Thank you @Dolemite. U of SC is on our list. Pitt - we were not sure how good they are with merit, otherwise OOS is expensive over 4 years, also appears to have become very competitive for OOS. UGA - looked like it has become difficult for OOS over the years, but will add both to our list.
Thanks @Twoin18. She is more of beach girl than mountains so will be a difficult sell. I am trying to add colleges/cities that she will be happy to attend if it really comes down to a safety. oh why do kids make it so difficult!!!
Florida State may not be a safety, but I think that odds are very good that she would get an OOS fee waiver and Florida publics are reasonably priced for in-state. If she does become a merit finalist, she might be able to get a full ride (double-check, as my source was last updated in 2020 about NMF).
U. of Alabama is going to be very generous with merit aid, and a full ride if sheâs a NMF.
U. of Kentucky might also give a full tuition scholarship for a NMF, and Kentucky winters should be milder than Nebraskaâs.
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Thank you @AustenNut.
Have heard of housing issues at Florida publics , is it really bad? Only reason I say this is if it is a safety and we donât end up accepting until the very last, will housing be a problem? Or am I thinking too much?
Will checkout Bama and Kentucky for business programs.
I heard that U. of Tampa had some housing issues this past year, but havenât heard about any at the Florida publics. That said, however, Iâm not terribly current on them either, so I would certainly check with others more knowledgeable on them.
And also take a look at the Southwest. Nevada and New Mexico are quite generous with OOS aid, and Colorado (not sure it that wins on the winter weather front, though) and Arizona can be good though itâs not as much of a given with them.
Also, the public universities in Oregon and Washington aside from most of the huge names (Oregon, Oregon State, Washington) have pretty solid OOS scholarship offerings, though theyâre usually competitive, and the weather in much of those states is milder than youâd expect from the latitude. And the Pacific Northwest has a number of solid private universities (e.g., Seattle University) that offer decent merit packages but barely get mentioned here on CC because theyâre neither Californian nor Eastern.
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We also want her within driving distance, she doesnât tolerate super hot weather, and burns in 5 minutes. So that rules out many schools. She also is a pre-professional level ballet dancer, wants a good student run dance company, but not interested in majoring or minoring in dance. And very stem-y.
The nice thing about Pitt is you can apply in August and hear back by mid-October and then if accepted hear about merit in November.
Also if she likes the beach - look into the College of Charleston.
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I donât know where in Nebraska you live, so I chose to use Lincoln, NE as your imagined home and limited the search to within 500 miles of there. Frankly, there arenât that many âwarmâ places within that distance of Nebraska. But since your daughter appears to fry in the heat, then maybe thatâs not a bad thing. Many people find Coloradoâs winters to be relatively pleasant, particularly in Denver. But your family can decide what works for your daughter with respect to warmer weather.
I would anticipate that your daughter would be accepted to all of these on the bulleted list, and probably with good merit, though I am unsure which give terrific merit aid on a global scale. But with your daughterâs background, she may well qualify for these universitiesâ most prestigious, and thus generous, scholarships. All of the colleges below also offer dance ECs (though as to the quality of them, I canât say). Iâve also indicated whether a school has a dance major and whether thereâs an emphasis in ballet/pointe offered at the school. Your family can decide what type of environment and competition for roles, etc, your daughter would be most comfortable with.
- U. of Denver: about 6k undergrads with no dance major, but dance ECs are available; 49/20
- U. of Missouri: around 23k undergrads with no dance major, but dance ECs are available; 40/23
- Colorado State: around 25k undergrads with a dance major that offers an emphasis in ballet/pointe; 43/17
- llinois State: around 17k undergrads with a dance major that offers an emphasis in ballet/pointe; 33/16
- U. of Oklahoma: nearly 21k undergrads and offers a dance major with an available emphasis in ballet/pointe; 53/30
- U. of Colorado: nearly 24k undergrads and offers a dance major; 47/22
- U. of Arkansas: about 24k undergrads with no major in dance, but offers dance ECs; 45/25
- Oklahoma State: about 15k undergrads and offers dance ECs, but no dance major; 50/26
- Missouri State: about 14k majors and a major in dance; 43/22
Not a safety, but U. of Illinois â Urbana-Champaignâs business program is very highly regarded and the university has a dance major with an emphasis in ballet/pointe.
ETA: I just unbolded the schools whose average winter temperatures on not significantly warmer than Lincolnâs which is a high of 33F/low of 14F 
. U. of Oklahoma appears to be the warmest of these options. I added in the high/low for each school.
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I donât live in Nebraska. I live in PAâŠ. Thank you though.
We are looking at East Coast - Ohio to MA down as far as NC maybe. She is currently at a boarding school in MA that is a 9 hour drive.
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My son goes to the University of Denver. The merit aid is good, but the school is expensive. Love the school, and we could make it work, but merit alone wonât make it as affordable as an in-state school.
The University of Missouri gives in-state tuition based on GPA/test scores.
My understanding is Colorado public universities do not give a lot of merit aid for OOS. The exact amounts are on their website, but I think you have to be in their top 2% of OOS applicants to get above $6K or so per year.
Yeah, weâve got two parallel school possibility discussions going on simultaneously, and itâs a bit confusing.
Not that I grumpy-old-man miss the properly threaded discussions we had all the way back in USENET days (the 80s and 90s!) and bewail social media technology having moved backwards in that wayâno, never mind, I totally do.
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So sorry, I got you confused with @Mom_2023!
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Indiana U has the Kelley School and would be an auto admit for your student. Great business school and they offer merit.
(Corrected! ; ). I did know that @AustenNut but had a brain fart!)
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Please tag me if you start a college search/match me thread, as I keep getting different studentsâ wishlists mixed up. But perhaps these threads might help in the meantime?
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I know youâre a Purdue fan and all, but itâs Indiana University! 
Great recommendation, by the way.
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Thanks @momofboiler1. IU Kelly is definitely on our list. I have always heard good things about it too.
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@momofboiler1 - Saw the Purdue fan comment and wanted to check if you have any thoughts about their Krannert Business school. Will it be a reach for her?
I think for a business major, IU has a much stronger program than Purdue.
Krannert would NOT be a reach, probably more of a safety, but Purdue isnât great with merit $ for OOS students so youâd likely be fully pay ($40K/year).
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UofSC may be a great fit with merit.
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