<p>I've been reading posts for weeks now and have learned a lot of valuable information. If anyone with more wisdom than I can give some advice on schools to look into, it would be appreciated. D wants a good fit and we would both be happy with low college costs from academic merit.</p>
<p>D is going into senior year, SAT 2050 (re-taking) M760, CR690 W600, rank 4 out of 450, GPA 4.17, PLAN 30 (taking ACT in September) lots of EC, taking a summer course at U of Chicago. She was offered 20,000 (not yearly) if accepted. Interested in math, science (chemistry), engineering fields. We live in PA, she may want to stay somewhat close, east coast but still not sure.</p>
<p>Since you’re new to this, you may not know that merit scholarships get applied to “need” first. They don’t reduce the amount that YOU have to pay unless they FIRST cover any need and then can reduce the remaining costs that you have to pay.</p>
<p>So, what is your situation? How much can you pay each year? Do you know if you’d qualify for any need based aid at the schools that give that kind of aid? </p>
<p>Since you’re asking for merit scholarships, does that mean that you would be expected to be “full pay” based on income and assets?</p>
<p>As mom2 says, you can’t “stack” merit scholarships and need-based FA. The good news is that there are FA estimators available, general and college-specific “net price calculators”. That will help you determine if you are chasing scholarships vs FA.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info everyone. Mom2, I would definately need FA as my husband and I fall right in the middle of middle class! I will check out the PA estimators but I was still wondering how much aid my daughter could earn based on her academic credentials. It’s hard to narrow down college choices with so many unknowns. FA is a huge factor for us.</p>
<p>“FA is a huge factor for us.” - You are smart to be doing research. Most families find that they are either chasing need-based financial aid OR merit-based scholarships. In some cases it’s a little bit in both directions. But it certainly does affect “The List”. </p>
<p>Here are some examples </p>
<p>1) In our case, our incomes/assets put us out of the running for need-based aid if just one in college. We did qualify for some potential aid with two college, but at the time our older kid was in limbo. So we prioritized schools with good merit scholarships. DS had NSF status, which qualified him for full tuition scholarship at one of the schools on the list. It qualified him for zero scholarship in some other choices. </p>
<p>2) Families with very low income may have EFC (Expected Family Contribution) of zero. In theory, if a school fills full need… all schools cost same/zero. Of course not all schools do that, and the ones that do tend to have competitive admissions.</p>
<p>would definately need FA as my husband and I fall right in the middle of middle class! I will check out the PA estimators but I was still wondering how much aid my daughter could earn based on her academic credentials. It’s hard to narrow down college choices with so many unknowns. FA is a huge factor for us.</p>
<p>Sounds like you have an unaffordable EFC. And, you want to know how much your D could get at SOME schools based on her stats (many schools don’t give merit). </p>
<p>If so, then your strategy FIRST needs to include determining how much you CAN pay each year, so you can figure out how much merit you need.</p>
<p>If your family can contribute $15k per year, then your D would need a full tuition scholarship so that the “family contribution” can cover room, board, books, fees. Your D can use summer earnings to pay for her “day to day” expenses.</p>