<p>Thanks to those that helped us last week with advice and directions for our visit to Miami. We stayed downtown and used metro and the free peoplemover to get around everywhere. Metro from the airport was fast and cheap!! We only took a taxi one night to and from South Beach.</p>
<p>My son and I had a great visit and tour. We were able to see much of Miami in addition to the campus tour and had a fun night at South Beach as well. He is 100% convinced that this is the school he wants! Unfortunately, I'm not 100% convinced that we'll get enough money to make it work. My son has a 4.0 unweighted, 4.3 weighted, top 10% in his class......BUT, his SAT's seem to be below what they look at for decent money (1320/1600 - 2010/2400). I'm not sure if he's going to take them again or not.</p>
<p>Anyhow - I'm curious if there's anyone out there that was able to get a decent amount of money with SAT scores below 1350 (that number was focused on during the admissions talk). Maybe his higher GPA might help him out? I don't think the $16,000 would cut it for us - unfortunately.</p>
<p>Have him try the ACT in September. My DS SAT score was about the same as yours but his ACT is in a good merit aid range, that is, higher on SAT equivalency. Hope it works out as DS is in love with UM too!</p>
<p>I would strongly encourage him to, as LINYMOM and KeyWest58 say, try the ACT, or retake the SAT. An extra 100 points will put him in the range of a 20k/24k scholarship. An extra 150-200pts will put him in Singer range.</p>
<p>I understand how frustrating it is - I’m in the process of studying to retake the LSAT, with the knowledge that each additional point I get at this point is another $10,000 in scholarship money. It’s basically the same situation for your son. An extra 100 pts, making the bump from the $10k/year range to the $20k/year range, is likely an extra $40,000 that he gets. IMO, it’s well worth the extra few months of dedicated studying and the $200 to take the test.</p>
<p>I concur as well…the ACT was better for both of my kids and they both got great UM scholarships because of it. Also, UM superscores, so if your son takes it in Oct and Dec if need be, they will superscore. 34 with your other stats can get you 24K, so it is worth a try.</p>
<p>Thanks all. Just to clarify - he did take the ACT once - and did better on the SAT so we’ve concentrated on that. He took the SAT multiple times, and after a review class he raised his score quite a bit. I’m hoping he can get it up even higher - but thinking realistically, he just doesn’t seem to test as well as we would expect. Wish I knew why.</p>
<p>He was so excited he was done with the SAT’s. With the schools he was orginally looking at - his current scores were fine, and gave him money. I guess this will show how much he really wants to go to Miami or not - whether he’s willing to study and try one last time in October. He would probably need the 24k to make this work. Either that, or we’ll need some unexpected inheritance!</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat as you. My D has fallen in love with this school. It offers exactly what she wants, and then some. But her SAT is no where near merit aid range. But she took the ACT and did much better & will retake in September (SAT in Oct, too) to bring it up. Her grades and ECs are great along with class rank, but I want her to bring up those scores for the aid. She’s working so hard at it also. That $24K would help so much. </p>
<p>She has always loved UM for the past two years and the campus visit last February sealed the deal. She’s applying EA.</p>
<p>Good luck to your D. I have to say I’ll be so glad when this is all done. I’ll have two down - and just one more child to go. I luckily have kids that are great students - and amazing kids - but this whole SAT thing never seems to go our way!</p>
<p>I am glad we went to Miami and that he fell in love with it…But, given the price, part of me wonders if I created a monster - ha.</p>
<p>ljrfm: I apologize derailing from your question and getting onto the ACT bandwagon. That works for many, but it looks like in your case SAT is the way to go.</p>
<p>To get back to your original question, my DD has a friend who was offered merit aid with under 1300 on M/CR ($16K I think), however, she graduated from HS in 2011. It seems to get more and more competitive every year so I would go by what the admissions reps are saying now.</p>
<p>Loving UM and needing merit aid was the only reason my DS agreed to take the ACT for a third time (already took SAT 2x). He just knew he could bring up one of the sections and he was motivated to do so. I think he’s maxed out now so we are done, but with your DS’ new passion for UM, he may be motivated to put in extra effort now to get his scores up. Just one more time. It’s worth it if he loves the school.</p>
<p>Linymom: No need to apologize - I appreciate any and all advice :)</p>
<p>I hope he can raise his scores, but realistically, I just don’t know if we’ll get the money we need for Miami. He will do his best - he’s working to get the application finished now. We’ll go from there.</p>
<p>I’ll keep you all updated - and anyone who can, say a prayer or cross your fingers that he can find a way to make this work!!</p>
<p>Just to add, UM tries to help kids who need financial help that they really want with grants that are based on need and merit. (Coral Grant, etc) So, he might want to make his application shine with other attributes that make them really want him at the U.
Best of luck in the app process…</p>