Midwestern Colleges with Merit Aid

<p>We have visited WashU, U of Chicago and ND. Of these she loves WashU. But all of these are hard schools to get.</p>

<p>"Of these she loves WashU."</p>

<p>I think her ACT needs to be a bit higher for the possibility of significant merit aid - just looked at their website. If she does retake, don't send the scores anywhere unlike after she has seen them - ACT allows score choice. The WUSTL admit rate is also lower for girls than boys.</p>

<p>Knowing that she likes WUSTL, Case would be a good alternate - higher admit rate, similar to WUSTL, good merit prospects.</p>

<p>I think the next thing to determine would be whether she likes LAC's - that would broaden the base a good deal.</p>

<p>Those of us in Kansas consider Oklahoma part of the midwest, so I would recommend University of Tulsa. They offer tons of merit aid and have a very reasonable overall cost for a private university.</p>

<p>I don't know why but she is not looking at any LAC's.
I have been mentioning Case to her. Will she how that develops.</p>

<p>Tulane............i know it's not considered as a midwest school.......but we thought they were very generous with merit aid......their f/a offer was better than the one from Case.</p>

<p>A midwest public that she might check out is Wichita State University. They are up and coming. Their internship programs are worth checking out. The city has some great new shopping areas on the ne and sw sides.</p>

<p>If your D is looking at Notre Dame, she should look into St. Mary's College, where she could get substantial merit aid. It's all-female, but it's right next to ND and students can be pretty integrated into ND academics and social life.</p>

<p>She is not for all girls school. Thanks anyway</p>

<p>I'd put St. Mary's with Scripps in the "girl's schools that aren't really girl's schools because you're literally a stone's throw from guys and have coed classes" category, but considering I didn't/don't attend or consider a single sex school (want guys for dating scene, shallow as it is), this is just FWIW.</p>

<p>bump-------</p>

<p>Grinnell has a huge endowment and is fairly generous with merit assistance, plus the school has made an effort to keep tuition lower than its direct competitors (although there has been some discussion about raising it so that they are comparable, but it has not happened yet.) Due to the endowment students there get LOTS of opportunities that might not be available at other similarly sized schools. It's been becoming increasingly competitive but based your daughter's numbers she should have a good shot. My daughter finished her first year in May and is very very happy there - coming from Chicago she was somewhat apprehensive about being in such a rural community, but it really grew on her. The school sponsors lots of activities so the students can stay entertained if they like. Good luck and have fun with the process!</p>

<p>Juanna -
I am interested to here about you D's year at Grinnell - I think it looks like a wonderful school, but I also wonder about the location.</p>

<p>Juanna- Especially coming from Chicago I agree with ohio_mom how did D like Grinnell.</p>

<p>Tan & Ohio - I think perhaps because she was very happy at the school her ability to embrace the community of Grinnell was made easier. It's a small town - about a 5 hour drive from Chicago - in fact she was able to get back to Chicago more frequently than we would have expected. Grinnell has lots of restored Victorian homes and she says that the professors enjoy living there. She jokes about its location in the middle of cornfields but I think being outside of a big built up area like Greater Chicago she got to experience nature in a way she never had and spoke often about how beautiful it was. She swims & plays club water polo, and Grinnell's central location seemed to facilitate travel to other midwestern schools that are within a 3-4 hour driving range. She likes the thrift stores in town, there's a local baker renowned for early morning donuts, and there's a "cook your own" steak house that she loves. She's also very interested in politics and is looking forward to the run up to the Iowa caucuses. John Kerry is one of many prominent politicians who have visited Grinnell or nearby towns. During the second semester she took two on-campus jobs and has really enjoyed her interactions with the local employees. I think bottom line she is very happy that she chose Grinnell and is making the most of her time there - even though she misses the resources available in a big diverse place like Chicago she appreciates what she has in Iowa and appreciates coming home.</p>

<p>I'd also propose Grinnell College. They have a very large endowment and typically are fairly generous with their money in terms of merit aid should the student under question be qualified enough. I'd also say that Kenyon and Oberlin are fairly good about merit aid as well. Carleton, while also a great school, doesn't give all that much money for merit.</p>

<p>To quote from 2sonmomma "Those of us in Kansas consider Oklahoma part of the midwest, so I would recommend University of Tulsa (TU). They offer tons of merit aid and have a very reasonable overall cost for a private university."</p>

<p>I second the nomination of the University of Tulsa for the reasons cited. Tulsa itself is a very liveable, attractive "midwestern" city only 50 miles or so south of the Kansas state line. Lots of kids from Missouri and Kansas go to TU.</p>

<p>Also, if you are considering advising your daughter not to send her ACT scores automatically to colleges if she takes them again (thus sending them at your/her discretion later per Ohio Mom's advice), then do NOT send those ACT scores to her high school as well.</p>

<p>Butler in Indianapolis is strong in health sciences. They have good Pharmacy and Physician's Asst. programs and offer good financial aid.</p>

<p>lonestar -
"then do NOT send those ACT scores to her high school as well."</p>

<p>Glad you caught that one!</p>

<p>As long as we are on the subject of transcripts - be sure to get a copy and make sure it's correct. Also, obtain the HS Profile. Sometimes the GC can put information in the rec if the profile is lacking.</p>

<p>Do I get that 32 is not good enough for some of the schools she is looking at. IS it possible to rate her schools as safety,match,reach and very high reach.
U of Mich,Michigan State, Kalamazoo College, WashU at St. Louis,U of Chicago, U of NDame,Northwestern,Vanderbilt,Purdue,Case Western,Duke,UPenn.</p>

<p>bump10.........</p>

<p>bump..............</p>