Small LACs with merit aid for this student

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've been looking for small LACs for my D, who hasn't decided on a major but is interested in Bio, Chem, and Neuroscience. She has a 3.9 unweighted gpa, 6 APs and her practice ACT was a 30, but she's hoping to improve on this when she takes the real test next month. </p>

<p>We are not eligible for FA and so have been looking for merit aid. So far (from checking the recent CDS pages) colleges that appeal but don't give much or any merit aid include:</p>

<p>Carelton
Grinnell
Macalester
Pitzer
Whitman</p>

<p>Of these, I'd say Mac is near the top at the moment. Colleges I've found that seem to be more generous with merit aid include:</p>

<p>Beloit
Kalamazoo
Oberlin
Willamette
Juniata
Lawrence U
Wooster</p>

<p>She would prefer a school that is in or close to a city rather than out in a corn field, and we've been mostly looking at West and Midwest, though I think she'd consider East as well. (Not South--she hates the heat.) Do you have any recommendations? I don't think she's as excited about the schools on the second list as the first, and I really don't want her to apply to a bunch of schools that will cost 50-60k a year. The thread I found on good colleges for merit aid is several years out of date.</p>

<p>Any suggestions greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Have you considered Kenyon? It offers a variety of merit aid.
[Academic</a> Scholarships - Admissions & Aid - Kenyon College](<a href=“http://www.kenyon.edu/x10027.xml]Academic”>http://www.kenyon.edu/x10027.xml)</p>

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<p>I am going to Marymount Manhattan College, which could fit your description. It is right in NYC and is very small - less than 2000 students. It is about 40,000 per year including room and board and they do give merit aid and have leadership grants as well. The most awesome thing about the college is their internship program. They are partnered with some really great companies right in NYC. MMC is strong in the arts, but they do have a pretty impressive science department.</p>

4

<p>For the East, take a look at:</p>

<p>Wheaton College - MA
Connecticut College - CT
Skidmore College - NY
Hobart & William Smith - NY
Drew University - NJ
St Lawrence University - NY
Hamilton College - NY
Colgate University - NY
Middlebury College - VT</p>

<p>Not sure if all of them have merit aid…or field of study your child is interested in.</p>

5

<p>Carelton- corn field, no merit
Grinnell, corn field, generous merit
Macalester - no merit, city
Pitzer- urban, no merit???, hot???
Whitman - not in a cornfield but Walla Walla is hardly urban, no merit unless a top student
Beloit - manufacturing town, great merit
Kalamazoo - KZoo is a small city and pretty nice, merit available, West Mich U also located there
Lawrence U - Appleton about the same size as Kzoo, old manufacturing town
Wooster - cornfield, merit</p>

6

<p>Grinnell has merit aid.</p>

<p>A more isolated campus does not mean a lack of things to do. There often is a greater sense of community because the students are more campus-centric, and the schools bring a ton of speakers, musicians, movies, performers, etc., onto the campus. At Grinnell, everything (or virtually everything) that takes place on campus is free, and I imagine that most small LACs have either free or low-cost events for all students as well.</p>

7

<p>Grinnell is very appealing and I’ve noticed that it’s one of the schools that offers a whole range of activities. But the CDS for 2011-12 reported they gave an average of $9549 to 44 freshmen. That’s out of a total of 448 freshmen. So yes, they do give merit aid, but unless I’m missing something, I can’t really put them in the generous category. Also, I heard that they had a huge increase of applicants this year.</p>

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<p>Haystack. Yes, these are all schools we’ve already checked out so I know their situations. It’s been tough to find LACs in cities that give merit, so we’ve had to look at small town schools as well. Pitzer is not really urban, btw. Claremont is a very small town that’s sort of built around the college, and LA is far enough away that it doesn’t feel suburban. But yes, hot weather. Also, I think admissions is more competitive than a lot of similar schools just because it’s in California.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Mikinster and Earthdancer. I’ll check these out!</p>

10

<p>Speaking as a Southern Californian who goes to school in Georgia (the South). Outside of summertime, California is usually hotter than most of the Southeast. I wouldn’t exclude schools in the Southeast if you’re looking into Pitzer. </p>

<p>Potential LACs/ smaller masters universities in or near cities with likely merit aid for your daughter.
Willamette
University of Puget Sound
Chapman University
University of Portland
Butler University
Coe College
Drake University
Lake Forest College
University of Evansville</p>

<p>If you’re willing to look into the northern parts of the Southeast
-Bellarmine University
-Guilford College
-Oglethorpe
-Rhodes College
-Wofford
Illinois Institute of Technology (if she wants a small technical school)
Possibly Lewis & Clark College</p>

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<p>Use these tables from Kiplinger, sort by average non-need-based aid (but also pay attention to what **percentage **of students receive merit aid!)</p>

<p>LACs - [Kiplinger’s</a> Best Values in Private Colleges-Kiplinger](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts&state_code]Kiplinger’s”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts&state_code)=ALL&id=none</p>

<p>Private universities - [Kiplinger’s</a> Best Values in Private Colleges-Kiplinger](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=prv_univ&state_code]Kiplinger’s”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=prv_univ&state_code)=ALL&id=none&sortby=ug<em>ft</em>nn<em>noneed</em>d&sortorder=DESC</p>

<p>My *suggestion *is to at least consider small universities (Brandeis, Clark) and perhaps small STEM schools (WPI). Some of these might better suit her requirements and still not be much bigger than a small LAC and offer merit aid. I threw in the STEM suggestion because, as a highly qualified female applicant, she might get significant merit aid :)</p>

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<p>Thanks, whenhen. Have looked at Chapman, UPS and L&C. I think she would prefer Portland to LA. Will check the others out.</p>

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<p>You might also have your daughter take the SAT, kids seem to do better at one than the other. My S goes to Whitman and really loves it, we all love Walla Walla. S receives a very nice chunk of merit aid.</p>

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<p>Your best bet is to get a Fiske Guide. For the most part, no one really ever suggests schools not in that guide. Pull out those too hot, too rural, whatever. Then look at the ones that are less selective and where your daughter will be in the top 25%. They are more likely to give you merit.</p>

<p>We just went through this process with a son with similar stats. The schools giving the best merit are in the midwest and the south. They also have a lower intitial price tag. The schools in the NW and CA (UPS, Willamette, L and C, Chapman) were way too expensive for us with little merit and high initial price tags. Same for most schools in the NE.</p>

<p>The schools in the midwest and south were the best values for us (fairly high EFC) based upon net price calculators.
Centre College
Rhodes
Wooster</p>

<p>Slighltly lower ranked…
Coe College
Lake Forest</p>

<p>Smaller universities with good merit…
Evansville
Drake</p>

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<p>Beantowngirl, Thanks for the links. Sorry, what is WPI?</p>

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<p>In the east, look into Muhlenberg and maybe Union</p>

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<p>WPI is Worcester Polytechnic Institute.</p>

<p>Look at Lewis and Clark and Willamette University in OR.</p>

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<p>A lot of the Catholic schools give nice merit packages, so she might want to look at any number of them. Also the women’s colleges seem to have some good merit as do some of the smaller Ohio privates. Kenyon and Oberlin are mentioned, but the pickings are a bit better at schools like Wittenburg, Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster, Otterbein, Denison, John Carroll. I know some kids that got some nice awards from Denison. PA has lots of small schools that have good merit as well. Ursinus is one that comes to mind, as well as Albright, Muhlenberg, Susquehanna, Gettysburg, Dickenson, Duquesne, Instead of Macalester, or in addition to it, look at Lawrence, Gustavus Adolphus and St Olaf’s. Others that come to mind are Ithaca College , Loyola, RIT, Bryant, Providence College, Goucher, Ithaca, Augustana, Drake, and Butler (I do like this school!). </p>

<p>When you are looking for sizable merit awards, you need to look for schools where your daugther is in the upper percentage at which they give scholarships test score wise. Example: Macalester’s ACT scores are 28-32, meaning that your daughter is in the midrange of getting accepted, forget any merit money; she’s not even close to a shoo in for getting in as a full pay. Only 5% get merit money at Macalester, so she would have to be in the top 2 1/2 percent to be in the running for any sizeable awards. Their average merit award is only about $5K, so unless there are top biggies in the picture, I would say her chances are about nil in getting any discount from that school. ‘’</p>

<p>At Gustavus Adolphus, she is in the upper quarter of the ACT range with a 30 and with 31% of the kids receiving merit, with an average award of about $10K, I would say, she has good shot at getting accepted there with some merit. You would have to look at their web pages to see if they have an big dollar awards and what one needs for consideration. Of you look at Denison, more than half the kids get merit money and the average award is about $15K, which makes the pickings look rather good there for her.</p>

<p>If your DD’s test scores are not in the upper 25% and the accept rates of the colleges are under 40%, it’s no sure thing she will be accepted much less get incentive money to go there. She needs to be looking at schools where she will be a top catch for them, and she has the grades for that, but she also needs the test scores to be in the upper ranges. Due to grading scales being all over the map, it’s easier to get a fix on the test scores.</p>

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<p>When considering schools that are known for giving generous merit:</p>

<p>That usually means that they are “generous” to those with test scores that are well-within the top 25% of the school. So, if the middle quartile range is 23-27, then an ACT 30 is well-within the top 25% and the school might award some nice merit. If the ACT is a 32+, the merit award might be very generous. </p>

<p>When schools determine merit they’ll look over their applicants. Usually, they’ll see that there’s a large pool of students who have high GPAs. There is a smaller pool of students who have high test scores. There is a much smaller pool of students who have BOTH high test scores and high GPAs. Those students are often in the top 5-10% of the school’s applicant pool. Those are usually the ones awarded the large merit scholarships. </p>

<p>Sometimes people hear that School X gives generous merit, and then people are disappointed when they or their child isn’t awarded much or anything. :(</p>

<p>My kids’ undergrad flagship is known for huge merit, so some often assume that the big awards are for all “good students”. Recently, I had to explain to a student why her good-but-not-high ACT wasn’t given any merit money from this school. She did have a high GPA, but that isn’t usually the tipping point for large merit. In her mind, the school is known for generous merit, so she wonders why she wasn’t awarded any. But her ACT isn’t considered to be merit-worthy by the school. In truth, the generous awards are only going to about 10-15% of the frosh class. Another 5% may be given nice awards. Another 5% might be given small awards. The rest (about 75%) are given very little or nothing for merit awards. That can be shocking for the empty-handed acceptee who applied expecting “generous merit” from the reputed school.</p>

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<p>Also, just to be clear; for 99% of the LACs; it is not really merit but tuition discounting. That is why the schools in the midwest and south give more ‘merit’. Without the ‘merit’, many (if not most) would have a hard time filling their class so they need to discount, especially for strong students. It is basically supply and demand. NE LACs have a huge pool of students, midwest and south, smaller. Supply and demand, not really merit.</p>