<p>Could anyone help point me to some sources of merit scholarships? My son got into Amherst ED (his #1 college, so he is thrilled!). Amherst does not give merit scholarships, to my understanding, nor are they one of the colleges that give Natl Merit scholarships. I think that we would not be able to get need-based aid (?). I make around 100k and my son lives with me. His dad and I have been legally separated for 10 years, and Dad makes 280k (the CSS Profile asks for the non-custodial parent's income, I believe....). The court papers say dad must pay half of college, but still the other half of Amherst is steep!</p>
<p>My son is a Natl Merit Semi-finalist, GPA 4.0 (UW)/ SAT superscore 2330 and ACT superscore 35 if that helps. He is interested in music (All-State Band and Choir) and science and hopes to go into medicine eventually. How do we find merit scholarships outside of the college itself?</p>
<p>Agree w/BW, for substantial scholarships for all 4 years, the colleges are the best sources. </p>
<p>Most large outside scholarships are extremely competitive, deadlines may have passed, and many have a need factor.</p>
<p>The most reasonable outside merit aid are local scholarships that your HS GC would know about. However, the vast majority of these are for relatively small amounts (hundreds of dollars) and are not renewable.</p>
<p>Unless there are some kind of extreme circumstance, you are correct that with a combined income of 380k, you are unlikely to get any FA other than loans. And you are also correct that Amherst has no merit aid.</p>
<p>Hi JennieLing,
First, congratulations on your son’s ED acceptance to his first-choice school! While BW and Entomom may be correct about institutions that offer merit-based aid, their advice doesn’t really help you pay for your half of Amherst! I would be sure to make an appointment with Amherst’s financial aid office, and explain your situation very specifically. Often, financial aid officers are very responsive to complicated situations such as yours, and they may evaluate you based on your income alone. In that situation, you probably would pay around 10-12,000. Good luck!</p>
<p>BobWallace, thanks for answering. Yes, we were quite aware that he could have received merit aid from many other colleges, full rides at many, and I am not downplaying that; it is truly a blessing. However, I want him to go wherever he feels is the best fit, and that is Amherst. Entomom, thanks for the idea on local scholarships. He will definitely look into that. I was just wondering if there were some bigger national ones? EastGrad, thanks for the great suggestions. I will talk with their Financial Aid office! Thanks for your encouragement.</p>
<p>There aren’t many national scholarships that won’t expect a “need component” which you don’t have. </p>
<p>You have to understand that private scholarships are usually for small amounts and only for freshman year. </p>
<p>If you’re prepared to pay full cost at Amherst, then great. If that’s not possible, then you need to determine that now. </p>
<p>Eastgrad is overly optimisitic. With the dad’s income that high, his income will not be ignored. It’s not as if you have no idea of his whereabouts. The fact that you know his income suggests that there’s communication between dad and the child. </p>
<p>BTW…do the court papers say that dad has to pay half of ANY college? Often the cost is limited to half of what a state college costs. However, maybe because his income is so high, that limit wasn’t put into place. </p>
<p>That said, schools don’t care what courts have stated. Your H’s income is high enough that he should be paying more than half. </p>
<p>You may need to talk to your ex and explain that obviously your son isn’t getting any aid because of HIS income. Does your ex want your son to attend Amherst? If so, then he may be willing to pay 3/4 of the cost…which is more proportional based on income. If your ex refuses to pay more than half, and he knows that you “only” earn $100k and can’t afford to pay $30k (your half), then he’s essentially saying that he doesn’t want your son to go to Amherst. </p>
<p>A few CSS schools will “break out” what each divorced parents should pay. Don’t know if Amherst does that. If they do, then show that to your ex.</p>
<p>I am optimistic based on my past experience. I work as an interviewer for our local schools committee for my college, and I have done so for over 20 years. We interview a lot of students each year and then work hard to make sure that the few who are admitted from our state (far fewer than 10%) can and do attend our college. Our financial aid office has been very responsive to individual situations, and they have worked with families as they try to make it possible for their kids to attend college. Admittedly, my college has a very large endowment. </p>
<p>We have often had complicated financial situations, but our college has been very willing to try to make things work for the students it has chosen. I do think it’s a good idea to ask your ex-husband to pay his share, based on how much each of you make. Then, approach the committee. If they are like our financial aid committee, they will acknowledge that you cannot pay 1/3 of your income. We have found as a local schools committee that our college is much more attuned to divorce situations than they were in the 80s when I went to college. They may be very willing to work with you…Amherst said they really want your son when they accepted him ED. I say, hope for the best and work hard to make it happen. </p>
<p>And, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for your son to apply to his favorite of the many colleges that offer full rides to NMFs. My son is a NMSF (we’re all waiting for the final notification, aren’t we?), and I am sure your son, like mine, has received a recycling bin full of offers from colleges. There is also a thread on CC that specifies which colleges offer full rides to NMFs, and you need to apply to a state school so you won’t violate your ED contract at Amherst. You should check very carefully the terms of their ED requirements too. It wouldn’t hurt for him to have a back-up, especially now that he has two weeks of freedom after receiving your ED good news.</p>
<p>Good luck, JennieLing. I really hope your son can attend Amherst. </p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t know of any that don’t have a need factor. A few years ago I would have suggested the Byrd (renewable 1.5k), but that was stopped in 2011.</p>
<p>Amherst has a very large endowment also…and they meet the financial need for accepted students. Their financial aid is VERY generous for students with financial need. The issue here…the student has NO need. Amherst is very upfront about using the non-custodial parent income/assets when determining financial need. This student’s family knew that they would not qualify for need based aid when their student applied ED to the school. </p>
<p>With an income of $100,000, the mom’s EFC per FAFSA is likely in the $25,000 to $30,000 per year range. This would more than cover half of the cost of attending Amherst. </p>
<p>The father’s income if taken alone, would generate a family contribution well in excess of the FULL cost of attending Amherst.</p>
<p>At this point, the family, including the non-custodial parent, needs to determine if Amherst is affordable as a full pay student. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that the student can take a $5500 Direct Loan for freshman year, and that will help a bit. He can also apply for local scholarships which might help soften the costs for freshman year only…but every penny counts.</p>
<p>Sure, have a conversation with Amherst, but personally I do not think you should be optimistic about receiving need based aid from Amherst. As I said, no secret that they use the non-custodial parent financials when considering need based eligibility. This family does not have financial need.</p>
<p>P.S. I would suggest having a conversation with the high school guidance office. They typically have the information about local scholarships, and when the applications will become available. </p>
<p>In most cases, these local scholarship applications don’t become available until early spring, and many aren’t awarded until near the end of the senior year.</p>
<p>This student likely has a very small window of time to either accept to decline that Amherst ED offer of admission. Even if there were some fabulous scholarship out there, it is unlikely that this student would KNOW if he received it in time to make the decision about accepting the ED offer.</p>
<p>Jennieling: I agree with thumper and entomom; the “need” factor does not bode well for you. Speaking from experience, we had to decline our dd’s #1 school because we couldn’t afford the school. </p>
<p>Our combined income is nowhere near yours, but we were still looking at full pay which we could not afford given our combination of loans, 529 plans, and savings. The cost was prohibitive and not something we could even fathom. We did what you did: looked into private scholarships and loans, FastWeb scholarships, work-related scholarships, family help, etc. It just wasn’t enough and we didn’t want to lose our home.</p>
<p>I think you want to give your son-the world, as we all would like to give our children, but reality dictates that unless your ex pays, your son needs to seriously consider other options. You cannot afford to put yourself in that kind of debt.</p>
<p>I know very little about Amherst. None of my kids applied there.</p>
<p>However, I do know that kids with stats like your son’s generally do very well with college-awarded merit aid. My kids’ stats were similar to your son’s stats, and we were surprised to discover, with each kid, that even colleges that don’t advertise big merit awards have a way of coming up with big merit aid for the students they want to attract. I’m not saying that Amherst will do that. Like I said, I know very little about Amherst. But my kids did receive huge merit awards from schools similar to Amherst as their senior years went on. The big awards didn’t always come with notices of acceptance. In fact, most often, the awards either trickled in over time in ‘small packages’ that added up over time, or the awards came in large packages that really surprised us, generally in late February or the month of March.</p>
<p>I would follow the advice of other members here – because it’s always good to have a Plan B. But you and your son don’t necessarily have to give up hope yet. Amherst may be notifying him of merit aid in the months to come.</p>
<p>(Unfortunately, I have heard over the years that one’s chances for merit aid may be reduced by applying ED. I’m not sure that is true … it’s just something I’ve read and heard over the years. None of my kids ever applied ED, so I have no personal knowledge of that.)</p>
<p>Oh! And, I obviously agree with the other posters who said that the best merit aid comes from the colleges themselves.</p>
<p>I don’t think the OP’s financial situation is complicated. The dad is paying half, and she has half. Now they are shell shocked by the full price, but have signed an ED agreement. There is really nothing here that a financial aid office is going to do anything about. </p>
<p>OP, any chance of getting any extra money out of dad given the high cost of Amherst? Since he has a higher income. </p>
<p>I would think your son might be able to find a few thousand in scholarships if he hunts really hard, but deadlines are looming or are already passed. We found some interesting options on this thread. Winthropmom posted a ton of off the beaten track scholarships, starting a few pages into the thread.</p>
<p>You can also use scholarship search sites to try to find things that match up with his stats, ec, etc.</p>
<p>Sometimes local organizations like Lions Clubs, or scouts or 4H give some scholarships. He could look for those, they are sometimes less competitive. His guidance counselor might have some suggestions, ours knows all the ones that have been awarded to kids from our school in recent years.</p>
<p>I agree that it seems like the goal was “this school” and now the mom is looking at the price.</p>
<p>BTW…if the son is awarded merit, whatever he’s awarded will get split between the parents. If the student is given a one-time $5k merit award (if he’s super lucky) then the dad will pay $2500 less and the mom will pay $2500 less. The mom seems to think that merit will only reduce her half, but legally, it will likely get split and reduce both. </p>
<p>SimpleLife…what schools (similar to Amherst) gave your children merit and how much were the awards? Amherst won’t be giving merit now or later. And, since this student applied ED, he can’t wait to see what will happen later (private scholarships) or even see what other schools might offer him because of he accepts Amherst then he has to pull his apps from other schools. </p>
<p>If this mom can’t get her ex to pay 3/4 of the COA (or whatever she needs him to pay) and she’s not willing to borrow each year to pay her share, then she needs to figure out how this is going to work out. If she decides to borrow, she needs to figure out if she’ll re-qualify each year since each year’s loan is going to hurt her credit rating. At some point, her rating may not qualify and then what?</p>
<p>You should call Amherst and see what they say. I would strongly suggest that they will NOT give any sort of discount. But I could be wrong. In my family’s case, the top-tier LACs my daughter was accepted at provided packages that were basically, congratulations, you can take a loan for the $20k/year above your EFC.</p>
<p>And we made WAY less than $350k, which is how this school views your pool of income (you + ex).</p>
<p>However, if they want him, maybe I’m wrong. It can’t hurt to ask but I personally wouldn’t have much hope at your income level! If they can’t bend at all and you can’t swing it and your ex won’t pay more–then you need to get out of the agreement and get your son working on other apps pronto. This school may seem like the ‘best’ but there are many, many great options out there.</p>
<p>*His dad and I have been legally separated for 10 years, *</p>
<p>The parents aren’t even divorced. They’re still married. It’s just too unlikely that Amherst isn’t going to include the dad’s income.</p>
<p>Maybe since the parents aren’t divorced, the mom should go thru with the divorce and include either spousal support or a better split of the college costs.</p>
<p>I also think the mom should look over the current agreement. If it doesn’t say “private college” costs, then many will interpret that to mean the cost of a state school.</p>
<p>also…does “cost” include COA? or just tuition, room, board and books? Personal expenses may not be included.</p>