@eandesmom , I know you said not religious…but I’m still going to throw Saint Michael’s out there for you. 2000 students, just a few mins outside Burlington VT with free transportation. I’m sure he’d get in there, it’s not super selective, and they do give good merit money…a friend of mine’s son gets 29K in merit/year and he was a good student but not a superstar. It is a Catholic school, but apparently only 50% of the kids are Catholic and a smaller percentage are observant. My friend’s son isn’t Catholic and it is not a big deal at all. Only real effect it has is that you have to take a religion course or two. Worth looking at it if you haven’t.
@kt1969 and @eandesmom I figured that Big MAC meant Big Merit Award Chase.
If the internet info is correct, S17 is national merit semifinalist (!), so will be looking to see what schools offer Big MAC $ for NMSF–but with no minimum GPA requirement.
@kt1969, unfortunately that is a deal killer. S will not consider anything that requires a theology or religious class no matter how loose it is. There are some amazing options out there, we would all like him to consider Gonzaga in particular or University of Portland and he flat out will not. In general though the east coast one are pricier so Gonzaga has 3 strikes. BIg sports school, not far enough away and it’s Jesuit. LOL! It’s funny about Vermont, we’ve looked at several schools there and he’s decided that UVM is really the only school that interests him. I think something about Vermont being so remote in his mind (compared to say Philly or Baltimore) makes him leery of LAC’s or smaller schools there.
@Hankster1361 DOH! Award. That makes sense.
@twoinanddone I am sure he will be challenged enough at any of those on the list. My fear really is around the LAC’s. The ones on the list so far aren’t as strong in his area of interest as the 2 universities are. It may not matter at the end of the day but it might. I’d love to have an LAC on there that really was, but met all his criteria. Allegheny comes closest but it hasn’t grabbed him as much as the others for whatever reason. There are a ton of them that would fall into the “reach” category but they just aren’t affordable. Still, he’s not done yet so we will see.
The distance thing has nothing to do with getting to the airport, sorry. He wants to be able to “go into the city” if he is at a smaller school, on his own. So from Goucher he can get to Baltimore, Philly from Ursinus, Tacoma and Seattle from UPS. The other 2 are right in the cities so less of an issue. The primary appeal of Temple is being right in the city. Of course there are lots of schools that meet that requirement elsewhere, they either aren’t affordable, are beyond his stats or are in cities he won’t consider or are religious lol.
He of course really doesn’t know enough about some of these cities to “know” that he would even like them and does realize he won’t be spending much time at all but wants to know he has the option for a weekend day once a quarter or whatever, should he want to, be able to, etc. Some of the LAC’s are 45-5 hours from anything with zero public transportation options…those scare him a bit in tiny towns but he does love that feel of a school.
@eandesmom Small LACs sometimes run trips to the big city. Can’t remember if it was Oberlin or Kenyon from our summer visit, but one of them organizes weekend bus trips into Chicago and even NY from time to time, and I’ve heard that this happens at other places. Could be an option he might want to investigate further.
That said, my D also favors places with decent public transportation!
@mamaedefamilia very true! Ursinus has a semester in Philly program with Drexel that looks great and might be enough “urban” to meet his needs. Of course Goucher requiring a semester abroad doesn’t hurt either lol.
Oberlin looks lovely, I wouldn’t have minded being able to consider it but it’s just not doable (and a reach lol).
@Hankster1361 congrats on NMSF!!! It can only help in admissions I would think even if not officially for merit with the GPA factored in but I’d check as they don’t always seem to be tied together at all.
@Hankster1361 we are in similar situation…my son has 226 on his PSAT in CA so looks like he will be a NMSF however his GPA is compromised so would appreciate if we could exchange info/list of colleges that do not have a minimum GPA requirement for any merit aid…thx in advance!
@Hankster1361 Great news on NM Semi-Finalist. I assume because of grades S won’t be trying for Finalist?
I’m really no help on the Big MAC search. IF S17 had made NM semi -finalist (he did make commended) it wouldn’t have helped him much.
@Hankster1361, our S16 was in the same situation. He was ready to take the offer from Ole Miss, but my in laws offered to pay the difference for him to go to Temple. Alabama uses UW GPA from what I understand, so that may be an option for your kid.
Thanks all (for S) re NMSF. @curiositycat333 I think I am going to try to get S17 to go ahead and try for finalist, even though it is very, very unlikely. I am told there is not a hard GPA (or grade distribution) cutoff, so if others don’t follow-through doing the paperwork, essay, etc., and IF his school strongly supports his application through a letter of recommendation, he has a very, very slim chance. But there are many more merit opportunities for full finalists–and those often are not tied to GPA. Ultimately though we may be so close, but still so far away.
@mstomper–S’s school doesn’t weight GPA at all, so there’s that too.
@StressedinCA–that’s a great score! The best information on NM scholarships I’ve found so far is from CC peeps referencing the Yolasite. Have you seen that? But I haven’t found much more that helps. Seems like everyone assumes that if a kid makes NMSF, it’s almost automatic that they’ll be NMF. What type of school is your son looking for? My S17 is interested in engineering, and hasn’t ruled out much except for 3-2 programs and LACs.
@Hankster1361 that doesn’t seem a safe assumption to me. I know our school had 2 semifinalists and did our main rival, so 4 for the school district. I don’t recall any making finalist.
After being on and off and on and off – our trip to WA is a go – airline tickets, rental car, hotels all booked and visits reserved with Gonzaga and WWU. The prices even changed in my favor so that we’re able to fly into Spokane and out of Seattle. D is thrilled. This is definitely our last trip pre-admission. And of course it’s unknown right now if any post-admission trips will be necessary.
@Hankster1361 and @StressedinCA, congrats on the NMSF (or possibility)! I still have no idea what most of the national merit stuff even does, except that it can mean money – always a good thing. I guess I’ll make S18 prep hard for the PSAT.
@eandesmom, yep, I noticed I was “Smoozn.” Makes me think of “schmoozing!” I’m looking forward to hearing how your OSU trip goes, as we won’t be visiting there.
@eandesmom --I didn’t make myself clear. I don’t think it is almost certain that S17 will make finalist (though there is a very slim chance). What I was trying to say is that people say “of course he will, unless he was suspended, expelled, etc.” People seem to assume (perhaps reasonably, but not true here) that GPA follows test scores. Apparently ~16,000 make NMSF, and of those ~15,000 make finalist.
@snoozn – great about your WA trip! Will be very interested in hearing what you think about Gonzaga. That’s one I want my son to consider, but we haven’t had a chance to visit.
@Hankster1361 so I take it back. At least 2 out of the 4 made finalist. I’ve no clue on the other two as it wasn’t publicized. They are good at announcing NMSF nit not finalist lol,
@snoozn yay for trip plans! And very glad you could skip driving over the pass twice! I will look forward to your report.
@endesmom Hope your trip to OSU goes well. S17 & I really like it. Although he liked UofO’s campus better but it doesn’t have Engineering. We did the whole Engineering tour and were suitable impressed. The campus is not quite as pretty but the town is a lot nicer than Eugene. We visited on a very pretty, very sunny spring day, stayed in a hotel right on the river and I watched the rowers out early in the AM.
@curiositycat333 thanks, I suspect it will be too large for him but he really does need to see it to turn it down, there are too many solid programs to just dismiss it. I also want to make sure he has PNW backups if he changes his mind. He does have 2 now and that may be enough but they are wildly different schools.
Pretty and good college town is good, we have lots of friends that have gone there and loved it.
Have a daughter that loved OSU and CSU, chose CSU for a variety of reasons. Only a few weeks into her freshman year, and it’s everything she thought and more (and she had high expectations). Overall, it was the “personality” of the school that won her (and me) over - just a “right” fit for her, and she’s excited about her classes and Prof.
@eandesmom sorry if I missed this (haven’t read through all the earlier posts) did you guys check out Westminster College in Salt Lake City? Solid LAC, not religious, outdoorsy, even has an honors program if that appeals, and in a great location. Perhaps not enough rain, though 
@cycleride, your username goes with your D’s love of CSU! My D prefers it to CU-Boulder, but for her it is still too big and probably too close to home. I’m guessing your D may have a preference for big U’s given that she came down to CSU and OSU. Would you say the two schools were pretty similar with CSU just having a bit more of a sparkling personality? If you are up for giving any more details, I’d love to hear them. It’s great to hear that things are working out so well for your D and even exceeding high expectations!