<p>My son is a sophomore now so we're just getting started here. It looks like he could get into a top 50 college. If he decides to step down in class to an easier college, are there any general rules about how much merit financial aid he might get? I know that these things are unpredictable when it it comes to specifics but sometimes the averages are a bit more stable from year to year.</p>
<p>At this stage in the game, your son's best chance at larger Merit aid come with the National Merit Semi-Finalist status. There are many schools that offer full tuition (some much more) if your child becomes a National Merit Finalist. The PSAT will be offered October of his Junior year. Scores will not be announced until spring of the same academic year. Each state has it's own cutoff score that will determine if he advances to the semi-finalist status. Have him take lots of sample tests under timed conditions. The more he is familiar with the test format, the better off he will be. </p>
<p>Good Luck to your son. </p>
<p>(DS accepted a full tuition+honors housing+$1000/yr+$2000 stipin for research or summer abroad+laptop at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL. He said no thanks to Emory, Davision, Chicago, GW, Carnegie, Case, Vandy and Texas A&M) College visits made a large impact on his final decision. If possible, check out some schools this summer before his Junior year. Senior year gets very busy very fast!</p>
<p>There are no general rules except that he'll get more merit aid at colleges that are trying to boost the numbers of students similar to him. For instance, liberal arts colleges typically have a hard time attracting males, so he would have an advantage at those.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Sounds like in your son's case he didn't have to step down too far in order to get a very good offer. That's great to hear.</p>
<p>It also sounds like the National Merit stuff is going to be very important. Fortunately he did great on his first PSAT and is doing the Question of the Day email religiously. But we'll have to learn some basics there also. Like what does finalist mean? What does semi-finalist mean?</p>
<p>Northstarmom that's good to know. Sounds like we have to do some shopping later.</p>
<p>There's lots of good info about National Merit here: National</a> Merit Scholarship Corporation - FAQ: Scholarships Awarded</p>
<p>You could also find several threads on National Merit in these forums. I started one with a title that began "Current Juniors..." that explains the scoring cutoffs as determined state by state.</p>
<p>Everything I know about merit aid I learned on these forums. It takes some time, but I recommend reading the threads on schools known for the best merit aid. </p>
<p>Beyond merit aid, there's also plenty of info about need based aid. Check out the Like Swallows to Capistrano thread (here or on parents forum, can't recall) for some pointers to get you started.</p>
<p>Check out schools like baylor.edu and whitworth.edu - each offers merit aid based on GPA/SAT/RAnk, not a contest, but to all who meet those standards. See how theirs work and then look for schools with similar programs where you are interested. A rolling admissions school with merit aid (like both of the ones I mentioned) is quite noce to have in your pocket in October, whether you attend or not, it takes the pressure off senior year.</p>
<p>Somemom makes a very good point. Many (most?) of the big merit awards are like a contest and it is a contest in which you know very little about the rules of the competition. Why? Because, big merit offers are NOT rewards for doing well in high school. Big merit offers are enrollment management tools to entice specific students to matriculate. Great grades, ECs and test scores get you noticed by the scholarship committee but, unless you are their very top (top 1 or 2 applicants in some cases?) of their applicant pool for grades and test scores and certain academic ECs, those things are not necessarily the tipping point reasons the scholarship is, or is not, awarded to you. Those tipping point reasons are probably fluid from year to year, depending on the school’s applicant pool, the school’s specific needs or agenda that year, and the school’s competitive position among its peers. Unless the school is very clear that their merit awards are strictly numbers driven, you cannot assume that you or your child is competitive for a big merit scholarship because his or her stats are similar to student’s who received the award in the past. You don’t know enough about that previous student’s application and what the school was looking for at that time and you don’t know enough about what they are looking for this time. </p>
<p>Should students still apply for these big merit awards? Of course, yes. Can you increase your chances by applying ‘down’, by applying outside your region, by having an unusual EC? The answer is yes again. Just be cautious. Assume the big merit offers will NOT come your way and plan accordingly. </p>
<p>Birdrock, I think you are wise to be looking ahead and thinking about these issues early in the process of college admissions. I am responding less to you and more to the general angst I’m hearing from students (and parents) when the ‘expected’ big merit scholarship is not awarded. I don’t think it is a feeling of entitlement, so much. I think in most cases it is just a case of false expectations.</p>
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If he decides to step down in class to an easier college, are there any general rules about how much merit financial aid he might get?
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<p>First - get rid of the "step down in class to an easier college" mindset.
There are plenty of very fine schools out there. In fact, some of them may be quite challenging for your son.
I am not sure how you know how he could get into a "top 50" college, has he taken the PSAT's? SAT's?</p>
<p>Now, that said - there are an awful lot of good schools that have have nice Merit scholarship programs. They all seem to use different criteria. Some use a gpa/sat matrix and others take into consideration the "whole student".
If ranking is important to you then look on the USNews college rankings - the regional ones for Master's and Bachelors - many of these schools are very good and offer some nice merit awards.
When searching schools, some will highlight their mertit awards on their "prospective" web pages and some you have to dig a little deeper to the financial aid section.
I highly suggest this "backwards" way - look at schools that offer good merit aid awards, get the info and visit. You and your child may be lucky and fall in love with a school you can afford.</p>
<p>OK, I think I'm getting a feel for it. Sounds like about 12 to 18 months from now, after we've narrowed it down to some group, it might be a good time to come back to this question here. </p>
<p>So, the August, 2009 thread might be: What's the best merit aid for a large state university? (or Northeastern LAC, etc.)</p>
<p>But any specific suggestions, no matter how accurate, would fly right by us right now. We haven't even considered big vs. small, challenging vs. easy, close to home vs. opposite coast, urban vs. rural, private vs. public, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for suggestions so far.</p>
<p>Read the merit aid info at the top of Parents' Forum, and read the scholarship info at the top of this board.</p>
<p>Bird, your biggest asset is time. There's a lot to learn, and I'd recommend you hang out on the forums daily if even for a few minutes. You will gain a valuable education that will help you and your son tackle some of the huge choices facing you both.</p>
<p>Thanks for the invite</p>
<p>I'm new here and I'm really impressed with the wealth of info on these forums!
Thanks for all the contributers!</p>
<p>My son, a junior HS made a 217 on his PSAT. I'm hoping that he will make the Texas NMSF cutoff score this year. However, we're planning on visiting some colleges in and outside Texas this summer. To be honest with you, I don't know what the important things are that need to be done before and during the visit to make it successful! I'd greatly appreciate all input on this issue! </p>
<p>Any recommendations on which colleges to visit? We're considering visiting Baylor and Texas A&M in Texas, U of Alabama, Al, Clemson U and U of SC in SC, UNC in Chapel Hill, NC, U of Oklahoma, OK!</p>
<p>Kishtyler, you may want to start a new thread in the College Search & Selection forum. You're more likely to get useful answers there than in a thread on an unrelated topic.</p>