<p>We did not know the whole financial package before D decided to attend. It exceeded our expectations by a lot. There are numerous Merit scholarships (with names attached, in memory of…) that nobody is aware of. D. did not apply to any of them. They were automatically awarded by school based on her stats. It is impossible to fully estimate, except that we heard from others that school rewards high caliber students very well, nothing official though.</p>
<p>Someone has probably already mentioned this, but many of the merit scholarships have deadlines, as early as Dec 1. Research and find out if you need to specifically apply to particular scholarships, or if everyone automatically gets considered and if you need to apply by a certain date. </p>
<p>Here is some info on a couple of scholarships
[FAQ:</a> Scholarships | University of Miami](<a href=“http://www.miami.edu/index.php/ug/scholarships/faq_scholarships/]FAQ:”>http://www.miami.edu/index.php/ug/scholarships/faq_scholarships/)
[The</a> Gateway Award Program: Ohio University Admissions](<a href=“http://www.ohio.edu/admissions/gateway/]The”>http://www.ohio.edu/admissions/gateway/)</p>
<p>good luck. I wish my S and BIL would look at finances. They fairly bright S is also graduating in the spring and they are absolutely clueless and leavig all the college stuff to S. They do not even know what their EFC is.</p>
<p>Marist sounds like a good choice. Further afield Elon in NC is a popular option that gives some merit aid.</p>
<p>Check this out
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/63770-best-schools-give-most-merit-based-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/63770-best-schools-give-most-merit-based-aid.html</a></p>
<p>And, no matter what make sure your S loves his financial safety. My neice got a full ride at a school she refused to attend. Her unemployed parents and herself are now taking out loans to the tune of 15K + a year. How crazy is that?</p>
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<p>^^^^ Very good tip. Also, just because a scholarship is “automatically” awarded to all students who qualify doesn’t necessarily mean that a scholarship app isn’t needed. Some schools don’t require a sep app, but some do. So, read the fine print.</p>
<p>:)</p>
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<p>Are they just assuming that their “fairly bright” kid will get some big award? In such cases, all you can do is try to educate both the parents and the student and hope that someone is listening. Mention (by name) schools that don’t give merit scholarships. This wakes up a lot of “sleepy parents.” Mention such things as particular test scores that are needed for certain scholarships at various schools (that also usually gets people’s attention.) Many parents just assume that all schools give merit money, and that a high GPA alone will get money; many parents don’t realize that a high ACT/SAT is also needed. If they’re expecting F/A, casually mention that people with XXX incomes typically have a YY EFC.</p>
<p>Unless you S & BIL can pay “full freight,” they’ll likely be shocked and disappointed come Spring.</p>
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<p>Very True…but I believe everyone should apply to 2 or 3 financial safeties (that you like) so that if your better schools don’t work out financially, you still have some choices in the spring. Plus, if you only choose one safety in the fall, you may no longer like it in the spring.</p>
<p>As for the spoiled niece. Well, her parents are also to blame for participating in this loan process. The situation is crazy and regrettable.</p>
<p>Here is what I knew going into the process for my son (an '09 grad):</p>
<ol>
<li> We would not qualify for need based aid.</li>
<li> With Son’s issues, he needed a small (under 5000 student) school.</li>
<li> There are no state options in our state of that size.</li>
<li> We could not afford to pay full price at a private school.</li>
</ol>
<p>He applied at only those schools where his stats put him above the top 25% of applicants. A couple of schools stacked scholarships, a couple of others offered small music performance or religious denomination scholarships. Total merit offers ranged from $8000 per year to $20,500 per year.</p>
<p>The University of Dayton is a very nice Catholic University (Marianist) with a generous merit scholarship program. There is a wonderful sense of community on the campus.</p>
<p>One more tip,
Even if you do not qualify for Need based (like us), please, fill out FASFA. At D’s school, they specifically stress FASFA to maximize your MERIT scholarship package. We are doing it every year. And, again, substantial ADDITIONAL (non-departmental) scholarships might be available starting with sophomer year for kids with high COLLEGE GPA. At D’s college, they need to apply to them, most kids do not do it thinking that they have no chance. At D’s school College GPA cut off for Returning Student scholarships is GPA=3.8. Research each school if $$ is important factor.</p>
<p>Unless you want to get a lot of loans, you have to be pragmatic. Let’s say the target school costs $45,000 per year and you look on the website and the highest merit scholarship they offer is $15,000 per year. Assuming your child could qualify for that, could you/would you come up with $30,000 a year? If the answer is a firm “no” then the school really needs to come off the list (unless you really think you could get need based aid.)</p>
<p>This conversation needs to be held with a student early in the process. It’s difficult to read the “admit/deny” threads in the spring, where the student is admitted to his dream school, no aid of any kind (or grossly insufficient aid) is offered, and the parents can’t pay.</p>
<p>Also, for each of us identifying schools that offer “generous” merit aid, do the research yourself to figure out what that means. I’d heard offers of $8000 a year described as “generous” but for a school that costs $45,000 a year, having to come up with $37,000 a year doesn’t fit the bill.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>UDayton is a very nice school…</p>
<p>here is a link to their merit offerings… [url=<a href=“http://www.udayton.edu/admission/affordability.php]Affordability[/url”>Undergraduate : University of Dayton, Ohio]Affordability[/url</a>]</p>
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<p>If his October scores see a good increase, he might qualify for one of the better scholarships. However right now (with his 1280 m+cr) he’d only get about $9k per year…not much when the COA is over $40k.</p>
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<p>That’s another good tip for those looking for merit aid - start testing early, to get an idea of the ballpark you’re in. If you know your student is in the 1200 neighborhood and the large scholarships at the school of choice only go to someone in the 1400+ neighborhood, you know it’s quite an uphill climb to get there.</p>
<p>I also know few girls from Catholic HS who went to UDayton and very happy with school. However, UDayton is not known for awesome Merit $$. One of girls was on soccer scholarship and had to work very hard for her athletic $$.</p>
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<p>There are such large differences in merit aid offers among what seem to be very similar schools - one might offer $5000 and another $12,000.</p>
<p>Also, this is my personal theory: Schools who give free rides or nearly free rides to NMSF are less generous to other students. That was our personal experience and it makes sense - the funds are not unlimited and the schools who spend large amounts of money to attract NMSFs don’t have as much to give to other students.</p>
<p>Sorry if someone else has already mentioned this, but I’d have him try the ACT. My son’s percentile was a good bit higher than his SAT was and many schools will look at the higher submission for merit.</p>
<p>“Schools who give free rides or nearly free rides to NMSF are less generous to other students.” - it could be true, D is not NMSF, and apparently her school does not care. I believe what made a diff in D’s case is that her rank #1 and that fact that her college historically accepted a lot of kids from her HS.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>It’s hard to find “free rides” for non NMF. (“Free Ride” = tuition, r&b, and books scholarship) </p>
<p>However, “free tuition” & “half tuition” scholarships are more available to non NMF with high stats. Sometimes “free tuition” occurs by stacking or by one single scholarship.</p>
<p>I agree with Missy that schools that offer “free rides” to NMF, don’t usually offer “free rides” to many nonNMFs. BUT, some of these schools do offer “free tuition” or “half tuition” scholarships to nonNMFs.</p>
<p>That said, a “full tuition” or “half tuition” scholarship to a pricey school may still leave someone with a gap of $20k-35k per year…if the COA is $50k+ per year.</p>
<p>Canisius in Buffalo might be a nice Jesuit choice. They have scholarship and financial aid calculators on their website. Your S’s stats put him in the top 25% and he should be eligible for the Trustee’s scholarship of $17K/year. The number of scholarships offered is unlimited, if you are eligible you get it.</p>
<p>[Canisius</a> College - Financial Aid & Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.canisius.edu/admissions/financialaid.asp]Canisius”>http://www.canisius.edu/admissions/financialaid.asp)</p>
<p>If you let us know how much merit aid you’re looking for, we might be able to offer better suggestions. We all come from a different frame of reference. If you’re looking to pay little to no part of the costs, then you may have to alter your search criteria and drop the Jesuit component. Also consider the contribution your S can make through summer jobs, work study and a small reasonable amount of student loans. Nobody wants to see kids overburdened with high amounts of student loans, but a small amount of debt upon graduation is not unreasonable. There are also outside scholarships often offered through local organizations. Every little bit helps. Just be sure you have the financial discussion with your S now so everyone is on the same page. </p>
<p>As far as Catholic options, I still feel UDayton offers more opportunities for merit aid for someone with your S’s stats than many of the other Catholic Us, and will have a lower bottom line than the other Catholic schools on your S’s list. It’s at least worth a look. The key is to do your research and be open to other options. Good luck.</p>
<p>Another school that gave D huge financial Merit package was Case Western. It is also known for that. D. did not choose Case for another reason, but we would be paying there $5,000 in tuition out of $33,000 if she decided to attend. Case is very good for pre-meds and engineers, very challenging, I do not know about other majors.</p>
<p>Miami…Do you remember what your D’s stats were? I’m guessing that they were quite high since she was Val of her class.</p>
<p>What happened to the OP??</p>