<p>OP,my senior D has looked at Allegheny, Wooster and Denison as well. Her favorite at this time is Allegheny. She has her application in but has not heard back yet, however, S15 received $22000 merit so we’re hoping for something similar with her. We’ve had the opposite experience from MidwestDad3 at Wooster, disorganized and not terribly welcoming. Did submit EA there but hasn’t heard back yet. Denison was the best looking campus of the three and the most selective but we worry it is more party oriented and preppy than Wooster or Allegheny but we may be wrong. Right now Earlham is looking like a strong possibility for her because of a great deal we get through H’ s employment but otherwise Allegheny would be her top choice. Everyone there was extremely welcoming and she likes their “unusual combinations”.</p>
<p>^I meant S14 not 15. By the way, he ended up at Centre where the total price was $45000 and the top merit (other than the biggies: Brown and Grissom) is , I believe, $22000. So net cost $23000. Merit notice came with acceptance. It might be a school you’d like to look into.</p>
<p>Sorry about your bad experience at Wooster @tigerfish . Hard to believe we visited the same campus! Our first visit occurred during the Aug '13 “Ohio Colleges” tour. D and I were having lunch in the cafeteria alone and out of the blue the Vice President for Enrollment just came over and sat down to eat lunch with us. Had a great discussion with him. D attended an overnight this fall with a large cohort of prospectives–they do them in groups (they had a comedy Improv that night that D really enjoyed). When the Dean of Admissions greeted us she was thoroughly familiar with D’s file and background. This hasn’t happened to us at any other campus and I was really impressed. When D received her EA decision last month, an admissions committee member included a handwritten note telling D how much she had enjoyed reading her essay, and referred specifically to a few points she had made in it. And yesterday D received a holiday card from the Dean of Admissions with a personal note.</p>
<p>I can’t explain the disparate experiences. In 20+ campus visits we have found Wooster, Sewanee, Union, & Denison to be the most welcoming, and most organized. At Denison, for example, they matched D with a tourguide from her own high school! There are tiny details that some colleges get right, such as including a second itinerary so parents can see what their D or S is doing when they get split up. And then sometimes you just have to wonder. During a visit to Skidmore, the schedule had us return to Admissions (on the edge of campus) twice, only to immediately turn around and walk back up the hill to an area on campus that we had just been to, in pouring rain. </p>
<p>@MidwestDad3 We were there for Scot Saturday the same day as family weekend. If we had been there a different weekend I’m sure it would have been better.</p>
<p>Tigerfish, can you tell me more about Allegheny? What you really like about it as compared to other schools you’ve visited? We haven’t visited but it does seem fairly isolated. Is Meadville a nice town? </p>
<p>My daughter just clicked with the people we met at Allegheny. The tour guide was really enthusiastic and had participated in clubs and activities that interested my daughter. A couple of clubs I remember were Dumbledore’s Army, a service oriented, Harry Potter loving group (we had a fun discussion with her about their meetings and the room of requirement) and a campus running club. D also appreciated that Allegheny has an big emphasis on service. Allegheny also has a lot of outdoor enthusiasts and there are hiking, boating and other outdoor activities nearby, Academically she liked their requirement that students must major in one division and minor in another and take 8 credit hours in the third. The divisions are Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. They also have students complete a junior seminar and a senior project (which combines your major and minor).<br>
At her overnight she liked the girls she met and loved that they played board games with her. She sat in on a Biology class and enjoyed the class and afterwords met with the professor. Although she was a little intimidated to have a one on one meeting he made her feel comfortable.<br>
As far as Meadville, you are correct, it is not near any big cities. I did not see Meadville when we did the first visit but my husband walked around the older section near the college on his visit and thought it was quite nice. There were local stores and restaurants including a bookstore he waited in for a while. There is another area of town with big box stores and chain restaurants.</p>
<p>Re: Emory, don’t forget about Emory at Oxford. Oxford Scholar (full tuition) is somewhat easier to get there than Emory Scholars. You can apply to both schools and both programs on the CA and you just indicate you’re interested in the scholars program. If you’re a finalist, then there’s more to it, but not until then.</p>
<p>Lots have already been mentioned. Some Merit you’re automatically considered for so long as you apply early. (usually Dec. 1st) University of Richmond, for example, has a number of full-tuition merit scholarships. Others require separate applications / essays. Tulane, for example. Paul Tulane Scholarship is full-tuition. BU has presidential scholarship. This, too, requires separate essay. Washington & Lee is another w/ full rides that require essays. WashU and Case Western both have really good reps for generous merit. If your son or daughter is Val or Sal - there are schools that automatically knock off at least half tuition. Your son’s scores and grades are excellent - and should put him in the running for these types of awards - probably still needs a hook / story though, too, as it seems just good grades and scores aren’t quite enough … Good luck- and kuddos on starting this research his junior year!</p>
<p>Vassar used to known as a school with merit aid to increase their percentage of male students.</p>
<p>No longer: no merit aid for anybody- it’s all need based aid now. Vassar is really proud of their economic diversity.</p>
<p>Tiger fish, thanks so much for the information about Allegheny. Really sounds like a great school. So interesting You and Midwest Dad each visited Wooster and came away with such drastically different impressions. Not sure what that says about the visitng process except that at a certain point you have to trust your gut. The other thing I like to keep in mind is that there is more than one good school for my kid. Will visit both and see what we think. </p>
<p>We are in the same boat as you are. Too high income. Emory has the scholars program. Full ride, ditto for UGA, NC state and wustl also has lots of merit scholarships. Duke and UNC has the Robertson scholarship. My son is having good luck with these scholarships so far. Into semi-finals in a couple. They are highly competitive so your son needs to be really competitive in all areas. </p>
<p>What about Hendrix? Excellent for pre-med, no Greeks, serious students. Not as urban as Rhodes but only about 30 - 35 minute from Little Rock. Your son would receive nice merit there and would be eligible to compete for a Hays Scholarship.</p>
<p>@boatlift</p>
<p>Since you mentioned pre-med, Case and WUSTL, you may want to look at URochester. It’s peer school to both Case & WUSTL, with a med school/hospital directly across the street from campus. Strong pre-med program with plentiful opportunities for students to get involved in research. </p>
<p>“They are highly competitive so your son needs to be really competitive in all areas.”</p>
<p>@ZBD5421 Good luck to your son with the scholarships. My son is a junior and we are in the same boat. I feel he would be competitive for some of these scholarships but I really don’t know. Are you willing to share your son’s stats? If not, I understand. We want to put our efforts in the right direction.</p>
<p>With your interest in LAC’s in Ohio, you might also want to look at Lafayette in Pennsylvania. My S got an almost full tuition merit award there. At the presentation we went to it sounded like they have a good premed advising program. They said that they do not limit med school applications as some colleges do by only writing letters for students with certain stats. </p>
<p>We r in the same situation. I concur with your assessment of where u r likely to get merit awards. My son decided the small size was not for him so the only overlap for us is Case Western which we really liked - he got in this year with over half tuiution off and his stats are a bit lower. Also looking for focused student body. We took DePauw off the list be cause of size but they also give good merit. We were very impressed during our visit and although it is VERY Greek the student body has consistently been described as very nice. The President of the university even walked across the quad to greet us. When I asked what he was most proud of he said it was the cooperative environment. He also mentioned some graduating students were accepted Harvard for medicine. You coul also lok at the University of Pittsburgh - medium size school, great school spirit, also pre-professional med program and not bad for OOS. We r waiting to hear from Rochester but I don" t think the merit awards are as good as Case.</p>
<p>Thanks Singermom. Did you look at Emory? We haven’t visited Emory yet but they are in that 5,000-7,000 student range, and their student body seems to be very focused (some say too focused). The location can be an issue if you’re in the Midwest. We’re in Michgan so Case is definitely more appealing from a location stand point, but Emory has alot going for it. </p>
<p>Case is a great school. My alma matter. I would be stoked if I had gotten half tuition back then. Engineering is top notch. Not well known on West Coast, but known in Midwest and East. It gave me the fundamentals and drive for the rest of my career. Very focused, and lets admit it, very nerdy student body.</p>
<p>But as far as the city itself Cleveland and its football team the Browns… those are the negatives.</p>
<p>Like the Robertson, Emory Scholars is very competitive (note the early winter deadline.) Oxford at Emory also has good merit aid and the competition is not nearly as stiff. Rhodes has large merit scholarships if you’re invited to Scholars Day for interviews with faculty and staff (my D was offered $32K, but decided to attend Emory.) U.Rochester is mentioned for good merit aid, but we didn’t find it to be so. If you want to look at larger schools, Fordham and Northeastern have good track records for offering significant merit aid based on test scores.</p>