I’m looking at costs for the universities DS is applying to, and one them right off the bat only looks at grades and scores. DS
scores are too low for a decent scholarship, and they don’t seem to offer other scholarships for OOS students. This is also a huge football school. Are they not generous due to their football status? Is it worth applying to?
Most public universities do not offer a lot of merit aid for out of state students, even the very best and brightest. There are some exceptions if scores/grades are high enough - Alabama, A&M, etc…
Do you have instate options?
IMO, if you can’t afford a school and know the aid wont be there, don’t apply.
Are you running the NPC Net Price Calculator for his college ideas? It works best if the parents are married and neithr is self employed.
It’s not football that makes some colleges less generous. In general, since public colleges are supported by their tapayes, the best deals don’t go to kids from other states. With some exceptions. And you can look into whether your state has an agreement with a neighboring state for tuition discounts. On another threead, someone suggested one for you.
We have no idea what school you’re referring to and this is the “College Esays” forum. Sure, some colleges decide mostly on stats, while others are holistic. But he needs to be qualified.
South Carolina gives some really nice merit aid for OOS students.
Most places only consider grades and test scores for admissions and scholarships. That isn’t news at all. What special talent or ability does your DS have that is outside those items that makes you think DS merits scholarship money? Is DS an athlete, musician, dancer? If the places on the list offer scholarships for specific test scores, how close is DS to the cut off?
That’s the educational reality around the world, so why should the US be any different?
And unlike the rest of the world, kids who DON’T have scores and grades can still get into very good schools by starting out at a community college. Which is inexpensive.
There are options. Don’t despair. Folks here will help you.
I went to graduate school at a university where the football program did not only pay for itself, according to what I was told at the time it paid for all of the very good athletic programs in the university. The big football programs at US universities that take football seriously are big money makers.
I am pretty sure that football is not the issue.
The issue is that public universities in the US are funded by the state. Many states have tight budgets, resulting in public state funded universities that don’t give much if any aid to out of state students.
There are a lot of very good universities. A good student should be able to find some that are academically very good and economically reasonably priced. However, universities won’t all be reasonably priced.
Merit scholarships are awarded only to students who reach an academic bar set by the school.
You say your kiddo doesn’t have the stats to get a merit scholarship.
This has nothing to do with their football program.
If you are looking for merit awards, you need to find schools where your kid’s stats meet the bar set by the college.
The one you are talking about doesn’t meet this criteria.
Out of state scholarships and/or tuition waIvers
are available at places like: Miami of Ohio, Flaorida State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, LSU, New Mexico, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Ok. State, U. West Virginia, Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas State, South Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky.
Do yourself a favor and don’t let him apply to schools you can’t afford via NPC and there’s is no chance for merit. It’s just a waste of resources and makes for difficult battles later.
Maybe have him look at some test optional colleges? If you have need and his grades are good, perhaps some possibilities?
But most still rely on GPA and scores to qualify
I’m puzzled. Merit money goes either to students who are at the top academically, or who have some special talent that the university values. As a parent of a kid who always had iffy test scores, I’m sympathetic… but confused as to why one would expect any school to give merit money to any applicant without top grades and/or scores. It’s tough not to be in the running for such things…but hardly unexpected.
http://fairtest.org/university/optional
Link to list of schools that don’t emphasize or require scores, many of them top schools. However, for merit aid, often scores are needed. I know some schools that will give merit for some sort of extraordinary service to the community.
You wrote this in another thread…but this says DD which is a daughter…and this thread says DS which usually means a son.
Do you have twins looking for college…or siblings? Or what?
If these are the stats for the kiddo you posted about in this thread, there are schools where he or she could get merit aid.
If not…what ARE the stats of the kiddo you refer to on this thread?
@ilovebillyjoel – At most schools, merit money goes to kids who are above average applicants. Good rule of thumb to get merit money is to have stats at the 75th percentile (or higher) for that school. The schools are paying to raise their reported average stats. So basically, merit money comes from schools that are more safety than match or reach.
Your kid can find plenty of merit money from lots of colleges. But not from every school and very often not from the dream school. It is what it is.
Honestly I don’t seen where you have reason to complain.
Public universities are supported by taxes of people who live and work in that particular state. Therefore it makes perfect sense that these universities give priority as well as better funding to children who live in that state (whose parents have been indirectly supporting the university through their state taxes). A few state universities offer scholarships to OOS students but those are generally to lure very high achieving students to the school.
Merit money must be earned though one’s HS academic record – it isn’t given away to everyone. If your S wants merit money you need to look for schools that do offer merit and and where his academic stats put him in the top 25% or so of students.
You may need to take a more realistic look at what options will be both academically and financially viable for your S.
What kind of OOS scholarship were you looking for at this school… that is not based on grades/scores? If you want merit… he has to apply to schools where he qualifies for merit.
If you want non-need based $ from a school, you have to have/be something the school wants/needs. If its not academic/test score chops, what else do you have? A special skill/talent/series of accomplishments/diversity that is important to/needed by that school? Many scholarships are academic merit scholarships, as they can be predictors of success and schools want not only to increase the stats of their admitted students, but they want to have strong graduation rates. So, there is no need to complain about what they want for academic merit money.
Like others say…if you can’t afford the college, you have to find colleges that you can afford. Maybe he loves UCLA but it is full price if you are out of state. So maybe you have to tell him UCLA is not in the cards for him. You can only afford $XX,000 per year, so he has to find a college that will have a net cost of that. Maybe you pick a cheaper school (e.g., SUNYs) or maybe you find some that have merit scholarships for his scores.