<p>I'm a little confused by the title of this thread. Is the OP looking for schools with full tuition scholarships plus additional merit aid? I have to say...that is a harder find that schools with either merit aid or full tuition scholarships. There are schools with highly competitive scholarships that cover tuition/room/board/fees...but those are not very plentiful and go typically to students at the tippy top of the applicant pool. Not very many colleges offer this.</p>
<p>If you are looking for need based aid in addition to merit aid, you need to read the policies at EACH school. In most cases, merit aid awards will reduce your need...and therefore your need based award will not be as high (total amount won't change...but most schools do not allow "stacking"...one exception is U of South Carolina which does allow different kinds of aid to be stacked up to the full cost of attendance...I'm sure there are others).</p>
<p>So...what exactly is the question? Are you looking for schools with full tuition awards AND additional merit aid?</p>
<p>"2. Cannot be located in the Deep South. I'm willing to go as far south as Virginia along the East Coast and Iowa in the Midwest (Midwest in general is fine, though). I'm not comfortable with the "southern hospitality" culture, among other issues."</p>
<p>Does this really need to be included here? Wouldn't it have been enough to say where you wanted to go rather than where not if you are going to be so vaguely critical?</p>
<p>atomom: Hendrix is outside my geographic limitation, but I will give it a look. What is the political atmosphere? My impression is that most Southern LACs tend to be moderate--more liberal than the conservative surrounding area, but not like Oberlin/Vassar or even a place like Haverford.</p>
<p>thumper1: Sorry for the confusing wording. I'm looking for LACs with at least full-tuition merit scholarships. I would qualify for about half COA (25k) in need-based aid, so merit aid would have be significant to make much of a financial difference.</p>
<p>MidwestMom: Yes, Drew has Recognition merit scholarships up to full tuition. I can only find the merit scholarship page through search, it seems, but here's the link (it's hidden under Overview): Merit</a> Scholarships</p>
<p>preironic, my original criteria was anywhere but South; however, in reevaluating my priorities (and the kind of argument I could make with my parents), I'm willing to venture into the "border states," so to speak. That's the only geographic limitation, so it made more sense to say where I was NOT willing to go rather than vice versa.</p>
<p>It's not the part that you say where you would not like to go that I'm really commenting on but the need to criticize the South as you do so. I didn't get the impression that you were saying that it's a nice place and all, just not right for you. Am I misinterpreting?</p>
<p>Yes, I think you're misinterpreting. I find that often when I just say "no Deep South," people question my decision; I've thought a lot about geographic limitations (originally was within 1 day's driving distance on the East Coast) and I personally wouldn't be comfortable in the South. It's a beautiful place though!</p>
<p>I expect , maybe much to your surprise, that you will find Hendrix quite open, liberal, and surprisingly "quirky" and quite proud of it, too. Beautiful campus, happy kids, excellent reputation with those that matter for post-grad programs. Think old Volvo's with canoe racks. Geography is not always your best guide. ;)</p>
<p>curm, I admit that it's difficult to overcome my initial reaction to Arkansas. But Hendrix is worth a closer look. Not like I have mountains of homework to be doing instead of college research, heh.</p>
<p>On a closer look you might find that Hendrix is a pretty big party school for Alt-kids. Sort of an Alternative Animal House. It's a long way to go for a party.</p>
<p>keilexandra, I don't blame you about the South. I wouldn't let my D go anywhere near Dixie, and she wouldn't even if I didn't feel that way. The history of race relations there is just too peculiar and ugly. </p>
<p>Anyway, it sounds like Oberlin, Swarthmore, Wesleyan and Brown would fit you to a "T," and all are within a day's drive of the Northeast corridor.</p>
<p>Thanks for chiming in, Plainsman. I haven't yet visited Swarthmore because it's so close, less than an hour away; I did visit Wesleyan and was unimpressed by the campus. However, many of the NE schools are so very competitive and offer little merit money.</p>
<p>^ Almost completely true, but for archival purposes I'd like to add that Swarthmore does give out 4 merit-based full-tuition scholarships--but 2 are limited to certain PA counties and 2 to the general Delmarva peninsula. I believe it is called the McCabe Scholarship.</p>
<p>We thought we had DS's school list all figured out (all high sports, high academic schools, relatively large) - his safety is Rutgers which will probably offer him $10,000 merit aid based on his ACT score of 33. (his rank isn't high enough to qualify him for more - he's probably top 10% but his school doesn't rank, so we are not sure, wth a GPA of 3.7 unwieghted, 4.3 weighted- AP Calc AB last year (AP Score=5), BC this year, AP Physics this year) . Probable major, Econ or Business (Depending on the school). But he doesn't want to go to a school so close to home (Rutgers is literally less than 10 miles away) even though he would live at school so he is (Finally!) open to applying to schools that don't require much work to apply, and that may give him some money. The kicker is that they need to be allergy food friendly (he got turned off to smallish schools on a visit to Colgate when the only choice he had for lunch that he could safely eat was a turkey sandwich.) He says doesn't want to go to a school that is smaller than his high school (2500 kids).</p>
<p>I was intrigued to read about Indiana University of Pennsylvania's honor program becasue that school looks big enough and the program looks challenging enough (I don't want him to be bored because its too easy). I've also gathered Fordham and Richmond might fit the bill. Any other suggestions for my DS?</p>
<p>^ katytibbs, you might get more responses if you start a new thread for your DS. That said, I attended a two-week summer program at the IUP Cook Honors College; the honors core will really teach you how to think, although it wasn't extremely rigorous (and this was the impression I got from talking to students as well). The cafeteria is run by Aramark. I don't know how open they are to accommodating food allergies.</p>
<p>Keilexandra, Try these three schools: Earlham, Knox, and Clark U.</p>
<p>My daughter is a very happy junior at Beloit, and she felt these three colleges had a lot in common with Beloit, especially Earlham. Although Earlham is religiously affiliated, it is Quaker, so the vibe is very liberal and laid back. All three can be very generous with merit money, but check the requirements carefully.</p>
<p>Other schools that my daughter considered, and liked, were: Lawrence U, Goucher, Wheaton (MA), and the Johnston Center program at the University of Redlands. There is some merit money at all of them. (Goucher especially).</p>
<p>Dickinson didn't make it on to my daughter's list (not quirky enough for her), but it is a solid school and they can be generous with merit scholarships as well. Another PA. school that offers good merit money is Juniata; certainly worth a look, although I suspect your credentials would put at the high end of their student body.</p>
<p>Finally, you might take a look at Hampshire. Their alternative curriculum won't be a fit for everyone, but they do have some merit scholarships to offer.</p>
<p>Good luck with your search -- and, please let me know if you have any questions about Beloit. It's been a wonderful place for my daughter, and she is already sad about leaving when she graduates.</p>
<p>Thanks for the names, carolyn! Almost all are familiar, but it's good to take a second look at colleges with different criteria in mind.</p>
<p>I love Earlham, but academically it's not a good fit and it doesn't appear to offer merit scholarships up to full-tuition. Alas. I'll take another look at Goucher, although the gender ratio is worrying (as is that of L&C).</p>
<p>I would caution you against discounting a school because it requires religion classes. Religion classes at the schools we have researched have included those which are not neccessarily Judeo/Christian but rather are historical and philisophical in nature. None have been at all preachy or conversion orriented. Truely to discount a group of schools because they require religion courses is antithetical to a liberal arts education. Up untill the last 60 or so years much of human behavior has been heavily influenced by religion and the ripples from the thousands of years preceeding the decline continue to be felt today. Shutting yourself out from the study of faith is shutting yourself out of the study of a hugely important aspect of the human condition.</p>
<p>I am not on this forum much but I still see too much of this sort of stuff -</p>
<p>"keilexandra, I don't blame you about the South. I wouldn't let my D go anywhere near Dixie, and she wouldn't even if I didn't feel that way. The history of race relations there is just too peculiar and ugly." </p>
<p>It amazes me that people on this forum let this sort of comment slide by, but I will not any more when I see it. It is unfair, devisive, and you are raising your children to be close-minded - just the opposite of what we would like to see in this world. Let's try to set a better example for our children. There are going to be a lot of places in this big world you won't let them go if you keep this attitude.</p>