I need merit aid. Need help finding schools, any suggestions are much appreciated.

Paying for College
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<p>Hi. I'm a student from a selective private college preparatory school in Florida. My family makes between 150k and 200k a year, however I am paying for my own college (my family might be contributing around 10k a year) so I am looking for a school that I can actually afford which is impossible nowadays unless I stay instate or qualify for a large merit scholarship. Preferably, I'm looking to pay <35K a year. So here's my states/current list:</p>

<p>Bucknell
CMU
CWRU
Cooper
UF
GWU
Lafayette
Lehigh
UNC
Pitt
Rice
Rochester
WashU
Yale</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT 2120: 740 CR, 690 Math, 690 Writing. I retook this in June and will post my updated scores when they are release expecting Math and CR to go up.
SAT IIs: 750 Math II, 650 Physics. I'm retaking Math II in October and will take Bio/retake Physics
UW GPA 3.74
W GPA 4.6
Junior APs: Calc AB, Physics B, Euro
Senior APs: Calc BC, Biology, Gov Pol, Comp Sci A, English Lang, Stat (and an online Physics course at UT which is basically Physics C)</p>

<p>I changed schools after my sophomore year from a public school in CT to a private school in Florida. My grades during my junior year skyrocketed. Straight As in all my classes; A+s in my APs.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Varsity Weightlifting 11th grade
Rowing team 10th and 12th grade (skipped a year last year to focus on weightlifting)
Key Club (11)
Newspaper (11)
Science Club (11) Finished 3rd in statewide competition
Spanish Honors Society
Beta Club (Senior year)
Volunteer weekly at the library
Planning on building a tesla coil with my friend this summer
At my old school was a board member/WHIP of the model congress (9-10)
Started a website with my friends; we write about sports</p>

<p>It was difficult for me to achieve leadership positions with switching schools and all. Like I was planning on running for president of my junior class but moving changed everything. I tried fervently to become active my junior year but its hard adjusting yourself to a new environment in the middle of high school.</p>

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<p>did you take the PSAT and did you score above Fla’s NMSF cutoff? </p>

<p>will post my updated scores when they are release expecting Math and CR to go up.</p>

<p>Post your AP test scores too. </p>

<p>I would eliminate Yale from your list as your UW GPA and EC’s are just not strong enough to put you in contention. If your PSAT score is hi enough to qualify for NMSF standing, there are lots of colleges/ U’s that will offer you partial / full tuition scholarships.</p>

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<p>I would suggest that you add one Florida public university to your list. You should qualify for Bright Futures, right? Why not find a school where you can take advantage of that program.</p>

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<p>Your stats would qualify you for full tuition at Alabama and several other schools in this list. One of these might make a good financial safety. What is your intended major?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@menloparkmom: No I didn’t qualify NMSF or NMF… I didn’t realize how important the PSAT was in deciding merit aid until much later, so I did not take the PSAT as seriously as I should of. I realize now it was a very stupid move. </p>

<p>Yale is on my list because we are planning on buying a house in that area so I could conceivably live with my parents while I attend school therefore I wouldn’t have to pay for R&B making Yale an affordable option. (I realize it’s a super reach but it’s still worth a shot considering its an amazing school/affordable)</p>

<p>@thumper1: UF is on my list I forgot to add it to that. No other Florida schools though.</p>

<p>@BobWallace: I only want to consider state schools at or above the quality of UF. I intend to do a double major in cog sci and comp sci.</p>

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<p>I thought Yale required freshmen to live ON campus…you should check to see if this is true. I could be wrong.</p>

<p>Alabama is every bit as good as UF.</p>

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<p>*however I am paying for my own college (my family might be contributing around 10k a year) so I am looking for a school that I can actually afford which is impossible nowadays unless I stay instate or qualify for a large merit scholarship. Preferably, I’m looking to pay <35K a year. *</p>

<p>I don’t think you understand. If your parents will only pay $10k per year, then YOU will not be able to pay the other $25k per year unless you have some huge savings acct. </p>

<p>YOU can only borrow the following amounts…</p>

<p>frosh 5500
soph 6500
jr 7500
sr 7500</p>

<p>So, if you were thinking of borrowing $25k per year…think again. Not only is that too much to borrow, you can’t borrow that much without (naive) co-signers. And, again, that would be crazy. </p>

<p>At UF, you have Bright Futures paying for most of the basic tuition. But you may still be short of money to pay the rest. </p>

<p>YOU NEED a financial safety school.</p>

<p>And, yes, Alabama is just as good as Florida. You need to apply there for an assured full tuition scholarship.</p>

<p>What is your major?</p>

<p>Take off most of the schools on your list. You won’t be able to afford them. Yale is need based aid only. Your stats aren’t high enough for merit at WashU or Rice or the others that are mostly need-based aid and give a few merit scholarships to super high stats kids.</p>

<p>Yale is on my list because we are planning on buying a house in that area so I could conceivably live with my parents while I attend school therefore I wouldn’t have to pay for R&B making Yale an affordable option. (I realize it’s a super reach but it’s still worth a shot considering its an amazing school/affordable)</p>

<p>Even if you got a waiver to live off campus, Yale’s cost is still beyond your budget. The tuition is about $40k per year. How would you pay that??? Again, you can’t borrow that much without (naive) co-signers. And, it doesn’t sound like your parents would cosign anyway.</p>

<p>You need a more sensible list.</p>

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<p>Another possible resource once you talk to your parents: <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&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@mom2collegekids: Hi. No I would not have to take any loans, I don’t want to go into the details but got some money, and am capable of paying for college. However, I’d like to cap my price at 35k because honestly the price of college is really ridiculous. It’s exorbitant and with the amount of student loans that are being taken out the bubble will burst extremely soon. </p>

<p>Then what do you suggest specifically in schools? In the links posted by BobWallace and Erin’s Dad I’d rather go to UF than any of those schools. So if that’s true are you saying that I should just end my search now and only apply to UF? (loaded question) The reason I’m applying to most of those schools is because its conceivable I can still get a merit aid package (more you apply to the better the odds) like Lehigh and URochester are known for giving large packages of 15-20k a year to many students, and being around the 75 percentile in scores for those schools I don’t understand why I wouldn’t apply for them looking for merit aid!</p>

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<p>This is not correct. The typical merit award at URoch is in the $8000-$12000 range. Only 15 students/year are awarded full tuition, another 10 get half tuition and only NMFs are guaranteed $17,000/year. There are some other scholarships that are in the $15,000-$18,000 range but they are competitively awarded and not purely based on academic achievement.</p>

<p>URoch’s COA for next year is ~$59,000</p>

<p>Go ahead and applied to URoch (It’s great school!), but please understand you are not guaranteed to get huge merit there.</p>

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<p>You need to scratch Yale off your list. First point, they do NOT offer merit scholarships. Second point, unless you plan to get married soon or are 21, you would need to live on campus as a freshman AND a sophomore, regardless of where your parents live. See below:</p>

<p>Freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus unless they are married or are at least twenty-one years of age. Requests for permission to live off campus for either of these reasons must be submitted in writing to <a href=“mailto:freshman.affairs@yale.edu”>freshman.affairs@yale.edu</a>.</p>

<p>[Housing</a> and Advising Form | Yale College](<a href=“http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/housing-and-advising-form]Housing”>http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/housing-and-advising-form)</p>

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<p>"being around the 75 percentile in scores for those schools I don’t understand why I wouldn’t apply for them looking for merit aid! "</p>

<p>merit aid is used by colleges to entice outstanding students with scores in the 95%+ range to enroll. The 75% may get you admitted at some of the less competitive schools on your list, but you are not being realistic to hope for $$ too.</p>

<p>Here is what USC says they look for when deciding who will be awarded merit $$ </p>

<p>“Candidates are selected by USC faculty and staff from an extremely competitive international pool. Applicants pursue the most demanding curriculum and achieve at the highest level.
Average SAT and ACT scores are in the top 1–2 percent of all students nationwide. In addition to academic criteria, candidates’ talent, involvement and leadership are considered.”</p>

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<p>I’m sorry but you read that wrong. I’m saying I’m around the 75% range of STUDENTS ADMITTED to those schools in terms of test scores. Overall I’m in the 97.8% so… yup.</p>

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<p>OP, I’m assuming you’re male (weightlifting and crew). If that’s the case, consider looking at some LACs (liberal arts college) rather than just the universities that people your list right now. Being a guy can be an admissions edge at many schools, and that sometimes translates towards merit aid. Comb through the Colleges That Change Lives as a start and see if any appeal–some of those might offer enough merit aid to bring costs down to a level you can afford. </p>

<p>You could also consider some universities where the COA is lower to start with. Pitt is one good option and is already on your list. They’ve got rolling admissions, apply as early as possible to increase your chances for merit aid. U Maryland College Park is another–apply early for merit aid consideration. The SUNY campuses. U Arizona and Arizona State (which has a great honors program). Ohio State’s been giving great merit aid to some California students, don’t know about for Florida. On the private side Elon…and as long as I’m thinking about the south, College of Charleston. You have Lafayette and Lehigh on your list, so take a look at Muhlenberg, though I’m not sure if even their top merit aid package would be generous enough. Maybe U Denver (expensive but merit aid may help you).</p>

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<p>The SUNY schools would be in the OPs price range even as an OOS student. I would suggest he look at some of those.</p>

<p>OP…what major are you considering? Your list implies something related to engineering…is that correct?</p>

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<p>

Depends how you define “good”. I would probably agree.</p>

<p>I would recommend UF or FSU for dannygood. Both are fine schools that should be affordable. There’s nothing wrong with looking elsewhere if and only if you have the discipline to turn down unreasonable offers.</p>

<p>What is the intended major?</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>This is not true for the same reasons that applying to a large number of selective colleges does not give you correspondingly better ‘odds’ of admission:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The calculation of odds is based on the caveat of randomness. Neither college admission nor merit scholarships are random, some candidates are more desirable than others. </p></li>
<li><p>Between applying for admission and filling out separate merit applications for so many schools, neither will not be of as a high quality as possible due to time constraints.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>

</p>

<p>Why are Rice & WUSTL on your list?</p>

<p>Rice’s CDS for 2010-11 has a 75% SAT level of enrolled fr at 2300. My guess is that WUSTL is higher. They only give rank, not gpa, but I don’t believe that a 3.74 UW is close to the 95% range for either of these schools.</p>

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<p>*@mom2collegekids: Hi. No I would not have to take any loans, I don’t want to go into the details but got some money, and am capable of paying for college. However, I’d like to cap my price at 35k because honestly the price of college is really ridiculous. It’s exorbitant and with the amount of student loans that are being taken out the bubble will burst extremely soon. </p>

<p>Then what do you suggest specifically in schools? In the links posted by BobWallace and Erin’s Dad I’d rather go to UF than any of those schools. So if that’s true are you saying that I should just end my search now and only apply to UF? (loaded question) The reason I’m applying to most of those schools is because its conceivable I can still get a merit aid package (more you apply to the better the odds) like Lehigh and URochester are known for giving large packages of 15-20k a year to many students, and being around the 75 percentile in scores for those schools I don’t understand why I wouldn’t apply for them looking for merit aid!
*</p>

<p>I don’t think you understand. To get BIG merit from schools then your scores need to be in the top 2-5% for THAT school (not national percentiles.) Your scores aren’t high enough to get big merit (or any merit) from many of those schools. </p>

<p>Your biggest problem for merit is your Math +CR score (which is what schools use for merit)… It’s a 1430…that’s not high enough for the merit that you want from the schools only your list.</p>

<p>As for the USC example, I can almost assure you that your SAT is NOT high enough for merit there. Their merit awards go to NMFs and students with M-CR SAT ranges of 1500+. USC wouldn’t give merit for a 1430 Math + CR…no way. They might not even accept you, much less give merit. </p>

<p>You won’t likely get much/any merit from URoch, Rice, Wash U and a number of the other schools. That’s why you need another list.</p>

<p>And…if you (the student) have $100k of personal funds/income to put towards college, then you definitely won’t qualify for any need-based aid. </p>

<p>No one is saying that you should only apply to Florida publics. We’re saying that you need a reasonable list if you need big merit to afford college (or to pay what you want to pay).</p>