Another question, maybe @mtrosemom you have some input. You mentioned “half-tuition scholarships” at several LACs. Are these always “advertised” as automatic based on stats, or competitive? Or did you receive some “surprise” offers? I feel like there are some offers that are out there, but random. Maybe I’m completely wrong about this. Anyone with kids that previously got more generous merit offers than expected?
@2muchquan, all of her half tuition scholarship offers were automatic based on merit. She applied for some other at these schools and her counselor told her that she was in the running for some other that the school picks. However, because she was offered the Johnson scholarship in mid march and had to tell them she accepted almost immediately, we didn’t get more potential dollars offered because she declined all of the other spots early on. We did note that schools away from where we live tended to offer more money that schools nearby. I think it is because she offered them more geographic diversity. Note that we are from the west but not California. Californians are a “dime a dozen” as far as schools are concerned. Smaller population western states (Montana, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, etc) don’t send their kids very far so are more coveted by schools for representation.
@CA1543 - Your son sounds like a strong candidate at Olin. He sounds exactly like the kids who gravitate to the school based on his “maker” passion and desire for collaborative engineering education. Olin is very tiny, about 350 students total, and class sizes are small, most about 20 students. The students start their project based engineering program from day 1, and they will have managed pretty sizable projects by the time they graduate.
Thank you @NoVADad99 – I think we should definitely go see Olin. I understand if they are interested in students they invite a group to come and do something together and see how they meld as Olin really wants to build a strong, cohesive class. Would be a very helpful process to see if its a good match. thanks again!
^^ You should definitely contact them and express interest in a tour. That was my son’s intro to Olin. After than, you son can request an overnight visit and stay with a student in the dorm. I’m not sure if it helps, but I believe that Olin definitely wants those who have initiated contact and expressed interest and passion. The Candidates Weekend (every Feb) will invite applicants to spend a weekend on campus for group activities and interviews. The determination of who is accepted are from those who are invited to CW.
You described our family perfectly, 2muchquan. Many schools will give 20 to 25K in merit aid. There is a thread on the main Parents Forum called “Schools with good Merit Aid”. Check it out. We found that with a $55K to 60K price tag, 20K merit, plus 5K loans, plus working in the summer and during the school year, we’ve been able to stay in that price range. Tulane, URochester, UMiami and a bunch of other schools do give that level of merit aid. Good luck!
S17 is considering OU as well as Bama. I think OU will win if he gets NM, closer to home and they have Aerospace Engineering, but Bama or UAH has a better deal if he misses the NM cutoff. First choice is an Academy though.
Yay @/VANURSEPRAC I too have a DD21 (only child) and I’m pretty embarrassed to say I’ve been lurking for way too many years. She’s my only one and zero nieces/nephews so I’m pretty much a newbe at this so wanting to get an early start. Had way too many friends kids wait too late to decide on which sort of college they wanted to attend and when they did… Was not prepared. Even our UC’s have become competitive. And that’s not just UCB & UCLA.
Geogirl1,
You mentioned Miami as a good merit school. We attended a presentation, and with a bit of probing they reluctantly
admitted that they front load merit to first year students. They do not guarantee the same merit money in all four years to the majority of merit offers. Tulane offers all four years with GPA minimum. That is easier to rely upon. Just suggesting that as we all go forward, keep that question in mind…
Merit awards are for all four years as long as you keep your GPA to their acceptable level. That is what makes merit aid so valuable for middle class families. Financial aid varies from year to year. Based on our experience, UM did not front load FA. In fact, we had increases year 3 and year 4. Of course, these had more to do with having a second child in college than UMs generosity.
My D’s school is still waiting for PSAT scores. I called the CB last week and the Rep said my D had a score associated with her account but she needed the access code to load it. She assured me the email with the access code would arrive by 5:00 PM on Saturday, which it didn’t. The GCs are saying they did not receive the access codes or scores either.
Historically our school has ~1% of the senior class get NMSF, so it is about average. We got a new principal last year and one of his initiatives is to produce more NMF as he feels the school is under represented based on demographics. The school pays for all sophomores to take the PSAT for use in class placement so 40 of the top sophomore PSAT test takers we invited to participate in a PSAT study group. The school supplied a copy of the new SAT Study Guide, ran a boot camp over summer, brought an SAT tutoring company to run Saturday study sessions and generally provided extra support and encouragement.
All that is great, but as a byproduct these kids are hyper focused on their PSAT results. Along with all the anxiety they are creating, they have launched their own theory: They are hoping that the number of high scorers have gone from 6 last year to over 30. Because of this anomaly the CB suspects wide spread cheating and will re-test the entire school. The students will then re-test even higher and be vindicated, just like in the movie Stand and Deliver.
I think there are going to be a lot of disappointed kids in the coming weeks.
My daughter’s PSAT score is 210 so I do not think she will qualify for NMS since last year North Carolina had a 215 minimum. Unfortunately I could not convince her to prepare for the PSAT which is so frustrating because with some preparation she could have been commended. She will apply to art schools, and we only seen MICA so far. She loved it, but hopefully we will be able to visit a few more.
Hi
I have been a lurker for awhile and I thought I would finally get in on the conversation. DS16 from PA. Currently wants to do premed. 1410(210SI) on PSAT and a 2130 on old SAT. Looking at Penn and Pitt. He wants to stay 6 hours from home (Philly). Any suggestions? We went to Juniata but that was too small for him. I want him to look at temple since he would qualify for automatic tuition scholarship but he thinks it is not a good enough school. Any other suggestions?
We are impatient for scores here as well but for another reason. DS was invited to take the new SAT as a field test in early Dec. We won’t get those results till May with all the other March and May testers. Did anyone else here take that test?
@EGHopeful …lots of us here with an only child! Welcome! Agreed that lots don’t start the process until it’s too late. I look forward to learning more here with all of you 
@robincorn - Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell and Franklin and Marshall are all highly regarded schools that meet your son’s stats and criteria. Good luck!
Do all the new parents know about the common data set? Google “University of XYZ Common Data Set” Section C9 of the Common Data Set is very helpful in determining if a school is a safety, a match, or a reach.
Safety = your SAT scores are above the 75% of first time, first-year (freshman) students with scores in that range for that school.
Match = your SAT scores are within the 25% to 75% range of first time, first-year (freshman) students with scores in the range. The higher your scores fall within this range, the higher your chances are for admittance.
Reach = your SAT scores are near or below the 25% range of first time, first-year (freshman) students with scores in that range.
Merit Aid is more likely when your SAT/ACT scores are at or above the top 75% of students in the school. Look at the COMMON DATA SET section C9 of the specific school you are investigating to determine where you fit within their student body. Of course, with the new SAT, I am not sure how this will change.
I am going to add that Reach also = school who’s acceptance rate is 10% or less regardless of your stats.
Don’t forget:
Financial Safety - can comfortably afford full-pay, or when merit is guaranteed based on stats
Financial Match - can afford full pay, or when merit is guaranteed based on stats.
Financial Reach - It’s gonna hurt bad, or merit is competitive and required to attend
(tweak for your own situation)
@CaucAsianDad , very curious to see how many more NMF the school produces over previous years.
I am interested in seeing my D’s improvement. She is a hard worker, but she has become a little burn-out with all the standardized testing. She barely glanced at the PSAT test booklet before last year’s test. Once she saw the principal was interested in her PSAT performance and her teachers are offering support it has become “important” to her. I don’t think the boot camp or study session were that big of help (after all the kid’s did well as sophomores with no study, they probably didn’t need the test taking strategies ) but she was motivated to actually open her SAT review book, create a study plan on Khan Academy and start following a PSAT/SAT study blog.
Too often public schools focus on the bottom 20% that are at the most risk to the point the other 80% are basically on their own. It is refreshing that some time and attention is being directed to the high achievers.
@CaucAsianDad Its crazy how different schools emphasize or emphasize the PSATs. In my high school, all sophomores take it with the school paying but as a junior you have to pay. Only about 30 kids in the JR class of 300 took it and most of them were the high achieving kids. We are an average high school. I wish my kids were able to take some of the classes and do some of the things the better high schools have.