<p>Like most student, i am concerned about the increasing cost of college. Since i want to go to med school, i don't want to be drowned in debt after undergard. Therefore, i am looking for top 100 schools that are known for generous merit based aid. For example, i know creighton university, University of Miami, Miami University, and University of Pittsburgh are all generous with merit aid. I'm from Illinois, 33 (34 superscored) ACT, 4.0/4.53 GPA, ecs, blah blah blah. Does anybody have any more schools that I should add to my list? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Washington and Lee in Virginia gives out about 40 Johnson scholarships per year. </p>
<p>University of Richmond also has some generous merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Tulane, Northeastern and Fordham have some generous merit scholarships. Probably a wise idea to apply widely if you are looking for merit aid as it can be hit or miss with each school.</p>
<p>You might also consider Alabama which has guaranteed merit scholarships at your ACT score level.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>MY D has similar ACT score, Alabama awarded her full tuition. She applied in Dec. You may want to consider it.</p>
<p>Thankfully, you’re a junior, so you’re not too late to apply to the schools with big merit for stats.</p>
<p>Many/most state schools don’t superscore for merit consideration (or admission). With an ACT 33, there are a number of schools that will likely give you free tuition if they don’t change their policies for the next app cycle.</p>
<p>UPitt has begun requiring higher scores for full tuition scholarships and their awards can be hit or miss. </p>
<p>I’d be very surprised if Creighton gives full tuition scholarships for an ACT 33 or 34. </p>
<p>“Generous merit” is in the eyes of the beholder. If you can pay $40k per year, and someone gives you $10k, you may feel that is generous. But if you can only pay $10k per year and the school costs $50k, then you need a much bigger scholarship. </p>
<p>As a pre-med student, you will want to be economical with undergrad costs if money is an issue in your family.</p>
<p>You do need to find out from your parents how much they’ll pay. What are they saying?</p>
<p>To determine how much merit you need, you need to determine how much your family can contribute. If you and they can contribute about $15k per year, then you need at least a full tuition scholarship so that the $15k can pay for room, board, fees, books, etc. </p>
<p>How did you do on the PSAT?</p>
<p>I’m not necessarily looking for a full tuition scholarship. My EFC is around 20K so I’m looking for anywhere where I could get half to three fourths tuition. 210 on PSAT so no NMS :(. I’m looking at university of miami because (at least according to this years scholarships) I’d qualify for at least half tuition.</p>
<p>If you need to save money for med school, why in the world wouldn’t you be interested in schools where you can get full tuition or even a full ride???</p>
<p>Some of the automatic full tuition schools also have competitive scholarships that you could stack on top of the automatic award . . . giving you free tuition plus part or all of your room/board! With your stat’s, it’s worth investigating.</p>
<p>And if you can get that ACT score up even a little bit more, your chances will be even better!</p>
<p>I meant to say not exclusively looking for full tuition</p>
<p>I’m not necessarily looking for a full tuition scholarship. My EFC is around 20K so I’m looking for anywhere where I could get half to three fourths tuition. 210 on PSAT so no NMS . I’m looking at university of miami because (at least according to this years scholarships) I’d qualify for at least half tuition.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by this since most schools do NOT “meet need”. And, further, the schools that do meet need use CSS Profile and they may determine that your family needs to pay much more than FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>Instead of looking at EFC, you need to tell us how much your family has SAID that they’ll pay each year. </p>
<p>Also…merit scholarships don’t get applied to EFC unless the merit is so HUGE that it covers all of need and then cuts into EFC.</p>
<p>Since you want to avoid debt, the strategy begins with how much the family will pay.</p>
<p>So, how much will your parents pay each year?</p>
<p>There are many threads on this topic for those who care to use the search function.</p>
<p>My mistake. I did not mean to say parents EFC is 20K. I meant to say they will contribute 20K per year. Sorry :p</p>
<p>*My mistake. I did not mean to say parents EFC is 20K. I meant to say they will contribute 20K per year. Sorry *</p>
<p>If your parents will contribute $20k per year, then you will need nearly a full tuition scholarship…at least 2/3 or 3/4. A “half tuition” scholarship at many privates would leave you with about $30 - 35k to pay.</p>
<p>Much depends on the room and board costs at the schools that you’re applying to. Privates, flagships, and UCs tend to have high R&B costs…as much as $17k per year. (a NYU student recently mentioned that her shared dorm room costs $16k per year…and then you have to add the meal plan!! ) Then you also have to add a few thousand for travel, fees and books.</p>
<p>Note to self. Avoid UCs and New York. Also, I’ve saved up another 20K from work so as a whole I can contribute 25K per year</p>
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<p>Not the whole state of New York, just NYU! :)</p>
<p>Here’s a very useful resource published in the New York Times this past summer…</p>
<p>"Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid
It’s the fate of being in the middle: a good student but not Ivy caliber, strapped by college costs but not eligible for enough need-based aid. The New York Times analyzed College Board data from colleges and universities that award aid based on academic promise. Amounts represent the estimated merit aid given to first-time freshmen in 2011-12 (asterisks indicate final figures for 2010-11). "</p>
<p><a href=“Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com”>Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com;
<p>If you cut and paste this info into Excel, you can sort by “% of Freshmen getting merit aid”, which can then help you target the schools that give the most.</p>