Mom and I: make too much on paper though we seems to be perpetually going paycheck to paycheck. Lots of old debt to payoff, along paying the expenses of three kids and from living in two countries. Three kids, with D1 about to start at a local public university. S1 is in grade school. Our focus is on D2.
D2: a sophomore with junior standing. Weighted GPA is 4.56. PSAT 9 and 10 were 99th percentile without studying. I think the last was 99th Math/98th CR. Super sharp but not type A. Quiet. Loyal to friends. Does not approach the path towards college with any appetite for strategy, agonizingly so. Naturally athletic but did not show much interest in team sport. Did an odd community sport well but lost interest. All-state caliber voice. One one hand I appreciate her nonchalance. On the other hand, I am exasperated as her profile is almost void of those holistic factors that the top schools admission staffs rally around.
We tried to let her know that with our income, she is unlikely to get any financial aid and that it makes it nearly impossible to send her to an Ivy-caliber school if she got in. Mom and I both went to top schools back in the day, when it was 4-5 times easier to get it and when graduates from top schools graduated to work normal jobs. We are comfortable but cannot afford to fork out $300K for a university education for one. D2 would do well at our alma mater and fit in quite easily. So it is painful to think we cannot afford to send her.
So I am looking at good schools that offer the merit scholarships, out of state waivers, urban environs she loves, and the caliber of curriculum we want as parents.
Any suggestions/advice on a list of schools/programs?
If she becomes a NMF, she can get a 1/2 tuition scholarship to USC. It is the highest ranked school with a near automatic large scholarship. I say “near” because she still has to be admitted.
This is going to depend on her standardized test scores but you can consider the University of Pittsburgh. Very urban (in a great part of Pittsburgh), and can offer full tuition for those with very strong test scores. She would likely be eligible for their honors program.
Some of the info is on the old side…so check,with the colleges to verify that awards are still available.
Also, if you have regular w-2 income…no owned business, no secondary real estate. Then run the net price calculator on the college websites to see what you get. With two students in college at the same time, you might actually get some need based aid at some generous colleges…of course…when one kid is no longer IN college…then your costs will increase.
Most public flagship universities have great honors college programs.
Looks for schools with strong merit aid. Pitt was already suggested. I’ll add…University of Southern CA gives 1/2 tuition to NMS winners. University of Alabama would be guaranteed merit for your daughter.
The best scholarships come directly from the colleges to,which your daughter is admitted…so look for colleges where she will be a good contender for college scholarships.
If the super competitive schools aren’t financially feasible, why does it bother you that she’s not interested in them?
Many merit scholarships are entirely stars-driven, so I’m sure you can find some good options. Especially if she qualifies as a National Merit finalist.
How much do you afford to pay?
Is 25K merit enough (65-25=40K to pay)?
Do you need a full tuition scholarship or a full ride?
By answering those questions you will get the group of colleges worth applying.
fwiw, USC offers good merit aid for tops students (you must apply before Dec 1st usually - check for yourself going forward) Be warned, though that even 1/2 scholarship at USC leaves you paying 30-35k a year Tuition/Room/Board.
There are lots of great scholarships, but your kid may have to “settle” for a “less prestigious” school - which usually is actually not “settling” at all, save in the parent’s get to wear a T-shirt department!
The other downside would be that if you are really hunting a lot of merit aid, you need to apply to more schools earlier. We found it hard to know who was going to offer money and who didn’t.
Additionally, there are a lot of non-college scholarships out there. Our D had no luck with them, but she only concentrated on the big money awards. If you think to go that route, start making a list early, there are a lot and most require fairly serious applications.
BP – you are in a good situation for D2. You also have PLENTY of company – check out the merit aid thread. There’s a reason it is 111 pages long.
Give us a few more parameters and you’ll quickly have a solid list of 20 or more schools to consider. Big/small, urban/suburban/rural, region, weather, academic program interest, fit/vibe (greek, nerdy, sporty, preppy, techy, artsy, goth, religious/secular, whatever). That’s a lot more efficient for you than having people toss out a lot of one-off suggestions that wil be all over the place. Bama and Bryn Mawr are both good merit schools but, obviously, are in different collegiate galaxies.
Biggest parameter is what you think your realistic budget is. SC, for example, has a sticker price of about $66k. If your kid gets a half tuition schollie (about $25k off), can you pay the remaining $41k? A net price of about $40k is the sweet spot for the merit money game. Lots of options in that price range and not very hard to pull off. If your budget is instead $20k a year, that’s fine as well. But the search will have to be a lot more focused.
Overview. Look at the USNWR rankings. Basically zero merit money in the top 15. From 15-30, you start to see some merit money, but it tends to be more competitive (separate applications, leadership and ECs matter). The 30+ band is where you start to see the more automatic, stats-based merit money. That where some of CCs most favorite merit money schools (CWRU, Northeastern, Miami, Tulane) tend to be. Most of the merit money destinations are those kind of privates. And then there are the OOS big state Us with honors colleges who also play the merit game (Bama, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Oklahoma).
This is NOT an urban location - but Washington and Lee University is a WONDERFUL liberal arts college with very high quality academics, great reputation even in engineering (unusual for liberal arts colleges). They have VERY generous merit aid - they give nearly 10% of the entering freshmen class a full ride. It is well worth a look, even though it is in a small town, right by the mountains. Oh, did I mention that it is in a beautiful part of the country?!
There are a bunch of great schools that offer merit aid. Just keep moving down the list from elite to excellent to very good until you find one that loves your daughter enough to meet your price point. But honestly, if you’re going to play this game you must embrace the idea that there is no single perfect school for each child. Visit a few, figure out what DD likes and then go find one like that that you can afford.
There’s a very good essay on the Muhenberg College financial aid page ( http://muhlenberg.edu/main/admissions/therealdealonfinancialaid/ ) that more or less says schools use aid money to “buy” the type of students they want to attend, so your best approach is to apply to schools where you’re a desired student. Aim for places where you’re above the 75 percentile of incoming freshmen, for example, and they’ll be more apt to try to lure you in.
Washington and Lee is a great school. They meet full need for all accepted students. The only substantial merit award they have is the Johnson Scholars program which is HIGHLY competitive and is awarded to 40 incoming freshmen a year. The school is in a lovely location, but certainly not urban by any jeariew or means…or even particularly convenient to an urban area.
@thumper1 Yeppie, I’m aware of how competitive the full merit scholarship is at Washington and Lee. Obviously tough to get admitted and then, more tough to get the scholarship. Nonetheless, it is one of a handful of quality liberal arts colleges that offer generous merit aid and the description of the student in the original post suggests a competitive candidate. Strangely, I had figured I was clear in my post that the school is not urban when I said that it was “NOT an urban location.”
You really need to figure out how much you can afford. If you are high income, you can certainly get merit aid, but in most cases, it effectively is a discount on very expensive private tuition. You’ll still need to figure out how to pay the balance, and that will also mean figuring out much debt you can take on. It may be that after you’ve done these calculation, your state school may be more affordable, even if you get $25,000/year in merit aid.
If you look at the threads for Denison, Dickinson, Clark, Earlham, Gettysburg, Kenyon, Oberlin, W&L, Muhlenberg, etc., you’ll start to get a feel from what the awards are and what the stats of the recipients were, and you can work backwards from there.
Also- you need a very long session with your tax returns, credit card bills, bank statements, etc.
Having a vague sense of “we can pay 25K per year out of pocket” is a terrible strategy. You need to get granular right now. “Ok, we can pay 1K per month out of current cash flow by cutting here and here. We can pay $500 per month out of savings, look at this account right here. Kid can kick in 3K per year from summer and school year earnings.”
Don’t walk into a buzz saw. You can’t believe the number of people who never figure out exactly where the money is coming from.
If you think finances are tight now, wait until you are paying tuition…