Hi! Looking for:
-LACs of small universities
-northeast, CA, west coast, mid-Atlantic region would be best, Midwest is okay
-at least fairly liberal, social action/justice mission or programs would be nice (somewhere that would look on my reproductive rights activities favorably)
-large amounts of merit aid available ($30,000/year at least)
-I’m interested in politics, anthropology, history, environmental, geography, possibly geology. Looking to go to grad school in public health, city/urban planning, politics, or something similar.
Thanks!
Go to the Financial Aid forum and look at the pinned threads for some merit aid options.
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large amounts of merit aid available ($30,000/year at least)
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How are we supposed to know how much merit you’d get from particular schools when you haven’t given any stats? Do you realize that schools that give such large awards only give them to their top students?
We need to know your test scores and GPA to know whether you would be a top student and big merit recipient.
How much will your family pay each year?
what is your major and home state?
If you are looking for at least $30k per year in merit aid, you are essentially looking for a full-tuition scholarship at a private LAC. Many LACs only have a small number of these, and they tend to go to students with top stats, that is, students that could go to the most competitive universities, but choose instead to go to an LAC. Many college websites have a page on merit scholarships. On the College of Wooster’s website, for example, you would see that Dean’s scholarships of $23,500 are available, and college scholar awards of $27,000. A little less than you are looking for. You are just going to have to do a lot of research. State schools are another thing altogether, and it obviously depends upon where you live.
Depending on your family’s income, you may find that if you can get into one of the top LACs that need based aid will be higher than $30,000. Look into that.
Running the NPCs at the top LACs (mainly Vassar :)) who only offer need based aid soon. I know my family doesn’t qualify for anything at Oberlin, so I’d definitely be going up the ladder to find enough need based aid at an LAC. I know merit aid is hard to come by at LACs.
I’m from Ohio, legacy at Oberlin & Bryn Mawr.
4.0 IB diploma student, 3 APs sophomore year. Based on practices, I’d say 32-33 ACT. Pretty good ECs (theatre, almost a Taekwondo black belt, co-chair of a regional church organization, environmental club, reproductive rights related activities are probably my most unique thing, I created and helped to lead a weeklong reproductive justice program, which was the first of its kind)
Possible majors are in the original post.
Full rides based on academic merit are few and far between - and not likely at the nationally known LACs unless you are bringing something highly desirable to the table (URM, international, etc…). If, however, you qualify for some need-based aid in combination with merit aid, you might be able to find something. Take a look at Grinnell. Strong social justice focus and social entrepreneurship program. Merit aid (Trustee Fellowship) is $12,000 if you qualify for the full-amount. They are also generous with financial aid. They otherwise meet the criteria you have set.
Holy Cross-great school near Boston offers a few merit scholarships.
My daughter was offered $25,000 a year in merit aid from Beloit (she’s not an URM, international or athlete). Her stats: 33 ACT and 3.9uw gpa. She’s waiting to hear from other schools. If you’re female, I’d suggest Bryn Mawr and Mt. Holyoke, the latter has especially nice merit aid if you qualify.
And fyi, since you mentioned Anthropology, Beloit sends the most students on to PhDs in Anthropology than any other LAC.
@mountaingoats - You must have a high family income. Be sure that you aren’t overestimating that income though. Some people think that $120,000 a year is a lot, but you would still get substantial need-based aid at the top LAC’s with that income level.
The example that @Dawnpaige gave of $25,000 in aid from Beloit is nice, but their tuition is $42,500, so that means $17,500 to pay for tuition and then room and board on top of that, so with books and other expenses easily another $13,000, so we’re talking over $30,000 a year to go there. Mountaingoats, is your family income so high that if you were to get into one of the “meets full need” colleges that you wouldn’t get at least enough aid to drop your total cost down below $30,000 a year?
Please investigate the schools on this list if you haven’t already - http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2014/09/15/colleges-and-universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need
If your family does make a lot of money so that you would basically get ZERO aid (so that a degree at a top LAC would cost you $60,000+ a year), then I suppose you COULD just pay that. I mean, at some point if you make enough it’s not a big deal.
OR, you could keep investigating merit-aid and see what you could get.
Or you could go to a college where the cost is lower. Investigate some schools here - http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/best-value
Good luck!
There are public LACs with low OOS list prices, such as UMN Morris, Truman State, and UNC Asheville.
Colgate University
@stepay, fyi, I just mentioned Beloit because the poster was asking about schools that give $30k/year in merit aid and Beloit came close to that for my D (mountaingoats didn’t say what the final bill needed to be). Hope that clarifies.
@Dawnpaige - No worries. I didn’t think it was a bad example. Was just trying to get the @Mountaingoates to consider if getting better than a $30,000 price tag was possible.
New College of FL offered $15k to most out-of-state students this past year, bringing cost of attendance down to about $25k without need-based aid. Occidental offers limited number of merit scholarships. They might be perfect for the OP.
I know this was a short thread, but for an update, I received in merit at LACs:
25k/year each at Kenyon, Oberlin, & Bryn Mawr
Full tuition at Mount Holyoke & Denison