<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>
<h1>1- There is a big thread on this forum about schools with good merit aid, it is “pinned” near the top of the topics. Wade through that…</h1>
<h1>2 - Use the College Navigator [College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics) or equivalent college search engine to search for colleges where her test scores (or projected scores) and grades put her in the top 25%. Include as many other factors as you can to help narrow it down, and use the results as a starting point. From there, you can investigate each one to see what % of students receive non-need based aid (merit) AND the average amount of merit awards. College Navigator lets you export your results to a spreadsheet :-)</h1>
<h1>3 - The giant college guides often have handy charts where they list top schools for merit aid. I know the big US News used to do it (I haven’t looked at any editions since 2009). Your local library may have a copy and you can just make photocopies of the relevant pages.</h1>
<h1>4 - Also, since merit aid can be so unpredictable, you need to cast a wide net. Beyond the obvious factors like grades and test scores, you can’t always predict what factors will get a school to wave $$$ at you. For example, if you are a strong student who lives in Nebraska some schools in the Northeast might try to entice you to attend so they can say they have students from all 50 states.</h1>
<p>mom2Jen: Elon University in NC is under $40,000 all in, even before you account for merit $$…the students in your daughter’s stats range were offered around $4,500 this year with their admissions; more $$ is available if a fellows award is offered (additional application necessary as well as interview weekend)</p>
<p>It is not as small as some of the others mentioned here (more like 5,000 UG), but operates educationally in a similar fashion…very small class size, engagement, core curriculum etc…</p>
<p>Please PM me if you have any questions…</p>
<p>University of Puget Sound (really an LAC) gives decent merit money for kids with stats like your dd’s. So do Willamette, Gonzaga, Knox and Beloit.</p>
<p>My daughter’s scores/grades were similar–720CR, 630M, 630W, grades 4.2 weighted.</p>
<p>She got $15K yr at Oberlin, Dickinson, and Denison, and $20K yr at Wooster and Juniata, which are all small LAC’s. She was in the top 25% at Wooster and Juniata.</p>
<p>This year, Juniata’s COA is $46K per year, Wooster’s is $50K. Oberlin, Dickinson, and Denison are all in the high 50s. So the total cost to attend Juniata would have been $26K compared to $43K for Denison–though they are both Colleges That Change Lives [Colleges</a> That Change Lives | Changing Lives, One Student at a Time](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/). A big difference.</p>
<p>I agree with the retest–it helped my daughter a bit.</p>
<p>Muhlenberg, Dickinson, University of Vermont, University of Rochester, SUNY Stony Brook, Macaulay Honors Program at Hunter College, Northeastern, other small LACs if your daughter fits a need (mine was minority girl), Boston University, Drexel (sometimes, can actually be better elsewhere), Wheaton</p>
<p>These are just a few I thought of from mine and my friends’ college searches.</p>
<p>S2 had similar stats. He was accepted at Drew, Wooster and Clark. COA was similar for each. Drew actually phoned and offered to negotiate better FA if S2 decided Drew was his first choice.
Ultimately, he attends Clark, Worcester, MA. Merit aid of $15,000-$18,000 for stats similar to OP’s dau. And tuition free fifth year for those who qualify. Also, Clark is known for neuroscience.</p>
<p>usernamelm, I knew your D was attending Oberlin with my S in August, but I never realized we shared such similar lists! </p>
<p>S has similar stats and got similar merit at all of those schools - Juniata, Wooster, Denison, Oberlin - except none from Dickinson. He also received $18,000 from Goucher.</p>
<p>He got none from Macalester and Kenyon.</p>
<p>OP, Ursinus, Muhlenberg, Lafayette and Bucknell may be good options, if they are good fits. Gettysburg maybe? Franklin and Marshall no longer offers merit. Clark is another option.</p>
<p>If you can afford $40K/year, I would do a search by cost on any of the search sites and then narrow it down from there. Most of the LAC in the midwest are going to come in around $40K/give or take a few thousand, and most give substantial merit aid bringing that cost down significantly. If she can score a 30+ on the ACT or prop up her SAT just a bit, she can pretty much count on the midwest LAC’s being about 1/2 of the list price for COA, give or take (so somewhere in the $20-25K range).</p>
<p>I will second U of MN-Morris, add Truman State in Missouri to your list as well. They are the state LAC’s for those states and are both excellent schools, somewhat remote locations but wonderful schools.</p>
<p>If she can stand a non-LAC and can raise her CR+M to above 1400, Pitt offers pretty generous merit aid to those who apply early and are from OOS. Plus they are really hard to beat for neuroscience and associated practical experience at the several hospitals on/near campus. Even though a city school, it does have a campusy feel.</p>
<p>Add Bucknell to the list - esp if scores come up a bit. Offered my S a very generous merit award. Wooster gave significant merit to a friend’s daughter with stats similar to OP’s.</p>