I can’t remember if you indicated if she had any possibility of National Merit Finalist status. The PSAT taken junior year would put her at semi finalist if her scores meet the cut off for your state. Then she would need to meet other criteria and a qualifying SAT for finalist designation. I am not familiar with Wisconsin, but if you post her PSAT someone might know if she is close to cutoff and it’s something to consider and work on SAT as well. If her PSAT isn’t close, then concentrate on ACT
It’s important to read the fine print re: the GPA to keep/renew the scholarships. Keeping a 3.0 is a lot easier than keeping a 3.5, for example.
Isn’t there a lot of students that meet those criteria for free tuition? @OHMomof2 I did see the list, I guess I just didn’t believe it, sorry.
I don’t understand how a school can give free tuition to every student that meets that criteria.
Is there less meeting those stats than I’m imagining or does a whole lot of money goes towards the students that receive full tuition?
@bhmomma She did not meet the cut off for PSAT in our state.
Well just because a school offers it doesn’t mean they all take it. Some kids don’t want to attend those schools (and some do, at full pay). The schools on that list feel it’s worth it to “buy” kids with high grades and test scores because it makes their college a better place.
But yes,they’re real. My D got a full tuition plus stipend offer from one of those schools. She didn’t take it in the end, but it was very nice to know there was an option there that would only cost room and board.
Yes, a lot of students meet the criteria. They don’t all choose to go to the schools in question. But yeah, some of those schools spend a lot of money on those scholarships.
In general, it’s s strategy to attract more high stat students, which long term can have a lot of benefits.
Many of these schools are not high on people’s lists (silly people). Also some states want to draw very bright people because they need them. For example, Alabama needs engineers; if not enough residents want to study engineering, the state needs to draw them from somewhere. UA and the state are betting that undergrads will stay in Alabama after they graduate. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Another strategy is to look at honors colleges. Uwisconsin eau Claire has a good one.
But essentially if she manages to get to 32- something only 2%test takers manage - she’ll have lots of possibilities.
Forgive me if I’m repeating what someone else may have already said.
Obviously, she should look at the state flagship UW-Madison. In-state tuition at a very good university.
There’s even word going around that UW-Madison will offer more merit scholarships next year, and your daughter has very good grades and seems likely she will get above a 30 on the ACT.
The magic number for ACT is a 32 - that opens up a lot of merit possibilities, some of them quite lucrative, at some OOS flagships and smaller state schools (U of Kansas, U Missouri-Columbia, U of Alabama are a few).
Also look into UW-Eau Claire and UW-LaCrosse as safety possibilities in your own state. Supposed to be more higher-stats kids at those two, and I think they both offer merit.
Wisconsin is part of the Midwest Exchange Program, I believe - http://msep.mhec.org
Look at these schools for big merit discounts, some with the possibility of a merit scholarship on top of the discount.
(Several kids around here have attended UW-OshKosh on merit AND tuition reciprocity discount with the Midwest Student Exchange Program. )
Illinois State offers in-state tuition to WI residents, as does Eastern Illinois University - again, your D would get merit as well, reducing the cost even more.
Also, look at Southern Illinois University in both Edwardsville and Carbondale. They give in-state tuition to students with a 3.0 and additional merit.
Also look at University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State.
Ohio University in Athens, Ohio is in southern Ohio and they offered my D, who has lower grades than yours, and a 31 ACT, in-state tuition. Your D would surely get more money, and probably qualifies to be in their well-regarded Honors Tutorial College, if she knows her major already.
Western Michigan University would also give her a nice merit scholarship.
You did not say what you could afford to pay per year (or if you did, I missed it, sorry), but…
colleges like Beloit, Knox, Kalamazoo, etc. - your D will NOT pay the listed tuition price. The tuition at these small liberal arts colleges are discounted and priced more on a sliding scale based on grades and test scores, ECs, etc. After your D applies, and is admitted, she will be offered a price based on merit and financial need.
Your D would very likely get a scholarship for at least half the tuition price…
There are less selective LACs (liberal arts college) that would offer her close to full tuition OR the overall price would be cheaper.
Look at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN; Concordia College in MN, Valparaiso in Indiana, etc.
Since she wants Florida, take a look at Eckerd and New College of Florida.
Maybe Tulane in New Orleans?
I also recommend the Alabama state schools for the possibility of great merit aid with her stats. Don’t just look a the flagship, look at the smaller state Alabama schools, too. She could attend college for just the price of room and board.
It should go without saying - Make sure any school she applies to actually has what she wants to major in, of course.
I know that many of the schools I mentioned are not prestigious or even well-known - but they should be very affordable without your D - and yourself - having to take out huge loans, if any at all… Wouldn’t it be nice for your D to graduate from college completely debt-free, with degree in hand? Or with just the minimum in loans?
Yes, as @SlackerMomMD says, it’s part of a school’s long term business plan. The money gets people’s attention.
Tulane offers 125? full tuition scholarships. Very competitive. Although stats are important, the actual submissions showcase creativity and writing skills.
Thanks, I had no idea that free tuition was even a possibility. I really honestly thought that was for students that were scoring 34-36 on ACT’s, and I thought it was still something like 1-2 of them get the scholarship.
We will definitely be looking into that and she will be studying and retaking her ACT’s if she doesn’t score 32 the first time (which sounds likely).
We are hoping to convince her to open her mind to other states,I think once she hears all this, she may like the sound of debt-free after graduation. She is frugal, but I think we are just scratching the surface right now and she has no clue of the financials. We need to sit down with her and talk, we are behind in this, like I said, we were even surprised at how much it costs and how it all works.
I do thank you all for your input, I have learned a lot just being on this forum, and even though I’m shocked and more scared financially, I definitely feel better equipped to make decisions armed with all this info!!
We also asked our D to please try to keep an open mind, and to try not to fall in love with any one school. There are many paths to getting to where you want to go.
Junior year, her stance was: Anywhere but the Deep South. In the end, she applied to both Tulane in NOLA and U of Alabama. A lot changed between junior year and September of her senior year. I told her my job was to hunt down the money, and from that long list, she could make her short list.
In hindsight, we are very happy she put in all of her applications early. We had answers on all acceptances before Christmas. Answer on a competitive scholarship before March. Time to adjust to financial realities and some disappointments. Time to go to Admitted Student Events.
@Midwest67
So there’s hope for me yet that my daughter will wake up and realize it’s not all about location? 
Thank goodness!
How early did you apply.
So here’s another question if someone can answer it. Should we apply to colleges before or after filling out fafsa? I’m confused as to how they get your info. If you apply first, they don’t have your fafsa info, does in automatically get sent to the colleges you enter on the fafsa form? And what if you apply to a college after, do you go back and update fafsa?
Also I’m reading about telling a college they are your first choice, how do you go about doing that. Is that tied into fafsa, do you put them in order?
It hasn’t been all unicorns and rainbows in our house. I think D would have preferred to have more schools to choose from. Not that her short list needed to be longer, but once a full tuition plus room & board stipend offer was confirmed, she felt like we were giving her no choice but that one.
She had all applications in by November 1.
I think your first task is to run your EFC and see what the calculator spits out. Then, figure out your budget. What can you afford to contribute/borrow each year? What can your D afford to contribute/borrow?
Don’t get fooled into looking at one year’s cost. A “$25K school” is actually a +$100K school. Then start making a long list of schools that are likely to give your D big merit money. Lots of people make good use of spreadsheets.
Applications will go in first, then you’ll deal with the FAFSA and other financial aid forms.
“First choice” school sounds like it refers to National Merit Finalists.
@Midwest67
I’m not seeing many unicorns and rainbows either and I think the next talk will be worse. But I think if she sleeps on it and realizes she could go to college and not have debt, she will have a light bulb momnet. Plus I think she will have that moment of, wow I’m able to go to college tuition free or reduced because of what I accomplished. Hopefully that will help her turn the corner.
So even though fafsa can be done in October this year, we would still do applications first?
Is there nothing to the fact that I read that fafasa should be done ASAP.
I do have to say, I’m not sure why everyone keeps saying to run the numbers and see what my EFC is. We know we have nothing to contribute. That’s why I asked about deferment. I did run those numbers and it’s no where near what we can come up with. No extra money in the budget is just that.
It’s a false number as far as what we can contribute, so how does it help? I’m not being snarky, I’m asking, am I missing something?
Don’t run the EFC numbers, run the NPC numbers. Net Price Calculator is the schools’ estimate of what your family will have to come up with to attend, whether that is your income, your kid’s summer/PT work income, borrowing, begging grandparents, your savings, maybe outside scholarships - whatever.
You apply to colleges by the date they say you have to, usually on their web site and on the common app. In some cases there is an early option - say you apply by November 1 and you hear yes or no for admittance by Jan 1. There’s also early decision which you probably do not want, since you have to go if they admit you.
FAFSA is normally filled out in January after apps are in but this fall is the first year that it will be possible to fll it out early - in October, using your income from 2015. So it will all be at once, really.
After you fill it out, you add the colleges she applies to and they all grab it. They don’t need FAFSA to make an admit decision. Only for financial aid.
@OHMomof2
Ok got it, I see a few people saying the EFC also, but yes I will run those as soon as we get her ACT’s back.
Have her apply as soon as applications open up in late August/September for rolling admissions schools ; and for Early Admissions schools.
The general wisdom is to apply before November 1, senior year.
Even if she does not have the ACT score she wants yet, many schools will allow sending higher score in later, after application, but - double-check first to see if that’s the case!
Apply earlier, rather than later for the best chances at merit aid. Before November 1! But earlier, if possible.
It’s my understanding that FAFSA can be submitted after application.