I don’t know about Richmond but I believe Bucknell is ranked somewhere in the 30s for LACs. And this student might get $10k or $20k from them. Based on our experience this year I would guess this student might be able to expect $15k to $25k in merit from colleges like u Rochester, cwru, Lafayette, allegheny, Denison, Muhlenburg…
yes. And as @thumper1 has pointed out, the net costs may still matter in terms of what the OP can afford. W/o a budget, “merit $$” is too vague.
He is a rising Junior with a 3.95 unweighted and 4.5 out of 5 weighted GPA, rank 1 in 500+ students, head of youth wing for a mid size charity. Expecting 4.7 weighted GPA by the time of applications, will take PSAT and SAT next year, did score 212/220 on sophomore PSAT, 1850/2400 on 7th grade SAT, has a very high COGAT score. Head of Spanish club, founder of MUN, officer of band booster club, member of NHS etc. He’s been involved with all of these activities since middle school and doesn’t even bother to count volunteering hours any more. He doesn’t have many awards and medals as he isn’t into that scene.
His parents can afford any college but uncomfortably and at the risk of a poor retired life as they have other kids and dependent grandparents. He prefers to get as much merit money as possible.
How are you determining top 50 status? Is it the top 50 universities and top 50 LACs? Or the top 25 universities and top 25 LACs? 
Either of those lists would be pretty lopsided, as far as prestige and eliteness, because there are fewer LACs and they have a lot less name recognition.
If he has a specific major in mind, you might look for schools that are strong in that field even if they’re not ranked particularly high overall. I go to Case Western Reserve University, but Ohio State has more classes and opportunities in my field and I might have gone there instead if it were closer to where my parents live. The cost would have been similar.
if I were you, I would make two lists: 1) Top 30ish schools that have a few merit scholarships (Duke, Vandy, etc) and @) Slightly lower ranked schools (BU, NEU, Richmond that offer full tuition schools and your son (based on grades and test scores) is highly competitive for those scholarships. Then try to figure out which of these schools look to be the best fir for your son based on majors, size, etc.
Careful of expecting a 4.5 weighted GPA to rise to a 4.7. Junior year is a tough year. And I’m not crazy about the emphasis on grades that such an expectation implies. A 3.95/4.5 is plenty good. Encourage your son to pursue his love of learning and his intellectual curiosity. Doing so will catch the eye of his teachers and lead to good recs, much more so then stressing out over the difference between an A and an A+, which impresses no one. All of the recent UChicago attendees from our high school had UW GPAs less than 4.0, but they had intellectual curiosity in spades. Your son sounds like a great kid who will do well in admissions. Careful not to stress him or yourself out too much over grades and good luck to you. There are wonderful schools out there which will give good money to attract him.
@worryhurry411 If you have other kids and paying would mean impacting your retirement and their college funds, I would not focus on rankings and instead on schools with large merit awards with solid programs in his desired major. I have some very gifted kids who have graduated from high school with significant college credit. They have still been happy and thrived at their lower ranked high merit $$ schools. Our current college student is attending Bama on full scholarship. He loves it. (He is active in research, part of CBH, will earn his masters at the same time as his bachelors (University Scholars Program), and is surrounded by a great group of friends.) Our rising sr is looking at NMF high merit $$ schools.
USC- Southern Calif- offers 1/2 tuition scholarships to ALL ACCEPTED National Merit Scholars. They also offer 100+ Full tuition scholarships to tippy- top students.
the trick is to get accepted AND catch their eye- USC wants students, especially top students vying for Merit $$, to show GENUINE interest in going to USC.
Submitting an application is not enough.
Why don’t we make this question more specific? I would love an answer too.
Which schools in the top fifty still give out $40k+ merit money per year and what stats do you typically need to be competitive for such awards
$40,000 a year in merit? Not many.
Boston University Trustee scholarship is full tuition so that might meet the mark. Highly competitive…separate application.
Northeastern University also offers a teeny tiny number of full tuition scholarships to the very TOP applicants each year. No way to tell you what the stats to get it are…as the point is a moving point dependent on the strength of the applicants.
I would think it would be easier to get what the family wants as their net cost…and suggest schools where this kid could reach THAT net cost.
@thumper1 Thanks for your answer. The reason I used the $40k+ number was to approximately bring the cost of private education down to the state cost level with merit aid alone assuming no possibility of need based aid. I used this as a benchmark because state flagship schools may be the other alternative for high stat kids. I know the number of such universities will be small, but this frames the question with enough specificity to get around vague references like “generous merit aid”. To me generous is when COA for a private school becomes the same or better than a state flagship
Boston College has full ride merit scholarship for top fifteen applicants who apply EA.
The target is to have 100 students enroll in the Scholars program.
Grinnell is a top 20 LAC with Presidential Scholarships of $50000 a year and Dean’s Scholarships of $25000. I don’t know how many they give out a year, but they are generous with merit and financial aid.
For places like Wash U, Duke, Vandy, etc, it’s next to impossible to have metrics for their merit scholarships. If you go on their websites, you might find a few bios of the kids who get them but they are few and far between and, like everyone has been saying, you have to be in the very top of the class with grades and scores and need to be exceptional in other ways as well. There’s really not much you can do to compete for these scholarships. There’s no x,y, z to check off. If the student is very high achieving (compared nationally to other students, not just in your school or state), then he may have a shot. One thing to note is that you typically have to have your applications in earlier than the normal date in order to be considered for these long shot merit opportunities, so be sure to find those dates.
@veryluckyparent you’re asking for an impossible situation.
there are no particular “stats needed” to be competitive since all of their accepted students are tippy top except for maybe athletes who are attending on athletic awards.
The awards tend to be given to students who fill “some need” of the school…often URMs, particularly MALE URMs, and students who have an application that is so noteworthy that the Adcomms are nearly certain that Ivies will accept them, so the merit-awarding top schools will attempt to “poach” them.
Their awards aren’t really being awarded for “top stats”. They are picking students based on how those students help their numbers.
We recently learned of a student who had an amazing Latin/Greek/Classics background/awards (along with top stats), and he was awarded lots of merit because: A) the school assumed that Ivies would snap him up and they wanted him, B) they expect this student to make a serious mark in the world at some point…and the school wants their name listed on his CV.
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His parents can afford any college but uncomfortably and at the risk of a poor retired life as they have other kids and dependent grandparents. He prefers to get as much merit money as possible.
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Are you his parent??
If so, please be more clear because you’re kinda of saying two opposite things…
On one hand, you’re saying that your income/assets won’t qualify your child for aid, but you “could” uncomfortably pay…
BUT…on the other hand (which is likely closer to reality), you’re saying that you can’t pay full-freight because you have other kids to put thru school as well, you support grandparents, AND…you’re trying to fund your retirement years.
The last option seems to be where you’re really at because no one wants you to be too broke to retire, too broke to help dependent grands, or too broke with angry younger kids because you spent all your money on Child #1 and now they’re kind of screwed.
Sounds like you have at least 3 kids. That’s 12 years of undergrad…at least. If you were full-pay for 3 kids at a private, that would be about $750,000 (plus tuition increases)
What say you? How much can you pay per year that will not leave you broke, living with angry younger kids, stuck working until you die, and having turn away grands?
In other words…Can you pay $20k per year (per child!)? (If you have 3 kids, that would be $240k total…if you have 4 kids, that would be $320k total spent on college.)
Some schools have the Stamps scholarship which I believe can be a full ride. A young man from my S’s school got it 4 years ago for UChicago and it was not based on any need.
Getting scholarships at top schools is such an iffy proposition. You just never know exactly what they want. With my S, he ended up getting an almost full ride (tuition, fees and board) at Loyola New Orleans ( not a top school) but we didn’t see it coming at all. He ended up somewhere else though. With my D this year, she got nothing from Emory but $30,000 merit a year from UChicago. Didn’t see that coming at all.
My advise, is to pick a wide range of selectivity and only schools that he could see himself attending whether it be a safety or a reach reach. Focus on those essays- I think that they are really important for schools that are building a class. Then let go and be happy for any acceptance.
I can’t emphasize the fit and the essays enough. The fit means- academic, social and financial.
Try to enjoy the journey.
Northeastern still gives $30K/year to NMS.
Other schools who award NMS scholarships here: http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com
Half-tuition at USC.
High stats kids who really express interest may get their costs knocked down to about in-state public costs at USC/Case/Rochester.
The small number of big merit awards at Duke/JHU/UChicago/UVa/Rice/WashU/Vandy will be going to some of the few hundred kids each year that are likely admits to HYPSM (or fit some want/need that they really want filled). A decade or 2 ago, UChicago would increase total aid to take a kid they really want from a state school that offered a full ride. The competition has gotten much stiffer at the tippy-tops since then, however.
In terms of full-tuition awards, behind those would be Emory, Oxford@Emory, and Richmond. UMiami and Tulane.
However, rather than chasing rankings, it may be best to consider what is important to you and look to meet them in an affordable manner. For example, New College of Florida is a LAC that has a really high percentage of grads go to grad school and win awards. NM Tech has a lot of grads enter PhD programs. Both are reasonably affordable. Trinity College Dublin is seen by Oxbridge as a peer and costs a little more than in-state. McGill has been called the Harvard of Canada (it’s really the UMich/UW-Madison of Quebec). It has some degrees that are also affordable.
If a kid knows what they want to study for sure, a 3Y uni in England (where non-STEM degrees tend to be cheaper) may make sense.
Top LACs with substantial merit:
9 - Davidson College - Belk Scholarship - full tuition/room & board; other scholarships up to $30,000/year
14 - Washington & Lee - Johnson Scholarship - full tuition/room & board
23 - Macalester College - DeWitt Wallace Scholarships - up to $15,000/year (maybe more?)
32 - Univ of Richmond - Richmond Scholars - full tuition/room & board; other scholarships up to $15,000/year
37 - Lafayette College - Marquis Fellowships ($48,000/year) and Marquis Scholars ($24,000/year)
40 - Dickinson College - John Dickinson Scholarship ($20,000/year) plus others up to $15,000/year
@scholardad These are great, but it needs to be said that they are very hard to get!! You can’t count on them realistically as part of a plan.