Late to the party - playing catch-up on merit aid for a solid, if unspectacular student.

Paying for College
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My wife and I (and our older kids) were all undistinguished in high school, so we never seriously considered anything but state schools in our home towns. Our youngest child appeared to be on the same track but after an underwhelming start her freshman/sophomore years, she has steadily improved her academic profile.

She’s now up to a 3.66 unweighted/4.00 weighted GPA.
High rigor. She’s taken the maximum number of AP courses. Grades have improved as workload has toughened.
2150 SAT, 660 math is the weak link. She retook last week after prepping heavily for math. We’ll see.
32 ACT, same story, the math is the relatively low number. Probably won’t retake.
She’s at a competitive public high school. Her class rank is only top 15 to 20%. On target so far for an excellent senior year, so it’s possible she could squeak into the top 10%, but can’t count on it.
Solid extracurriculars, but no Nobel prizes yet.
Biggest interests: Journalism, history and fine arts. She understands she doesn’t need to study journalism to succeed in that field but would go to a top J school if the cost weren’t staggering. She’s a very talented painter, but would probably keep that as a minor or outside interest and pursue an academic major in the liberal arts at most places.

Our income is too high for any need-based aid, but we’re fairly cash poor. Our retirement is entirely dependent on what we manage to save, so we live frugally, invest heavily, and don’t have a lot of disposable income. We have saved enough to pay for a basic in-state college education, and could realistically supplement that savings with another $5k or so a year, paying as we go, but we can’t afford anything approaching the full cost of out-of-state tuition and housing. I’m allergic to debt, would greatly prefer my daughter not take on any of her own at this point, and I think she’s on the same page.

She gets a lot of letters that are maddeningly vague about financial aid. I had figured they’re probably all fool’s gold, and that cost realities would end up driving the decision. And then this week, she got a letter from Seton Hall, which wasn’t really on our radar. They offered a free application and indicated a high likelihood of admission and receiving far more merit aid than anyone else has so far even hinted at. That’s the first sign we’ve seen that a student of her profile could get a real break for anything other than need, so she’ll definitely apply there and see how that goes.

My question: Now that we know significant merit aid exists for strong but unspectacular students, where else should we be investigating? I’m looking for anything … specific schools, articles, strategies, discussion threads, you name it. Thanks in advance for any light anyone can shed! I’ll be sure to pay it forward.

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PSAT score?

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Is there a specific area of the country on which you’d like to focus? How about a preference for urban/suburban/rural?

If you’re interested in the Philadelphia area, I’d suggest St. Joe’s. Although I can practically throw a rock to St. Joe’s from my home, I have heard virtually nothing about its fine arts program, but its communications program (with a journalism minor) is excellent. St. Joe’s has some sort of deal with Comcast and its students intern in sports reporting. I know quite a few of these positions are paid. Also, two major Philadelphia news stations are right down the street from campus (a campus bus will take you near to them) and I know SJU kids intern there. She would be a decent enough candidate for St. Joe’s full tuition scholarship if she were to apply for it. They offer quite a few of them, but the Deans’ scholarship is competitive and not a guarantee. My guess is without the Deans scholarship, you’d be looking at paying low 30’s each year.

And Temple of course would be tuition free for her with her stats (they take the weighted GPA). So if you do come to Philadelphia, you should check out the two very different schools. Temple has a lot to offer in the fine arts area as well as in broadcasting. I’m not as familiar with their journalism program specifically so I can’t comment on it.

I believe both Temple and SJU have fine History departments, but I can’t really speak much about them. I do know several people who majored in History at St. Joe’s. One went into education, the rest went on to grad school and are in very different areas now.

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As you identify schools, here are a few ways to try to figure out your kid’s merit chances. But a couple general comments first:

  • I am sure you are savvy enough to not have your head turned by what seems like a large merit offer, but at a very expensive school, so the finally cost of attendance (COA) is still high.
  • It wouldn’t hurt to run the net price calculator on each college website to confirm she would not get need based aid. A few colleges show merit estimates on them (I think one of D2’s eight colleges did).

So figuring out if she might get merit:

  • A good starting point is obviously the college website, usually in the financial aid section, there is often a page about scholarships. Although they are often cagey about the number given, dollar amount, and criteria to get it. (Note: One of my kids got a merit award where her stats were under those shown on the website – she was a rock-star at interviewing, had strong ECs, and great recs – can’t count on it often, but it can happen).
  • Google " Common Data Set". Pick the most recent year. There is a section on non-need based aid. You can see how many students get it and the average amount. It is a rough approximation, but figure out what % of students get it. Say 100 of a 1,000 student body get it, so 10%. Is your D’s stats (test scores in particular) in the top 10% for last year’s freshman class? If so, it is a possible merit school for her.
  • If there is a thread out here on student acceptances from last year, look through for mentions of merit, and see what their stats look like.
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If you want to stay in the area and are looking for merit aid, try Drew University (not a large number of scholarships but her test scores are well above their cutoffs and GPA is in the ballpark) and Muhlenberg (has a nice theater scene). I can’t speak to the art programs at either, though.

A lot of folks on this board speak highly about TCNJ - in state tuition and LAC experience.

I wouldn’t rule out the Rutgers Honors program. There are scholarships beyond a certain GPA/SAT/ACT threshold. Check their website for details.

I agree that Temple might be a good choice, given Philly’s vibrant art scene.

I “think” Ithaca College might be good for journalism but I don’t remember for sure, as it didn’t make the cut on my daughter’s list. We know people who got good merit aid there who have stats similar to your daughter’s. It’s a bit farther afield.

Congrats to her for her achievements!

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Because in-state tuition costs vary so much, could you provide the actual number (tuition, R&B, fees per year) you have in mind?

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We're going to have to look up the PSAT. I want to say 210, but I'm not 100% positive on that.

She's interested in an urban experience. I'd be interested in her not being in a high crime area, but I know urban neighborhoods each have their own individual character, so we haven't ruled anything out until we see what we can rule in. We're Texans, roughly halfway from each coast, so the potential distance anywhere doesn't freak us out.

Yes, we’re looking at net cost, not just the amount of an award. We would, of course, check out and apply for everything, but it’s pretty probable there won’t be any need-based aid coming her way.

Solid tips here. I really appreciate them.

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http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

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I would think a ceiling of $20k a year inclusive is the absolute top, but we’re looking hard to do better than that.
We appreciate all the helpful thoughts!

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http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest

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where do you live? I am sorry if I missed that. Also, what major is she interested in? does she want to major in liberal arts? or business? Her scores and grades are good enough to get money I think.

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We’re out in El Paso, woodlandsmom. Looking toward liberal arts.

THAT’s the compilation I was looking for, Madison85. Awesome! Many thanks!

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Look at the Mark Twain Scholarship for University of Missouri, a top journalism college. Also the National Buckeye scholarship at Ohio State. Columbus is a great city and the Short North Arts District is right by campus.

Since you said you are late to this party, know that your DD’s best chances for merit money is by applying early action and most of those deadlines fall Nov. 1. Get those apps done. Also order her test scores sent. Have you run any net price calculators to see what colleges think you can afford? Sometimes scholarships at private colleges make them cheaper than state schools. Right now the Midwest is attracting high achieving OOS students with great merit because their population is decreasing. Is your DD an URM? If yes, that could add to more merit.

I also recommend you look at the website “The College Solution”. There is a book that goes with it and we read everything on it. Our son got a ton of merit and ended up at Ohio State on a full ride because we targeted schools where he was attractive to the college. You don’t have much time so get working on it.Good luck.

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I found financial aid at small liberal arts colleges to be better than merit aid at the larger universities. Net price calculators are fairly accurate. They won’t touch your retirement. Some touch your home equity. All touch your nonretirement savings.

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Keep in mind that any school that is willing to throw a huge merit award at your daughter is doing so because she counts as “spectacular” in their world, academically and geographically, and it may not be appropriate for her abilities and personal style. It’s a bit of a Catch-22, and the challenge is to find a school that is appealing and still offers some decent merit aid. It may well be that your in-state public ends up being the better choice.

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Oops, sorry, with your reference to recruitment from Seton Hall and other comments about Philly based schools, I kind of assumed you were in NJ. Let me think about options that aren’t so far afield.

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The great advice keeps on coming. Thank you all. No, she doesn’t get any URM diversity points.

We do know November 1 is very important, which is why I reached out for help when I didn’t feel knowledgeable enough about how to find what we’re really looking for.

She’s actually kind of interested in schools back East and in the Upper Midwest. We had an overly hot Texas summer, I guess. Mizzou and Ohio State are also on her medium short list, and Temple looks pretty plausible.

We do understand she needs to be spectacular within a particular school’s universe of applicants to get much of anything, so we’re trying to find that elusive match where her numbers stack up well and there’s still something there she’ll find valuable. Our local state school, UTEP, pretty much told her all the merit money goes to STEM. She’ll apply anyway, but I take them at their word.

Thanks for the other tips. I’ll be following up on them pronto.

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@Burgermeister If the OP states he won’t qualify for any need based aid I fail to see how that will be better than merit aid at larger Us. I agree it’s always a good ides to run the NPCs on the school’s web sites.

OP, Ohio U has a good J school and I know they offer merit aid.

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Oh my goodness, definitely this. ^^^

That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find a good fit at a school where she’s outstanding, but remember that cost, while incredibly important, shouldn’t be the only consideration if you’re fortunate enough to have some financial flexibility.

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Maybe look at Southwestern U; it is 30 minutes north of Austin. We know somebody who went there and he is very happy. He got a large merit grant. I believe that Ohio University has some merit aid for OOS students but don’t remember the particulars.