<p>Birdybrains, What thumper told you is key. Money for college falls into two camps-- financial aid for needy students and merit aid for bright students. Schools that are generous in one category are often not generous in the other. So it’s important to figure out in which category you fall. </p>
<p>If you go to a financial aid calculator (google them-- College Board has one), you can estimate how much your family and you will be expected to contribute based on the federal methodology and based on the institutional methodology. If your parents can come up with one of those amounts, then you need to look at schools that meet full need. (Note that few schools meet full need with just the federal methodology.) In general, these are the most competitive schools in the country.</p>
<p>If your family cannot meet the figures listed as their estimated contribution on the calculators, you need to go for merit aid (scholarships). There are schools that are generous (giving anywhere from $10K to half-tuition) but that still leaves you a big chunk to pay. If you need full tuition or full tuition+room+board, you need to know that right away because you will need to apply to schools that are academic safeties. You would also be wise to apply to a school where you could commute and/or your state school, just in case.</p>