School Suggestions

Parents Forum
1

<p>So, I've had the financial talk with my parents, and most of the schools (Pomona, Bowdoin, UChicago) I had previously been looking at are now ruled out. I'm okay with attending my state school (UMinnesota, or UW-Madison) but would much prefer a smaller LAC. We will not qualify for any need-based financial aid, but I will need pretty significant merit aid in order to afford a private school. I'm undecided as to a major yet, but will most likely end up somewhere in the sciences. Any suggestions?</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>3.99 uw GPA; 8/610 rank at excellent public school; 34 ACT
4 years varsity swimming (captain), band (highest ensemble, a few solo/small ensemble awards), piano (a few competitions/awards), math team (captain), NHS (VP) & other community service</p>

2

<p>There's a chance you could get from half to full tuition at USC with those credentials.</p>

3

<p>Since you're hoping for an LAC, try these: DePauw, Lawrence, Beloit, Hope, Grinnell, Dickinson, Goucher, Clark U, Earlham, Hobart & William Smith, Southwestern U (TX), Trinity U (TX), Hendrix, College of Wooster, Denison, Whitman, Willamette, Lewis & Clark. You'll have good chances at merit money at all of them.</p>

<p>Did you take the PSAT? If so, are you in range for NMS finalist?</p>

4

<p>If you have +1400 SATs, you have what it takes for a great merit scholarship.</p>

<p>What are your academic interests?</p>

5

<p>Carolyn gave you a very good list.</p>

6

<p>There are quite a few LAC's with good merit, in addition to Carolyn's list. I have personal knowledge of good awards with similar stats at Furman, Centre, and Rhodes. I know there are others. If you find a school you like, see if they award merit scholarships. Since you can never "count" on being awarded a merit scholarship (unless they do automatic scholarships for certain stats), make sure you apply to a few to cover your bases.</p>

7

<p>I was just looking at the US News list of "Most students receiving merit aid" and noticed Rhodes, Ohio Wesleyan, Centre (KY), and Lawrence on the list...</p>

8

<p>Is your son planning to swim in college? If so, check out the team website to find out where his times would put him in comparison with the college swimmers. If his times would make him attractive to the coach, your son could fill out a recruiting form or email/call the coach directly to start a conversation. </p>

<p>Although DIII schools do not offer athletic scholarships per se, a good word from the coach will go a long way with the admissions office.</p>

9

<p>Your choice of merit-based scholarship will be better if you are a female interested in science. All women college, except, Wellesley, gives out merit-based scholarships for students interested in science. </p>

<p>Otherwise, I will also look into Rice. It is a mid size university that has wonderful science and engineering programs and has a reputation on par with those colleges that you are interested originally.</p>

10

<p>I did compile a list of schools that have free application fee and lots of merit aid, up to full tuition and I think I came up to nearly 50 schools. I'm in the process of narrow the list down to a manageable number. So the bottom line is there are a lot of schools out there.</p>

11

<p>I'd generally agree with all the recommendations above. Very competitive Rice, however, will probably be a long shot for merit aid.</p>

<p>Other strong Midwestern LACs offerning merit aid that I'd add are Kenyon and Oberlin. I'd re-emphasize Grinnell, already mentioned, as a school that reaches deeper than most into a very rich endowment to entice strong students to its often overlooked rural Iowa locale.</p>

<p>Finally, I'd strongly suggest you also consider Davidson. Your ACT score is well above their 75th percentile and your Minnesota roots may entice them to loosen pursestrings.</p>

12

<p>The University of Chicago has a new financial aid program that is making the school more affordable for many middle class families. I'm not sure what your situation is, but it may be worth checking out: <a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/07/070530.gift.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/07/070530.gift.shtml&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

13

<p>Jamiet, your stats should get you good merit aid to a number of excellent LACs - you may be close to the top of their applicant pools, but you will get many benefits and much attention.It should not be too hard to get the COA down close to state school levels.</p>

<p>However, it will be hard to get COA down to free. Have another finance talk with your parents about how much they can pay per year, that will give you a figure to shoot for. My D got full tuition from one of the more selective LACs mentioned above, but that would still have left us with about 10K in expenses, including upkeep on her car. Her stats were very similar to yours, but this was for fall 05.</p>

<p>Consider concentrating on LACs in driving distance, with a few more selective ones out of your region, you will get more money if you are more desireable to the school. If you like Univ of Chicago, you should like Rhodes!</p>

14

<p>Also consider Rollins, Rhodes, Sewanee, Mt. Holyhoke and Smith for possible merit aid.</p>

15

<p>My daughter received generous scholarship offers from several of the schools listed in this thread. Her stats were similar to yours. I do want to caution about full tuition scholarships at these schools ... they are very difficult to get! D was part of several competitions for the biggies. The kids who received them were pretty amazing ... published research, early college, etc. ... of course, some "normal" kids get them, too ... it's just that you sure can't count on getting one (as Curmudgeon often warns!). </p>

<p>From your comments, it sounds like your parents would pay for a state school. You will most likely be able to get the cost of attending an excellent, small LAC down to the cost of a state school. My D received scholarships that brought several schools in line with state schools. In fact, we will be paying less than we would had she attended our in state schools.</p>

16

<p>I didn't see Knox on Carolyn's list--they were very generous with DD. They are in Illinois.</p>

<p>She mentioned Lewis & Clark and Willamette--both are excellent schools in Oregon and L&C is generous with merit aid. They are well regarded for biochemistry and for international studies--a very high percentage of their students go abroad.</p>

17

<p>My son attends Hobart and receives $10,000 a year in grant money from the college. We were never told what it is "for," but it appears to be merit, and he didn't have the stats you do (but did have very high SATs). They've granted it again for his sophomore year.</p>

18

<p>Grinnell and Hendrix give a lot of merit aid.</p>

19

<p>In turns of merit scholarship, a reach school for you is <a href="http://www.caltech.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.caltech.edu&lt;/a> and a safety is <a href="http://www.ncf.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ncf.edu&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

20

<p>If you are interested in the sciences, possibly pre-med?, and a "small university" with its focus on undergraduates, check out Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts (outside Boston), which gives merit aid. You can pursue your studies seriously there. If you become interested in them, become VERY interested in them; in other words, write a well-focussed essay that shows you have researched them thoroughly and are serious about attending. </p>

<p>Although many people wrongly call Brandeis "a Jewish school", that's incorrect. It is not associated with a synagogue or Jewish movement, but was founded by the Jewish community in response to Jews being "quota-ed" out of spots at Harvard etc. in the l930's. </p>

<p>Today, 50% of its students are Jewish, so the other half are something else. Because people are so accustomed to Jews being in the minority, when they imagine a campus with 50% of the students Jewish, they call it a Jewish university, but it is not. It is a great school to consider, I believe, given your stats and interests. </p>

<p>I get the impression from Brandeis students that they use the free shuttle into Boston for weekend activity (30 minutes to downton Boston) but normally stay on campus weekday evenings rather than run to play in Boston. Boston's a great college town with all the other universities in and around it.</p>

<p>Another LAC in the Midwest with merit aid and excellent science offering: Oberlin College, rural/suburban location 40 min from Cleveland. See especially their new science building and the environmental building.</p>

<p>It sounds like your challenge will be to apply to the state schools and the privates, hold your breath and hope for good merit response from the privates, and see if the "differential" sounds worth it to your parents. The way to frame the question will be, "If we pay X dollars MORE for the private, is the educational opportunity there worth the difference you'd already be paying for public colleges." Also, if you envision yourself on campus over the summers, possibly doing small research jobs as an undergraduate, you can earn towards your goal each summer. </p>

<p>Try to keep the balances in mind; you'll get a fine education at a state or private school; keep your mind on the "differential" and don't freak out yet about the sticker price of the private school until you hear their response on merit aid. You won't really know that until April 1, so in the meantime try not to "fall in love" with a private college that might disappoint you. Try to develop a list where you'd be happy to go to anyplace on that list, because yours might end up being chosen by the money/best deal..which isn't alwasy the cheapest place, but the best value once you see how much merit various places offer against the kind of school they are for you. You might also get into some kind of honors program at a state school and decide that trumps the private college's situation. You have a big wide list of LAC's here to compare. YOu have given yourself a good opportunity because you've been working hard at school so far.</p>