<p>If she liked Anherst, has she looked at Haverford? It is a similar sized to Amherst. We visited it this past summer and were very impressed by the overall school and the science building. It is also in a nice part of the Main Line in suburban Philly. Good luck, Londondad</p>
<p>Bard College has the Distinguished Scientist Scholarship which can go up to full tuitioni:
<a href=“Types of Aid at Bard”>http://www.bard.edu/financialaid/programs/bard/</a></p>
<p>“I’m a bit confused by your response. I don’t think anyone would dispute that MIT gives great aid. I readily admit that it is not as good as Harvard’s, but perhaps only Yale, Princeton, and Stanford have equal programs.”
- I never heard of htese schools giving good number of full tuition Merit. I know somebody who got fuul ride at JHU, but it looks like here we discuss schools that are known for giving A LOT of full tuition Merit awards (or very close).<br>
My D. would have not got anything at any of these schools, more so, we knew that she would have not get anything at U of Mich., which would be a better choice for her than any of these, so she did not apply to them…she did not see any reason to do so.</p>
<p>…again, for engineering, it does not matter where you got for UG (just like pre-med), might as well go to the cheapest and the one that matches personality and wide range of interests,…academics will be very very challenging at any place, promise, and the kids in these programs at any UG will be top of the top or they will fall out…</p>
<p>Swarthmore has VERY limited merit aid( I think 1 scholarship) Look at U of Rochester and the Patriot League schools. You want to target good schools where you will be at the top of the class(not an average student) for merit aid.</p>
<p>@Kelowna - Thank you for clarifying your D’s nationality status.</p>
<p>I don’t want to pry into your business, but are you saying that your income is such that your D would not get FA even at Yale, where an income of $150K is expected to pay only $15K? When people hear “typical middle class family,” they most likely don’t think of $200K per year. (Although everyone knows that it depends where you live! 
)</p>
<p>Clarifying this point would make it much easier to answer your question in a rational manner.</p>
<p>OP said “She is going to apply to some top schools that will give us best fin aid based on need, but those schools are a lottery.” </p>
<p>So she may very well be applying to Yale where the aid is good, but admission is uncertain. I think she is also looking for some admissions safeties or matches where the FA is likely not as good as Yale so merit is needed to make the schools affordable.</p>
<p>@celesteroberts - Thank you, I missed that!</p>
<p>The two places I would think of first for merit money for a student like your D are U Rochester and U Pitt Honors College.</p>
<p>I know several kids, including my own, who have gotten merit awards in the vicinity of $7K to $10K from Rochester, although the need-based portion of my kid’s package was laughably small and the whole things was nowhere near meeting his need. But I have been told they have a substantial NMF automatic award, which was not listed in his package despite the fact that he was one, so perhaps it would have improved had he not declined. We didn’t pursue the matter, since he had acceptances he preferred. They also have a Renaissance Scholar program that awards–last time I checked–something in the region of $30K. To get the big money from U of R, showing interest by visiting or meeting with a travelling adcom is advised. (My S was not able to do either.)</p>
<p>U Pitt is one of the few places that gives large awards to OOS students like your D. They have a well-thought-of Honors College. Applying early in the process is reportedly wise.</p>
<p>in 2011 D was choosing between 9 top schools (including RPI, Harvey Mudd, GA Tech, Carnegie Mellon, Rose Hulman and Washington & Lee). With the exception of W&L Johnson’s scholarship (which ended up not being a good fit for a MechE major), the best financial aid offer she had was from MIT. We’re middle income so it isn’t free but their only need based and the scholarship is more than half. Don’t necessarily skip MIT for financial reasons if it is appealing to the student. </p>
<p>" pay ONLY $15K" - Wow, 15K is not great money any more. And it is for a person who is more likely going to Grad. School. Isn’t it better to choose a free UG to save $$$ for a Grad. School and have a happy young adult without student loans? Do not see any reason to pay for UG and take loans for Grad. School, unless there is a family plan and resources to cover both of them. Doesn’t she has siblings? Well, if resources are unlimited, then why there is even a discussion about any kind of Merit awards?</p>
<p>Miami, not every STEM student is interested in med school or engineering in a local firm. $15,000 debt is not much. even 5-7 years ago, my son’s peers were making @ $10,000 over summer internships. More recently, kids can earn $6-7,000 a month. It helps to go to well respected colleges that have career fairs and actively recruit students. </p>
<p>Also, grad school for students in STEM is funded, if going for a PhD. Masters in CS & some other fields are often are not funded.</p>
<p>OP - where is your home state? </p>
<p>I was talking about a $15K EFC, not $15K in debt. The OP has not indicated that they can contribute $0. And I believe the Yale FA policy is EFC $0 under $60K per year, and no more than 10% of income up to $150K.</p>
<p>Miami, it is great that your D was able to get a full ride at an undergraduate school that she was happy to attend. That is not possible for many kids, especially those who do not have a suitable in-state option.</p>
<p>OP here - Yale for us (with my previous child) was not 10% of income , although it was not bad.
What about schools that she might get a shot at STAMPS scholarship?
And yes, there is definitely a grad school in the future for this young lady and it might not be a PhD program 
She is not a prestige whore and she truly did not like Harvard or Yale when visiting. But they give such good money !</p>
<p>UMIami FL is not impossible to get Stamps invites. D got SInger/Stamps invite with good stats, 4.0/35/2280, but just so-so ECs, and also received an initial scholarship offer with admission that was just under $30K/yr. She didn’t attend the weekend so can’t comment, but there are 2 weekends in Feb or March(?) and if you can’t attend the one you are invited to, you can ask for the other. I understand that even those who don’t get SInger or Stamps(one is full tuition and the other full ride, but can’t recall which is which) get some kind of extra scholarship money to compensate them for the time and trouble of attending. There are long threads in the UMiami forum about these weekends and the scholarship. But I don’t know how UMiami stacks up in the majors your D is considering.</p>
<p>OleMiss has the Crofts Institute and Chinese flagship, etc. They have full ride Stamps. At a minimum she’d get full tuition for NMF and they have a boatload of other scholarships for high stats kids. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if you are looking at schools like this, or only aiming higher. Not sure what to recommend. </p>
<p>Rice would be a good fit, and has great financial aid and scholarships…</p>
<p>“Miami, not every STEM student is interested in med school or engineering in a local firm. $15,000 debt is not much. even 5-7 years ago, my son’s peers were making @ $10,000 over summer internships.”
-Well, we can continue dreaming on…sorry, I thtought there is a real peron withe the real stats and goals, it is not possible to cover all kind of students and $10k summers are not a reality in most of the country.</p>
OP here. I am resurrecting this thread almost a year and half later to update you about the results and my daughter’'s decision. CC has been very helpful to my family, I hope this post might help someone as well. Here are the schools she applied to :
Vanderbilt - accepted, Chancellor’s and Ingram scholarships (she had to chose one)
Pomona - accepted
Brown - accepted
Yale - accepted
UC Berkeley - accepted , Regent’s and Chancellors scholarship
Washington & Lee - accepted, Johnson scholarship (full ride)
Stanford - rejected
Princeton - wait listed
Amherst - accepted
State flagship - full ride
Rice - accepted
It came down to Vandy, Yale and Berkeley. Berkeley is the strongest in her intended major, she loved it there but she had to take it off the list because they do not allow gap year.She absolutely LOVED Vandy and the Ingram scholars. She visited during the storm of the decade, when the campus closed ! But Ingram is not a full ride, it covers tuition, we would still be responsible for room and board. Yale came in with a fabulous financial aid so it really came down to money. It was a very hard decision for her, but ultimately she chose to attend Yale.
She is having a time of her life right now as a CBYX scholar in Germany and travelling through Europe. Looking forward to starting Yale in the fall 
Thank you to all who participated in this thread, thanks for all your insights and suggestions. Now off to Yale Parents thread 
Nice results. Congratulations.
Congratulations to her. I hope she’s enjoying Germany, I had such a great time there. (Live in Munich for five years.)