<p>My goal wasto go to a highly recognizable, but small school</p>
<p>You need to be open-minded if you’re going to need HUGE merit because your dad won’t contribute much (or anything).</p>
<p>As you’ve indicated, even if you got a large amount (say $30k/free tuition), you’d still need about $20k per year…and from your post, it sounds like your dad won’t pay that $20k.</p>
<p>Therefore, you need HUGE merit since it sounds like you’re going to be covering most/all of the costs that aren’t covered by merit. Then you can borrow 5500 for the rest.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that you can’t borrow more than the following amounts without co-signers (and it’s doubtful that your dad would jeopardize his money by co-signing big loans).</p>
<p>5500 frosh
6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr</p>
<p>You need a strategy otherwise you’ll end up with no affordable schools. </p>
<p>how much will dad pay each year?</p>
<p>what is your GPA?</p>
<p>What are your test scores , including SAT breakdown?</p>
<p>How much can you earn over the summer?</p>
<p>what state are you in?</p>
<p>What is your major.</p>