The ‘schools that give merit aid’ discussion has lots of good information.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-for-good-merit-aid-p1.html
It’s very long so you need to wade through it all to find all the info. Take notes!
Some important things I learned. #1 Some application deadlines are early and you have to apply specifically to them. So do research early so you don’t miss deadlines. Some are automatic, meaning kid is automatically considered just by applying. #2 There are many automatic (meaning just test scores) scholarships. #3 Schools seems to vary a lot in how high stats have to be to get some merit $ but everyone seems to agree that to get significant $, stats have to be in about upper 10%. That can be pretty high even if the mean stats for the school are more moderate.
Our D is going to Saint Olaf (same town as Carleton) on a 4yr 1/2 cost merit scholarship (academic + their NMF scholarship). I don’t think St Olaf’s been mentioned yet; on the lists of the ‘Schools that Change Lives’ and ‘Experts Choice: Best value pre-med schools’.
http://wp.stolaf.edu/financialaid/merit-scholarships-2/
D also got full-ride at U of ID (NMF) + 1/2-ride at Montana State (WUE; Western Undergrad Exchange; + automatics for high ACT). Although things worked out great, we should have leveraged her stats into more options for 1/2 and full-rides in case she had not gotten merit at St Olaf. D just aimed for 4 schools: St Olaf, Colorado College (didn’t get the one scholarship she applied for), and the 2 automatics (U of ID and MSU).
Our D really wanted a small LAC in a cold, snowy place (go figure), but I’m hoping our S19 is interested in our flagship which is a great school. However, he’s also an athlete and wouldn’t be able to play his sport at our flagship (because he’s not a that level). I’m pondering basically handing over his college fund to him (in spirit) and saying ‘spend it wisely’. Some is in 529 and some not. Our friend’s kids were in that position via a trust from their grandmother. They choose to go to a good in-state school to save $ for grad/profession school later, to have $ for travel, and to save a ‘nest egg’ to buy a house later. They were not willing to ‘blow’ their trust money on undergrad education that they could get elsewhere for cheaper. BTW, our kids are double-legacies at an Ivy but honestly it could be 300K+ by the time S is going to school.