<p>Occidental College in Los Angeles offers HUGE MERIT AID solely based on stats. You should look into it if you want that Liberal Arts College experience, plus you're in LA so it will never feel too small.</p>
<p>I may also like to add that USC, although a large school, offers really good merit aid as well. Everytime I've been on campus it never really feels like a LARGE school. It feels smaller than the actual student body.</p>
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Gellino, you may have a good point...I guess my rationale is that I am more familiar with Dartmouth and Brown and their curricular offerings/college life, seeing as they visited our school. Would you say that Williams/Amherst or other top LACs offer generous need-based aid to those with an income like $150,000?
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<p>I have certainly seen many posts on here where showing that an LAC provided more financial aid than a national university. I don't think Brown is going to provide you more aid than Amherst because the former visited your school. I would just apply to the schools you like and hope for the best.</p>
<p>OP, if your parents make "$150,000+" then you are NOT "poor."</p>
<p>Your best bet for merit aid is to aim just slightly below your match schools. A school that is semi-safe for you is most likely to entice you with money to attend there. With that in mind, may I suggest some of the Patriot League schools - such as Lafayette, Bucknell, and Holy Cross. </p>
<p>I am most familiar with Lafayette, they offer a Marquis Scholarship of $16,000/year: "Scholarship recipients typically have the following profile: top 3 percent or better of their graduating class in the most demanding curriculum available, with SAT at or above 1400 (critical reading and math)." Sounds like you match that. Bucknell and Holy Cross may have similar programs.</p>
<p>Income isn't always the best indicator of one's wealth. Often there are families that make well over $100,000/year but find it difficult to pay basic living expenses due to things like business debts and a high mortgage. Regardless of my parents' income, they'll find it difficult to shoulder any of my college payments - doesn't that justify my calling myself poor? There are many misconceptions about income; one needs to evaluate every situation differently.</p>
<p>Mainly, I just wanted to find good schools with considerable merit aid that I may have missed out on when searching.</p>