Need Suggestions for New Match/Reach Schools for Avg. Excellent Kid

College Search & Selection
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I won’t bore you with the "whys’ and “hows”, but our EFC is about 10k higher than what I expected, now that all is said and done. So we’ve ditched our previous list of reaches which were primarily no loan schools that meet full need because the EFC is just too high,

So now we’re looking for excellent “second tier” schools with strong STEM and econ programs that potentially offer, at a minimum, full tuition scholarships along with outstanding support, internships, small classes, etc.

In terms of stats, my daughter is in a rigorous IB program, 4,0 UW, 4.78 unweighted, 1550 SAT one sitting. School doesn’t rank, but she’s 3rd in our county of ~5k. Normal ECS - varsity/club swimming, team captain, interesting employment, typical volunteer work, etc. but nothing on the national level. Her rec letters and essays should be in line with her stats.

She has several safety/match schools picked out (UF, USF, maybe UTD) and should receive a full-ride thanks to National Merit. However, she is not particularly excited about any of those options - she’s really hoping to attend a small to mid-size school in the mid-Atlantic or NE region. (Hates hot weather.) She’s not sure about her major, but is interested in STEM fields (likely not engineering) and economics/finance. She also plans to go to grad or possibly law school and wants a college with a strong track record of placing students in top grad programs/schools.

Any suggestions about where she’d have a reasonable shot for a scholarship that covers at least tuition? Competitive is okay, but not an uber-competitive, Hail Mary long-shot. In an ideal world, I think she’d thrive at a school with a bit of a pre-prof vibe - she is very pragmatic and analytical, but doesn’t care for esoteric discussions, literary analysis, etc. Also, she likes the more open curriculums…and North Carolina is a plus as our family is moving there next summer. But she totally gets you can’t have it all…I just would love her to have an option or two that she’s truly excited about. Thanks for your help!

2

The University of Richmond offers up to 45 full-tuition merit scholarships annually. They’d be highly competitive, but seemingly feasible, for your daughter. Academically, UR is strong in economics, business and core natural sciences.

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Washington & Lee has a full ride scholarship, the Johnson, that goes to a fair number of students every year – 10% of their student body!

Furman is in the South but Greenville is a really cool, hip small city and they give a lot of merit, including full tuition. Known for sciences. Well endowed school.

Agree re: Richmond.

Wake Forest has some full tuition scholarships but I don’t know how many. Worth investigating.

Bucknell?

Make sure she shows a lot of interest beyond applying (if there’s a process) for the scholarship.

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Bucknell, Lehigh, and Lafayette come to mind. Maybe Delaware, JMU or some NC schools like App State, UNC Asheville Or East Carolina? Smaller schools like Wooster or W&J.

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WPI? RPI? I think RPI can be very generous. And Union would be good for STEM/economics. I know some people who have received a lot of aid there.

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What about Northeastern if you’re considering slightly more preprofessional atmosphere? Merit is still offered there - maybe up to 30K??? Not sure about present limits. Drexel, while not as competitive, is similarly structured and also offers merit. If open to Jesuit schools, maybe look at Fordham? (generous merit for NMF) I also thought about Richmond, Lehigh, and Lafayette.

Not sure about your price point - for many small to medium privates, the top merit award will get you to about 40-45K. If that’s too much, public flagships with honors program that give merit for stats like U Vermont might be worth considering. Nice college town, the weather would be to her liking. U Maine charges your student’s in-state flagship tuition rate, if admitted.

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What state are you from?

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Dickinson. Clark. Muhlenberg. Connecticut College.
WPI? Marist? Wooster?
Fordham (for economics, not sure for science)

Run the NPC just in case a few of your original reaches offer better net prices than expected…(not likely but do it just to have no regrets)

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Checkout WPI @ https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/wpi-plan. The program is somewhat non-traditional and the cited introduction may help. They are at about 45% women on recent classes and but are still reaching for a 50% ratio. The class average GPA’s are 3.9 (unweighted) with a rich variety of STEM as well as interdisciplinary programs with widely varied project options…

Very similar selectivity level and majors are found at RPI. Both Northeastern and RPI are co-op.

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@1stTimeThruMom , we’re in Florida but our family is moving to NC right after daughter graduates. Her match/safety schools are UF, FSU, and UCF - so we have great academic/financial safety options. While she hasn’t visited FSU yet, she doesn’t feel that UCF or UF are great fits.

She has been talking about moving OOS since 7th grade when I said she’d have to get a scholarship; sigh, I should have researched more back then. She’s also not thrilled about Texas or Alabama, but I’m encouraging her to keep an open mind since UA and UTD have generous scholarships for NMF.

Thanks for the suggestions. Most schools do not seem to offer enough merit aid to make them financially feasible, since we need our costs to be around 12 to 17k a year - in most cases, the scholarship would need to at least cover tuition. We’re still considering some private institutions, hoping they might work with us since my 2019 income is substantially lower than 2018.

Fordham, UR, W and L, NC State and App State are possibilities that could work IF she were to get a scholarship. Some of the Ivies are affordable but I guess it’s all a bit of a crapshoot at this point. Hard to know the odds though…

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Would she consider SMU? They have a number of large scholarships and also have an IB scholarship that can be added to other merit. Vanderbilt has a number of full tuition scholarships that are very competitive. As mentioned above, U. Richmond seems like a good fit for your daughter and gives many full tuition scholarships. However, like the ones at Vandy, they are super competitive and should be considered a big reach. I know she wants to get out of Florida, but Miami seems to have some good merit scholarships.

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Miami of Ohio would is another suggestion. She’s get half to full tuition based on this chart: https://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-guarantee/

They also freeze tuition for the 4-years.

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Something to consider is that some of her reaches will meet the EFC without any loans including student loans. If she does take student loans that meets your gap at least half way. Also, the approximately 9k of board, books and personal expenses can be less expensive depending on her habits and living arrangement. Our children pay these expenses themselves out of their summer internship $$.

Just be aware when you compare that most schools include loans in the financial package, a few selective schools do not. The devil is in the details.

Also, picking a reach and applying ED allows you to review the package and you can decline. ED is generally how average excellent non-athlete, non-legacy students get accepted after they really explain fit in their essay.

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@TrendaLeigh

A lots of good ideas and discussion in the below thread. Parents hunting for a full tuition merit schollie for a high stat kid wanting to do STEM.

On the more selective end, I’d suggest taking a shot at Vandy, Tulane or Richmond. But you really need to focus at a lower level of selectivity if full tuition merit is a gotta have vs. a nice to have.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2154331-looking-for-advice-in-merit-aid-for-a-top-1-student.html

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UMaine would be a NE area safety. Their National Merit Award covers 100% of tuition and fees.

https://go.umaine.edu/apply/scholarships/nebhe-firstyear/#MeritAward

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Lafayette has increased their merit awards. Lafayette is small, but lovely.

“The College is increasing the size of merit-based awards, transforming the Marquis Fellowship into a full-tuition award ($54,500) and the Marquis Scholarship into a half-tuition award ($27,250). It expects to enroll 10 students as Fellows and another 50 as Scholars among the first-year students arriving this fall.”

USC and Vanderbilt offer full tuition scholarships that do not consider financial need. They are selective but I believe 100 are awarded at each school annually.

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@TrendaLeigh If you move to NC after high school how long will instate eligibility for NC schools take? Are the many NC options of interest? Your daughter has excellent stats. I agree with Richmond, Vandy suggestions.

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Try Denison University. Unless things have changed a lot they have quite a few full tuition scholarships.

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University of Kentucky is located west of the Appalachian Mountains but is in the northeastern part of the country and would offer full tuition thanks to National Merit status (Patterson scholarship).

https://www.uky.edu/financialaid/scholarship-incoming-freshmen

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Great suggestions - more to research! :slight_smile: The tricky part is trying to figure out which ones she has the best shot for. I would imagine UR would be a bit more realistic (although still a serious reach) than Vandy, for instance. Any Vegas odds-makers available?

@3sonsmom, she would be eligible for in-state within a year, but we are actually hoping to establish residence there in November, so perhaps by second semester of her freshman year. She’s interested in a number of NC schools, although she hasn’t visited any yet. As a family, we would love her to be closer to our (new) home - she has a twin brother, nephew, and niece that she’d love to see on a regular basis.

@northwesty, thank you pointing me to the thread, Merit Aid for 1% Student. Very on point with so much sage wisdom, particularly the advice to limit applications so she’s at her best, rather than burned out from the whole process.

She and I plan to sit down this weekend and really talk through her priorities. Unless it’s truly one of her dream schools OR she has a reasonable shot at a full scholarship, she’ll likely pass on those that have demanding selection requirements (multiple essays, visits, etc.) I’m also making an appointment with the IB GC - we clearly need help!