My D is a rising senior. She took AP Psych this year and has since decided she wants to study Psychology and possibly get a Master’s. She would like a medium to large school with school spirit (as in football games), Greek life and with a more moderate climate. We do not qualify for FA and would like to keep the COA to $35,000 or less per year so are looking for schools where she can get decent if not generous merit. We have read quite a lot on this site and checked out some of the lists of schools with merit, but they all seem geared to kids with very high test scores. Has anyone found schools that fit her wish list of criteria with generous Merit for a kid who is just below that line? Suggestions appreciated.
Her stats are:
GPA 3.9 UW / 4.6 W
SAT 2060 CR 660 M700 WR 700
5 AP’s so far will take 4 more next year
Strong EC’s with leadership roles in Student Gov, Service Club, NHS of criteria etc. But nothing on a state or national level.
University of Alabama-if your D retake SAT and get 1400 M+CR, then she will be eligible for full tuition. Or with her current score she will get 2/3 OOS tuition waiver.
Alabama has all that you want…very good psychology, school size, school spirit, football, moderate climate, Greek Life…and very good merit for her stats. Also, admission into its honors college.
Also, drop-dead gorgeous campus and very nice dorms.
She’d get 2/3 tuition merit award. Your net cost would be well below your budget.
Thank you Paul and Mom. Alabama is a good suggestion.
I recently applied to colleges as a psych major, and a few schools come to mind.
If you’re looking for school spirit with a good psych program at a decent price, I would suggest some Big 10 Schools (or any other big public school). I applied to University of Minnesota, which has a very highly ranked psych program, and got in (with a lower GPA and fewer AP’s, but similar test scores), but with no scholarship. Still, the cost of attendance came out to around $40k as an out of state student. The college of liberal arts did offer its own separate scholarships ranging from $1k-$5k, which could potentially bring you down to your ideal price range. Still, I understand the Twin Cities aren’t exactly a temperate climate so maybe that’s not what you’re looking for. University of Michigan, University of Illinois, University of Colorado, University of Wisconsin, University of Washington and Ohio State are similar. I suggest doing a quick good search of top undergraduate psych programs and jotting down any public school.
George Washington University is a good private school that is supposedly good with financial aid. Their Greek Life program is huge there, and the climate may be what you’re looking for; however, school spirit is somewhat lacking. They do offer a full ride scholarship but it is competitive. Most selective private schools offer only or mostly need-based aid, while less selective schools are easier to get greater scholarship money from. We did not qualify for financial aid either, but I did get some offers from less competitive schools (DePaul, Loyola’s, Emmanuel) for under $30k. No matter what, if school spirit is important, I would recommend looking into bigger schools.
Alabama is also a great choice, but I figured I’d offer my two cents just in case 
Any other suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.
I would also recommend Howard University-the website gives a clear information about what the students get with their GPA/test scores. You have to take some classes regarding African American history or something like that-since it’s a HBCU-but it’s pretty much nothing for the reward your kid can get .
I believe her stats would get her the Amigo scholarship at Univ. of New Mexico, which is essentially in-state rate for oos students and well under your budget. Guaranteed or almost guaranteed as long as she applies EARLY, no separate scholarship application. My D had her acceptance in hand before going back to school Fall of senior year, although notification of the Amigo scholarship came a few months later. $20 application fee, no essay. Probably automatic acceptance into Honors College.
My D also got an unexpected merit award at Denison College. Not sure if it’s big enough for your D, a little over 2,000 students, and it’s in Ohio, not sure if that’s the desired climate. Active Greek scene and school spirit. All residential. Even though we were NOT looking for football or Greek life, I liked the community spirit evident in this video, including an appearance by the college president:
https://youtu.be/nWm3z-X657U
If you haven’t visited any colleges, I suggest you try to, even if it’s ones that are accessible but not particularly on your list. It can help fine tune what attributes matter and how much they matter. Many students think they know what they want until they visit someplace completely different and find it appealing.
alooknac you hit the nail on the head about visiting. She has been to our state flagship and is basing everything off that. I need to take her to tour some other schools. She is coming from a small private high school and has in her head that she wants a much broader experience. 2000 may be too small for her but 5,000 or so and up is a whole lot bigger. She needs to see it to understand.
At this point we have Alabama, our flagships and I will look into your suggestion
You might want to check to see if your state is a member of a regional consortium for reduced OOS tuition. For example, western states (minus TX) form the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) that provides discounted tuition at a number of public universities - not always the flagshps - but some very good schools in the mix. I believe there is something similar in the Midwest and in the South.
the south does have the Common Market, but it wouldn’t work for this student if she lives in the south. To qualify, your state can’t have your major at any of its publics. With a psych major, that’s not going to work since every state has schools with that major.
WUE may be harder to find “big football” if that’s what’s wanted. Boise State may be one, but I don’t think it will have the academic challenge that this student may be looking for.
I’m guessing that they don’t want to sacrifice having a lot of strong students for sports and Greek system.
Texas Tech would probably give a lot of merit and has football, but it wouldn’t make much sense to choose TTU over Alabama.
I think someone else said this but Ohio state.
Run the net price calculator for ASU. You can input your gpa/rank/scores and get an answer.
Thank you for all the suggestions. If I wanted to push her a little to look at an LAC, are there any that meet some of the criteria? For instance more moderate climate and 5000 or more students where she may get significant merit?
Liberal arts colleges tend to not be that large. Anyway, check out Elon Univ. Their cost of attendence is less expensive than most, but I’m not sure about how generous the merit is.
Elon has very good merit aid, actually. That is an option.