@Riversider
you are going to HAVE to expand your list of schools outside the T20, in order to have a realistic and reasonable chance of getting that kind of merit $$. Its just the way it is. Magical thinking and unrealistic goals will NOT help you find the schools that DO offer the best chances of $$ . So you can either take the advise of people who have been on CC a long time and offer you good advise, or you can find yourself not only with no merit $$, but possibly no acceptances at all next April if you limit your applications to only T20 schools, as we have seen over and over again.
The choice is yours…
One thing to keep in mind is that schools seem to be changing their merit awards by the year. For example, a couple years ago Tulane was giving fairly substantial merit money for high stats, and this year it seems most of it has been transferred to pure financial aid with very little merit. Likewise, schools that still give merit seem to either roll into a full ride type scholarship like Vanderbilt or they spread it sort of thin so many kids get around $20K but against a $70K COA it stills leaves quite a bit to be covered by the student/family. Seems to require a closer reading of each website and to keep in mind the language used because I saw quite a few posters who read “up to $X” as meaning X and that’s not what that says. Likewise, demonstrated need doesn’t equal perceived need.
@Riversider I haven’t seen your kid’s profile, but the odds are not in your favor. As already pointed out, very few of the T20 offer merit - Duke, Rice, Vandy, and Johns Hopkins. Have them apply, but realize that getting merit is extremely unlikely.
T20 are stingy on merit. That’s why people talk about the middle class donut hole. If your EFC is at or higher than the cost of attendance you are out of luck.
Even with families whose EFC is below COA it can still be unaffordable for many of us.
If you need merit you seriously need to cast a wide net and focus on schools where the student is in the top 1-10% of applicants to that school.
@Riversider many of your threads have a common theme of looking for a T 20 or elite school. Is there any reason why these are you top choices for college?
There are many colleges outside of the top 20 that will either be affordable for your at $30,000 or so cost of attendance (look at your instate options). Or where your student might get merit aid to bring your total cost down to $30,000 or so.
So…start looking at some of those colleges.
As noted above, the first hurdle at a top 20 college is getting accepted. Many don’t give merit aid at all. Regardless…the acceptance rates at many of these top 20 colleges is 10% or so. That means 90% of applicants don’t get accepted. In that rejected pile are a lot of very well qualified applicants.
So…what are your stats…or you child’s (are you the Parent or student?)? Honestly folks here can give you much better direction with that information. For all we know, this student isn’t even a competitive applicant for a top 20 college…all of which should be viewed as reach schools for all students.
Almost all of the merit aid at top 20 schools have been transitioned to meeting financial need, some still offer a few significant scholarships but I think you’ll see these disappear over the next few years. Again incredibly difficult to get and are usually given to entice an applicant the university really, really wants. If you want substantial merit aid yo’ull need to look at private schools outside the top 20 (as even public flagships which make up a lot of the top 100) are very stingy with merit aid now a days. Outside the top 100 you can start to see significant merit aid packages. Bottom line, the days of merit aid at top schools (and even top 100) is on the way out as it gets less and less every year.
Agreed.
Rather than looking for a Top 20 school, you should be looking for a place where your daughter will be a Top 20 student.
This is kind of a standard STEM answer, she should actually be looking for where she fits in the best, if that is a Top 20 school then so be it. I mean do you really want to be at a school where your classmates are slowing you down? You may be the brightest in your class but now your education is stunted.
I agree with you. By “Top 20 student” I meant a place where she will thrive. I should have been more clear.
I agree that it is a good idea to cast a wide net if seeking the limited merit offered at higher ranked schools. Though to be fair, Riversider did not say that the student was not going to cast a wide net. Rather OP’s question was which of the T20 type schools give good merit (in at least the 20-30K range as was stated the OP in post #42). So, Vandy and USC meet that criteria.
OP, if you are open to schools outside of the T20, my DD was awarded significant merit from schools in the low 40’s to low 70’s rankings.
Ok…so I’ll put my answer again…with the added thing that acceptance is really not a slam dunk for anyone at these colleges…not with 75-90% of applicants being rejected.
Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Yale, Princeton, Amherst, Columbia, Williams, Northwestern Brown, Dartmouth, UPenn and Cornell give zero ZERO dollars in merit aid. They give need based aid only.
If you are looking for merit aid, you should be crossing these colleges off of your list…they do NOT give merit aid at all to anyone.
Rice, Hopkins, Chicago, Duke, Vandy and Pomona give very very very limited and highly highly competitive merit awards…they give mostly need based aid as well.
These schools are highly competitive for the small number of merit awards they give…and you are looking at needing a large amount of merit aid to make these affordable. These, therefore, should be on the reach list for you or your kid (are you the Parent or the student).
If you want significant merit aid, you need to cast a much broader net than the schools you listed in your OP.
Based on your set-in-stone T20 list, this is not a realistic strategy. Fourteen of your T20 schools do not even provide merit aid. At the other six schools, getting admitted is highly competitive, never mind being awarded a $20-30k merit scholarship to make the finances work.
Back to the drawing board. If you desire some meaningful advice, you should provide the student’s stats.
Agreed…USC and Vandy were not on the OP list.
Is this student a NMF?
Actually Vandy was on OP’s list and is a T20 school. USC is ranked 22 (I think), so it’s just outside OP’s parameters.
Oops @PurpleTitan yes, Vandy was on the list. But this poster needs $30,000 in merit aid from Vandy…is that a realistic expectation? Maybe, but I would say…this makes Vandy a reach…because the money might not be forthcoming.
@Riversider, once your student secures an affordable school that you know will take him, and provide the academics wanted, turn the attention to other schools. That’s the most difficult pick a lot of times. If your State U takes applications early, it’s affordable, had the academics wanted there and your kid is a sure pick, get that taken care of first.
When you and your student turn the attention and focus to the Top 20 schools, that list will be pretty short if you need substantial merit money. Most of those schools (the Ivy’s,MIT) don’t give out any merit scholarship. Only need based. Stanford might as well not since it’s just athletic and small research grant type awards it gives. So you got Duke, NW, Rice, Hopkins, UCh, Vandy, , even if you extend the list by a few schools, not much there. So go right on ahead and get to applying to those schools. Those are the lottery tickets. Make sure you know how many of the awards if any, are big enough that you want your son to spend time pursuing.
I suggest you look at some schools in between that certainty and the TT. Still are going to be reaches, but throw some in there that your son might prefer to State U or whatever his safety might be. Take a look at some of the threads that @middling has been on. He’s looking for the same thing.
Never listen to naysayers, if you have a good resume then prepare well and give it your best shot. What do you have to loose?
Take out non merit T20 and add a couple of safeties with merit guaranteed for PSAT or SAT scores as insurance policy.
I agree. But I reverse the order. Get that insurance policy in place first. Then go to town with all the apps you want… or don’t.
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I’m not sure how common or easy getting a merit scholarship to USC is - but our nephew did - probably about 10 or so years ago. He’s a computer engineer now.
What @menloparkmom says about showing interest is key. Even though our nephew was from the south - he toured the campus and actively sought out people with connections to the school. He was also coached in the interview process to highlight what he wanted career wise and how that could benefit USC in the future. I believe he got full tuition.
Nobody is saying there is no chance OP’s strategy can work, just that it is very unlikely that it will work. If this is plan A, there better be a plan B, C and D.