What are the best undergraduate colleges for science in general?

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The University of Maryland (College Park) does offer some large merit scholarships, but if I’m not mistaken, the biggest awards (the Banneker/Key scholarships) go to only 3 or 4 students. Johns Hopkins has a Westgate scholarship, up to full ride, for engineering. Presumably it too is extremely hard to get. Competition might be a little less intense for big awards from the University of Pittsburgh.

The Northeast usually isn’t the best region to look for big merit awards. You may need to consider less selective schools, possibly in distant states that you wouldn’t otherwise prefer. If a small liberal arts college has any appeal, consider Rhodes, Hendrix, or Center College. New Mexico Tech is a small technology institute that offers some merit scholarships (though I don’t know if they go up to full ride for OOS students). The University of Alabama seems to be one of the most generous state flagships for merit awards to OOS students.

Don’t count on loans to cover more than a small fraction of your costs.