How much merit aid?

Paying for College
1

This is my first post, although I have been reading many over the last year. I am looking for anyone’s experiences and/or advice for my rising senior twin daughters. Actually, only one of them is up in the air - here is her info:

Class of 2018, competitive high school in TN
GPA 4.5 weighted, 4.0 unweighted
ACT 33
AP classes in Physics, Psychology and English with 4s and 5s. This year will take Physics C, Calculus, and English.
ECs are not strong I think - student council, Mu Alpha Theta, Tech Honor Society (no leadership positions)
She is wanting to major in engineering - possibly environmental but not 100%

We will probably not qualify for much if any need-based aid, so we are looking for merit aid. Here are the schools she is looking at so far:

University of Tennessee at Knoxville - she will qualify for $6000 for scores and $4000 HOPE scholarship for in-state which would leave her with about $2000 tuition plus room and board. They have the FL Prepaid plan so she will get whatever tuition and fees are at UF each year towards the pot. Also, we have some money in 529 so she would be all set there. Too easy, right? She wants to go out of state! She has toured twice - once as a general campus tour which she liked, and then on a football weekend which was crazy and she felt overwhelmed. We are visiting again in the fall to specifically look at the engineering dept. - they do not have environmental as a major, however.

University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa - she qualifies for $25000 aid for scores which leaves about the same as UTK - $2000 tuition plus room and board. If applying to engineering I believe she can get an additional $2500 per year which actually makes this cheaper than her in-state option. She liked the campus tour and the engineering facilities, but wasn’t “in love”.

University of Alabama at Huntsville - she would get full tuition here and only be on the hook for room and board. She liked the campus, but it is very quiet and sleepy on the weekends, which I’m not sure she would like. So, somewhere between quiet commuter campus and 100,000 extra people for a football game is where her head is…

Auburn - should get about the same scholarship money as Alabama. She hasn’t toured yet but it is on the schedule for September.

Clemson - no idea how much merit aid she could expect here, but she likes that they are big on environmental engineering, and we have extended family who live in the area (grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins) so that is a draw.

Totally different kind of school would be Rose-Hulman - tour scheduled for September also but not sure how much aid she could expect. Small by comparison to all the others, but I think she might like it. Her sister toured small liberal arts colleges and is set on going to Rhodes. This daughter also liked the small campus vibe, but is not interested in a 3-2 program for engineering.

Sorry for the long post. Any insight is much appreciated!

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There is a pinned post in the parents forum called “schools known for good merit aid.” There are many schools where a girl with her stats should get offered a lot of merit, but I don’t know much about which of them offers engineering. Have you checked out WPI or RPI? Both offer merit I believe. You can google a list of colleges that offer engineering programs. Look at the private ones and check to see what type of merit scholarships are offered.

3

How much does she need? Geographical constraints?

If she doesn’t want big football and doesn’t require full tuition, Case Western, WPI, RPI?
If she wants big FB but wants OOS, could try Michigan State, Ohio State.
If she wants in between situation, look at Pitt, Kansas

4

Look at Missouri S&T

5

Full tuition merit scholarship is a possibility with her stats at Illinois Institute of Technology, if she likes a big city and is pretty sure about engineering.

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Thanks! I will look at those.

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Geographical constraints - we are looking at schools within a 6 hour drive of home (Nashville), so that includes some of the Ohio schools but the Northeast and CA are off the list. She wants to be close to home and to her twin sister who will likely be in Memphis. As far as the amount of aid, I think it will depend on the total cost of attendance. I would like to not have her take out loans, and we can afford about $40,000 per year but have two starting at the same time, so $20,000 per year per kid to include room and board. They also have some money in a 529 and a prepaid program, but that will only give them about $10,000 per year each. Not sure if I made that more clear or just more confusing. :slight_smile:

8

As you have two kids going to college at the same time, is the EFC for each still too high for need based aids?

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Depending on the year you bought the FL prepaid, she might be eligible for instate tuition at FL schools. If so, with the prepaid account paying for tuition, you are only looking at r&b.

10

Lafayette College in Easton PA is known for its strong engineering program within a liberal arts curriculum. They offer merit aid awards of $24,000 or $45,000 depending on academic and extracurricular record.

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My D had very similar stats, same major (ACT 34, #10 rank, 3.98 UW GPA)

Clemson gave her $15K per year (my memory is playing tricks, for some reason I want to say it was 16K but D has corrected me)
Purdue gave her 10K per year
Pitt gave her $17K per year (I would predict based on last year’s results that a 33 would get her 10K per year)
Alabama- full tuition = engineering stipend
Northeastern-$21K per year

Make sure as you look at engineering admissions that you understand how admission into specific engineering major actually works. A lot of schools have a second layer of competition where the students apply for their specific major after freshman year—some don’t get their major of choice.

12

Can your other kid go to Rhodes for the amount you’ve stated? It wouldn’t feel fair to pay it for one and not the other.

13

Union, outside your driving range, would be one to look at if you were willing to go farther.

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Lol - @yonceonhismouth Lafayette is my alma mater and my husband’s, so she is a legacy there as well. I didn’t realize they gave that much non-need based aid. I wonder how she would feel about being a Leopard…

15

Have no idea about how much merit, or the distance/driving-- but Missouri M&T is an absolutely fabulous engineering program, very underrated by the general public but held in high regard by recruiters and companies which hire engineers. Ditto on the merit/driving, but Case and Pitt- both mentioned above- are schools where kids who seem to be looking for “fun stuff to do on weekends but not rah-rah football culture” really thrive. I know kids at both-- work hard, do cool stuff on campus, in a big city when you need it but plenty to do right at your doorstep.

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@intparent - yes, other kid is offered big merit at Rhodes so remaining cost is in the same ballpark. The deal is that each has same amount in savings and contributions from us. What they don’t use for undergrad they can use for grad school (other kid wants to go to med school). 18 years of everything being fair and equal - we know

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I will check out Missouri- a couple have mentioned that one. Pitt and Case are a little further but doable if a good fit for her. Thanks!

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Florida prepaid is from 2000, so both would qualify for in-state in FL. Further distance but I have brought it up to them on numerous occasions.