I agree… but I don’t like the words “Good Merit” being used to describe a merit award that only covers less than 25% of costs. Such an award is “helpful,” but it’s not going to impress me because it almost seems to be a “gimme” for schools to do for students they want.
The words “Good Merit” should be used to describe merit that covers at least half of tuition.
“Great merit” should describe merit of “full tuition”.
“Best merit” should be used to describe merit of “tuiton plus” or a full ride.
For anything less, perhaps the term “helpful merit” should be used…
When someone posts that they need a lot of merit money for private U, it’s a bit nutty when some suggest schools that only give $10k per year for high stats and call it “good merit.”
Maybe I’m wrong, but usually when someone posts that they need a lot of merit $$, it means that they have a high EFC that their families cannot pay, therefore they need at leats “full tuition” merit offers suggested to them to cover their college costs.
It’s been my experience that when people just need - say - $10k per year in merit, they say so. They’ll say something like, my parents can spend $25-30k per year, but I need more.
Agree with mom2collegekids totally!
Merit is also very dependent on your stats and the schools you are applying to. The student MUST be have stellar stats compared with the average kids at that school. The same kids that are getting full rides at a “lesser” rank schools may not get anything at places like Hopkins, WashU, Vanderbilt, Emory, etc…
Absolutely right. If a family is willing to pay 10-15,000 per year and a school has a sticker price of 50,000, merit aid ALONE of 10,000 is not going to make that school affordable for that family. If a family has a EFC of 45,000 and a school that has a sticker price of 50,000 offers 10,000 in merit aid, that school might be the “best” deal for that student.
People sometimes don’t understand that top 50 schools usually are completely populated with students with stellar scores, therefore an ACT 32 is just one of many. LOL On such campuses, a top student becomes “average.”
My neighbor, who has a HS senior daughter with strong stats, was “shocked” to learn that schools like UIUC wouldn’t give his ACT 32 daughter a big scholarship. He hadn’t even been looking at prices at the various top schools, because he had wrongly assumed that such schools would welcome his daughter with carts of money. When I explained that many of UIUC students are smart like his daughter, then he understood.
He now knows he has to look at lower ranked schools since they do need merit money for her education.
As far as public Us, some have more merit money to offer than others too! As one admissions counselor from a public stated to an audience of instate families, your instate tuition is as though we have already given you a merit award. I am not buying that, but this is how their lack of merit awards was marketed to instate families.
Yes, that is very true… In some states, there is a culture against merit money scholarships. Some think merit money “takes away” from F/A. They don’t want to consider how having additional “high stats” kids on campus helps the school.
Also, some state schools (especially top flagships) already have a lot of high stats kids, so they don’t need to be enticing more to come there.
Other states are looking for more “high stats” students, so they are willing to “sweeten the offer” with more money. Right now, some southern public schools are agressively going after kids with strong stats. Many are offering full-tuition scholarships for top students…even for OOS students.
"My neighbor, who has a HS senior daughter with strong stats, was “shocked” to learn that schools like UIUC wouldn’t give his ACT 32 daughter a big scholarship. He hadn’t even been looking at prices at the various top schools, because he had wrongly assumed that such schools would welcome his daughter with carts of money. When I explained that many of UIUC students are smart like his daughter, then he understood. "
From my son’s H.S., many students who got higher than 34 on ACT did not get any merit scholarship from UIUC. We did a college tour to UIUC several weeks ago, and we were told that it is very hard to get “significant” merit scholarship from UIUC, they only had 30 full scholarships and there are just too many students who got 35 and 36 on ACT.
But, I do agree with Mom2collegekids on most of her comments, which made sense.
MY quote: "My neighbor, who has a HS senior daughter with strong stats, was “shocked” to learn that schools like UIUC wouldn’t give his ACT 32 daughter a big scholarship. He hadn’t even been looking at prices at the various top schools, because he had wrongly assumed that such schools would welcome his daughter with carts of money. When I explained that many of UIUC students are smart like his daughter, then he understood. "
Midwest dad’s quote >>>>>
From my son’s H.S., many students who got higher than 34 on ACT did not get any merit scholarship from UIUC. We did a college tour to UIUC several weeks ago, and we were told that it is very hard to get “significant” merit scholarship from UIUC, they only had 30 full scholarships and there are just too many students who got 35 and 36 on ACT.
But, I do agree with Mom2collegekids on most of her comments, which made sense.
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Did I miss something? It doesn’t sound like you disagree with anything I wrote. I wrote that many parents don’t understand that their “high stats” child will be rather average at top schools, therefore those schools won’t (likely) offer any (significant) merit money. An ACT 32 student is in the 99 percentile, but at a top school, she’d be a dime a dozen.
I haven’t read through all of the posts but would like to add U of Tampa and U of South Florida. D got offered $11,000 (half tuition) at U of Tampa and $10,000 (almost 2/3 tuition, OOS) at USF Honors with a 30 ACT and 3.8 unweighted, 6 APs with all 4s and 5s, top 2% of her class. Both renewable for four years. I knew UT offered some nice merit aid but USF offering that much OOS students was something of a surprise! Maybe they figure that even with that, they will still get $3000 a year more tuition from an OOS student with that scholarship than from an instate student with no merit aid.
It all depends on the school. With her stats, she would not get any merit aid at more selective schools, and is not even applying to Ivies because unless she got very lucky, she wouldn’t get in. She’s at the top of her hs class, but is in the bottom 25% of kids who get accepted in the super-selective schools.
A 32 ACT may be nothing special at some schools, but a 28 can be competitive for merit aid at others. A kid at D’s hs got a 2/3 scholarship to Auburn last year with a 30 ACT and (I think) 3.6 unweighted GPA. Good luck to all of the class of 2010.
They live in OC, make $75k, family of five and are probably correct in that their income probably is just barely over not qualifying for need based aid.
With it so close to Dec 1 when many apps are due, i am trying to find help in selecting some 4 year schools that will award nearly free tuition for her son ( they don’t care where in the US) and it can be a 4th or 5th tier school – since the other option is going to a jr college (as even going to the local state univ is too expensive for them) but they’d prefer a four year college on on full tuition scholarship if possible.
Stats: 3.33 unweighted/3.43 weighted
SAT 1700 (1110 for critical thinking and math combined) /act 26
son has won awards for vocal performance for southern california
Any suggestions on where to apply at lower tiered schools that has good chance or nearly full tuition scholarship?
If you’re willing to consider Canada, mom, of four, here’s a bargain. Brandon University in Manitoba is a liberal arts school of about 3,000 students with a strong music program, and it charges international students just 5,700 to 6,300 Canadian dollars (about $5,400-$6,000) for tuition depending on the program. Any international student who maintains at least a 3.0 average gets up to 3,000 bucks knocked off the bill for the following year(s).
mom of four - 75k, not 175k, right? 75k definitely qualifies for need-based aid. The cut-off for receiving grant aid varies widely but is generally 100k-120k. However, they would have to pay about 20k a year under most need-based plans, and if they can’t afford UCs, that would be a problem (as would finding a school that met enough need).
Summary: Need-based aid probably won’t help your friend in this particular case, but families with an annual income of ~75k most definitely do qualify for it.
Lafayette College in Easton, PA has increased their Marquis Scholarship to $20k (min.) starting this year (up from $16k).
This is a description of their merit scolarship program:
Lafayette recognizes its most outstanding applicants with a Marquis Scholarship. Marquis Scholars receive an annual minimum award of $20,000 ($80,000 over four years). Financial aid applicants who are designated as Marquis Scholars, and whose financial need exceeds $20,000 will receive a scholarship up to demonstrated need minus a campus job of $2,000 and a loan depending on family income (no loan for incomes under $50,000; a $3,500 loan per year for incomes above $50,000). Other special benefits of the Marquis Scholars program include:
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a scholarship of up to $4,000 for one faculty-led study-abroad course during an interim session
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participation in special events and activities, including cultural opportunities
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Who Qualifies?
Lafayette seeks students who have demonstrated intellectual curiosity in addition to their superior academic achievement. Curriculum, grades, rank in graduating class, and scores on standardized tests are all considered. Furthermore, the College looks for students creatively engaged in the life of their communities and who, like the College’s namesake, have “made a difference” through significant accomplishments in school and community.
Scholarship recipients are typically at the top of their graduating class in the most demanding curriculum available, with SAT scores in the mid-1300s or better (Critical Reading and Math) or ACT Composite score of 31 or better. Students admitted under both Early Decision and Regular Decision are considered for this scholarship, and will be notified of their selection at the time of admission. The College anticipates enrolling approximately 10 percent of the entering class as Marquis Scholars.
Rather than look at the amount of aid, it makes more sense to look at the amount you have to come up with in tuition + costs. Places like RPI might give you 10 or 15K as an inducement to attend, but their premium tuition programs (they really call them that) are designed to maximize income and generate some snob appeal on the theory that if it’s expensive it must be good. Subtract any aid you get from each school from the total cost and try to make a rational decision based on your true cost and what you think you’ll get out of it during college and later. Remember that there is a very long ‘later’, but life doesn’t start after you graduate. Don’t rule out either private or public universities until you look at numbers and rationally evaluate what you’ll get out of the deal; a Harvard degree really is worth more than a U MAss degree, but it also costs more. Include ambitions and career preferences. Are you going to teach high school or be a brain surgeon? I’m both a parent and a long-time professor at several pretty good universities.
It’s REALLY IMPORTANT to look at the extimated 4-year cost out-of-pocket (including loans that need to be repaid) to compare apples with apples. When you’re making your final choice, find out how many students keep their same level of aid all 4 years and how often they lose their grants & scholarships. Some schools are notorious for switching students from grants & scholarships to all loans or just making them lose all merit aid. Other schools have most students keep their aid for all 4 years. Find out what the odds are for your proposed field of study. There’s no point on counting on 4 years of funding only to lose your scholarship in the 1st semester or 1st year!
*Some schools are notorious for switching students from grants & scholarships to all loans or just making them lose all merit aid. Other schools have most students keep their aid for all 4 years. Find out what the odds are for your proposed field of study. There’s no point on counting on 4 years of funding only to lose your scholarship in the 1st semester or 1st year! *
HImom makes an excellent point. Any student that is accepting a merit scholarship that will require a minimum GPA for renewal, needs to carefully manage his courseload - especially the first semester in college. A new freshman can naively sign up for too many hard classes and then find themselves not being able to maintain the 3.5 GPA (or whatver) that is needed to keep the scholarship.
So, parents, if your future freshman has been awarded such a scholarship, be pro-active and advise them balance their coursework BEFORE they choose their first semester’s classes (Don’t wait until after - the student might balk at changing their carefully planned schedule). If possible, advise them to only take one or two challenging courses that first semester - and preferably not on the same day. (There’s usually a lot of distractions that first semester. Kids “settle down” a bit after that. )
I realize that some programs require course sequencing, so that must be followed, but usually a kid also has to take some Gen Ed classes, so if possible, choose some that are interesting and easy.
I just had a talk with a dad whose freshman son thought it would be fun to take Greek Mythology for a Literature req’t (this is not a strong student in literature.). It turns out that it was very, very hard for him, and he got an F in the class. His dad regrets not having such a discussion with his son last summer.
His dad regrets not having such a discussion with his son last summer.