<p>what is merit aid? is it just money for academic accomplishments, etc?</p>
<p>While FA is based on your family's earnings, home equity, savings, etc., merit aid is given to students based on a range of academic and EC factors such as music, community service, etc. Some are for students who plan to study a specific major (eg. engineering or nursing), for URMs, and so forth. </p>
<p>Not all schools give merit aid; of those that do, some give relatively small amounts, while others give up to full rides to the top students. Some merit awards have specific requirements, while others are more holistic and are very competitive. So, if you are trying to get merit aid from a school, you should be at least in the top 25% of their accepted stats, and likely higher. In comparison, schools with good FA often (NOT always) do not give merit awards; so these schools could be a reach, you don't have to be at the tippy top of your cohort. </p>
<p>That said, there are many ways in which colleges put together FA packages to make them attractive to the students they most want to attend (minimize loans, add special summer programs, change the COA). Figuring out merit and FA is at least as complex as figuring out a list of schools to apply to. </p>
<p>As a URM, you have many opportunities for merit aid, summer programs, paid fly ins, etc. that can help you with your college search. Have you become a Venture Scholar, do you qualify for the National Hispanic Recognition Program? Neither of these offers money, but they do provide you with information about schools (Venture) and give your name to schools interested in increasing their diversity (NHRP).</p>
<p>Here are two threads about merit aid at LACs that you should read, both for information about opportunities at specific schools and to help you understand how FA/merit aid works:</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=219357%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=219357</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=221558%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=221558</a></p>
<p>The OP is a long time CC parent who's D was accepted to Yale and many other top colleges last year. She ended up taking a full ride with lots of perks to Rhodes. One of the reasons she did this was because, like you, she's interested in premed and is concerned about being able to finance UG and med school. Your stats are not as high, but you would use the same strategy, just shoot for schools with lower stat ranges. Also, you will be helped somewhat since you are a Latina interested in the sciences.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
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<blockquote> <p>ANY COLLEGE will give you a full ride based soley on need>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>this is absolutely NOT true. Most colleges in this country do NOT meet full need as computed by the FAFSA. Many schools also use the Profile...and again...most schools do NOT meet full need. Please do not believe that if your EFC is low that automatically EVERY college will give you a free ride. If you believe this, you will be sorely disappointed at the end of the college search. In fact, even schools which DO meet full need have a student contribution that must be met.</p>
<p>thumper, the poster of the comment you cited is spreading much misinformation. Here's another current post with rude and inaccurate advice:</p>
<p>Can a Moderator do anything about a poster spreading such obviously false information?</p>
<p>Maybe if we all start writing something under "report problem post" something will be done</p>
<p>CAB, entomom knows what she is talking about. Listen to her.</p>
<p>The first thing you should do is have your parents run their numbers through financial aid calculators (both federal & institutional methodologies). They can get their rough EFC that way, then you can talk about whether or not they can actually afford that. If they are like us, and cannot actually afford their EFC, you need to look at schools with a reputation for good merit aid. I was honest with my D, and she looked for schools that offered good opportunities for merit for someone with her stats. You can find the SAT/ACT range for the school, the merit opportunities, etc. on the school's website. </p>
<p>Where to begin looking? You should first decide what kind of school you want. Size, location, programs, extracurriculars, social, etc. --- what fits you? There are terrific opportunities for merit aid at non-top-tier publics ... these are good schools that offer a solid education at a bargain price. If you "fit" on one of these campuses, they are a good bet. Do you like ivies? If so, go ahead & apply (need based aid is very good at Princeton ... look into others, too). Do you like top-tier publics? Look at U of MI, UNC-Chapel Hill, UVA, and others. Do you like LAC's? There are some excellent LAC's --- some already named here (and they are NOT no-name schools for those who actually have a clue!!) --- with terrific merit opportunities.</p>
<p>Realize that a full ride is hard to come by, even if you have great stats. Try for it, but don't count on it. Make sure you apply to a range of schools (many waive the application fee if you apply online). Try to focus on schools where you have a chance of getting merit money, and look for schools that have a reputation for good financial aid (again, some were mentioned here). I will add Hendrix & Centre as good for us in terms of merit & need, Vandy for need (very generous), Furman & DePauw for merit ... for us. Others may find them less so ... we found a couple with good aid reputations to cost more for us. Denison makes itself very affordable for some; for us, it ended up being the most expensive of all D's schools after scholarships/aid. That's why applying to several is important.</p>
<p>Your URM status is a plus. Look into Venture Scholar & National Hispanic Scholar programs. Look for schools with scholarships for URMs.</p>
<p>It is very true that not all schools that promise to meet 100% of need do so in the same manner. Some include very high loan amounts. Look at the common data set for the school & check out the average loan amount ... that will give you an idea of how much loan debt is included in the average financial aid package to meet need. Realize that NOT all schools meet need!!! I know a young man with a very low EFC who only goes to Wesleyan for FAR less than he would pay at U of MI in-state --- because Wes meets 100% of need & U of MI DOES NOT. Of course, U of MI has great merit aid ... IF YOU GET IT (many applicants with excellent stats do NOT).</p>
<p>Research is important. Search posts on cc, look at school websites, and look through the mountains of mail schools send you --- there is great info in some of those publications! Happy hunting!</p>
<p>kelsmom, thanks for the support!</p>
<p>CAB, check out this thread, much of the information I gave to Olive will apply to you. In addition to the fly in schools I listed, add Smith. </p>