some in those 3 R’s. I suggest looking at some Catholic schools, and lesser known ones. </p>

<p>A worthwhile investment is the US News and World Report Ultimate Guide. In the front part of the book are lists of the the schools giving the most financial aid and the last two or so columns of the rankings are merit aid average amounts and % of kids getting. You’ll see you’ve done well in picking schools like Tulane, GW, Rochester as they do well in the merit area. What you also need to do is to look up what the top 25% break point is on test scores, and kind of figure out what percentage your kid is in. He needs to be in the top 5-10% at least, most of the time to be eligible for the bigger awards. Some of the Catholic schools like Scranton, St Joe’s,Lasalle Iona, Sienna, Stonehill, Duquesne, Manhattan, might do the job to get the cost down. Ursinus, York, Albright are some smaller independent schools that come to mind. Albright guarantees to meet FAFSA EFC except for discretionary expenses, so your cost there would your EFC plus travel, books, personal expenses. </p>

<p>We did not do well beating UBuff’s cost. There is/was an auto $2500 merit award that they give kids around your student’s stat range and applying that to the lower sticker price makes that cost around $17500 which is hard to beat. You need to look at the sections of the USNews that have the regional schools that give masters and Bachelor’s degrees but are not under the National and LAC categories for some good contenders in what you are seeking.</p>

<p>Also, looking out of area would help. DePauw and UDenver came up with some nice packages for some local kids, I know.</p>

<p>Most schools integrate their own need packages with their merit awards, so if you are looking for dollars exceeding need, you need to look at those big merit awards that will take over the need portion. It’s a big shock to many who get an early read of an application, get a nice merit award and think that maybe with the need met, they’ll have it made, only to find out when the need package comes out in April that the awards are integrated so that you get the larger of the two but not stacked.</p>

<p>But you are looking at schools that are matches and reaches in even admissions which means the chances of big merit is just about zilch. For the kind of money you want, he has to be King Kong in the academic stats of the pool of students at the school.</p>

15

<p>It’s not east coast, but the State of Michigan has many smaller publics that are excellent and would give considerable merit aid to someone with those stats. Look at Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Grand Valley State and Oakland University.</p>

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<p>Rah rah sports spirited school and merit for an ACT 30? That could be difficult, except as you mentioned, Alabama.</p>

<p>How much merit do you need? or, really, how much do you want to pay, so we know how much merit you need. If you can pay $15k-17k per year, that covers room, board, books, fees, then he’d need a full tuition scholarship somewhere. </p>

<p>is he retesting?</p>

<p>What is your EFC?</p>

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<p>he is retaking ACT in june and just took SAT again last weekend (though he was not overly happy with the vocab section this time). I realize his scores are decent, but not the next level which is where more merit $ would come from ( except at a school like Muhlenberg but I dont think that is school for him but we will look at it when we go into PA to look at the other small schools that are still on the list )</p>

<p>EFC about $9000. I have plugged in all numbers on the college board site for many schools and some are definitely very generous financial need wise which seems to be the better way to maybe attack this (frankin & marshall , u richmond, lafayette, dickinson, colgate, bucknell all small schools and last 2 dont know if he would get accepted with his stats …only larger school that seemed to compare was GWU (where I also went) . </p>

<p>Some schools definitely are excellent with financial aid (trying to find those as well that meet 95% or so of need and fit his " mold ") !!! Seems like if you do qualify for merit and financial , they take away some of the need part and turn it into merit (was playing around on the U Miami website yesterday) - exactly as you stated - they meld them together not giving both as if they were individually calculated so a kid that qualifies for merit wont get the aid that is really calculated… which I was originally hoping was not the case -that they would act independently . </p>

<p>trying to decide if worth flying him down to tulane for a few days to interview and tour . he has alot of friends starting there in the fall. maybe the weekends near labor day right when school first starts… I hear demonstrated interest very important with them - any thoughts ? not sure if he will get in with his stats, and he needs to get need aid from them AND merit / scholarship $ as well . but if that is the case with tulane , then it would never come down to say $25000 - yes, as everyone else says, word around block is that they are generous but less so in recent years… some kids he knows got $$$ 20000-$ 35000 for fall 2013 and others $0 . </p>

<p>Trying to find more that would fit his “mold” … and yes coming from a well to do town that most kids end up at the big name schools , makes it hard. He hears the same names over and over which makes schools that might be potentially great ( though generally much smaller size ) harder to " sell " to him . his time is limited to see schools (he works at a sleepaway camp all summer, and then marching band every weekend and he does not really like to miss school for the most part) so I am going to try to really schedule …</p>

<p>I have put a lot of time into researching … I initially started with us news and many online kiplinger, princeton and other sites that rank the best aid schools… and researched dozens upon dozens eliminating many over months that dont fit his requests as to what he would like in a school. I will get the new issue as well .</p>

<p>I definitely understand that absolutely the net is the bottom line… there are some schools out there that start at $45,000 ish which brings numbers down some if they are good with either merit or need ( like Elon but they are not great from what I see with either , and I think school sounds great, but dont know if it will be a "fit " for him ).</p>

<p>I would like to find a school that would be in same range as the SUNY schools $20000 ish . (or less always better) … </p>

<p>buffalo will be a hard one to compete against price wise. he did like it . just so large, about 7 hours away COLD , and quality of education fair & graduation rates low, large class size etc. etc. my nephew is starting there next fall. also price wise . his stats were quite a bit lower than my sons and even with merit at schools he applied to , and not financial need being covered, very expensive. the schools he got money at did not interest my son ( U tampa, marist, quinnipiac ) - another tier down .</p>

<p>ELON & MUHLENBERG, keep moving on and off list - any thoughts on these schools ?</p>

<p>I am going to check out denison again and albright (though pretty small and grad rate 53% 6 years ??? ) … DePauw - no mens lacrosse even at club level. </p>

<p>thanks for suggestions… small schools seem to be plenty 5000 - 10000 not so many .</p>

18

<p>

</p>

<p>That was also going to be my suggestion.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Please keep in mind – Franklin and Marshall (as mentioned) no longer gives merit aid. It is a need-based only school.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Unfortunately, that is true, unless one considers various smaller state university “branch” schools.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>That depends on what one considers “do well.” I am basing this solely on their website information. Rochester has very specific merit aid levels (though the cited examples are a bit muddled):</p>

<p><a href=“https://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial/estimator/merit.aspx[/url]”>https://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial/estimator/merit.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>But at around 60,000 COA, a 12,000 or 15,000 aid award still leaves a whole lot left over to pay out of pocket.</p>

19

<p>F& M came out with very decent need $ ( yes i heard no more merit ) - bringing net to just under $16000 (u richmond also same ) .
lehigh just under $20000 if he can get in. perfect size and would be great choice !!! </p>

<p>u rochester I called last week as I also found their merit page very unclear… they are just " examples" and they do a more holistic approach ($12-$15 is barely a drop in the bucket ) - not sure if he will get any NY money at a school like that (or at a syracuse ? ) … they are always coming up on reports as good with finl aid ??? now seeing how miami configures - one might replace other for the most part - not get it from both aspects… have to call again and find out if one would eliminates the other.</p>

<p>I guess for the most part you wont know for sure until you apply, hopefully get accepted, and then see where it all falls out once the fafsa completed and they configure it all out<br>
… my husbands income changes year to year somewhat - not terribly . </p>

<ul>
<li>just it is so late in the spring when that happens and not much time to start seeing so many if need be the case and want to see some more early fall before marching band season starts ( he is away for summer working at sleepaway camp)</li>
</ul>

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<p>You’ve done a great job, Matthewcollege. Your research shows. it. For need based aid, check out Albright, Gettysburg, Connecticut , Wheaton, Union Colleges,as they do meet a large % of need. </p>

<p>If you are a NY state resident, your son might be eligible for TAP which with the merit at UB could make that a sweet deal. He would probably get into the Honors College. I happen to think their academics are pretty danged good. This is one underrated school, IMO. Rochester will meet 100% of PROFILE need as do a lot of the schools I’ve listed. If your son can get into a school that will meet 90-100% of need, then he could do better than SUNY, provided your PROFILE expected contribution is similar to your FAFSA EFC (no large house, NCP, Family business in the picture), as SUNYs do not tend to meet full need. </p>

<p>Do get the US New and World Report Book or subscription so that you can get a list of those schools that do meet 90-100% of need, and//or give a lot of merit. But finding a school that will give you merit to the point that you only have to pay $9-10K is not going to be easy, I can tell you. You’ll have to be looking at schools with out the name recognition that the ones you have listed do. Need, is a whole other issue.</p>