Check out Ohio Wesleyan and Wooster both in Ohio. Florida International would be another good possibility.
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FL state schools will require test scores. University of Central FL has a pretty high SAT average and Merit is probably out of the question for this year. Some of the other FL state schools would need an SAT in the 1200âs to receive merit.
Not sure about the other states.
Yes, Florida schools require a test score for admission. I know others that require them to get any type of merit scholarship (Wyoming is one, and the merit aid is automatic with X gpa and Y test score).
I really like Hope College and we havenât heard about any financial aid yet, but with merit alone, it would still more expensive than any other college on her list. I cannot imagine sheâll get a bigger grant there than anywhere else to make it comparable. Right now itâs 40K with merit, while most others are between 28-30K so far. Itâs quite a difference.
St. Maryâs College of Maryland was also a bit of an outlier at 35K with merit.
Iâm thinking her list is minus those two. Sad because they seem like nice places
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We just got the merit letter from Hope as well. I was a little disappointed, only 13k a year, the lowest Presidential level. D23 applied to Hope Forward as well but didnât hear anything so I guess didnât make the cut?
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Texas A&M - Galveston has marine bio and marine archaeology. Really great programs (I know someone who went and got to dig up shipwrecks) and Galveston students are considered full students of Texas A&M (their diplomas and rings are for TAMU and they can get athletic passes, etc.) but I have no idea about merit/ OOS costs.
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Marine archaeology is what she wanted to get her masters in. I will definitely look at that! Thank you
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Congrats, your daughterâs âstatsâ sound very similar to mine. We have also been pleasantly surprised by acceptances with merit money. I was so scared having read about all the 4.0 with 10 AP classes posts on here!
oppsâŠthis didnt post to where i was replying. Congrats to all, excting times!
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I think D23 is at the same level and the award letter makes it sound like they think sheâs wonderful, but they arenât showing it. Lol.
I would like to ask you to keep your hope for Hope Forward because it hasnât been decided yet as far as I know, but those special scholarships are tough for anyone to get so maybe donât plan on getting it and if it happens you can be wonderfully surprised.
I canât remember what other colleges are on your list. I still donât feel a good sense of what the right school is for D23.
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I think youâre probably right about Hope Forward and likely also the Covenant scholarship that sheâs also applied for. I think it may drop Hope from her list though. Sheâs also been accepted to Baylor, Trinity University, Creighton, Southwestern, and Butler. Trinity was a big surprise and I think sheâll go there or maybe Butler if Hope doesnât come through with more money 
It sounds like youâve got some great options for D23, itâs so hard though isnât it? I have S25 coming right up too and heâs a totally different kid (4.0UW, great test scores) and I want to be sure we donât use all our savings on just the first kid!
ETA D23 is also waiting to hear from Elon and Furman but not too much hope for $ there
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Yes, Florida state schools require test scores. But from @Camschuckieâs post, it wasnât clear whether her D was going test optional because she hadnât taken a test, or didnât think the scores were necessarily going to be merit-worthy. But the schools I mentioned were because the out-of-state costs are pretty reasonable even if no merit aid was received.
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I understand this. I find myself already mulling over in my head how much we would be willing to pay extra for an amazing fit, if it should come down to that . . . This is considering she only applied to schools where she had the potential to fit within a max budget, etc. For example: is $5k per year a big enough deal or not? For our family it may or may not be. Iâm trying to think this through now so when all the offers come in our/her decision isnât clouded with too much drama. Haha right.
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Absolutely agree! Just wanted to make sure they knew.
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With D20, we gave her a maximum budget number. Her acceptances had quite a differential in cost, but all fell below the max number. We decided (when setting the budget number) that she could choose any school that was less than/equal to her budget number, whether or not there were less expensive options on the table.
She ended up choosing her most expensive option (based on best fit) - though it was still several thousand below her max number.
D23 has the same deal though the max budget has increased a bit due to inflationary cost increases. Both of her acceptance thus far are within her given budget, again with pretty significant difference in overall COA.
I think it is good to be thinking of these issues before final decision time comes about, and to be clear with kids well in advance.
Also, donât forget to add ârealâ transportation costs, health insurance, and what kind of spender your child actually is (will they primarily use the meal plan or will they be eating out more than the school assumes in the school budget, etc) when trying to come up with the most accurate COA for your student.
Edited to Add: Our max number gave us some leeway to help with more âluxuryâ choices for D20 and we made that clear when we gave her the budget. By keep her school choice under/at budget - we could help with study abroad costs, she wouldnât have to work during the school year unless she wanted to, if she chose to go Greek we would help with those costs, etc.
I think it is easy to forget those kinds of expenses, and we tried to help D20 see that the listed COA wouldnât actually be the only expenses she might have/incur. The budget would allow her the flexibility to be able to say âyesâ or ânoâ to opportunities (after choosing a college) not primarily based on money.
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Yes she didnât take any tests, so I appreciate the list. I also heard from a student at coastal that said if your I state schools donât offer your major then they will honor in-state tuition price. Iâm not sure how true that is but Iâm going to look into it.
Ahh! D23 is actually a finalist for Hope Forward! She just found out.
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Is Pennsylvania part of any college exchange programs? Thatâs generally how itâs possible to get in-state tuition if your major is not offered. For instance, most southeastern states participate in the Academic Common Market that makes that type of offer possible. In the west, thereâs WUE. Iâm not familiar with any for Pennsylvania, though. A quick internet search led me to this page (which is not a definitive source) which seems to indicate that Pennsylvania is one of seven states that does not participate in a reciprocity program. Iâd obviously verify that, but it seems true to me.
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Parachuting in to say that no, PA, is not part of anything. Itâs a truly crummy state to be in, with the highest costs in the country.
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Exactly why she wants to go elsewhere. She refused to even apply to one instate school.
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Where, Penn St?