Good Schools offering Merit Aid

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm currently a freshman at a prestigious private university and absolutely love it. However, I'm afraid that the cost will end up haunting me in the future. I do receive financial aid, but I'm in the awkward middle-class bracket that doesn't receive nearly as much aid as the student needs. </p>

<p>I'm considering transferring either next year or my junior year to either a private OOS or public in-state (I'm a Pennsylvania resident) that offers merit aid/a potential full-ride. I'd love to be near or in a city and prefer medium-sized schools, but would attend a larger public university if I needed to. I'd like to major in either Cognitive Science, Linguistics, or Psychology and am debating whether I'll eventually attend grad school. Basically, I'm looking for a good, reputable school that will provide me with a good education and research opportunities, as well as (potentially) offer me a lot of merit aid (preferably half or full-ride). I also realize that a lot of schools don't offer aid to transfers, which is why I'm asking for suggestions on here, since you all may know of schools that I don't.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:
High School:
H.S. GPA: 3.9 UW, 4.8 W
SAT: M: 720, CR: 680, W: 800
TOTAL: 2200
6 AP classes (my high school had block scheduling so you couldn't take more than 3 a year)
5 AP tests: 3 5's and 2 4's
I took Arabic at a good private college during the fall of my senior year and received an A.
Awards: National Merit Scholar, Salutatorian, Rotary Student of the Month, Distinguished Honor Roll, National Honor Society
ECs: International Thespian Society (president), Model UN (treasurer & 2 Outstanding Statesman awards), Tri-M Music Honor Society, Heroes (taught lessons about drugs, peer pressure, etc. to 3rd graders during senior year), student-directed the middle school musical all 4 years in h.s., plays/musicals, Chorus, Madrigals (select choir), community theater, over 250 volunteer hours at local soup kitchens, theaters, after-school programs</p>

<p>College:
Predicted GPA: 3.7-3.8
Learning 2 languages (French & Arabic)
Working as a research assistant in linguistics/psych for 2 different grad students on campus. I record and program data into excel, run subjects for experiments, and am in charge of stimuli (sentence & picture) creation.</p>

<p>Thanks for all your help, any input would be appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Did you already look at Auburn, Alabama, UMiss, LSU, Tulane? Don’t know how much of their merit $ goes to transfers.</p>

3

<p>“I took Arabic at a good private college during the fall of my senior year and received an A”</p>

<p>Congratulations! My DH studied Arabic in high school – said it was about the hardest thing he’s ever done. (He studied it only for a year; then his adviser made him quit, claiming that other things were more important for his doctoral work in Byzantine history. Arabic prof’s response to this: “Only one year of Arabic is useless.” Sure enough, DH has forgotten almost all of it, LOL.)</p>

<p>Sorry for off-topic digression. You have great stats! ;-)</p>

4

<p>I’ve been posting on CC for a couple years and don’t recall seeing anything about merit aid for transfers. This kind of information is not broken out in the Common Data Set details. Using the CC search function just now, I found one post that mentioned Pitt does not grant merit aid to transfers. It said nothing about other public schools in PA.</p>

<p>The “big merit” schools I’ve seen mentioned on CC tend to be public universities in the deep south, like Alabama. I don’t know if transfers are eligible. You could call/email finaid at some of these schools. Your best cost-saving scenario may simply be to transfer to a cheaper school, probably an in-state public. That’s assuming your EFC is appreciably higher than the costs there.</p>

5

<p>Thanks, you guys gave great advice. I’ll definitely look at those southern colleges as well as in-state publics.</p>

6

<p>It is super hard to get much in merit as a transfer student. When I say “much,” I mean relative to cost of attendance. Maybe Miss State or LSU.</p>

7

<p>“Congratulations! My DH studied Arabic in high school – said it was about the hardest thing he’s ever done.”</p>

<p>I-yi-yi—I meant <em>graduate</em> school.</p>

<p>This kids’-college-app process is really melting my brain. And I thought I loost brain cells during pregnancy – oy!!</p>

8

<p>Plus, I can’t spell anymore. That would be “lost,” not “loost.” Ack!</p>

9

<p>“I’m currently a freshman at a prestigious private university and absolutely love it. However, I’m afraid that the cost will end up haunting me in the future. I do receive financial aid, but I’m in the awkward middle-class bracket that doesn’t receive nearly as much aid as the student needs.”</p>

<p>Already paying for college is a problem and you are a freshman. Is it you who wants to transfer or is it your parents who would like you to transfer? Yes, you could look around & apply to other schools but you may find that you are getting the best financial aid package where you are right now. </p>

<p>The prestigious private university you attend now may help you get a job later, another lesser-known school may not. Sadly, with some potential employers the name recognition of a university pulls a lot of weight! Good luck to you in your college search!</p>