We finally have a test score and are hoping for advice on colleges that offer large merit aid.
This is updated information from my first post several months ago.
Thank you CC!
Junior
High school - silver ranking with US News
State - Texas
Classes - most rigorous - will graduate with 15 AP
AP tests - 5’s so far
Class rank - 2 / 500
GPA - 4.0 UW and 4.9 W
PSAT - likely a bit shy of the Texas NMF cutoff
SAT - taking in March
ACT - 35 (taken once)
Extracurricular - leader of 3 school clubs and earned over 2,500 volunteer hours since freshman year
Career Plan - physician assistant
Parents can contribute $10,000 per year
D prefers southern schools
Tulane’s “regular” merit awards top out at $32,000, which would still leave you about $30,000 to pay, so too high. But, they also offer 125 full tuition and fee scholarships. Very competitive but her stats are extremely strong. But R&B is $13,000+ (maybe she could take out a loan if $10,000 is your parental contribution limit).
Perhaps check out Vanderbilt, which offers some very competitive full tuition scholarships. But R&B and fees will be $16,000+.
And not that you asked, but why is she taking the SAT in March? That 35 ACT is terrific. Maybe she could take a couple of SAT 2 tests (subject tests) instead (I don’t know if that’s permitted but if you’ve already paid for her test it might be worth checking out).
Not in South, but in case you expand search to northeast, RPI gives a lot of merit aid to students who are tops in science (and favor girls due to low m/f ratio). My D received over $45K/year from them (and their grants are guaranteed for all 4 years). [They also increased their initial offer after she wrote asking for more.]
Davidson also has a full tuition or full ride scholarship. If memory serves they also meet need. Not sure if the parents $10K is their EFC or what they hope to pay.
The report below might be useful. On pages 6-7 there is a chart with the Top 50 Schools by Share of Freshmen without Financial Need Who Receive Merit Aid
@insanedreamer UTexas doesn’t give many merit awards since it’s moved to need-based.
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PSAT - likely a bit shy of the Texas NMF cutoff
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What is her score? the numbers are likely to go down this year.
For Pre-PA and your budget, definitely look at Alabama. It has a padded COA, which can be cut down in a few ways…choosing the standard double dorms, and choosing a lesser meal plan for sophomore year on.
Since PA schools are looking for 1000-2000+ hands-on clinical patient care experience for admittance, she’ll want to be at a school/city where she’ll be able to rack up those hours.
You can afford to pay $10,000 per year. But what is your EFC? Will you qualify for need based aid? If you don’t qualify for any need based aid, then the $10,000 limit will be hard to meet as your DD will need a full tuition scholarship. Consider having her take the maximum student loans. If she makes NMSF, then her list might change.
I think you should consider Trinity University, UT Dallas, maybe Rice if the NPC looks favorable, Rhodes, and of course UT and A&M. I am not sure that she can count on a scholarship from these flagships, though. So they might be way over budget.
@LuckyCharms913@mom2collegekids Her PSAT score in TX is 217. The cut off prediction by Testmasters is 219, although I realize there is still a possibility that it will be lower. She is taking the SAT in March just in case.