Trying to leave no stone unturned.

Paying for College
21

<p>As Ctinct brings up, a lot of the awards, like the Presidential at Gettysburg , still leave a lot of the cost way up there. My son got a $30K award from Fordham (a good addition to your list, by the way) and we were so thrilled until we realied thta it was still going to cost us about $35K for him to go there. Getting the top awards at any of the schools you have listed is not easy going. $20K is really a big award, except for the fact that the COAs of some of these big boys is over $60K these days. It’s really discouraging. I have a niece and a nephew who each wanted to go to Drexel, each got merit money in about that amount, but it still was more than their state schools to go there. so that was that. </p>

<p>The best packages I have seen have been from Catholic schools. It’s easy for a student to pick up awards of $5K and under, but beyond that, it gets very difficult.</p>

<p>It seems to me that you have a typical list–willing to pay full for the schools your student wants the most and discounting as you perceive ratings, reputation and recognition so justifiying it.</p>

<p>I recommend checking out Cornell’s School of ILR which is state subsidized and is a great pre law choice. UMichigan, UPitt, U Wisconsin, are also great schools with a slight discount over what a private would cost, and if they throw in a bit of merit sweetner, can be a good deal My neighbor’s DD is going to UMich with a $10K merit award and with the sticker price before discount being about $10k less than Notre Dame, which was her first choice, she decided that the $20K a year savings was worth going to UMich. A friend’s DD is going to Georgia Tech with a little sugar giving a similar type of savings.</p>

22

<p>I appreciate all of those who have taken the time to reply. Thank you. I am aware of the geographic considerations but there is a very specific reason for us containing our search in the manner that we have.
Our family is very close and there are no secrets as it relates to this conversation. I had wanted our daughter to consider Villanova because I think the merit aid possibilities could be significant, so far she hasn’t expressed much enthusiasm for that alternative.
I will do the research on some of the schools that have been suggested, I will dig a little deeper in regard to the NPC’s although I don’t have much optimism. The sense that I have is the majority of merit aid possibilities will not be known until that information is received from each school if admission is offered.
Thank you</p>

23

<p>Definitely check out UPitt. I had similar stats and received a full-tuition scholarship there. It is also a top public for pre-law students.</p>

24

<p>You might look at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia; they appear to have a good bit of aid. </p>

<p>I agree with what everyone has said about saving the money for law school; my nephew got a full ride for undergrad at his state flagship, coming out with money and lots of free travel, but has $150K in debt from going to law school at GWU.</p>

25

<p>Thank you, I will explore UPitt and St. Joseph’s further.</p>

26

<p>As long as you have the numbers, the key thing for Pitt merit awards: apply very early in the cycle. They are given away on a rolling basis, so it really pays to submit ASAP in the fall.</p>