<p>Our son's best friend needs a financial safety of two. His parents want him to stay in NE. They have 2 good incomes and a house with no mortgage, so need based aid may be a dream.</p>
<p>He could go free to honors college of flagship state U (momworks there), but doesn't want to.</p>
<p>He's NMS semi-finalist</p>
<p>GPA 4.0 #3 in rank</p>
<p>Good Ecs but no sports
Has volunteer and work experience
I assume he writes well and I'm sure he'll get dynamite recs. Everyone loves him and he's a hard worker.</p>
<p>He's applying to some Ivies, maybe Swarthmore and Amherst, but if they don't give need-based aid he couldn't go there.</p>
<p>My son suggested Clark U, which I think is en excellent suggestion.</p>
<p>Any others? Any school would be lucky to get this kid, it's a matter of affordability (the 2 good incomes are good enough to live on, but not pay tens of thousands in tuition and they have a younger kid too.) </p>
<p>Might Allegheny or Ursinus be worth a look re:merit aid?</p>
<p>Based on the numbrs you've given, it appears that St Joseph's (Philadelphia) and Pitt would offer him very good merit aid. Check out their webe sites. Both are pretty specific about their merit aid.</p>
<p>It would be nice to know what type of school, possible majors, size of school appeals to this kid. Amherst, Swarthmore and the Ivies do not give merit aid, but they certainly do give need-based; so I am a little confused by parts of your post. Perhaps you have computed the EFC and are just not certain how the particular schools you mention will package any aid?</p>
<p>Depending on type of school that interests this kid, Bentley might work. Or WPI. I'm sure there are others we could suggest after hearing more about the kid's wants and needs.</p>
<p>btw, how badly do they want him to stay in New England? Because one of the tricks to good merit aid is "going against type;" a New England kid is more likely to get merit aid at a Southern or Western or mid-Western school.</p>
<p>Look into Northeastern University (Boston) - they're giving very good financial incentives to good students these days - and their respected co-op program will give the boy opportunities to make extra $$</p>
<p>Bethie,
Allegheny would probably offer good merit aid but I think it requires an EA application. They also suggest a visit. My son visited them last year after acceptance and they paid $100 of his flight for a special accepted students visit weekend. Since he flew Southwest from Philadelphia to Pitt, it was an inexpensive visit. Of the schools that your son's friend applied to though, Allegheny is quite different - it's out in the middle of nowhere and a fairly small LAC without other colleges surrounding it.</p>
<p>It is notnecessary to apply to Allegheny EA to get merit aid. My nephew has a large merit scholarship there and he did not apply EA. Here is the link to the website about the scholarships. It says that you must apply by February.</p>
<p>Looks like with his stats he will qualify for merit aid at Allegheny, but in the Post-gazette.com an article published on 10/11/06 stated that,</p>
<p>"Allegheny College, in Meadville, Pa., where annual tuition and fees total about $28,300, gave its $15,000-a-year merit scholarships to 15 percent of this year's freshmen, down from about 33 percent three years ago."</p>
<p>If he has an engineering bent, he can apply to Olin. As a NMSF he has probably already received mail from them, but then again it is not a "safety" in terms of getting in.</p>
<p>NE means northeast. There might be flexibility as fas S as DC, a 12 hr drive from here. Undecided on major but more humanities/arts rather than math/science/tech in interests.</p>
<p>His parents don't think they'll qualify for much if any need-based aid with two incomes and a house they bought cheap but is now worth a bundle and mortgage is paid off. I'll try to feel out the finances more. I don't want to be nosy or insensitive, but this kid feels like one of my own and I'd like him to have some choices. Flagship U is a good one, but he's spent hiis whole life next door to it and would prefer a change. Highly tempting to parents since it's free and certainly no tragedy if it's where he ends up.</p>