<p>Can anyone tell me if any of my schools have good or bad reputations for giving a lot of need-based/merit money?</p>
<p>Fordham University
Wagner College
Manhattan College
St. John's University
Hofstra University
Pace University (NYC)
SUNY New Paltz</p>
<p>My GPA is 97.45
SAT scores are 630 CR 660 MA 630 WR
ACT composite score is 30</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>None of these schools meet 100% of need, so they are certainly nit among the best aid schools. On the College Board web site you can see what percentage of need they meet on average. Keep in mind it’s just an average and that their top candidates get more than others.</p>
<p>The unfortunate bottom line is that the only good need based aid schools are top colleges. Yfor merit aid schools, read the threads above.</p>
<p>a lot of need-based/merit money?</p>
<p>Everyone has a different definition of “a lot” of aid.</p>
<p>To some, a $10k/yr merit scholarship to a school that costs $50k is great. To others, that’s not much.</p>
<p>And, for those who have a high EFC, then even a school that gives “a lot” of aid won’t give YOU a lot of aid.</p>
<p>What’s your EFC?</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay?</p>
<p>What’s your situation?</p>
<p>SJU definitely awards fairly large (over $10K scholarships) to kids with your stats. Their need-based aid is decent, but they do leave a gap…if your EFC is 0, they may gap you by $10K or so. Of course, their COA is probably over $40K by now. </p>
<p>SUNYs don’t award much in merit aid to instate residents…the top scholarship is probably around $5K. But that covers the full amount of SUNY tuition for the year! Need based aid depends on your EFC as largely it comes from federal and state sources. With a 0 EFC, NYS TAP is now around $4800/year (you can get an estimated award on the HESC website) and Pell is $5550. The SUNY’s do offer FSEOG, SUSTA, work-study, and sometimes some smaller grants for computers, etc…other than work-study, these grants are usually $500 or less apiece. I don’t know about Stony Brook in particular though…you might ask on the SB subforum (look under Colleges).</p>
<p>Since sk8rmom mentioned SJU which does give merit, I looked up its info on Collegeboard.</p>
<p>Annual College Costs ( Fall 2010 )</p>
<p>tuition and fees: … $31,980<br>
Room and board: … $13,900 </p>
<h2>Books and supplies:… $1,000 </h2>
<p>Direct costs…about…$47,000 </p>
<p>Estimated personal expenses: … $2,700 </p>
<h2>Transportation expense: … $1,100</h2>
<p>COA… about $51k</p>
<p>Financial Aid Statistics</p>
<pre><code>* Full-time freshman enrollment: 3,261
Number who applied for need-based aid: 2,866
Number who were judged to have need: 2,634
Number who were offered aid: 2,622
Number who had full need met: 8 Yikes! only 8 students!
Average percent of need met: 71%
Average financial aid package: $24,228
Average need-based loan: $4,190
Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $13,428
Average non-need based aid: $12,274
Average indebtedness at graduation: $30,692
</code></pre>
<p>Your 30 ACT does put you in the upper 25% of the school, so you will likely get a good merit award. Don’t know how much…maybe $15k per year? $20k per year? Anyone know???</p>
<p>However, since the school costs $47k in direct costs, even a $20k scholarship will leave you with a $27k bill.</p>
<p>A lot will depend on how much your parents will pay and your EFC. If they think $27k per year is good, then you’ll be fine. If they say they can only pay - say $10k per year - and their EFC is a lot more, then you could have trouble affording the school. </p>
<p>If you have a 0 EFC, then perhaps with Pell, Tap, a student loan, a St. John’s grant and a merit scholarship from St. John’s it will be affordable.</p>
<p>Saint John’s has a very unique curriculum. In addition to the money issues, please research carefully so you know it is a strong fit.</p>
<p>Olymom, I think he’s referring to SJU in Jamaica (Queens), not St John’s College in NM, which is probably the one you’re thinking of.</p>