Starting to plan a spring break college tour. Thinking of going south (from Ohio). DS will not disclose what interests him. But he will most likely end out in Social Science or Humanities. Shown a little interest in PPE type programs. As for school type, that is still unknown. We have been at everything from a small LAC to very large state flagships. We are unlikely to receive any FA. Therefore, we are merit hunting. Looking for places that he would have a chance of getting the total cost to around $40k/year. Here are some stats: Likely NMSF, SAT 1520 ( 770 EBWR, 750 M), ACT n/a, GPA 4.0 uw, 6 APs including this year (World(5), Maco(4), Stats(4), Lit, Physics 1, USH), rigorous private HS, will get the most demanding checkmark for class rigor.
This is the current proposed itinerary.
Day 1: Tulane. He at least looked at this in the Fiske guide.
Day 2: Alabama. The NMF scholarship at least requires consideration.
Day 3: Swanee. He will likely hate it. Didn’t like Kenyon. But it is in the path. Sometimes the driver gets to decide.
Day 4: Vandy/Rhodes. Vandy is a huge reach with a merit aid requirement. Hoping to be able to schedule both for one day.
Anything that we are missing? What would you add/subtract.
Centre College? I was intrigued, though we never made it to campus. Offers merit, seems to overlap a lot with Wooster, at least on paper, in terms of type of kids, non-traditional greek life, close community etc.
Hendrix in Arkansas is well worth a look for merit aid.
Doing Rhodes and Vanderbilt on the same day seems pretty unlikely to me. Personally, I’d consider skipping Vandy and spending more time at Rhodes and in Memphis if your time is so limited.
D is currently in her first year at Tulane, and Rhodes and Vanderbilt were her other two top choices (we visited all three). Similar stats as your S. My thoughts relative to those three based on our merit hunt experiences last year:
You may be able to get close to a net of $40k at Tulane with the caveat that they are currently making the conscious decision to move toward less merit and more need. The merit $ I have been seeing this year seems lower overall than last year for kids with similar stats. Still generous, but perhaps 10-20% lower. As an aside, she absolutely loves it and is thriving there.
Rhodes will likely get you where you need to be financially. Lower overall cost helps the cause. Really liked that place and would have been very happy had she ended up there. Agree with other posters that it would be very difficult to do both Rhodes and Vanderbilt in the same day. Frankly, if you are on a merit hunt, I would visit Rhodes and enjoy Memphis.
Vanderbilt does not give much in the way of merit except for a handful of their premier scholarships. Not to say it is impossible, but much less likely than the other places. FWIW, my and D’s Least favorite of the three. Nashville is a fun city though.
Wish you luck in your search. Enjoy the trip…aside from the schools, you have some wonderful cities to visit!
Thanks everyone. Brain cramp on my part. For some reason I was thinking that Rhodes was in Nashville.It has been awhile sine we looked at it. I guess we can either add a 5th day or take out Swanee.
I have a freshman at Tulane too and we did the whole southern college loop. One school that was not even on our radar until we visited was University of South Carolina in Columbia. They gave my son ( whose stats are good but not quite as good as yours) in state tuition plus a scholarship- I think our total for the year would’ve been 18k and they have an awesome honors college. I loved the facilities and the whole vibe of USC and my son did too, it was a close second to Tulane. Depending on what he ends up majoring in USC might be worth a look. We have a friend with 2 kids there right now and they absolutely love it. Good luck!
I was also going to suggest Centre and Hendrix, but not sure about the curriculum piece your son is seeking.
At the risk of expanding drive time, University of Richmond has a well-regarded PPEL program (and generous merit for strong students, with half and full tuition awards possible). If you were heading in that direction, American University might also be worth a look. Demonstrated interest is important. GW also has philosophy/public policy/political science integrated tracks. At American and GW, merit awards went up to about 25K/yr last time I checked; may have changed since then.
@mamaedefamila Thanks for the suggestions. Now I think I have two competing itineraries for him to decide from fro a spring break trip. #1 the SWS trip: Vandy, Alabama, Tulane, Rhodes
or
2 the ESE trip: American, George Washington U, U of Richmond, Washington & Lee
Trinity in San Antonio is very transparent about merit. On their web site, you can look up your son’s GPA and SAT and it says how much merit your son will get. I believe he will qualify for at least $25k per year and their total cost of attendance is about $55k. Furman also has decent merit.
I know many students who visited South Carolina, loved it and received in-state tuition. But I don’t know any who attended. There are some other state schools that will offer a student with your son’s stats in-state tuition. You could check out Kentucky and WVU. Maybe Georgia too.
Washington and Lee’s Johnson Scholarship is very competitive, but is a full ride. It is a great place for Social Sciences and Humanities, especially for Political Science majors. If he likes Politics, read about their Mock Convention. Richmond is definitely a good place to visit. Very pretty and PPEL major
Personally, I would drop American and GW or at least research their merit some more. I’m familiar with both colleges. They are expensive and in an area with a high cost of living (think room and board issues). I am very surprised that either is offering $25k. Even if they are, the advertised total cost of attendance at GW is $70k and American is $65k. The main part of GW does not have a campus. It is in the middle of DC and you can’t tell which buildings are part of the university and which are not. Physically very similar to NYU. So check if your son is ok with that before you visit. Their Mt Vernon campus is about 3 miles away and looks like a campus. But it is very small and I believe only has dorms and athletic facilities. I don’t think classes are held there.
I second the recommendation of looking at the South Carolina Honors Program. USC’s Honors program is considered the best in the country and it is probable that his stats will get him well below your 40K. He can pretty much design his own program there. It should be on his list for a large state type school look along with Alabama.
As for LACs, there are several. Look at the “Associated Colleges of the South” website for a pretty good list of the best, many of which are mentioned already and most of which will get you good merit. You could do a swing with the VA schools (Richmond & W&L), Davidson, USC & Furman, and then Alabama for an easterly route. Not sure where Davidson is on its merit money lately. He would be competitive for one of the named scholarships (Townes) at Furman but even with just their Bell Tower scholarship, you probably get down to 40K or a little less.
Unless he really wants to be in DC, I agree with @Hippo21 that American and GW are probably not going to meet the money piece.
Skip Vandy if you go on the SWS and add on either Birmingham-Southern, Centenary, or Hendrix. Vandy is very stingy merit-wise.
I am by no means a booster for GW. But in the interests of accurate information, last year’s accepted students thread reported Presidential merit scholarships of varying amounts up to 30K, with most clustering around 24-25K annually. So it is theoretically possible to get to the OP’s budget, although, yes, DC is an expensive place to live.
American’s current merit maximum listed on its website is 22K
@Eeyore123 Forgot to mention WVU. It awards merit for stats and is very easy to confirm what your child would obtain on its website.
I’ve been to several of the places you mentioned, & didn’t like any as much as I liked Oklahoma or Oklahoma State (both of which offer merit aid to out of staters).
Florida International would likely give you full tuition scholarship.
Just a suggestion, but those seeking merit aid seem to have better success when they match their scores to schools where they qualify as within the top 10 or 15 percent of admitted applicants.
We did a similar road trip for my daughter who is now a freshman at Trinity in San Antonio. She was only interested in small schools. Hendrix and Rhodes were both very generous with merit aid (and she had lower test scores than your kiddo). We liked Hendrix better than Rhodes (just based on personal taste, Hendrix was very laid back and had a charming campus, Rhodes felt a little more formal) We visited Centre but she did not click with it so she did not apply.