Schools with best merit aid?

Paying for College
1

<p>Does anyone know of colleges on the east coast that give out a lot of merit aid? I'm looking for some schools that are not too hard to get into so I'll be more likely to get merit scholarships, especially full tuition.</p>

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<p>You’re going to have to give some basic stats in order to recommend reasonable schools.</p>

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<p>Okay well my PSAT score was 192 as a sophomore,I will probably have about a 97-99 weighted gpa (we use a 100 pt scale), all A’s so far in my large public school, probably graduating in top 10, many AP classes. I play basketball with potential at senior captain, many volunteer hours, started and am president of a cancer awareness club, work part time. So basically schools that I could get into with ease and be considered one of the top students.</p>

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<p>It sounds like you’re a rising jr who has yet to take the PSAT for NMS or the SAT. Without test scores it’s really early and tough to know which schools to recommend, which is a positive in that it gives you time to do research on possible schools. </p>

<p>The first thing to do will be to concentrate on prepping for the PSAT to give you NM status, you can find threads on the NMS subforum with schools that offer guaranteed scholarships. </p>

<p>Keep up your grades and the rigor of your coursework. Once you get test scores, you’ll generally be targeting safety & match level schools for substantial merit aid.</p>

5

<p>Here’s a good thread to start with:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2662739[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2662739&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>ECs don’t matter much for merit scholarships. Merit scholarships tend to be awarded by test scores and GPA. The exceptions would be for highly competitive merit scholarships, then big, important ECs may help a student get accepted. </p>

<p>Practice for the PSAT, you have a good chance making NMF. Use CollegeBoard’s SAT practice book…the blue book.</p>

<p>What state are you in?</p>

<p>Sign up for the Oct SAT. That is given the week before the PSAT, so it will be a practice for your PSAT. </p>

<p>Once you have scores, we can help you find schools.</p>

<p>Are you low income?</p>

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<p>ECs may matter at private institutions that award merit based on attracting students they want (a lot of CTCL schools, for instance). Students they want have high grades and test scores but often other things too.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all of the info. I’m from MA and I’m not particularly low income. My mom’s on disability because she has cancer and my dad works, so I think it’s around $60-75000.</p>