Small LACs with merit aid for this student

College Search & Selection
61

<p>SDonCC and tk: Thanks for your help with this.</p>

<p>And yes, I think we’ll probably “throw a few darts,” as you advise. I’ve noticed that the stats from Naviance based on her HS results are in general more optimistic than those on the CDS, so I’m crossing my fingers that at least at some of these schools she’ll have a bit of an edge. But yes indeed, no falling in love until we see the money, and I will make sure the majority of apps go to places where she’s near the top of the pile. Fortunately, my D has a fairly practical outlook–she recognizes she’ll probably need financial help for more than four years given her interests.</p>

<p>This thread has been really helpful for finding a few more schools for her list and also refocussing on the merit issue.</p>

62

<p>I just visited SUNY Geneseo yesterday. You have probably never heard of it but it is the best-ranked SUNY, very inexpensive, LAC with lots of top students who could have gone to top schools but couldn’t afford it. We were very impressed with the school. It is isolated, but the town is lovely–like a well-kept, charming New England town, the school buildings are very nice, old, collegiate-looking. All classes taught by professors, small classes, etc. I am happy to see we have this option, and would recommend others looking for affordable LACs. On the other hand, forget this because I don’t want everyone to know before my kid applies.</p>

63

<p>

</p>

<p>That number is derived from numbers in the Grinnell College Common Data Set for 2011-2012, which is posted here:
[Common</a> Data Set - Institutional Research | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/institutionalresearch/CDS]Common”>http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/institutionalresearch/CDS)
Go to sections H2 and H2A on pages 24-25.</p>

<p>537 apparently is the number Kiplinger used for "“undergraduates without need”. However, it actually includes the sum of:

  1. 481 students who were not determined to have need (1638 undergrads minus the 1157 determined to have need), PLUS
  2. 56 students who were determined to have need (but got merit aid, too.) This is the number in section H2 row “g”.</p>

<p>Think of it this way:
49% is the number of “no-need” students who get merit aid. However, some of those “no-need” students also get some need-based aid (even if it’s just some “self help” aid such as subsidized loans).</p>

64

<p>A good friend of mine was just accepted to Oberlin with a 15k/year scholarship. He had decent stats (2100 or so SAT, top 20 in class), but was heavily involved in scientific research, so having something that stands out like that might help.</p>

65

<p>Soyeah–Good to hear about Oberlin. Will have to look at her final test scores, but this is one of the colleges she will probably apply to. I’m hoping that being bilingual and raised overseas might make her a bit more interesting to Midwest schools, but who knows. Just have to throw those darts.</p>

<p>Redpoint–I hadn’t heard about this school, and will definitely check it out.</p>

<p>Just read a story about judges who can’t do math screwing up murder trials. Thought about how nice it is that there are plenty of numerate CCers out there. I did look at the CDS and finally see what was going on, but only after tk21 walked me through it. I don’t think it’s a fair practice to represent the stats the way Kiplinger’s has. Intentionally misleading, I assume, but what is the point?</p>

66

<p>Just to bring this conversation up to date for anyone looking for merit aid in the future, after college visits last summer, my D ended up applying to the following 8 colleges with a GPA of 3.9, 8 APs and an ACT of 32:</p>

<p>Case Western
Kalamazoo
Lawrence University
Macalester
Lewis and Clark
Oberlin
Scripps
University of Puget Sound</p>

<p>She was accepted at all 8 colleges, offered guaranteed 4-year scholarships of 22k per year at the first three, 15k per year at the second three, and no money at the bottom two. </p>

67

<p>Truman State is a public LAC that has both automatic and competitive merit scholarships:
<a href=“http://www.truman.edu/admission-cost/cost-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/automatic-scholarships/”>http://www.truman.edu/admission-cost/cost-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/automatic-scholarships/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In addition, it starts out at a relatively low price, even for out-of-state students:
<a href=“Tuition & Costs - Truman State University”>http://www.truman.edu/admission-cost/cost-aid/tuition-costs/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

68

<p>Thanks for the update, OSM. Some excellent choices. Which is she leaning toward?</p>

69

<p>It’s too bad she doesn’t like the heat; New College of Florida would be a perfect match for her. Pitzer offers very little financial aid. Fordham isn’t too large, and they offer good merit aid to qualified students. Did anyone mention Goucher previously?</p>

70

<p>Hi Momrath, She’s going to Lawrence University. We visited last summer and she fell in love with it, so she was very excited to get their generous scholarship offer. </p>

71

<p>Thank you for the update! Always helpful to know how things turn out – and congrats to her on those nice merit awards. Sounds like your homework paid off! </p>