Great score! I will echo some of the ideas listed above, though, even with that great score: think big state schools who reward high scores (Alabama) and small LACs where she would be a novelty. I can’t think of places on the East Coast in urban areas like that, I am afraid, but there may be some.
How would she feel about small, church-y schools? Like strongly Catholic affiliated small schools? There are dozens of these on the East Coast, not terribly high ranked, but good schools that would love to have a girl like her. I don’t think they are so urban, but not far from cities.
A few random thoughts for you: Hendrix in Arkansas, a CTCL school, St Mary’s or Trinity in San Antonio, St Edwards or Southwestern in Austin. Austin isn’t an East Coast city, but it is a great, vibrant urban center and especially exciting for young people. Baylor? Church-y but Baptist.
Run the npc on Middlebury, Dickinson, St Olaf, Kalamazoo
And do look into McDermott.
What about the usc Columbia 'cohorts '? Any that appeals to her?
Regarding something else: Someone upthread said the average McDermott score was much higher than 1500, but my point was that a 1490 (right below cut off for McDermott) makes the student a shoo in for a top AES award, which is more valuable than the new presidential at UA.
It is a bit of a predicament if your daughter was abroad for high school - but I don’t think anyone asked, does the family live in the US, or is the whole family overseas? I believe if her family lives in the US, it would be considered US residency for her in that state.
To get to a $20k net price, your kid will need a full tuition scholarship. You might be able to score one of those just by applying – Fordham for example gives those to NMSFs automatically.
More likely, a full tuition merit scholly is going to require a separate scholarship application. Something like W&L, for example, which gives Johnson scholarships (full rides) to about 10% of its class each year.
You’ll need to apply to a big bunch of safety type schools that have big merit award possibilities. The lower you shoot, the more over-qualified your kid will be (and thus more likely to grab a big schollie).
Limited merit scholarship money starts to become available beginning at about USNWR #15 (national universities) and #10 LACs. But it is SOOO competitive at that level that you really can’t build a strategy around getting one of those even if your kid has top notch credentials. My most recent kid did actually get such a deal, but that was kind of like a bolt of lightning.
The more typical outcome for a high stat kid would be (i) full pay at a top 20 school, (ii) half tuition award at a top 50 school, (iii) full tuition award at a top 100 school.
I agree with @northwesty. Even with the new scores, competitive merit is still insanely competitive. You absolutely cannot build an application strategy around it. You need to build the list around guaranteed merit first. That absolutely 100% means schools she is willing to attend and where she knows 100% before merit announcements that she can afford to attend. Then, and only then, build a list of competitive merit scholarship schools that she really wants to focus on. She needs to spend time creating strong applications for those schools and then you wait and hope for the best. Competitive merit can be unpredictable. For example, during this admission’s cycle, there was a poster whose ds was accepted to Stanford but was not selected for a competitive merit scholarship at USCarolina. Do not underestimate just how competitive some merit scholarships are. Apply, but be wary of being overly confident of receiving one, and then if she does, that is when it is time to celebrate.
@northwesty : Not true about Fordham. NMSF must also have an A or A- average and “be in the top 2-3%” of admitted students. Check the website. This kid MAY be eligible for that, but in no way automatic.
Fordham is “automatic” in the sense that you can get a full tuition scholarship awarded just as part of the normal application process. That’s not that common.
At most schools, an award that high is going to require a separate application and competition. Which was my point.
If the US Naval Academy seems a bit of a cultural reach, maybe still think about the US Coast Guard Academy. While still a service academy, its mission is largely non-military and it’s a far smaller community than the other SAs and has a reputation where everyone knows each other. The list of majors is quite short, but they do include one for Environmental Sciences since that’s one of the primary missions of the CG. Also, guaranteed job for five years!
