I have a friend with a son at UAH that’s an engineering major, he’s a witty, quirky southern California kid. He’s in his second year at UAH and loving it! He has diverse friends and loads of internship possibilities.
@Midwestmomofboys our girls too go to schools that many would consider ‘beneath’ them because we could afford them after significant merit. My d looked at UAH too (but the LAX coach had no interest so she scrapped that).
Another school that comes to my mind for you is University of Pittsburgh. There have been several students from our Midwest area who received merit scholarships. They have rolling admission. And they also have an honors program.
I’d also add that it’s better to start in Engineering and switch to Math than the reverse. I also wonder if applying to Engineering will get her better offers.
While sympathetic to the predicament and the posts have been super helpful, I have to be frank and say I am confused by the mentality that college should be free or close to it. We are not entitled to life, liberty and a free college education, but more and more people feel that way. But there seem to be lots of options to do that or close to it which you posters have been kind to provide.
Part of the problem is you learn so much AFTER the first kid goes through it. Which is why there is cc I suppose…
Doesn’t seem like OP is interested, but to set the record straight, the Presidential scholarship at UNM is competitive & requires separate application. It is NOT full ride, the $$ is off OOS cost of attendance. Still a screaming deal.
My D had UNM as her safety and was awarded the lesser Amigo scholarship which would have brought her costs down to in-state rates which at UNM means about $18k total per year (including room & board). Not the $10k OP can afford, but student should be able to earn $5k over summer & school year, leaving only $3k to be borrowed. Additional costs for travel need to be part of the equation.
My D attends elsewhere. Her merit awards were similar to what OP quoted; I think full scholarships are very rare except for the targeted schools on lists mentioned above. The last time I checked the yolasite was not being updated, a shame.
I think these are some of the most helpful types of discussions on CC. I have lurked and seen someone who started a thread feeling like they had no affordable options end up with so many great ideas for finding the affordable on more than one occasion. Thank you helpful posters!
I just saw that your D may be interested in engineering. It will be very difficult for her to graduated in 4 years if she does not start on that track as a freshman. It is easier to switch out to other majors than to try to switch in.
This path is not generally possible. Your D can accept and defer a year, but many colleges specifically state that you cannot accept, defer and apply elsewhere during the year you’ve deferred. When you defer, you are often asked to sign a statement saying that you will not apply elsewhere. Some colleges require parents to sign this statement as well. It is an ethics violation if you ignore this and apply elsewhere.
And if you are wondering how this is enforced…generally, you need a transcript from your high school to apply elsewhere and your HS guidance counselor may well tell you that the high school will not send out your transcript to any other schools unless and until you notify the college where you have deferred that you have decided to waive your acceptance and reapply. (Some colleges make your high school sign the “no applications after agreeing to defer” agreement too. ) At least some colleges require a second deposit from deferred students as well and, of course, if you go elsewhere you lose both deposits.
For the benefit of other parents… I haven’t read each post, and I don’t want to beat on you @clowncar , but while your daughter is obviously a good student, she isn’t exceptional in the eyes of the colleges. A 31 ACT and GPA of 4.2 is of course good,but it’s not great. To get the kind of scholarships you were hoping for, she really needed a super high ACT and the highest UW GPA, and probably fantastic Letters of Rec and ECs too.
Be proud that she has been accepted to so many colleges with good scholarships. She worked hard, but so do MANY students. I think she is lucky to have been offered half off tuiton scholarships. I am not sure why you say no one is going to bat for her. She has been offered lots of merit scholarships, and it’s unfortunate you expected more than that. At the end of the day, the very best scholarships are always going to go to the students with the very best numbers, and that means grades AND test scores. Colleges can’t put ECs in their statistics.
To make a college a little more affordable, you can ask for more money. Do this only for the top contender though. You can tell them she has been offered X money at X college and tell them if they can match it, she will attend their school. Colleges are very familiar with requests like this, so you won’t be seen as being greedy or anything. Best of luck, I hope it all works out for her.
ETA: Your daughter can save a lot of money, especially at public institutions, by taking CLEP exams and testing out of general ed classes. And of course, she can also get credit for AP exams at many colleges. Those two things can save a ton of money.
I want to thank everyone who has posted on this thread for their thoughts and contributions. As the daughter of a college professor myself, I know very well that college is not a right and that we are very fortunate in this country that our children have so many collegiate options. Yesterday I was feeling in crisis mode, so I am grateful to all of you for keeping me grounded and helping me put things back into perspective. All the suggestions made on this thread are most helpful, and I have reread them multiple times already. I have only one child, so this is my first and last experience with a child’s college search process. I am indeed very proud of my D and her hard work and the scholarships she has been offered. I am confident she will land somewhere where she can blossom and grow. As my father says, “you can get a great college education at virtually any college, because it’s largely based on what you put into it.”
Thanks everyone! (Feel free to continue to add thoughts and suggestions if you’d like. All insight is helpful.)
I’m glad you’re getting so many helpful replies, OP. I have to second the idea of getting merit money from a school that’s a little less prestigious than originally considered. My daughter got into Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, and they gave her a lot of merit money. She’s a freshman there now and just loves it. It’s the perfect fit for her. They offered her a music scholarship for non-music majors, which included a little money but more importantly, free weekly piano lessons that come with a credit each semester! They also have a photography department, so that’s her major. Sure, people say, “Huh?” when I tell them where she’s going, but what matters is that she’s getting a good education and is thriving. We have another kid in college, too, so it’s tough!
A note on the suggestion to ask for more money. This is only likely to be successful is if the school with the better offer is comparable or better than the school you are asking. If the better offer is from a lower ranked school, less likely to be considered relevant. And some schools still won’t budge.
I would like to second MaineLonghorn’s post. Susquehanna is an absolutely gorgeous campus with excellent academics and arts, and is very, very generous. My son didn’t end up there because he is, cough, cough, foreign language averse, but everything about the school was fantastic. He ended up in a peer school, of which there are a nice bunch in Pennsylvania. May I also suggest McDaniel in Maryland? The website lists the scholarships available, some up to full tuition. However, a gap year would be required there for the Honors scholarships. However, the scholarships are automatic based on stats, so you can actually see what your daughter would be qualified for.
Also, two of my kids have reached down for various reasons, and I can tell you that each of them received surprise scholarships and grants from several of their colleges. In one case it was a very significant amount of money, along with a big recruiting push that made my son feel very good. The school he ended up at sent him a $2000 departmental scholarship in April, along with a very nice, personal letter from the department chairperson. It made him feel connected directly to the department, and every little bit helps! Of course, this does involve reaching down and less prestige, but his criteria were so specific that he was going to apply where he was going to apply anyway.
Would you consider Catholic colleges? Xavier in Cincinnati offers 10 full tuition scholarships. I don’t know how far along they are in the admissions/scholarship award process, though they are definitely still accepting applications. They do not have straight engineering, I think.
Also, I don’t know if the Presidential scholarships at Creighton (in Omaha) are full tuition or not (or if she’d fit the stats). They also have a long list of endowed scholarships; maybe something there might fit her? Application deadline is 2/1 so she would have to move fast. Don’t know if they offer engineering.
She would fit the eligibility criteria for St, Louis U’s full tuition scholarship (and they do have engineering) but their priority deadline for merit awards was 12/1. Still accepting applications but may be out of merit money at this point.
These are just three midwest schools that came to mind, since you mentioned that she didn’t want to go too far from home.