<p>students gets one? as many parents, we are not rich enough to afford a private college, but we're not poor enough to get any type of financial aid. According to IRS we're high earners and charge us very high tax rates, so if we didn't have to pay so much $$ in taxes, we'll have enough money to pay for my D private college..sorry for venting!. I'm trying to figure out what other options are other there. My D is a good student but it's not straight A's student. So, I wonder if there is a chance she could qualify for merit based scholarships or merit based financial aid. We do not want loans, which would be the very last option. My D is also considering public states colleges, but I want to figure out if there is a way to get into a private college without going into bankruptcy.
Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Merit scholarships are generally awarded to students that are on the high end of the grade and test scores for an individual school, so if you daughter were applying for a merit-based scholarship at a school where her grades and test scores were in the upper range of the student body, then she would be in a good position to be considered for the aid. So it's a matter of finding those schools, and ones that have good merit scholarships, and applying. You pretty much have to apply to get any concrete information though.</p>
<p>She should apply to a number of schools. Certainly some (private and public) where she'll be in contention for merit aid, also some publics that would be reasonably affordable without it. There are, of course, also local and foundation scholarships that aren't connected to the colleges to consider. I've seen a few kids around here who just applied for every possible scholarship and really hauled in a bunch of money. Most of it is only a one-time grant, so sophomore year and beyond will be less supported, but it can make a real difference nonetheless.</p>
<p>But until you have some acceptances in hand where you can compare the financial situations each school would create for you, it's hard to know too much.</p>
<p>First of all, semantics, so that there's no confusion, generally FA refers to need based and merit aid is based on academics or other factors.</p>
<p>You are in the same position as many families. You need to do some research on which schools your D would be in the running for merit aid. This usually means that she is in tip top of the application pool or has met requirements for awards with specific standards (eg. NM). Start with the sticky threads at the top of this forum and these:</p>
<p>Are you sure you wont qualify for any need based aid? Have you run the calculators? Can you liquidate assets or contain outflow somehow?</p>
<p>You do not say what kind of college or what your daughter is looking fo you only make the distinction between public schools and private schools?? What is the distinction - class size, campus size? If what appeals to her is a liberal arts curriculum with a smaller school size, then look at some of the state liberal arts colleges, they can be a financial bargain.</p>
<p>rentof2, thanks so much for the explanation. I know how to start now. I need to find colleges where my D would be on top regarding grades and SAT scores. So, it's possible to get merit-based scholarship even if my D is not a straignt A's student. It's good news for us ;)
I asked my D to give me her 5 top choices but she's unsure. By the way, she's applying for architecture programs, so i'm not sure if that makes a difference for marit-based scholarships. Is there something call merit based financial aid?
Yes, I tried all the calculators and no luck. We're trying to reduce our AGI as much as possible for this year.</p>
<p>Alias, yes there is something that is referred to as merit within aid and the reverse also holds. When a student is close to eligible or eligible for financial aid, scholarships are sometimes available to the most desired students even at schools that give for need only. That's why it is sometimes advantageous to fill out FAFSA even if your EFC is going to exceed COA. </p>
<p>Take a look at Drexel. My oldest's friend got some great merit money there in architecture.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse, thanks for the explanation. We'll for sure take a look at Drexel.</p>
<p>Another question- anyone knows the stats for students who get merit-based scholarship at top colleges such as Rice, Tulate, etc...
Thanks a lot in advance!</p>
<p>Tulane scholarships - I'm hoping that this link to last year's thread works</p>
<p>Re post 6 - If you don't already use this, it might help you with streamlining the process since your daughter knows what she wants to major in - my D found it very helpful to use collegeboard.com to keep look at colleges, costs, and see how she potentially would rank vs. other students. She entered her stats in a profile (which can be updated for test scores, etc), searched for colleges with the particular program she wants, and then chose individual colleges from that list. Student clicks on a button toward the bottom of the page that says "how do I compare?" or something like that and it'll tell you if your courses meet their requirements and also how you compare from a gpa/test standpoint. They also give a pretty thorough overview of many things including financial aid and admissions. She saved colleges she was interested and that list is accessible anytime she logs onto that site. Good Luck!</p>