<p>I'm a rising senior with
4.0 UW GPA with a fairly rigorous course-load,
Around 250 volunteer hours,
32 ACT,
and decent EC's including Cross Country captain and NHS member.
Unfortunately my parents are in the income bracket in which they will not support me very much, but we will also receive zero need-based aid. So I need to find a college that will get me a good bit of merit aid. (the better the school, the happier I'll be) I really do believe that I will fit in to wherever I go, so i'm open to any options. I would love to hear some ideas of schools that I should research that will offer a decent amount of merit aid. Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>Go to the financial aid forum and look at the sticky that has a list of automatic scholarships. Some have full tuition scholarships.</p>
<p>Your parents make so much that you won’t even get aid at ‘super aid’ schools and can’t give you much money for college? Or is there a fixed amount that you have discussed. I think you need to know what amount you have to work with each year in order to search. </p>
<p>Like mentioned above, there are threads pinned to the top of the financial aid forum read Automatic scholarships and Competitive scholarships. Also there are a lot of colleges that will give 10 or 20k to the very top 10% or so that you have a good chance to get but you will still have to come up with the balance which is still quite a lot and may be more than your state school. How are you state schools and are they affordable for you?</p>
<p>I agreed with the above. There are some great schools with merit scholarships listed in one of CC’s sticky threads. The University of Alabama and Tulane pop up constantly there, so it looks like you may qualify for a good scholarship with your scores. Alternatively, the state flagship is also a great resource</p>
<p>I know WUSTL, Vanderbilt, and UChicago give merit aid, though I’m not sure how much each school gives. You would have to apply for merit aid at some of these places, and it can be quite competitive, but it might be worth it to apply and see how much aid they offer. Of course, you’d be well-advised to have a few financial (and academic) safeties on your list in case the aid at these schools doesn’t pan out.</p>