FinAid & Merit for transfer student - any suggestions?

Paying for College
1

<p>I am trying to transfer universities and I was wondering if you had suggestions for schools with substantial merit aid for transfers. I want to dual-major in English and East Asian Studies / Japanese, though English is primary.</p>

<p>a little backstory:
I attended Rochester Institute of Technology 2004-05, and I had a rather comfortable merit package: National Merit, RIT Computing Medal, Presidential - totaling $20,000 a year. However I decided to change careers and study English and Japanese, two passions I had discovered at RIT. I transferred to Eastern Michigan for fall 05 (it was cheap, though actually a bit more expensive than RIT), but my parents and I weren't impressed with the university, to say the least, so I withdrew - I'm home now, applying to schools.
My parents wanted a "good" school that was close to home, so I made extensive use of the US News rankings and Princeton Review. At first my parents seemed to overlook the cost - they were both even tempted by the HYPS, only rejecting them because I couldn't apply as a spring admit. I eventually decided to apply to University of Rochester, Colgate University, and Cornell University. Of course Cornell and Colgate don't give merit aid, but my parents were unaware of the fact that Colgate didn't - until tonight (I thought they knew about the aid because the dean of admissions told us when we visited!). This got them thinking real hard and eventually got them real.. well, mad. Apparently they think that the prospective price tags are a bit much (my dad said I'd end up at a SUNY at this rate - something I personally don't want to do). My parents think I should be getting a lot more aid than I was getting at RIT; they think I should be getting a free ride or close to it. I'm not that hopeful, but I am still curious on whether there are schools out there that offer good merit aid to transfer students. I need to find some info fast because they're in panic mode and want info, stat.</p>

<p>EDIT: UR counselor said i'd be in the runnings for the max transfer merit package: $10,000 per annum. My mother's reply: "well, that's disappointing". My parents are looking for around $20,000, though I know those chances are slim to none. Just an FYI.</p>

<p>Of course, I'm hoping for need-based too; EFC is in 8-12k range.</p>

<p>"Stats":
SAT: 1510 combined highs
ACT: N/A
GPA (HS): 3.8 unweighted
GPA (RIT): 4.0
AP: Lit (5), Chem (5), Vergil (4), Calc AB (5), Econ (4,4), USHist (5)
Class Rank: 10%+? - no official rankings; RIT medal req'd top 10%
National Merit Finalist (winner - RIT)
National Honor Society
NYS Science Honor Society</p>

<p>as you can see I'm not exactly one in a million but I'm a good student. Well, if you have any advice, i'd love to hear it, especially since deadline for Spring 06 admission is coming up. Sorry for the long post; i tend to get wordy. Thanks!</p>

<p>-dh</p>

<p>(sorry if this should be in transfer forum)</p>

<p>EDIT: btw I did read the "schools known for good merit aid" sticky, but I was wondering about transfers in particular.</p>

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<p>Welcome to CC,</p>

<p>Most of the schools that give good merit aid do not apply to transfer students. Hate to say it, but your chances of getting considerable merit aid especially as a transfer is really going to be slim. I know that hind sight is 20/20 but yoour best bet would have been to take a leave of absence (that way your scholarship was in tact) and try to work within RPI's system</p>

<p>You may have to go a seach for outside scholarships for your specific major. all the best</p>

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<p>I agree weith sybbie. Colleges trying to increase their rankings give generous merit aid to incoming freshmen to draw those freshmen away from colleges that are ranked much higher.</p>

<p>Since the stats about students listed in college rankings in popular college guides are based on the SAT scores of the incoming freshmen class, there's no reason for the colleges to try to offer merit aid bribes to prospective transfer students with strong stats.</p>

<p>Considering the difficulty of getting merit aid when transferring, UR's potential offer sounds good.</p>

<p>With your strong stats, if your parents are willing to forgo merit aid, and if you can be considered for the HPYS pool, it may be best to apply to such schools and hope that you beat the odds and are accepted. Their need-based aid is likely to be reasonable even though they don't offer merit aid. Keep in mind that when it comes to H, it's much harder to get in as a transfer than to get in as a incoming freshmen, and those odds already are long.</p>

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<p>You mentioned trying for spring admit. You should be aware that many schools don't even have need-based aid for spring admits since they have alreay distributed their funds for this school year. Check with the FA offices before you apply.</p>

5

<p>My brother got quite a bit of merit aid (stanford king scholarship IIRC) as a transfer student at UMiami.</p>