Help with merit scholarships

cmfl11…do you think she would qualify for those scholarships? I didn’t think Emory, Washington and Lee or Duke were even an option for us based on what I read here.

mommdc…I TOTALLY agree that in state is just fine, and is likely where she’ll go. I just want to make sure we are covering all of our bases and investigating every opportunity.

thumper1…I have seen room and board as high as $18K so I know what you’re saying. Like I said, she’d have to get significant merit aid to cover the difference between our state school and an out of state private. I’m just trying to figure out where she might qualify for such aid and see if those schools are better than what we’re planning now. She’ll be an English major so we’re not driven by a specialized program. It makes the search both harder and easier:)

Erin’s Dad…we have full in state tuition and she has secured separate scholarships which will bring the entire cost to $5K-10K depending on her housing choice.

The McNair Scholars program at University of South Carolina sounded pretty nice when we went to a presentation about it.

cmfl11…thank you for those tips. We have a VERY short out of state list because it is so hard to beat the deal we have in state. I am trying to make sure that her stats at least put her in the running for merit at the schools we choose. Would you mind sharing where your daughter applied and was successful? Did she have similar stats? Also, my daughter is totally on board with our plan. It is her desire to have no debt. She knows we can contribute but would prefer to save those funds for her MFA since undergrad doesn’t NEED to cost her too much. She’s practical so I don’t anticipate any problems there.

azmomof3…funny, a friend just suggested SMU this morning. We had not considered TX but we have family there so making a visit shouldn’t be too hard. I’ll look it up.

bobo44…yes, our in state is a dream. Our flagship is not easy to get into, but we have many good options. She really would need a full ride somewhere to top what we have. I think that’s what we’re trying to find out…is she competitive enough to throw her hat in the ring for a full ride at a private out of state school?

If the state is Florida, she can use the BF and other awards at instate privates too. Many of the schools are aware that BF is now hard to beat, so are being creative with their own money to try to keep those instate students (and their money). Florida Southern and Flagler have very nice theater programs, Tampa gives a lot of merit, Eckerd is appealing to a lot of kids.

My daughter’s friend ended up at UCF. I was very surprised as this kid was very into music (band) and theater, had good stats but not into STEM subjects. She won a lot of art and essay contests ($100-$500 range). She took UCF by storm and got starring roles in plays and musicals as a freshman non-major. I was shocked because of the size of the school that she could even get noticed but she did within a few weeks of starting school.

twoinanddone…yes, we are in FL. UM is on our list and I think they take Bright Futures too. UCF is about 30 minutes away but I think she wants to branch out a bit.

You can use BF at any school, but the amount will be adjusted. I think it is now about $200 per credit at the private schools to try to get near the $7000/yr number. Most of the local scholarships can also be used in the state but a few are limited to certain schools or regions. Just keep stacking them until you get to your number.

@scientia3 Well, all of the competitive full rides are long shots, but your daughter could certainly be in the running. My daughter’s stats were very similar to your daughter’s, just a point higher on the ACT. She is extremely happy that she will be attending University of Richmond as a Richmond Scholar. She had some success with other scholarships too, but Richmond is a perfect fit for her.

As I said, the schools are trying to meet their own institutional needs, so a lot of it comes down to what they are looking for at this particular time. I think if there are some schools your daughter really likes, then it’s worth the effort to try for them.

If she’s only taken the ACT once or twice, it might be worth it to retake and try to add a point or two. I don’t really have any hard evidence, but I got the feeling that having at least a 34 was helpful for merit.

cmfl11…my sister was a Richmond Scholar and UofR is on our list. She only took the ACT once so far, with just a little prep, so we’re definitely going to try again. Thanks for sharing. It’s so helpful to hear from those that have gone before. This process is daunting to say the least.

twoinanddone…which “local” scholarships are you referring to?

Thank you all for replying. I’ve learned so much on this board and I am grateful that you all share so much knowledge. How did our parents do this with out Google and CC??

Tulane rejects many high stats kids, maybe (or not) worth a free application, but just five minutes on a Tulane admission thread would put any optimism to bed. Their test score stats are eye opening. The COA is going to be big even after a big scholarship… When looking at this question on CC you have to define the COA you will pay,

  My 33.all AP/IBD kids know that merit is really not a given at this data point. This didn't even get admission for Tulane 3 yrs ago for example. I totally buy into needing above a 33 if possible as it isn;t in the top 1% now and part of this IS a numbers thing. This doesn't even get the best tuition scholarships at our local 4 yr with no college confidential page. 

Sybylla…thanks for the info. She’ll be taking the ACT again so we’ll see, but I appreciate the honesty. The last thing I want her to do is waste her time to applying for aid she cannot get.

There were quite a few scholarships listed at our school and available to students in the metro area. Some were only available to students in one county, or only to children of military parents. There were scholarships for art projects, essays, civic groups (Elks, American Legion, DAR). The one thing many of them had in common was they could only be used in Florida. There is a scholarship from an Orlando Women’s group that was limited to 4-5 colleges in that area that we found out about from D’s college. Most of these scholarships were for $2k or less, but they do add up.

Oh ok. We have a whole list of those. She already gathered a bit last year. And you’re right. They do add up. She’s a good writer so essays are easy for her, thank God.

@scientia3

There are some true full ride merit scholarships available in the top 50 (for example UVA Jefferson, Duke Robertson, UNC Morehead, Stamps at various schools for example) but those are almost as competitive as getting one of those famous merit scholarships to Oxford (i.e. Rhodes). Your kid looks to me like a mere mortal, so those probably are Powerball odds.

Once you move down from those rare-ified heights, about the best you can typically do at a top 50 private is a full tuition merit scholarship. So your remaining cost will be $15-20k. A great deal for sure, but more than your in state option.

Places like Vandy, ND, Emory, WUSTL, Rice, USC offer half-to-full tuition schollies that are VERY VERY hard to get. But actual human children do, in fact, get them sometimes. One of my kids got one from a school at that level, but didn’t get anything from several other schools at about the same peer ranking level. So go for it – it could happen, but it probably won’t. These typically require a separate application/essays, and sometimes interviews. But if your kid really wants to play this game, the ACT should be 35-36, not 33.

If you go a little lower, then you get into the level of Tulane, Miami, BU, CWRU, Villanova, Santa Clara, Richmond, Fordham, SMU, LMU where you can get an automatic merit award without a separate application. But those auto awards would tend to be more like half tuition than full tuition. Those often (like Tulane) also have more competitive full tuition schollies which require the separate application.

Since you have a great base option, there’s no harm in throwing some darts to see if anything hits. But that will require a good bit of work from your kid and (if you do hit) you’ll still be paying more than your in-state option.