I believe Dickinson merit aid tops out at $20k per year so won’t get cost of attendance down to $30k for OP. At some of the midwest CTCL schools, “sticker price” of tuition plus room and board can be as much as $10k less than east coast peers so that, plus 1/2 tuition merit, may get a family in the $30k range.
Some of the automatic merit awards, with Honors programs, for high stat kids might get the OP to the cost range they can manage, but at that point, I’m not sure there is that much benefit, or difference, as compared to in-state at Bing, Geneseo etc.
Thank you all so much for your responses! I have looked up all of these colleges and I have added a few to my list. I just spoke to my parents again, and they said that they can manage about 10,000 more than I previously said, so around 35-40,000 total. While I still would like to keep the coast down, would this change open the door to any more (slightly less) affordable schools with merit scholarships?
Fordham offered my S18 full tuition for NM. He had very high stats and also received a full tuition scholarship from Miami of Ohio.
Another idea is University of Richmond. It has the Richmond Scholars program which is full tuition, I think, and has summer research money included. That scholarship is very competitive and my S did not receive it.
University of South Carolina Honors College is a great idea.
^ second Fordham as an option, their merit aid seems good.
Do you have naviance? Almost every applicant with your stats at my daughter’s school got WL (one or two rejections even) at American, with the sweet spot for acceptances stopping around 3.8\14-something on SAT. Show them a LOT of interest and love if you’re serious about applying there.
I hardly ever see people mention George Mason here but believe for a high stats kid it’s a decent safety merit as well as admissions wise. And not too far from DC.
I’m not sure a lot of the suggestions above have necessarily taken major into account. Of course your major may change.
What about Lehigh? It’s worth trying if they have your major. My daughter received a half tuition scholarship plus another award…it brought the total cost down to the mid 30’s (do they still offer merit?). Keep in mind that you need to show very significant interest. You should try to attend as many local events as possible, and visit the school at least once. They give you “points” for attending local events.
Do you know your Fafsa efc? There are a few ( not many) schools that meet need based on the Fafsa efc. If that number is affordable for your family then I would consider such schools. Try the net price calculators.
The University of Kansas has a very good foreign language program and Kansas would be a true financial safety for you. When you look at the University of South Carolina, check out the International Business program. This program looks terrific.
Show a lot of interest to GW. You can also save some money at GW by picking the least expensive housing option. And note that GW freezes tuition for 5 years so you don’t have to plan for the inevitable increase in tuition (room and board does increase).
Agreeing that Tulane is not really an option for this student. Even with the $30K high end merit scholarship, that would still be significantly short of the parent’s budget. (Tulane’s cost of attendance this year was $76K) The full tuition scholarships are very difficult to get, as it admission. There were many kids this year with similar stats deferred at Tulane.
The student might be looking at Honors colleges at the public universities. Ole Miss might have some great options for this student - The Trent Lott Leadership Scholars and the Sally Barksdale Honors College provide opportunities for top students. That would give that private feel at a public university. Ole Miss would be well under the budget, possibly a full ride for this student.
University of Maryland at College Park’s Banneker-Key merit scholarship might be worthwhile for you to consider. OOS are eligible. About 400 B-Ks are awarded yearly; a partial B-K covers tuition and book allowance, and a full pays for room-and-board in addition. All who apply by November 1st (note that this is earlier than many) and who are admitted to their Honors College are automatically considered for B-K; no additional application material is needed for B-K, but a good essay (Coalition, not Common app) and answers to a few short questions (from UM) are vital to distinguish oneself among peers with equally fantastic stats. Maryland however, is a ‘big’ school, with over 40,000 students. Perhaps Grinnell also?
It is extremely difficult to get the B-K award as an OOS student these days…especially coming from NY. I do think this student will get some merit…maybe enough to bring the cost down to about $40,000.
New College of Florida is a LAC on the Colleges that Change Lives list; it provides an OOS scholarship of $15k, making OOS tuition about $15k. Room and board adds (being generous) $10k, so total OOS tuition and room and board would be around $25k/year.