<p>Luxar, my kid did it. You'll be fine. The topic of last year's essay was an article on something evolution related . Quite interesting as I remember. And then I think splashmom's kid did a presentation and D just did Q and A. </p>
<p>And I agree a 32 is a great score and certainly similar but last year there were several higher scores in attendance. (My D had a 35 and she wasn't the only one nor the high scorer there :eek:.)</p>
<p>My point in all this is to say that you can be a 4.0 val with state quality ec's and a 1580 or a 35 ACT. Still doesn't mean you will get the highest scholarships from all merit aid granting schools. You'll do very well overall as you are finding out, but not everyplace.</p>
<p>chuck, Hanover was my D's LAC safety. They had (up till last year) a valedictorian scholarship at certain SAT/ACT levels that guaranteed $16K per. That was enough to bring Hanover within reach for us with loans. My D could have been very happy there. A CC parent has a son there now and loves it.
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Maybe 1 or 2 of the top, Stanford, Princton or Harvard just to try it, 6-8 of the good merit schools such as Purdue, USCal, Emory, He talks about NYU also, then Centre, Rhodes, Hanover or similar. Then the good ole stand by Uof Kentucky.
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Yep. That's how you do it. </p>
<p>Your kid will get great merit aid awards if you plan this right and like others have said, make getting that ACT up his parttime job. And he's a guy. That will help big at many schools. Don't get discouraged. Y'all are in great shape already . It can get better but you can work with this. And I have to be the most conservative guy on this board. </p>
<p>My D had scholarship offers of 60% of direct COA at every private merit school she applied to. Over $900,000 of merit awards ranging from $64K to $140K+. Now that's a part-time job.</p>
<p>D's merit list was Hamilton, Scripps, Centre, Rhodes, Hendrix, Millsaps, Hanover and in Uni's Case amd UMiami and her state school safety was Texas Tech. (She can't stand Texas or A+M.) Same type of list.</p>
<p>Her reaches were Yale and Amherst and she also applied to Colgate (need only) .(She was waitlisted at Duke and declined the waitlist.)</p>
<p>At the merit schools you're asking about EA is Early Action- a non-binding way to apply and get an early acceptance. Always do it when offered. ED -is BINDING Early Decision. Don't do it if you want to compare offers. At Harvard and Stanford there are other rules about their early programs but they are easy to find. A couple of elite schools are ditching ED (or other binding programs) for next year.</p>
<p>Having successfully been through the merit scholarship process ourselves, I would emphasize a few things:</p>
<p>1) Be careful applying to lots of way-out-there, reach schools. You will spend a lot of money on apps, and, more importantly, ask yourself if by some chance he got in would you pay the price?</p>
<p>2) Subscribe to the US News premium college site. ($15) On there you can readily find school stats and merit dollar amounts. Keep in mind that those awards are going to the very top of their applicant pool; plan accordingly.</p>
<p>3) Don't rule out out-of-state public schools. They often come in at around the same price (or less!) as schools with merit aid and it might give him a chance to try a new region of the country or target an especially strong program someplace (or just go someplace different than the rest of his high school!).</p>
<p>4) Use the various college rankings to get a feel for your odds of getting money. Do not use them to decide where he will be happiest and most successful.</p>
<p>Good luck. Pick wisely and he WILL have good choices when it's time to choose -- oh, and, you will be able to retire someday too.</p>
<p>Your son should not retake SAT (because you can not send only one score). ACT you can only send your best score plus it looks like he did better in ACT anyway. If he invests a hundred hours into ACT preparation he can raise it to 33 or 34 without doubts.</p>
<p>Just wanted to recommend your son look into the service academies. Free education (you pay for it with time in service afterward) and it is top notch. His athletic and academic background make him a good fit. I favor the Air Force Academy since that is where I went - beautiful area, great skiing during time off. Also, the curriculum at each is pretty much the definition of a liberal arts education - I was a management/finance major and have 30 hours of hard science and engineering, four years of english, history, law, philosophy (all part of the required curriculum).</p>
<p>I have tried to push him to West Point but he doesnt want to spend 7 years afterwards in the Army. At that age 7 years can seem like a life time. I remember the reason I didnt go for the FBI was the 10 years going where they wanted me to. To a 16 year old life is over at 30. </p>
<p>We were with the impression he would be a shoe in for a scholarship since he has always done so well. They moved him to second grade right out of kindergarten and he has always been ahead of others. The Duke tip said he was in the top 1% of all kids in the Tip program. He received an award from them. His Physics & Chemistry teacher said his mind was too brilliant to waste on Law or Business. He told me he could be the one to discover the next world energy source. It was nice to hear but i didnt take it to seriously. Reading this forum has opened my eyes to the fact there are thousands of kids like him, and thousands brighter than he is. So a significant scholarship will be very hard to attain. There is still hope for a football scholarship to a smaller school. </p>
<p>Too bad tuition isnt tax deductible. If it was I would just go ahead and pony up and pay for him to go where he can get in.</p>
<p>Definitely stay open to considering out of state schools, as KY is underrepresented at many (especially farther away LACs).</p>
<p>Bear in mind that there are many merit scholarships available through sources OTHER than schools, themselves. It will take a lot of work on your son's part, but a lot of money is attainable this way. Your son's HS might be able to help, as will google. </p>
<p>Don't worry too much about grad schools yet. As long as your son does well enough in undergrad, any top grad school will consider him. It's good that he already has high grad school goals in mind because this can act as a motivator, wherever he is, to seize opportunities and keep grades up.</p>
<p>(Random note: expensive, but you may look at Claremont McKenna College in southern California. It sounds like it might be a good match for your son).</p>
<p>Be careful about having your son apply to Harvard/Princeton/Stanford if you are absolutely unwilling to pay the full bill. If it's a "this would be difficult but maybe we could make it work" situation, that's one thing, but I would hate to be accepted by one of those schools (if it were really where I wanted to be) and have to turn down the opportunity (this is one place where external scholarships could play a big role, I suppose).</p>
<p>I may be biased, but have you considered Rice? The tuition is lower than most of its peer institutions to start with, and the school offers a number of merit-based scholarships. Granted, these awards are hard to get, but it might be worth a shot.</p>