<p>However, any time you are looking for money, particularly a lot of it, it’s like playing the lottery. Nothing wrong with buying a few tickets , but betting the house is not a good idea. As long as there is an absolutel affordable safety and some other likelies on the list and the understanding that those are the schools are likely, nothing wrong with taking some chances.</p>
<p>Anyone who needs/wants a good amount of merit scholarship money needs a good strategy…not just a list of “maybe, hopefully” merit schools. </p>
<p>1) Apply to some schools that your child LIKES and will give ASSURED and desired amounts of merit scholarships for his stats.</p>
<p>2) Maybe apply to a couple of “parent picks” that will give large assured merit.</p>
<p>3) Apply to some schools that offer highly competitive merit…these often require “scholarship interview weekends” in the February timeframe and may not be easily do-able for a busy senior. </p>
<p>4) Apply to some schools where merit is competitive but doesn’t require interview weekends. </p>
<p>5) Apply to some schools that need-based aid is super generous (like HYPS), and maybe a miracle will happen.</p>
<p>I agree that the above are all considerations, but then again, if you want to “buy some high odds lottery tickets” , go right on ahead. One may come through. I’ve seen it happen. It’s just that you can’t count on it and that has to be thoroughly understood. Those who think otherwise might spare themselves the pain of getting acceptances they can’t afford. My kids had no problem with it, and actually one school where we did not expect any merit money, in fact we doubted acceptance, came up with a small award that made it just affordable in one case last year.</p>
<p>I probably overshot the mark. I looked again, though, and if the OP’s son is willing to look at LACS in the 50-75 national rankings range, he may well find places that will give him merit for stats (a lot of the CTCLs, for example). There are some very nice schools in that category.</p>
<p>EFC of about $45 and state U costs of $25K means that at the most generous school in the country, the OP’s kid stands a chance of about a $20K gap. Dad thinks he can come up with about $10K of it and kid can borrow $5500 of it through Staffords Leaves about a $4500 a year gap. I think that’s doable and I don’t see a mention of the kid putting in some sweat equity towards the cost. </p>
<p>Yes, those who have more money than you, a lot more can afford to pay for their kids college without their kids putting some savings, earnings and loans towards the experience. But very few with less can. If you are comparing your lot to the teeny tiny number of kids who win the jackpot of a full financial aid ride without parent or kid paying a dime, yes, they do get more, but you might as well be playing the lottery at your corner store for those odds even if your income were on par with theirs.</p>
<p>But those schools that are generous with financial aid are within reach for you and your son, IF he can gain admittance (an difficult endeavor right there) and IF he is willing to put some of his money, time and work into the venture.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the advice. A few things: 4.7 is weighted GPA. It basically means he is all A’s in HS, which includes upweighting for honors and AP. He also does have a hook: he is a competitive athlete and can definately play for all DIII schools. He can not even walk on the big state U teams, but could walk on a mid-major DI schools like Tulane or Lehigh. He really wants to play his sport in college, so this eliminates Michigan, UNC, UVA, etc. He could not be recruited at an Ivy, so his chances of getting in there are slim to none IMHO. </p>
<p>When I originally started this thread, I wanted to see what specific recommendations people would know about to help focus the search. For instance, I believe that Tulane would offer him about $25K in merit aid. He will look at Tulane. I have gotten a few other ideas from the other posts here as well.</p>
<p>But based on what I have read on this thread, and on several others, my perception is that fin aid/merit aid at all schools is far from formulaic. The awards are across the board. And the awards depend upon what the schools are looking for in a given year. So it is hard to pin much of this down in advance. I think the best thing to do is to look at a lot of schools, and try to get as many pre-reads on merit/fin aid as possible. I think I can do that through the team coaches we will be talking to. This should save a lot of time and money in that we can avoid applying to schools that do not look good. It will take more time than I want it to, but the time spent should be worth the investment, as it could mean saving lots of $$.</p>
<p>Ivies do recruit athletically. So don’t count them out. I’ve seen athletes get into Harvard, and the financial aid there is very good, the best,even for families making a lot more than yours is. </p>
<p>Yes, financial aid is across the board in terms of offers, and so when you need the money you have to cast a wide net. It’s a moving target, as well, so it’s difficult to set one sights on just a few schools. Tulane, for example, has been very generous with merit money in the last few years, but that can end any time and I don’t expect them to give advance notice when it happens.</p>
<p>In the search? As many as you can handle. In the applications, you’ll find yourself making cuts especially with Early action, rolling decisions, good safety choices and athletic offers that often come early. Once you have one in the bag that is acceptable, you can eliminate those you don’t like as much. That happened with my son who had a safety where he could commute. Not ideal for him, but anything that did not fall as high on the desirability list was eliminated.</p>
<p>*Ivies do recruit athletically. So don’t count them out. I’ve seen athletes get into Harvard, and the financial aid there is very good, the best,even for families making a lot more than yours is. *</p>
<p>They may be concerned that the “non-HYP” ivies don’t give super-aid and will expect them to pay more than they can.</p>
<p>What sport is he in? It sounds like Football from the Div I schools she has eliminated.</p>
<p>If your son is set on playing sports at the DII or DIII level, his coach should also be able to help. We had kids at our high school who now play on those two levels and their coaches at the club and high school team helped them make films and info packets for the players to send to schools. Obviously you would do this once down to the top 6-8 schools.</p>
<p>This criteria, DII and DIII schools, should also help you narrow down your field. </p>
<p>If LAC’s are of interest, then being a male helps, and also if your son wishes to change geographic area that can also be a plus for some schools looking to up their geographic diversity.</p>
<p>Your sons classroom achievements are strong too. I am sure he will be welcome in many, many schools.</p>
<p>My S plays tennis. He is not good enough to be recruited by Ivy (tennis is one of the few sports where Ives are nationally competitive). He is good enough to play at all LAC/DIII, but of course all these schools are very expensive. So, while those schools will be considered, we will also look at schools where admissions is not as competitive, but we can potentially get a good package. Plus, if nothing works out, we will have OOS backups. I have a preliminary list of 15 schools total right now. I think that enough to deal with to start.</p>
<p>Are all the big Div I schools also big with men’s tennis? </p>
<p>You mention UMich, UVA, UNC as not working because they’re Div I, but are they big with tennis? I realize that those schools probably won’t give enough merit, so they may not work out anyway.</p>
<p>Most of the schools with big football programs also have very competitive tennis programs. So if you see them on TV in the fall on Saturday, it probably is not an option for my S. U Mich, UVa and UNC have exceptional tennis programs. But I will look into Villanova – that is a good tip.</p>
<p>Xwords59: what is your son’s intended major? Sounds like he wants a LAC if affordable… any other criteria with geography etc? I’m curious which schools are on your list of 15. I’ve got a junior d and we are sorting through schools as well.</p>
<p>For people looking for an affordable LAC, you might want to consider Truman State University. It’s not technically a LAC - its charter is to be “Missouri’s Highly Selective Public Liberal Arts and Sciences University” - but it has much the feel of a LAC. A little under 6,000 undergraduates, and an COA ranging from about $14,000 (Missouri residents) to $18,000 (Midwest Exchange state residents) to $21,000 (everybody else).</p>
<p>Your EFC is greater than my annual gross income (and husband is currently unemployed, seeking work). My daughter shopped very carefully for schools that had high merit scholarships. Her private school ended up costing less than our state flagship - which didn’t offer her major anyway. She will end up with about $50K in debt after her Masters degree, but also will have a very marketable degree. Thank goodness she’s in a medical field so we didn’t have to co-sign her loans, so we are not responsible (and with my husband unemployed, she’d have had to drop out this year).</p>
<p>Life isn’t fair. Just because a kid has the grades and scores to get into the very top schools doesn’t mean they will get there. But there are some great, small, lesser known schools that give good educations and graduate people into good jobs and grad schools, and where your son can be perfectly happy. Or, since it is his education, let him take out Stafford loans and work summers and/or during the school year to help attend a more expensive school if that’s so important.</p>
<p>Those are great stats. I don’t understand the replies that “2220 is not even top quartile” and then next reply that this is just average… maybe at MIT but cripes don’t go thinking for top 50 the average SAT score is 2300 or higher.</p>
<p>Merit is there, look at schools in the 25-100 range of national ranking. But you’ve got to plan on say 15 total apps (at $60 to $75 each gotta have some limit). Be sure to apply by early deadlines (frequently mid-OCT to early-Dec)… top scholarships frequently require this. Even with good competitive stats it’s still a bit random so cast a wide net, especially at schools more distant than where you live… I think schools like some geographic diversity.</p>