newmassdad: Grinnell, Chicago?
also Kenyon, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, not sure about Hopkins
Newmassdad: All of the schools I listed except (maybe) W&M.
I agree with DVMMOM - âwhat schools give good merit aidâ is the wrong question. We are amassing a large list of schools here, but the relevant question is where should a particular student apply for good merit aid, and that totally depends on the qualifications of the student. For instance, both Duke and Caltech offer around 16 full rides every year to their top applicants, and U. Chicago has several full-tuition scholarships. But most students who apply are not even going to get into those schools, much less be at the top of the applicant pool. So for the vast majority of students, these are not âgood merit aidâ schools at all. On the other hand, if a student has multiple medals from intâl math or science olympiads, they are going to look to schools exactly like that for merit aid, and not bother with the vast majority of schools we are listing here.
Hereâs my answer to this question⊠The Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, and Northwestern do NOT give merit aid. Virtually every other school in the country does if they want you badly enough and think they can lure you there with money. So a student who desires good merit aid needs to start with their own credentials and figure out what sort of schools they would normally get into and attend. Then they need to look at schools a full tier below that, where they would be at the top of the applicant pool. Donât restrict your thinking to schools who give a formula for merit aid or who publicize certain merit scholarships on their website. Some schools are willing to be very generous towards top students they think they can lure, but are not that upfront about it publically.
cathymee, ASU was sounding good until you mentioned almost everyone had trouble with the 3.5 gpa.
should have been more explicit.up until this academic year ASU did not have plus and minuses in their grading system.if you didnt get an A you dropped down to a B.Hard with that system to keep a 3.5.This year (04-05) theyâve added the = and - so I suspect itâll be easier.
DD is also friendly with alot of engineers and pre meds. Maybe that makes the 3.5 a little harder to maintain. My point was that perhaps ASU isnât such a pushover school as its reputation makes it seem.
Itâs interesting though,her friends have had a more rigorous review for their scholarship probations than her friend who just graduated from Johns Hopkins ,was on academic probation mostly every semester he was there and kept getting reinstated for his scholarship!
cathymee, do you have any idea how many people lost their scholarship at ASU?
Our experience:
University of Notre Dame: very generous- weâre very grateful (they give only need based)
Whitman College: they figured the EFC a little higher, but after that it was a solid financial aid package (both merit and need)
Willamette University: although nothing to sneer at, the lowest package of the three. A classmate had the same experience with them, a much better offer from MIT. Both families think Willamette is a good solid LAC and thatâs why we looked at it, but being at the top of their stats compared to other schools didnât translate to $ for us.
So, although weâre happy with our results, if I had to do it again, Iâd take DVMMOMâs advice and cast a bigger net; we took a chance. The formula that Eagle 79 gave is a great place to start, but most people will get some unexpected results.
noseemom - Wow, your experience with Whitman and Williamette FA is the complete opposite of the anecdotal tales in my world. One tale: kid admitted to both. Williamette offers $28,000 (almost all merit), Whitman ($6000 need). Kid goes to Williamette (and is very happy). Another tale: kid admitted to Whitman and Scripps. Won Scripps 1/2 tuition merit scholarship. Tiny need $$ from Whitman. Parent calls Whitman to bargain and Whitman wants to know if itâs Williamette with the other offer. Kid goes to Scripps and all is well. Congrats that Whitman worked out for you. As they say, individual mileage may vary.
No, 3.5 overall GPA is not easy to come by in college. Let me share my sonÂs experience in Arizona State University (ASU) as a freshman in the Barrett Honors College. He was recruited with a full scholarship and a cash stipend. He is a National Hispanic scholar, SAT score was 1560 out of 1600, had taken college classes in the last two years of high school. He was selected as Eastside Journal Top Grad âOutstanding Scientistâ out of 26 students where each school, public and private, nominated their best student for this category. He also was selected as 1 of 18 students from the state to attend a summer program at the University of Washington School of Medicine in his junior year.
He lives at the Honors College dorms, which mean he shares his room and is surrounded with kids with similar academic credentials. He chose attend ASU not only because of scholarship, but because he believes the Barrett Honors College and ASU have leadership with a great vision and he also believes the ASU honors program will be one of the top programs in the country. The academic standards of the honors college are high and are rising. The school is recruiting the best of the best for faculty and investing millions of dollars in research and technology. There is no question that few years from now, the Barrett Honors College will have so many very qualified applicants that the scholarships will be hard to come by.
The first semester was very humbling and shocking experience for my son. He was used to be the top student in his high school and received many awards on his graduation year. He went to ASU to be with other honor students with the same or better academic qualifications. ASU is located in Tempe, AZ. This is the first time away from home with great weather year around (big change from Seattle weather) and so many things to do (over 500 clubs to join.) The academic standards of the honors college are still there to be met even when you are a freshman and your scholarship is renewable for 3 additional years as long as your overall GPA is at least 3.5.
IÂll let your imagination picture the details on my sonÂs first semester experience. We did try to advise him as much as we could over the phone, but it is new to them and they need to learn from their own experience. I recall going to the airport to pick him up over the Christmas break. When we asked ÂHow was your semester? His response was ÂIf I could do the first half of my semester all over again, it would be better. I am learning what it takes  We knew then, his academic performance had been very different than what we were used to when he was in high school. The Christmas break went by and I didnÂt like many things I heard from him or observed. I knew he was asserting his independence, but I wasnÂt sure he was going in the correct path. Before he went back to school, we sat down to discuss his goals and our concerns for the next semester. We found out he was also concerned about his academic performance and felt really bad about it. He also, had time to reflect on the social activities of his first semester and he had already decided he was going to have a new beginning when he went back. My hardest trip to the airport was the time when we send them off to his second semester. I hugged him and asked him to take care of himself and do what is takes reach his goal (be an anesthesiologist). Then we said good-bye.
He is almost at the end of his second semester now. I should mention that for him to be able to renew his scholarship (overall GPA 3.5) he needs to have a 3.8 GPA this semester. He is very focused on school going into finals with and ÂAÂ in all his classes. He is a Biochemistry major taking Human Event (class required from the honors college), honors chemistry, biology, statistics and other class I donÂt remember now. He is also applied and was selected by to the Department of Energy for a research SULI Fellowship at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He has learned to balance his social and academic life and hopes to keep his scholarship. He knows what it takes to be a student at the Barrett Honors College and is ready for the challenge.
Spring break was a very positive and exciting visit for all of us. I can see a fine young man, full of ambitions, thriving knowledge and willing to take advantage of the many academic and social opportunities the Barrett Honors college and ASU have to offer. He decided that he will stay in ASU even if he looses the scholarship; he wants to take advantage of the diverse social and academic opportunities ASU has to offer. He wants to study abroad, to participate in the latest research at the Biodesign Institute at ASU (<a href=âhttp://www.biodesign.org/)%5B/url%5Dâ>http://www.biodesign.org/)</a>, to be challenged intellectually, to be part of the rising class of Barrett Honors College and ASU (<a href=âhttp://www.asu.edu/president/newamericanuniversity/[/url]â>http://www.asu.edu/president/newamericanuniversity/</a>) and to bank the diversity of knowledge and experience the Honors College and its students have to offer.
Maize&Blue - yes, the anecdotal tales I heard completely mirirored yours. So much so that I thought generous aid from Willamette was a foregone conclusion. He would choose both ND and Whitman over Willamette, so it doesnât matter, but want to share my mistake - ya never know.
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Hey, 16448 - my D was an Eastside (King County) Journal 2004 Top Grad too! Perhaps we met at the Newcastle reception? Small world.
Ah. I can be useful here. My entire college search for out-of-state schools with good theatre departments was dependent on getting a full scholarship or something very close to it. I havenât read the whole thread and hope these arenât too redundant, but these schools all offer large merit awards to kids with National Merit standing.
[University</a> of Evansville](<a href=âhttp://www.evansville.edu/prospects/financialaid/scholarships/firsttimescholarships.asp]Universityâ>www.evansville.edu/prospects/financialaid/scholarships/firsttimescholarships.asp) offers full tuition to National Merit Finalists and three fourths to semi-finalists. They also offer fifty full tuition scholarships to those first in their class. Iâm going. 
Catawba College has a bunch of full and part tuition scholarships for which you have to interview.
Northern Illinois University offers full-tuition, fees, and room and board at in-state rates plus a $200 book stipend to students on par with National Merit Finalist standing. This comes to more than full-tuition at out-of-state rates. You have to interview for it and you need to maintain a 3.3 GPA to keep it.
Southern Methodist University offers half tuition plus $2,000 to National Merit Finalists and offers a few full scholarships.
University of Miami offers lots of merit scholarships that range from half to full tuition. They offered me 3/4.
Boston University offers half tuition to some NMFs and a small number of full tuition scholarships though I hear theyâre hard to get.
Otterbein College offers up to $11,000 a year in merit scholarships and is very generous with talent money for arts majors. At least, their theatre department is.
University of Arizona offers an almost-automatic $19,500 a year to NMFs.
University of Oklahoma offered a friend of mine a boatload of money, but I donât remember how much it was.
thesbohemian - Iâd like to hear about your search for schools with good theatre departments and scholarships. Any luck? I have a D that will be a senior soon, so we are starting the college search. She loves theatre. Since 4th grade she spends most of her free time either performing or volunteering at the theatre. She also likes computer graphics and photography. Any recomendations?
16448, if you lose the scholarship, I assume you still get to stay in Barretts Honors. Am I correct? If you drop below 3.5 and lose it, can you get the scholarship back?
dstark - If you lose the scholarship it is gone! To stay in the Barrett Honors College you need to maintain Cumulative ASU GPA at or above 3.40.
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Wow, that is tough. They shouldnât count first semester. They should give the students time to adjust.
Do you know anything about U of Arizona? I wonder if that schoolâs policy is similar?
My son had a scholarship offer from U of A too. The initial requirements were the same. He opted to go to ASU after visiting both schools. I liked U of A better, but he was the one going to school.
I am pretty sure the scholarship requirements are the same.
16448, thanks.
wow, 16448 thanks for the info-son was also a NHS, so I had been very curious. ASU was so nice but son chose to go elsewhere. I was wondering how difficult it would have been for the 3.5. I thought it had to be ea semester-I didnât like the pressure a freshman would have if he slipped just a bit.