Help me get an idea of how much merit money we may get. It will help us choose which colleges to visit. My daughter is a junior and is interested in political science, history, journalism, and possibly business. She has a broad range of academic interests. She is really interested in most subjects. She attends a public school in Long Island. 1540 sat. Takes ap classes, 98 unweighted average. Without listing all her extra curriculars and honors i would say they are average.
Considering
Barnard (my college class of 92)
Mt holyoke
Bryn
Smith
American university
Muhlenberg
Wesleyan ( though I believe they give zero merit).
She might consider William and Mary or Uva though not as high priority as the first list due to distance from home.
I should mention we toured barnard and although it would be high on my list for my daughter she doesnt like the city. I am also aware barnard doesnt give merit money. However, that wouldn’t stop us from wholeheartedly sending her there since i think it is such a superb college. But we will see if she has a change of mind about living in the city.
But what do u think her chances of getting merit money at the other schools? How much? We wont qualify for financial aid. She would spend an overnight, interview and attend class if there is good merit aid to be had.
Thanks!
I suspect the issue is that
a) whether a school offers merit or not is trivial to determine
b) the maximum amount of offered merit is (marginally less) trivial to determine
c) competitive merit (as opposed to preferential pricing / guaranteed for stats merit) is competitive and unpredictable
I think your daughter has an excellent chance of great merit at most of your schools. My daughter got full tuition at Mt Holyoke and 10K at Smith. Be sure to show a lot of interest especially at Mt Holyoke. Send me a private message if you want more details on stats etc.
Check out University of Alabama. The scholarship deadline is Dec 15:
Presidential
A student with a 32-36 ACT or 1420-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive $104,000 over four years ($26,000 per year). Students graduating with remaining scholarship semester(s) may use these monies toward graduate school and/or law school study at UA.
Wesleyan gives either no or very little merit aid.
Bryn Mawr and Barnard…same.
My opinion…she has a decent chance of getting some merit aid at American University, and Muhlenberg…and Mt. Holyoke.
But will the merit she receives make these schools affordable for you? How much can you pay annually…because none of these colleges is likely to give a full merit ride…or even a full tuition merit award.
And NONE have guaranteed awards…they are all competitive merit awards (for the schools that award merit aid).
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
The thread does not belong in women’s colleges, which is why I moved it to begin with, as
a) the primary focus of the OP’S question is merit money, and the users that frequent the FA forum are a font of knowledge on the topic.
b) there are many non-women’s colleges on the list
If your daughter is willing to go farther from home and wants a women’s college, Agnes Scott has good guaranteed-for-stats merit, the potential for a full ride (tuition, fees, room and board, but not incidentals or books or travel), and lower total COA.
Another consideration is that the schools I’m familiar with from your list (Smith, MHC, BMC) won’t allow an overnight until senior year. So if that’s important, you’re going to have to wait a while to finalize the visit list anyhow. Classroom visits are easier - for Smith and Mount Holyoke, my kid just emailed professors to ask if she could sit in; they were happy to have her there as a junior and really did an impressive job making her feel like part of the class rather than just an observer.
The question is not so much about how much merit money…but more about what your net cost will be. Some of these colleges cost $70,000 a year. Some cost $60,000.
So what can you afford to pay annually? Some colleges are more likely to be affordable than others.
I would hope you daughter has one SUNY on her application list as a Safety for guaranteed admissions and affordable costs. As a NY resident…these SUNY schools will be a real bargain.
You need to let her know that good schools don't need to buy stats, merit comes from schools where she is the outlier. Have you defined a clear budget? Because she will get into many schools, but without merit. How much will you pay per year? If you will wholeheartedly be full pay at Barnard, is that an irrevocable promise? The acceptance rate might mean you don't get to walk back from that. She has nice stats, period. So be clear as a family, you either need merit money, or you don't. She might argue her choice is just as worthy of full pay as your pick.
Good point, Sybylla, about honoring her choice. And thumper, good point, regarding applying to suny.
In fact, we visited SUNY stony brook (in spring 2018), and Binghamton this past Sept., on a beautiful sunny day. We both didnt like stony brook. She very much liked what she saw of Binghamton. She is not a picky person. So, yes, she will put an application in for Binghamton. I am pretty sure she would get accepted. I cant see why not. So, that would be an option if she doesnt get enough merit money to make the others worthwhile.
Perhaps i am being a snob, and loyal to Barnard, but i cant see paying $70k for 4 years at the schools i listed above (with the exception of springing for Barnard) for a liberal arts degree when grad school will be likely. But i am open minded and will visit and will let you know if i feel more esteemed about the others after visiting.
Also, when i spoke of overnight visits, i meant that as a family, we would stay overnight during the academic school year. Thanks, everybody.
My opinion…if your kid likes other $70,000 a year colleges…I think it’s really not right to say “gee, I’ll pay $70,000 for Barnard… but not the other schools you like”.
There are a lot of good and pricey schools on the list you posted in our first post. Please remember that your daughter is the one going to college…not you. While Barnard might be your favorite, it might not be hers. Please don’t bribe her into attending…or feeling she needs to attend.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with setting out parameters about what you will and will not pay for. But I think setting up a dynamic where you can magically afford Barnard but can’t afford ABC college which costs the same or marginally less than Barnard is a mistake. There are dozens of old posts (from last April and years past) from kids and parents where the kid does what he or she was supposed to do- gets a merit award of 20K, or the trustees scholarship of 25K and guess what- the family realizes the school is STILL unaffordable. Kid gets into the no merit school, full pay, and guess what- the family can’t afford that either.
If you can afford Barnard and believe it offers something unique and wonderful- that’s great. But you need to be very clear with your D about how the finances are going to work way ahead of time. And you need to be very clear about why you will pay for X and not Y.
Our personal standard was rigor- I was willing to pay more for more of it. I wasn’t interested in my kids being close to surfing, skiing, great parties, fun clubs and a great social life. I was willing to pay for academic and intellectual rigor (which did not mean getting all A’s and studying all the time- going to hear the Dalai Lama debate the UN ambassador about war and peace is also rigor in my book, or concerts by the student symphony, poetry slams, etc.). My kids knew this way ahead of time. You want a certain college to go on the list? Do your homework and be prepared to answer my question “Why is this worth paying X for”.
Some kids don’t want rigor, and that’s fine. But I wouldn’t be stretching to be full pay so my kid could make great friends at her sorority or go on a fun semester abroad. Not on my dime. There are plenty of cheaper options.
Just be clear with your kid. If you really can afford Barnard, that’s a discussion worth having.