LAC for Chemistry that offers generous merit aid

College Search & Selection
21

Thank you everyone for the ideas regarding liberal arts colleges for chemistry, and the specific information about merit scholarships. I can see that some of these colleges will be much more affordable than they appear at first. It seems that the only way to find out how much each college costs is to apply. Clearly the more applications my daughter writes, the better the chances she will find a college with both a program that is a good fit as well as an attractive merit aid package.

I’d like to ask you all another question – how many liberal arts colleges is it reasonable to apply to? I’ve been told that every college asks for different essay topics. Is the effort involved in writing the essays the factor that determines the number of applications that are reasonable?

22

Many of these schools won’t have onerous supplemental essays (some may not have any) – often a “why XYZ college?” short essay. Your D can discuss why wants a LAC environment and why that particular school is a good fit. The important thing will be for her to do enough research (on the website if you can’t visit) to develop a meaningful reply for each college. She can look online to see things like courses/professors/research in her area of interest, ECs they offer that she is interested in etc. that she might add to a more general. Depending on how fast she can do this she should be able to do a good number of applications – but should be careful not sacrifice quality of supplement for quantity of applications.

Another thing to be cognizant of is that many LACs look for “demonstrated interest.” You can look at the common data set for each school to see if demonstrated interest comes into play for the admissions decision (google common data set XYZ college and check section C). Demonstrating interest doesn’t mean you need to fly all over the country to visit (although I would visit any LAC before committing to attend). But your D should get on mailing lists, go to any local presentations the schools may give, ask if she can arrange for a local interview (if that is an option), take part in online chat groups (if they have them ) etc. for each LAC she is considering that takes demonstrated interest into account.

23

Searching for “common data set CollegeName”, and looking in section C was very effective and fast. Thank you happy 1 for this tip.

My daughter asked me for “five colleges”, and asked her dad for the same. I hope that once she reads up on the five colleges that I suggest that she then is open to more suggestions since I can see from everyone’s input that there are probably 20 or more liberal arts colleges that would be good candidates for her to research and potentially apply to. I welcome additional input and will continue to research and tabulate ideas.

Perhaps you are curious as to which five colleges I have chosen to suggest. Here is the email that I sent to my daughter just now:

"Here is a list of five colleges. My assumptions are:

  1. you plan to major in chemistry but that you may want to explore options and pick a different major during your freshman year.
  2. you probably will want to go to grad school.
  3. given your stats of unweighted academic GPA of 3.8 and ACT 32, these colleges will probably offer you $20,000 to $35,000 in merit aid which makes the cost of attendance reasonable.

Wooster
Grinnell
Earlham
Bryn Mawr
St. Olaf"

24

On Bryn Mawr’s most recent Common Data Set, 48 out of 354 first year students got merit scholarships, and those scholarships averaged $16k. For students submitting an ACT score, the 75th percentile was a 33. The maximum merit they offer is $30k, and billed costs exceed $70k.

I think it’s unlikely that BMC is going to hit your $40k target for affordability.

25

allyphoe , your analysis is really interesting. I worked through your example and now I believe that I understand how to use the common data set to help predict which colleges have a better chance of providing good merit aid for a family who does not qualify for need-based aid. To confirm, I am using this formula:

% receiving merit aid who did not have financial need = H2An/(H2a-H2d)

Wooster: common data set not found
Grinnell: 47.52%
Earlham: 86.67%
Bryn Mawr: 27.12%
St. Olaf: 87.34%
Oberlin: 72.8%
Ursinus: common data set not found
Juniata: 84.3%
Union: 62.9%
Denison: common data set not found

Thank you everyone for the pointers on how to research college financial costs. I have emailed the colleges for which I could not find the common data set online. Hopefully the replies will give me the info I’m seeking.

26

https://wiki.wooster.edu/display/ConsAccred/Common+Data+Sets
Ursinus - Not found
Denison - Not found

Keep in mind that the CDS is a voluntary, collaborative but not mandatory effort. You may be able to find the metrics you seek on other sites (e.g., collegedata.com) but the data on those sites can be a bit outdated at time, so just be cautious when making direct comparisons. Can be helpful from a directional standpoint, however. Good luck!

27

Add another vote for Wooster!

If OK to not have “winter weather”, consider Rhodes in Memphis. Great in science and has research possibilities with St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Denison a good choice too, but it is getting more selective so it may not have as much merit possible.

Wooster and Rhodes have EA and it’s great to have merit info early. Denison has ED.

28

Not a LAC, but has that vibe for a flagship university- University of Delaware. Very strong in chemistry (think DuPont), offers merit, has an honors program. If her interest in chemistry wanes, there are plenty of other options to major in.

29

Mount Holyoke is strong in STEM, especially chemistry. They also offer merit.

30

Ursinus College merit aid $35K via their Gateway scholarship is guaranteed, if admitted, for meeting a minimum of an ACT composite score of 27, or a combined 1220 on the critical reading and math section of the SAT, and the following minimum college prep HS course requirements:
Four years of English
Four years of math
Three years of lab science
Three years of social science
Two years of foreign language
Two years of academic electives
scholarship info: https://www.ursinus.edu/offices/student-financial-services/scholarship-opportunities/

Ursinus would be a great choice for a match/safety school which will meet your financial targets. Essentially, they are offering a 50+% discount via scholarship to the top 25% of applicants. It is really a wonderful school. Our family friend who attended was a high stats student (NMF, etc.) and was challenged academically, and really liked her professors and the small classes.

31

@GrizzlyBearMom - don’t underestimate the cost of travel and proximity of major airports in your decision. Our oldest daughter went to JMU (2 hours outside of DC), and we racked up a few round trip fares from Dulles to Boston over the years. However, it was still manageable given the relatively low OOS tuition.

32

Yes, the OP needs to check out the CTCL schools. Chemistry is fairly ubiquitous as a major, and LACs are typically very strong in STEM (well, STEM minus the E), though it’s shocking how many people do not know this. Thus, I would focus less attention on finding a great chemistry school (this is like trying to find a school with a solid English or psychology major; they’re pretty much everywhere!) and focus more attention on the schools known for merit (and then take a closer look at the chemistry departments). Nearly all the CTCL schools are generous with merit, and nearly all will have strong chemistry programs.

From there, sure, check out other LACs to see if their individual net price calculators spit out affordable results, but the hunt for merit usually means attacking those schools where one’s child will be a very attractive candidate.

33

@GrizzlyBearMom Great thread with great questions prompting great responses.

A sortable list of colleges including % of students receiving non-need based aid and the average amount non-need based aid can be found at:

https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=all

It is a couple of year old, so safest to rely on the Common Data Set for actual numbers for colleges you are considering, but this list provides a quick way to identify colleges that offer significant merit aid to a significant number of students (sort by % of students receiving non-need based aid).

34

You may want to add Clark University in Mass to the list. It is one of the CTCL and it also has the accelerated master’s program which I believe is included in the tuition for 4 years.

35

Within a $40k per year limit, do not overlook public LACs and LAC-like colleges. As California residents, consider Sonoma State. Out-of-state but with lower out-of-state list prices, consider University of Minnesota - Morris and Truman State. All three of these schools have ACS-approved chemistry majors (see https://webapplications.acs.org/Applications/CPTASL/app_list_search.cfm ) and are in the COPLAC list ( http://coplac.org/members/ ).

36

i see you’re already looking into it, but as a current at grinnell, i highly suggest it for chemistry. our STEM department is amazing, notably our physics, chemistry, and compsci departments. i took intro. chem last fall (my first semester as a student), and i loved every second of it. my professor was amazing and was—still is—easily one of the best instructors i have ever had, in lecture and in lab. i may be a bit biased because i already loved chemistry before coming to grinnell, but had i not already begun declaring as independent, i firmly believe i would have continued with and declared chemistry as one of my majors. also, every person i’ve spoken to who is majoring or wanting to major in chemistry speaks nothing but highly of the professors.

furthermore, grinnell gives merit-based aid on top of need based aid, and both are very, very good. i don’t receive a merit-based scholarship, but i know many who do. i also know many who receive both. i chose grinnell in particular because of its commitment to affordability (side information: i’m a first-gen pell grant recipient and absolutely would not have been able to afford my state flagship university, even with aid), and the financial aid has been a blessing. i received my aid for the 2019-20 academic year two weeks ago (i was scared out of my mind) and cried because of how good it was. even with the tuition increase, i’m actually paying less than i was last year even with the student loan i’m taking out, which (fortunately) isn’t much at all. all of this paragraph has led to me saying: grinnell’s aid is very good, both merit and need-based, lmao. i can’t speak highly enough about the school. it’s difficult but worth it.

if you have any specific questions, please let me know! if you stop by, i may even be the one to give you your tour. cheers! x

37

What @allyphoe suggested above (about Bryn Mawr) may apply to many LACs in the CTCL group (or similar peers). Getting down to that $40K budget may require nearly the maximum merit award they offer. That could push some of them into high match or reach territory.

Many out-of-state publics offer net prices at or below that budget limit, even for OOS students without aid. Check out New College of Florida and St. Mary’s College of Maryland, which are public LACs. In the past, New College has offered merit awards ($15K as I recall) to all entering OOS students. You might find even some larger OOS public universities more attractive, all things considered, than some of the private LACs that need to offer many, large merit awards to attract applications.

38

I see several have named Earlham College, and I enthusiastically reinforce that nomination. I have a student currently in attendance, and I am an educator, with a number of students who have attended Earlham in recent years. (Including a student who is a chem major.) And… I have to tell you: the more I have been exposed to what Earlham is doing, the more impressed I have become.

Located in Indiana, it meets her climate desires. Also, I am assuming that, as a chem major, she is interested in grad school, and Earlham is in the first percentile nationwide as a “farm” school for gradsschool admissions in the Sciences. In fact, it is also in the first percentile nationwide for producing students who successfully complete gradschool, and who earn PhDs.

And… it had been a couple of years since I have looked at this data (when my current Earlham Junior was beginning to research colleges) but… at the time, Earlham also ranked in the top for supporting successful Women in Stem and Persons of Color in Stem (I believe that the rankings, at that time, were #12 and #7, respectively.)

Another awesome thing about Earlham for science majors, is that they have off-campus study programs that align with science majors. At many schools, science students are unable to do study abroad programs, because they have too many curricular requirements in the Sciences. Earlham has folded those requirements into a number of their studies abroad. Additionally, the Science Departments organize their own travel-research projects. And… each student can participate in study-abroad and/or a research opportunity at no extra-expense… just normal tuition! (This is “Guaranteed” to every student, regardless of income, due to an extremely generous endowed gift made to the college by an alumni couple.)

Overall, Earlham has a highly collaborative and integrated curriculum, where the sciences and the Humanities are totally integrated.

And, it sounds like your daughter might be interested in their Outdoor Club, or even adding an “Outdoor Education” certificate onto her diploma. There is also a pre-orientation program called “Augist Wilderness” for First Year Students (That program can be very extreme, so it may not be for absolutely everybody… but it does go along with the “outdoor” interest, so I thought I would mention it.)

Other schools I have been impressed with that seem to meet your interests and qualifications include Beloit, Wooster, and Kalamazoo in the northern midwest. Midwestern colleges are generally priced $10-15k lower than schools on the coast (probably due to lower cost of living/lower overhead… because it is not due to lower quality or lack of opportunities!) Along with Earlham, these three all offer good merit money for your daughter’s stats.

There is also Bowdoin, Colby, and Bates, (all located in Maine), Amherst, and Williams. They are also incredible schools and have impressed the heck out of me (I also have had my own children and/or former students at these schools, so I know them pretty well) and they meet most of your qualifications… But their price tags are noticeably higher and they don’t offer merit money, at all.
So, I am throwing the names out there, but their costs may be significantly over your aspirational budget… and to be honest, none of them have impressed me quite as much as Earlham has.

39

OP- I would take a look at the common data sets of the various schools people have mentioned to differentiate student outcomes. For instance @BB mentions two highly respected schools Kalamazoo and Earlham. The schools share many similarities but some differences emerge when looking at the data the schools self report.

For instance…Kalamazoo has a 91% retention rate after freshman year and graduates 85.8% of students after 6 years. Compare this to Earlham who retains 82% after freshman year and only 68.2% after 6 years. Others mentioned such as Beloit graduate 85.7% after 6 years, Bates at 92% and Colby at 90%.

So I would ask myself why are some schools graduating 9/10 students while others are seeing 1/3 not graduating after 6 years (Earlham most recent comfort has dipped to a 64.5% grad rate 6 years out).

Good luck

40

@Nocreativity1
Graduation and retention rates are correlated with the parent’s income and education level, and the student’s test scores (which are also correlated with the previous two factors). A difference in graduation rates between Bates (median family income of 226k) and Earlham (median family income of 85k) is not surprising.
I wonder what the graduation rate is for students at Earlham with family incomes greater than 226K ?