<p>Can anybody recommend good schools that give good merit money to kids who aren't ivy qualified? My situation is complex: My parents make enough money to where we will not receive a large amount of need-based, but they don't make enough to be able to pay the ~40K a year that our EFC wants. So I'm looking for schools that are good and challenging, but also offer good merit aid. Does what I'm looking for exist??</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1151-financial-aid-scholarship-resource-threads-start-here.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1151-financial-aid-scholarship-resource-threads-start-here.html</a></p>
<p>Lots of info…</p>
<p>AMPH, our family is in the same situation as yours and our son’s stats are very similar to those you posted in earlier posts. He’s applied to Barrett Honors College at Arizona State, which is frequently cited as one of the top honors experiences in the country - it has 3,100 students, its own campus on the ASU campus, seven residence halls, its own dining hall and student center, and a number of honors faculty assigned only to it. Assuming that you’re not from Arizona, you’d get a $13,000 per year merit scholarship with your stats.</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>Are you a likely NMF?</p>
<p>You’ve missed some deadlines for some scholarships. Some had Dec 1 deadlines.</p>
<p>If you are interested in engineering, science, architecture or business, [Illinois</a> Institute of Technology](<a href=“http://www.iit.edu%5DIllinois”>http://www.iit.edu) has merit scholarships and the best ones, the Camras and Duchossois have application deadlines of December 15. I am happy to answer questions on my IIT thread.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/illinois-institute-technology/1250197-ask-illinois-tech-professor.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/illinois-institute-technology/1250197-ask-illinois-tech-professor.html</a></p>
<p>No, I am not NMF.
ACT: 31 (36 R, 34 E, 28 S, 27 (ouch) M)
Decent EC’s. Captain of a sports team, member of clubs, some volunteer work.
3.96 UW/4.08 W
top 4% of class.</p>
<p>I’m applying to liberal arts colleges and few universities such as Tufts and USC but they’re mostly need-based aid except USC’s merit which I feel I have a very small chance at. We just recently did our EFC so I had no idea that we were going to be in this situation. </p>
<p>And thank you for the suggestion gadad, I will most definitely look into it.</p>
<p>xraymancs, thank you for the suggestions. I’m not an engineering/science kid (hence my ACT… haha) I’m actually looking towards International Relations or languages.</p>
<p>Oh, also, I applied to Tulane University knowing they have good merit, but I missed the EA deadline (ouch) so I’m not sure how that might affect me.</p>
<p>Frankly, you have really no chance at Merit at USC. USC rejects some kids with similar stats. To get merit at USC, you’d need higher test scores…probably at least an ACT 34. </p>
<p>middle quartiles at USC
ACT Composite: 29 - 33 </p>
<p>How much do your parents feel that they can pay each year? You need to take that info to determine where you should apply. Obviously, if your parents can only pay - say $15k per year - then getting $15k merit at a school that costs $50k won’t be enough.</p>
<p>Hopefully others can recommend some LACs that will give large merit for an ACT 31.</p>
<p>Yeah, I figured that.
My parents, ideally, would like to pay anything less than 30k. They’re willing to go to 35k but that’s pushing it. And frankly I don’t want to suck every last dollar out of my parents, I’d like to give them some breathing room!</p>
<p>Getting a little dated but still has good info:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>For IR and merit aid, look at American U and George Washington U in DC. I’d also suggest U Maryland-College Park, but their priority deadline (Nov 1) is past, which is when they award merit aid. You might still want to see if their COA fits your family budget. Ditto University of Pittsburgh (there is an IR-like program via the Pitt Honors College). </p>
<p>University of Rochester has a very strong Political Science department and offers merit aid. </p>
<p>What is your home state? </p>
<p>Have your parents also tried running the net price calculators for the different schools on your list? That will give you a better sense of if you are financially in the ballpark, or if the gap between what your parents can pay and what the school would give you are just too large. Keep in mind that you will be able to close some of that gap yourself via Stafford loans and summer and part-time work.</p>