@twoinanddone I don’t mean to come off spoiled and I don’t claim to deserve an Ivy League education or anything like that. And I definitely don’t claim to be the only family going through this. College is largely unaffordable for many people and I understand that. It’s just a hard process, as I’m sure you experienced with your daughters, making dreams meet reality. It’s even more difficult for me because I was naive and unaware of how much finances would influence things. Thank you for sharing
@twoinanddone …sharing your wisdom though. I’m all the better for it.
@naijaboy <<<
Certainly apply to the “super aid” schools like H Y P S. Those four would give you a good bit of aid, if you were accepted. Vandy also seems to be giving extra generous aid these days.
Beyond those five…try WashU because you could be competitive for their merit…they seem to want to improve their diversity numbers.
Then target a few schools that have “likely” or “possible” large merit.
Then apply to a few safeties that FOR SURE will give you large merit.
It is all the more frustrating because the kids all talk about the dream schools; and it seems like you are the only one in your socio-economic pool who is feeling pinched-- pretty much all the way until you find out where your classmates are ACTUALLY going to school. Even up until May of Senior year, it seems like everyone else has it better than oneself. There are plenty of schools you can look at that will reward your NMF status (which is likely).
Auburn gives really good merit based scholarships. It might be more likely to receive if you are instate though. I think a 28 on your ACT will get you half-tuition and a 30 will get you a full ride.
I know how you feel about the lack of financial aid given to students of families that make more than 40K a year. Just because we are middle class doesn’t mean we can pay for college.
OP,
Some scholarships have no knowledge of your financial need. Go for those if you’re unsure of whether they’d hold a higher income against you.
And for sure go for at least a few of the ones at Vandy, UTD, Rice, USC, Auburn, Alabama, Pitt, and WUSTL. They don’t take income into consideration. Some are competitive; some are automatic. You’ll have to do some digging, but sounds like you’re motivated.
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Auburn gives really good merit based scholarships. It might be more likely to receive if you are instate though. I think a 28 on your ACT will get you half-tuition and a 30 will get you a full ride.
I know how you feel about the lack of financial aid given to students of families that make more than 40K a year. Just because we are middle class doesn’t mean we can pay for college.
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No. that is incorrect info about Auburn.
NO, you don’t get a full ride for an ACT 30, even if you’re instate. For an ACT 30, if you’re instate, I think you get free tuition, but I’d need to double check.
For an OOS student (this student doesn’t live in Alabama), the scholarships have been reduced in recent years. An ACT 30 hardly gets a student anything. Even the NMFs don’t get free tuition.
@mom2collegekids @megeliz789 I just recently spoke with a friend who will be attending Auburn this all and it’s true. There are no full rides. With an ACT of 30 and a GPA of 3.7 I believe you can get up to 16k a year off tuition (which would be out of state for me).
Key words…you “can get” these awards. I do not believe any of the auburn awards are guaranteed.
The Auburn awards are automatic, but the score required for $16,000/year OOS (a little over half tuition) is 33 ACT or 1440 SAT. A 30 ACT would only get you $6,000/year.
@BobWallace that 1440 SAT is just CR+M, correct?
Yes, most scholarships are just using CR+M
@NaijaBoy - with those PSAT scores, it is likely you will be a National Achievement Scholar, and a lot of schools will give you a lot of merit aid for that. One of those kids that got accepted at all the Ivy’s (an African American student from Memphis) realized that they would be unaffordable, especially if he went on to medical school. SO what did he do? He took a TOTAL free ride at Alabama as a presidential scholar. See http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/05/college_bound_student_turns_down_all_8_ivy_league_schools_for_univ_of_alabama.html