<p>Ok. So as the deadlines draw closer I need to solidify my list of colleges. The only problem is that unless I receive very generous scholarship money, I won't be able to afford college. My parents EFC is such that I hardly qualify for any aid--yet we can't afford to pay $50,000 a year.</p>
<p>My list thus far is,
Boston U
Northeastern U
Rice U
Boston C
USC
LMU
Stanford
Brown
George Washington U</p>
<p>I know many of these are very expensive, but I'm hoping to get money from some of them (I know I wont from Stanford or BC or Brown) but yeah.</p>
<p>Im first in my class of about 630. I have a 32 on the ACT. I have quite a few extracurriculars. I have missions work in Mexico. I've also had a job since this summer. (just as a brief summary) But I dont know what colleges have a good balance with prestige and merit scholarship money. If you guys could make some suggestions for where to apply that would be incredible. Thank you so much! Oh yeah, and I'm going to be studying political science then going to law school.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don't think you'll be able to swing many of these on your list without figuring in a lot of student loan $. They'll likely give some merit aid to you based on your info here, but you have to keep in mind that all of their students are strong students, so the merit aid may be sparse.
You don't necessarily need a "big name" or high dollar school to get a solid education and one that prepares you well for grad school.</p>
<p>If you really need merit money then you need to reassess your list. Those are for the most part highly competitive and they have no need to lure top students - those students already apply. Look for lower tier schools or major state schools who are trying to upgrade their student body. Look at the sticky above related to merit aid schools.</p>
<p>If you're planning to go to law school, I don't think you need to attend a high prestige undergraduate school. I went to an undergrad school very few people have ever heard of, got a perfectly adequate education and then headed for a top 10 law school and did very well. From there I could write my ticket. I'd suggest adding to your list some schools that give automatic merit money to applicants with your credentials. I'm sure there are a number of them; Alabama comes to mind. There's no reason not to give the schools on your list a shot, but have some financial safety schools.</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree with everyone else. You won't get a lot, if any aid from those schools. Look at a lot of public schools in state and out of state (except the UCs), lower down the list of liberal arts colleges, and none top 40 universities. Worst case scenario...go to a CC for two years and then transfer...only have to spend money on two years.</p>
<p>I really have no idea...google merit scholarships or something. Sorry! Most merit scholarships are given out early (apply in November/early December)...it's kind of late to apply now.</p>
<p>What are you thinking about for a major? Once you have an idea what you want to major in start searching the internet for universities that way. Then you can look at their websites and see how your stats line up with those that give merit aid. I don't believe that Brown gives any merit aid, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>My D is a junior and is applying next year to schools with a major in Musical Theatre. Many of the schools on her list are private and she has visited the websites to see if she would receive merit aid based on her scores and has found many where she would.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you do alot of research over Christmas break and come up with a list of schools where your scores qualify for merit aid.</p>