orangepop - From personal experience I can offer the following schools for very substantial merit aid:
WashU - [Scholarship</a> Programs At-A-Glance](<a href=“http://admissions.wustl.edu/scholarships/programs/Pages/default.aspx]Scholarship”>http://admissions.wustl.edu/scholarships/programs/Pages/default.aspx)
Emory
Rice
U of Miami
Tulane
Duke
U of Rochester
mammall - Are you saying DO check the need-based aid box because schools prefer to award merit aid to kids with financial need?
lindz - Do you have any thoughts on what it takes to win the Johnson Scholarship at W & L? Do you think that leadership or community service (or even sports) count to the same degree as GPA and test scores?
Mammall, I never heard of that one. Usually merit in need trumps everything in getting a good package. I know that there are some smaller merit awards, usually $5k or less that are used to lure otherwise full pays to a school, but I don’ t know of a single school that would discriminate against kids with need looking for merit money. Usually financial aid officers love that combination as they can use the merit money and aid money in tandem. What schools would discriminate that way? I know some schools are not 100% need blind and checking FA could effect admissions but if you need the money, you need the money. Not to check the box, to me seems crazy.
fauxnom–not really sure how they weigh each area. pretty competitive though…had 15% admit rate I believe this year–and they award 10% of incoming class
Mammall,
We did not qualify for need based at any college, and my D got substantial Merit scholarships at every one that she applied. That included Case Western which is fanous to give huge merits. If she had gone there, we would have paid only $5000 out of $31,000 in tuition. She decided to go to a different school, where we are paying part of Room &Board, whole tuition and the rest of Room and board is covered. I never heard of merits being connected to financial need.
The problem with throwing out names of schools with merit money is that this list is always changing and isn’t necessarily accurate. A school that’s generous one year, won’t necessarily be the next. Also a school that might throw merit money at a kid with a 3.8 GPA might not get excited about a teen with a 3.5 GPA, but other schools will.
When looking for schools for my daughter, I found that the best way to pinpoint how generous a school is with merit money is to consult its yearly Common Data Set. Every college and university compiles its own Common Data Set, which is a gold mine of statistics that includes information on financial aid, as well as graduation rates, freshmen class profile, student retention, and many other areas including merit money.
The format for any school’s Common Data Set document is identical which makes comparisons of different institutions a snap. If you get your hands on these documents, you’ll obtain far more data than you would get curling up with any college guide. An easy way to find a school’s Common Data Set is to Google the term, as well as the school’s name. You can also type “Common Data Set” into a college’s search engine. If that doesn’t work, look online for a school’s institutional research section.
[commercial material edited out, per TOS “Posts promoting web sites, products, or services are not allowed.”]
Free links to college’s common data sets posted on CC:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/76444-links-common-data-sets-posted-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/76444-links-common-data-sets-posted-colleges.html</a>
Our D’s experience was that she qualified for no needs-based aid but received a 100% of tuition merit scholarship to Brandeis.
In Brandeis’ case, you are only considered for the merit scholarships if you submit a FA application. No FA app, no chance for the merit packages.
FWIW,
George
^ It goes with our experience. We have to submit FASFA at D’s school to get full range of MERIT scholarships. We do not qualify for need-based either, but school strongly recommend to submit FASFA to get as much as possible of Merit scholarships, and we do with good results. It is worthwhile to just follow school’s FA rules even if they do not make much sense.
Just checking also, to see that mammall meant that it’s <em>good</em> to check the box saying you have financial need? Thinking that was what was meant, perhaps…? Thanks!
D received great financial aid offers from USC, Scripps, and Ivies, Purdue, U of Oklahoma, U of Alabama and U of Texas. Georgetown’s was disappointing.
Confirmation of University of Texas Dean’s Scholars program, Rice and Vanderbilt (full rides based on merit).
Michigan State University for out-of-staters. I received a merit grant equalizing tuition/fees to in-staters rates. I also received a $2K/yr paid professorial assistantship and an added additional 2K/yr collegiate scholarship in july that I didn’t even apply for (when I had already decided to attend). I also was given a chance to go to the “alumni distinguished scholarship” competition, in which if I did extremely well on a test administered to ~1100 students I would be eligible for a full ride with everything paid for (alas, I did not do well on said test). But the opportunities are definitely there
Queens University of Charlotte climbed three positions to the number 20 spot among private masters universities in the South, according to the 2009 U.S. News & World Report Americas Best Colleges list. Queens was the second highest ranking private university in North Carolina in this category, behind only Elon, and was recognized as a great value, earning a #11 ranking in the publications Southern Masters Great Schools, Great Prices category.
Ranked 2nd in the U.S. for percentage of students who travel abroad (90%)
Tied for 16th (master’s universities South) for most ethnically diverse campus
Tied for 14th (master’s universities South) for percentage of classes under 20
Excellent financial aid packages!
Georgia Tech gives free rides too
can someone tell me what URM is?
i understand it is something minority, but i just can’t quite figure it out.
thanks.
Under-represented minority.
thank you curmudgeon.
: )
What schools give the best National Merit semi-finalist offers. Stats are: SAT2150; 4.0 unweighted; 5.4 weighted; Top 4%; Eagle Scout; DECA officer; Mu Alpha Theta’ Spanish Club officer…Interest engineering
How does one have a 5.4 weighted GPA? Do you count all 4 years? How many APs/Honors classes?
I am just curious as in our school the highest GPA for a student is somewhere around 4.5 to 4.6.