<p>Mompom, my sense is that Fordham is scaling back on them a bit…</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC</p>
<p>I guess you need to define “significant”. Every school we are looking at are LAC’s and all of them offer what I think is pretty good merit aid, mostly automatic, getting the cost of those LAC’s down to state school prices-so for us that is the $14,000-20,000 range. They all have options for more merit aid that are competitive awards ranging from $2000-full rides (tuition, room/board, books, etc.). </p>
<p>bethievt- I have yet to see a LAC that only offers $2000 max. Most are in the $12,000+ range–not that we have looked at all the schools obviously.</p>
<p>MidwestMom2Kids–that is good to know. DD is being recruited by them but they are DIII so no athletic aid, but if merit aid comes through, cost might be close to one of the DI or DII schools she is considering. She just isn’t sure she wants to go to Texas.</p>
<p>OP, you might want to check out these older threads:</p>
<p><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</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html</a></p>
<p>OP, what can you afford? I was going to suggest Tulsa as well. Big scholarships but also private-school price tag. If you can swing $10K-$20K a year, that’s an option. Also, maybe Tulane? Ds1, not a NMF but a NHRS, got some good money, but it was still too steep for us.</p>
<p>Steve, S’western used to have a really transparent scholarship chart on its website. I see it’s not there anymore. :(</p>
<p>Juniata ¶ - competitive full rife NMF</p>
<p>Rhodes (TN) - full tuition competitive - not NMF, but worth a look</p>
<p>Centre (KY) - full ride plus - Browns Fellows - not NMF, but worth a look</p>
<p>I second atomom’s recommendation to look at Hendrix. They give out four full-ride scholarships each year through the Hays competition and are known to be generous otherwise, too.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for suggestions.</p>
<p>Re: Fordham – agree with Anniezz – the language has changed from prior years to indicate they are scaling back the number of awards granted. Not an automatic or very likely scholarship given the number of applications for freshman admission they receive. From their website:</p>
<p>[ Nominees are freshmen graduating from high school in the top 1% of their class, or semifinalists in the National Merit, National Achievement or Hispanic Recognition competitions who are also in the top 10% of their class. Presidential and Jesuit Scholarships are awarded to the top 20 applicants each year.]</p>
<p>Is anyone here familiar with Ursinus in Pennsylvania? Any comments regarding academic quality and student opportunities? It’s noted in the Colleges that Changes Lives and US News as an up and coming school. I just wonder are they one of those schools that raises up the “cost” of the school and then “discounts” for everyone with awards to make it seem like a more desirable institution?</p>
<p>Two years ago, Muhlenberg offered my D $20,000 in merit aid ($16,000 Presidential Scholarship plus $4,000 cash stipend). She did not have to do anything to be offered this (except apply and have good stats!)</p>
<p>Apparently Grinnell’s merit scholarships can go up to $20,000.
[Scholarships</a> - Financial Aid | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/financialaid/typesofaid/scholarships]Scholarships”>http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/financialaid/typesofaid/scholarships)</p>
<p>Oberlin also offers merit aid, but website doesn’t seem to say amount. I’ve heard they can be large.</p>
<p>I realize these arent’ full tuition as OP wanted, but they are pretty generous for incredibly high caliber schools!</p>
<p>Juniata is nice.</p>
<p>SteveMA, We looked at several top LACs in the northeast that offered no merit or only $2K.</p>
<p>Significant merit was offered to S by:</p>
<p>Wittenberg
Depauw
College of Wooster
Capital
Adrian</p>
<p>and friends of his were offered a lot from</p>
<p>Earlham
Wooster (near full ride)
Denison</p>
<p>@shp2kids- you asked : “Is anyone here familiar with Ursinus in Pennsylvania? Any comments regarding academic quality and student opportunities? It’s noted in the Colleges that Changes Lives and US News as an up and coming school. I just wonder are they one of those schools that raises up the “cost” of the school and then “discounts” for everyone with awards to make it seem like a more desirable institution?”</p>
<p>The daughter of one of my coworkers received significant merit from Ursinus. She was not NMF. She was also accepted to Mulhlenberg, and I understand they offered her less but eventually matched or came close to Ursinus’s merit offer. This student was also accepted to Brandeis (no merit) but decided to attend Mulhenberg. I don’t know her “stats.”</p>
<p>I really don’t hear people talk much about Ursinus. It’s located in Collegeville PA which is a far suburb of Philly that is not well served by pubic transit. It has a small main st. area and is also about 20 minutes from the King of Prussia mall. [Collegeville</a> At A Glance: Collegeville Main Street Program](<a href=“http://collegevilledevelopment.com/collegeville_at_a_glance.php]Collegeville”>http://collegevilledevelopment.com/collegeville_at_a_glance.php)</p>
<p>At one time I did consider it for my D but I not think that she would like being isolated in Collegeville (where you would really need a car but I don’t think freshman are allowed to have cars). I do recall that it was free to apply so there would be no downside to adding it to the list.</p>
<p>I am currently a freshman at Richmond on a full-tuition Science scholarship. Definitely take a look here! They are really generous with money (about 70 freshmen this year are on one of the full-tuition/full-ride scholarships, there are some smaller (~15k?) scholarships available as well, and decent fin aid). The Scholars process requires an application by December 1st, and then another essay if chosen as a semifinalist and a Skype interview if chosen as a finalist. It’s competitive but worth a shot.</p>
<p>FYI, as of last year at least, Denison’s NMF awards were not guaranteed. If too many NMFs applied for the scholarship, the award became a competition. By the way, to qualify, Denison requires an in-person interview. The award is full tuition (not full ride), leaving about $10-$15,000 in other costs, and cannot be used for a semester abroad.</p>
<p>University of Pittsburgh has offered many full-tuition merit scholarships in the past. These are not linked to National Merit status, and students need only submit an application to the school to be considered. They are a very good deal, have become increasingly competitive, and have attracted a fairly large cohort of extremely talented students to the school. </p>
<p>From what I understand, students need to maintain a GPA of only a 3.0 to keep the scholarship, and this allows adventurous students to take academic risks and explore areas outside of their initial comfort zones, or to confidently major in areas such as engineering with low average GPA’s. Pitt offers a wide range of courses and majors, including standard liberal arts majors.</p>
<p>And, yes, I am aware that OP asked about liberal arts schools and private schools, and Pitt is neither. Nonetheless, from what we have observed, honors colleges tend to offer the advantages of both LAC’s (smaller classes with increased demands on writing, emphasis on teaching ability in choosing professors to teach honors classes - especially helpful in intro classes) and large research universities (access to plentiful research opportunities and graduate courses.)</p>
<p>Among private schools, Rice also offers significant merit aid (20k) which, combined with Rice’s COA, can make the school more affordable for many students. However, these scholarships are less of a sure deal. Students from our high school have also gotten very good merit aid from Emory. I believe that several other reach schools (Vanderbilt?) also offer merit aid, so I would suggest to OP that if their student is going to apply to any reach schools, they choose either schools that offer merit aid or that offer generous need-based aid to students whose families are in the “donut hole.”</p>