What Schools can My son can a full ride or full tuition scholarship to

Paying for College
1

<p>My son is graduating next year and is looking at colleges. We have financial issues and are looking for ways to pay for college without heavy debt. Although we live in New Jersey, my son is not interested in any of the state schools here as anything but fallback options. What schools (or what kind of schools) could my son get a full ride or full tuition scholarship too?</p>

<p>[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 1550/2280 (1550/2300 superscore)
[ *] SAT II: 770 Chem, 800 USH
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.69 (strong upward trend 3.21 freshmen year, 3.86 Soph Year, and 4.0 Jr. Year with 5 honors/Ap classes, one regular class, and gym; took all the hardest courses except apush which he was ineligible for bc of his freshmen year grades, but he attempted to make up for this by getting an 800 on ush sat and hopefully a 5 on the AP test for ush.)
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis):Havent gotten APUSH or AP Psych scores back yet, but expecting 4 or 5s on both </p>

<p>[ *] Senior Year Course Load:AP English, AP Calc BC, AP Physics, AP Italian, AP Gov., Acting/ceramics (both are half year classes), Gym
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Most likely a NMF (231 on the PSAT)</p>

<p>[ /list]Subjective:[ /b][list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):Television and Film Society (Treasurer, Won a Telly with society, and with the society came in first place in NJ for the “U Got Brains” PSA contest), Italian Honors Society (Treasurer), Politics Club (Co-vice President, it was defunct and he helped to bring it back), National Honors Society, Co-Founder/Editor-in Chief of Threadflo.com (a website that he and his friends started and worked on)
[ *]community service: Tutored an economically disadvantaged every Monday during his soph, jr., and senior years, volunteered at a hospital two to three days a week during the summers after soph and junior years<br>
[ *] jobs: gave guitar lessons<br>
/list]Other[ /b][list]
[ *] State (if domestic applicant):NJ</p>

<p>[ *] School Type: Competitive Public Schools (about 10 or so kids go on to Ivy’s each year)
[ *] Ethnicity: White
[ *] Gender:Male
[ *]Income Bracket: around $85,000 per year</p>

2

<p>Have you read through these threads?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1151-financial-aid-scholarship-resource-threads-start-here.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1151-financial-aid-scholarship-resource-threads-start-here.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>good luck <em>hugs</em></p>

3

<p>Do a search for the thread by momfromtexas…what I learned about full rides…or something like that. The thread is old and some of the specific scholarship info also old…but the strategies used still are very good ones. She found full rides for both of her kiddos!</p>

<p>I will say…you have included much about what your son has done in high school…but what does he want in a college? Size, geographic location, private/public, potential majors, climate, you get the point. </p>

<p>Also, you say you have “financial issues”. Does this mean you have good income but lots of debt, or does this mean you have limited income? Not wishing to pry, but these are two very different scenerios.</p>

4

<p>I read through momfromtexas’s thread, although i am not sure whether my son should be looking at similar schools as her son that got the 1410, or at schools with more “prestige” (I guess tier two is the word?). And we have a decent income (around $85,000, little to no assets, and large debt). My son would like a school in a city relatively close to home but not in New Jersey and he isn’t really sure what he wants to major in yet.</p>

5

<p>The point of that thread by Momfromtexas is that to garner SIGNIFICANT merit aid…if finances are a consideration, you might want to look at some schools with less name recognition that are still EXCELLENT colleges. I guess, simply put, if her 1410 SAT kiddo got a full ride, your student with a higher SAT profile could find the same types of offers at similar schools. </p>

<p>If he’s looking for the name recognition/prestige/tier one factor, you may find that the finances don’t work for you. Then again…they might.</p>

<p>At some very generous schools, the most highly competitive ones, your might receive some need based aid even with an income of $85,000 a year. However, these schools also use the Profile in most cases…or a school financial aid form. These additional forms ask for much more financial information than the FAFSA does. They include your assets including your primary residence equity. </p>

<p>Your son has very good “stats” and his upward “trend” is a good one. However, these schools are going to look not only at his upward trend but also his overall GPA. </p>

<p>If finances are a significant consideration, you might want to consider schools where your son would garner significant MERIT aid (those highly competitive schools that give good aid to families with higher incomes do NOT give merit aid awards at all). </p>

<p>Also, in my opinion, you need to be very upfront with your son about finances. He needs to understand what your financial limitations are with regard to paying for college…and he also needs to understand that he will need to work within those guidelines. He certainly can apply to schools and hope that the finances work out…but he also needs to know that if they don’t he won’t be able to attend THOSE schools. It’s a hard discussion to have but better to do so now than to have him get accepted to a bunch of unaffordable schools…that he will not be able to attend due to finances.</p>

<p>He needs to cast a broad net including schools that ARE affordable (either because the costs fit your finances OR because he will received GUARANTEED merit aid based on his stats). He many had to “adjust” his thinking about schools…and maybe he should plan to include at least one instate NJ school on his list (Rutgers, perhaps?).</p>

6

<p>With your son’s stats, The University of Alabama would give him free tuition. Bama is a Tier 2 school…ranked #79. It’s ranked equally to American University, Mich St, and Baylor. </p>

<p>These are ASSURED scholarships for stats as long as the student applies to the school and submits a scholarship app before Dec 1st.</p>

<p>Out-of-State Scholarship Offers</p>

<ul>
<li>Students who have a 32-36 ACT or 1400-1600 SAT (critical reading and mathematics scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA **will receive out-of-state tuition for four years.<a href=“This%20covers%20all%20of%20tuition%20for%20an%20oos%20student%20for%20up%20to%2020%20credits%20per%20semester…this%20scholarship%20increases%20in%20value%20if%20tuition%20rises.%20%20:”>/B</a> )</li>
</ul>

<p>**Also…in addition…if your child majors in Engineering or Computer Science…then</p>

<p>College of Engineering Scholarships 2011-2012**</p>

<p>The following scholarships are in addition to the University-level scholarships offered.</p>

<p>Out-of-State:</p>

<ul>
<li>Students who have a 32-36 ACT or 1400-1600 SAT (math and verbal scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will receive $2,500 per year for four years.</li>
</ul>

<p>Students must maintain enrollment in a College of Engineering degree program to receive any College of Engineering scholarship.</p>

<p>**
If your child is a likely NMF:**</p>

<p>National Merit and National Achievement Finalists</p>

<p>Students receive the following:</p>

<ul>
<li>Value of tuition for four years</li>
<li>Four years of on-campus housing at regular room rate</li>
<li>$1,000 per year University National Merit or National Achievement scholarship for four years</li>
<li>One-time allowance of $2,000 for use in summer research or international study</li>
<li>Laptop computer</li>
</ul>

<p>The University’s application for admission and scholarships must be completed by December 1.</p>

<p>The online app will go live within a few days. :)</p>

<p>I don’t think any school ranked higher than Bama offers assured scholarships of this size. I haven’t found any that are better and assured.</p>

<p>What was your son’s PSAT?</p>

7

<p>*
If he’s looking for the name recognition/prestige/tier one factor, you may find that the finances don’t work for you. Then again…they might.</p>

<p>At some very generous schools, the most highly competitive ones, your might receive some need based aid even with an income of $85,000 a year. *</p>

<p>Thumper makes some great points.</p>

<p>Can you clarify? </p>

<p>What are you looking for? Are you looking for merit at Tier 1 schools? Many don’t give merit…and the ones that do typically only give it to kids that they are targeting for ethnic and regional diversity (not NJ).</p>

<p>Tier 1 schools don’t typically give any/many full tuition scholarships…a few do, but not many…and these are competitive scholarships so they can’t be safeties for you. </p>

<p>The problem I see is this…</p>

<p>You have an $85k income…so unless the school provides a HUGE merit scholarship, you’ll still have an EFC that you may not be able to pay.</p>

<p>I’m not sure what your EFC would be, but I’m guessing about $15k or so. Maybe more.</p>

<p>How much can you pay per year?</p>

<p>Do you realize that merit scholarships get applied to “NEED” first? They do not get applied to EFC first. So, unless the merit is HUGE, you’re still going to have to pay a large chunk.</p>

<p>Something like the following might work for you because you can use a student loan to further reduce your family’s cash outlay. </p>

<p>$15k = EFC </p>

<h2>$31k = Basic cost of tuition, room, board, books, fees (for instance at an OOS public)</h2>

<p>$16k = need</p>

<p>If your child is given a free tuition scholarship for $21k per year, then that covers all of need, and then reduces EFC and you have to pay $10. </p>

<p>Then, your child can take out a student loan for $5500, which then means that you have to pay $4500. </p>

<p>If your child earns some money from a summer job, then that $4500 could be paid some by your child. </p>

<p>Be aware that the only reason a student loan can be used to reduce family outlay in the above scenario is because one wasn’t in the FA package to meet need. Most schools will use a student loans to meet need. But, when merit is large enough to cover need, then a student loan can be used to reduce family cash outlay.</p>

8

<p>Thanks to all who posted in this thread. Your help is greatly appreciated. Someone asked what my son’s PSAT score was, and it was 231. He seems to be coming around to the idea of applying to Rutgers which is good. While prestige matters to him to an extent, he would be very happy with a full ride or even full tuition to any tier 2 school, such as University of Alabama.</p>

9

<p>He should apply early- no later than by Dec 1 for scholarship consideration- to USC[ Southern Calif [ USNWR rank # 25] .If accepted, as he most probably would be, as a NMF he will automatically win a 1/2 Tuition Scholarship for 4 years, and may be asked to interview for a Full tuition Trustee scholarship. In addition, USC just announced a new undergraduate scholarship program funded by a 100 million $$ gift from an alum that is open to all hi stat applicants. USC also has a very generous Financial Aid program.</p>

10

<p>Well, with a PSAT 231, he’ll definitely make NMSF…and very likely will make NMF. :)</p>

<p>He would get free tuition at Bama…and get free housing at Bama (including their nice Super Suites Honors Housing) and the other goodies mentioned above. I know that the “fine print” says “regular room rate” but Bama does let NMFs use their scholarship for honors housing. The fine print is written the way it is so that IF a student chose a cheaper dorm, Bama doesn’t refund the difference.</p>

11

<p>Look at the Mccauley program at Hunter College in NYC. Free tuition and room and other percs. I believe he has the stats</p>

12

<p>Expanding on what Thumper1 mentioned, he may want to consider applying to some of the most expensive (& generous) private colleges. Admission at most of these is extremely competitive of course, but your son has competitive test scores, good activities, and a solid gpa trend. (Some ‘top’ colleges may ignore his freshman year grades altogether (I know Stanford does)) . Financial aid at many of these schools is generous for $85k in parental income.</p>

<p>Resources:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Project on Student Debt has a net cost calculator. (This includes out of pocket costs/loans for Tuition, Room and Board) Here is their table for $80,000 of income.
[Project</a> on Student Debt: What’s the Bottom Line?](<a href=“http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php?sort=b.range_4]Project”>http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php?sort=b.range_4)
Although Harvard and Yale would cost less than $10,000, there are numerous others under $18,000 year total cost.</p></li>
<li><p>You and your son may also want to research colleges with the best financial aid. Google
“63 colleges best financial aid” or [Which</a> Colleges Claim to Meet Students’ Full Financial Need? - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/02/16/which-colleges-claim-to-meet-students-full-financial-need]Which”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/02/16/which-colleges-claim-to-meet-students-full-financial-need)</p></li>
<li><p>the College Board now has a net price calculator online for about 28 colleges. See [Participating</a> Schools using College Board’s Net Price Calculator](<a href=“Net Price Calculator (NPC) - Education Professionals”>Net Price Calculator (NPC) - Education Professionals) You can enter your specific financial situation and get an estimate for the aid package your son would receive if accepted to a specific college.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>And yes, Bama or USC or other NMF scholarships are great options too.</p>

13

<p>I’ve been talking more with my son… He’s absolutely ecstatic about the Alabama deal. I think he is going to apply to 4-5 schools where he thinks he has a chance at a significant scholarship, and then 2-3 really competitive schools that meet 100% of his need, and then well see what scholarship/financial aid offers he gets and make a decision from that.</p>

14

<p>OP</p>

<p>I’m a PA resident. What I’ve learned going thru this with my neice and planning for my high school class of 13 son is that our region has some of the highest priced schools in the country. The fact he is excited about Bama and willing to go that far is great! </p>

<p>Bama and USC are great for NMF because they are guaranteed and not competitive.</p>

<p>Bama opens up the admission cycle very soon. He could have an acceptance in hand before he even starts his senior year. PM Mom2collegekids for an overview of the initial application and then the honors application. I’ve been impressed with the research we’ve done on Bama. It does draw quite a number of kids from the mid-Atlantic.</p>

<p>Many PA LACs would give great merit for his stats, but you are still left with room & board that are higher than many other parts of the country. You don’t say what size school he wants. PA LACs that have consistently given “solid” money for stats like his are: Ursinus, Juniatta and Drexel. Pitt has been good in giving merit.</p>

15

<p>Just posting to throw in, the honors dorms at Bama are incredible. Beats campus housing at 99.99% of colleges. Bama will be a great backup plan, if anything.</p>

16

<p>Pitt will probably give at least full tuition scholarship for an OOS student with those stats. The Texas public schools also give in-state tuition to an OOS student who gets a merit grant from them, which is likely given those stats.</p>

17

<p>st john’s in nyc gave me a full tuition scholarship for 1400 reading + math. the room and board is expensive, but it was ultimately just as cheap as the state school to which i applied.</p>

18

<p>Texas schools do not automatically extend in state tuition to out of state students who receive merit scholarships, though they are permitted to do so. At the University of Texas, for instance, there are a limited number of out of state tuition waivers and they are not easy to get.</p>