<p>@mom2collegekids can we please stay on the topic? I probably should not have provided that information. When I get mad I guess I type things I shouldn’t. I’ll have to work on that ahaha :)</p>
<p>What flagship is your kids? I would love to go to one with a large OOS group. </p>
<p>@rockvillemom thanks for the suggestions I will also look into those two :)</p>
<p>From their website - section on merit scholarships:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Tuition is about $43,000. Room & board about $10,000. And then you will have books and transportation. Look at the Dean’s Honor Scholarship - full tuition. The money you have said you will be receiving from your family should be enough to cover the rest.</p>
<p>University of Miami also has a full tuition scholarship:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.miami.edu/index.php/ug/scholarships/freshmen/[/url]”>http://www.miami.edu/index.php/ug/scholarships/freshmen/</a></p>
<p>Seriously…U of Pittsburgh would be worth a look/see. Also don’t ignore some of the smaller LAC types of schools…Rhodes is one that comes to mind.</p>
<p>@rockvillemom thanks for the info! I just looked it up, actually. It looks pretty competitive, but I think I’m going to give it a shot!</p>
<p>@thumper1 I am looking into upitt right now! And I’ll also look into Rhodes. Is there somewhere I can look up a list of small LACs that offer lots of merit aid?</p>
<p>You’ll have a few opportunities to get some big merit.</p>
<p>1) If you score high enough on the PSAT, you could get some free rides to some places.</p>
<p>2) If you miss the PSAT cutoff for Calif (about 216-219 in recent years), then if you score high on the ACT or SAT (take both), then you’ll have some opportunities that way.</p>
<p>In reality, you don’t need a “free ride”…you really need “free tuition” which can be easier to find without NMF status. Your dad’s $12-15k can pay for room, board, books.</p>
<p>I suggest that next summer you get a summer job (and maybe during this school year get a part-time job) and sock that money away for college. Only do this if you can get some agreement from your mom that your earnings will be SAVED for college and not go for stuff that your dad’s CS money usually pays for.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids thank you for your continued advice. It has been very helpful. I am planning to get a job next summer. I am going to be applying to some paid science internships, but I’ll also be applying to multiple local jobs as backups in case i don’t get one. I made the mistake of spending my life’s savings on a study abroad research trip before I knew that I should have saved the money for college. I am also going to have a job on saturday mornings next year, and I teach piano lessons and I am doing my best to pick up more students. I can make 2-3,000 per year this way.</p>
<p>Check into the University of Alabama, they have some very generous merit scholarships, if your grades/test scores stay on track. They have an honors college which could give you the small college “feel”. Keep learning all you can about merit scholarships–CC has been a wonderful resource for our family.</p>
<p>@Mom2M Thanks for the advice. I didn’t realize the honors colleges at large universities can give a small college “feel.” I will do my best to learn as much as possible about merit scholarships. I know this will all work out and I’ll end up somewhere I belong.</p>
<p>Your GPA + SAT?ACT score will get you the Amigo scholarship for OOS students at the University of New Mexico.</p>
<p>[Home</a> :: Scholarship Office | The University of New Mexico](<a href=“http://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/undergraduate.php]Home”>http://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/undergraduate.php)</p>
<p>It will bring your COA at UNM to the same as in-state (~$17,600 including fees, books and room & board) plus give you $200/year for transportation costs. Additionally you may be eligible for some even higher awards.</p>
<p>This not-too-huge flagship had about 25-30% of last year’s freshman class OOS. (We have a lot of kids coming from CA to go to school here.)</p>
<p>You’d also be eligible for the Honors program. Plus UNM has built a whole bunch of new state-of-the-art facilities at the med school (across the street form the main campus) which upper level bio classes use. UNM is one of the few schools that still uses an actual cadaver lab (not a virtual one) to teach undergrad A&P.</p>
<p>And someone keeps mentioning federal grants for pre-meds who promise to go into primary care…</p>
<p>Those don’t exist at the undergrad level. There are programs for medical school graduates who agree to work in medically underserved areas as PCPs. The programs (sponsored by the National Health Service Corps) ‘forgive’ a portion of your medical school federal loans for each year of service (A minimum of 2-4 years service are required depending on the specific program.)</p>
<p>*I can make 2-3,000 per year this way. *</p>
<p>Oh good!!! By the time you enroll in 2013, you could have $6k or so socked away. That may not seem like a lot, but it can be a “safety fund” for unexpected expenses that ALWAYS seem to come up (thinking of my son who recently broke his laptop…hmmm)</p>
<p>And…yes…some large univs have awesome Honors Colleges. The UHP classes are often smaller, taught by the best profs, and the program offers other perks as well…such as honors housing and priority registration.</p>
<p>My older son graduated in May, but his grad ceremony was delayed until last weekend because of the Tornadoes that hit the area the week before the scheduled May graduation date. </p>
<p>On last Saturday evening, we went to the Honors College-hosted grad party. The Dean came up to my son, addressed him by name, and addressed my H and me by name. He knew where my son would be going to grad school and asked when he was leaving for that…and told him that when S gets his PhD to let him know so that he could have first crack at hiring him. He had written LORs for my son’s grad apps, which were a great help with admissions. S got into his number one choice. </p>
<p>Normally, one might think that a large school couldn’t offer such personal attention, but by having a good honors college with attentive faculty, it can really happen.</p>
<p>OP, lots of great suggestions above. I’d suggest you look through the Colleges That Change Lives website [Colleges</a> That Change Lives | Changing Lives, One Student at a Time](<a href=“http://ctcl.org%5DColleges”>http://ctcl.org) for more possibilities. Also see what scholarships are offered by the University of Arizona and ASU (the Barrett Honors college). How about women’s colleges? Wellesley offers no merit aid, otherwise I believe most offer merit, with the big question being if they offer enough merit to make the school affordable for you. </p>
<p>Muhlenberg is a small LAC in Pennsylvania that can be generous with merit money. They also do a great job of getting their pre-meds into med school. </p>
<p>Based on the grace, determination, and work ethic you’re displaying here on this thread, I truly have few worries for you. :)</p>
<p>I thought the maximum merit award at Mulhlenberg was about $15,000 a year…which would leave a large balance for the OP to fund.</p>
<p>A few ideas…good luck.</p>
<p>1 - $40-50K child support is after tax, so if your Dad is paying that on $120K income, he’s probably living on $40K or thereabouts. Plus whatever his new wife or girlfriend contributes, if applicable. There is no tax implication for him to shift a reduced CS into college expenses, so in that sense it’s easy. But there are some caveats. He (or his new partner) may have been waiting for some financial relief. Also, as multiple kids reach maturity the CS reduction starts out small. The biggest reduction occurs only when the youngest matures. That said, it sounds like he thought this out. </p>
<p>2 - From a FAFSA perspective, you are definitely better off living with your Dad, so long as he has not remarried. Your Mom would still be in the picture for Profile schools that collect non-custodial information, but, I’m not sure if that also applies to your stepdad. You say there would be a big and messy court battle to accomplish this. Why? Does your Mom actually think your Dad would not be a good parent, or is it mainly about the child support money? You might bring this up with her and see if she will go along. Sometimes the custody issues start out contentious, but then ease as the kids grow up. You also think your Mom’s school district is better. If that’s the case, you could wait until after Junior year to switch districts, because the transcripts and EC records are pretty much locked in at that point for the purpose of applications in the fall.</p>
<p>3 - I saw Pitt mentioned in some other posts. It has about 16000 undergrads and used to be a private school. It is located in an urban area with other colleges (most notably CMU) and a hospital/medical complex. In the mid 1960s Pitt became “state related”, with reduced in-state tuition. They still have full-tuition scholarships for OOS students with good stats, and also a small number of full-ride scholarships. (Penn State is also “state related” but was completely public until the 1960s, and Penn State gives no significant merit aid.) Pitt has virtually any major you could think of, so definitely look into that. Pitt does have an honors college with optional honors housing.</p>
<p>4 - What is the best school within commuting distance? That should probably be one of the places you apply to.</p>
<p>WOWmom-
see my post #13…linked all the non-resident scholies!!!</p>
<p>way to go on highlighting the amigo! Middle daughter received this and also received additional funds as you mentioned, and earned more as she progressed. She was a classics major (boutique program- real bang for your buck) did honors with an honors thesis, same as her brother at Princeton. She too was pre-med.</p>
<p>She had a fantastic time at UNM, turned down Penn for UNM. She was able to work at the hospital and do research while she was there all 4 years. Brother at princeton spent the summer there taking the A & P course, neato lab, cell biology and he too in turn really enjoyed his time there.</p>
<p>Daughter was also a D1 athlete so her time was managed to the hilt. She graduated magna cum laute and her BCPM far exceeded her brother’s from pton!</p>
<p>Cannot say enough good things about this scholie and others she received. And she loved her time there…but of course she came back to NC for grad school so I am happy about that!</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>ps also oldest daughter loved her time at Cal Poly SLO…in my estimation better than some of the UCs…
you might look at Cal Poly SLO much more competitve and rigorous than some might expect</p>
<p>Is 2250 your actual score or predicted score, OP? What about Southwestern in Texas? It’s close to Austin. They have some merit scholarships including full rides. Some of the scholarships appear to be guaranteed based on stats. See this link
[Southwestern</a> University: Financial Assistance: Types: Scholarships: Merit Scholarship Program](<a href=“http://www.southwestern.edu/assistance/types/scholarships/merit.php]Southwestern”>http://www.southwestern.edu/assistance/types/scholarships/merit.php)</p>
<p>My dad makes about 120,000 per year and pays around 40-50,000 in support to my mom (they have three kids together, I’m the second).</p>
<p>My mom teaches 1-2 nights a week at a college and makes only around $15,000. She used to have an intense job, but decided to quit to spend time with family. </p>
<p>My stepdad is the big problem. He works for a major corporation where he makes around 150,000 plus bonus every year. However, both him and </p>
<p>I’m not sure there is a big plus for this student to live with his dad vs his mom…as the custodial parent. The dad makes $120,000 a year. The stepdad makes $150,000 a year. This student isn’t going to get much need based aid living with EITHER parent. The incomes are too high to be eligible for federally funded aid. At the schools with the MOST generous financial aid (which are also amongst the most competive schools for admissions) this student MIGHT be eligible for institutional aid…MIGHT. A lot depends on assets.</p>
<p>This student is right to be looking for merit awards. Pitt is a good choice. If she is going to look in Texas, she might want to look at Trinity in San Antonio.</p>
<p>@WayOutWestMom: Wow UNM sounds like a great option! I’ll definitely add that to my list.</p>
<p>@Mom2M: Thanks for the anecdote. It really made me feel better. I have always wanted a small, personalized college experience and it’s good to know that I can still get that even if I can’t afford my original choices. </p>
<p>@SlitheyTove: A women’s college isn’t my first choice, but I’d be willing to go. I’ll look into them more.</p>
<p>@whydoicare:
<p>@katwkittens Research and hospital opportunities a would be great! UNM is sounding like an even better option! And Cal Poly SLO seems to have a really strong engineering program, but not much in the way of premed, so I don’t think it would be a great fit. And I have also skimmed your other post. I’m definitely going to look through it again more carefully as soon as I get back from my internship today.</p>
<p>@prefet: It is predicted based on practice tests. I wanted colleges in that ballpark because I know I’ll be around there (maybe higher but I thought it would be best to underestimate). I will look into Southwestern in Texas. I really don’t want to go to Texas though…</p>
<p>@thumper1: I’m not moving in with my dad, so its moot 
I’ll also look into Trinity. </p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for your suggestions! They’ve been great!</p>
<p>@alwaysleah - CMU is a combination technical/creative school, worth looking at if either aspect or the combination appeals to you. I’ve only heard they will sometimes compete for top students, but you would have to just try and see.</p>
<p>@thumper1 - child support still paid (under court order) by a custodial Dad should come off at line 91b of the FAFSA, and thereby bring him under $100k. Compare that to stepdad’s income, plus Mom’s income, plus child support received by Mom. But it’s moot for this case.</p>