What schools will give me money?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I'm a junior and I'm looking for a school that will give some pretty generous merit aid. I have great GPA (4.5 W, 4.0 UW) and test scores (35 ACT, 229 PSAT.) My extracurriculars are pretty weak, though. I've been on varsity lacrosse since freshman year, I play soccer, coach youth football and lacrosse teams, and play in my school's state-winning Wind Ensemble, but that's about it.
My worry is just that I don't stand out enough to get nice merit scholarships at good schools. My PSAT score will get me scholarships at Alabama and other NMF schools, but I have been hoping to go to a better school than those. I don't really have a preference for size or location. I'm likely going to major in a STEM field. Does anyone have ideas for good schools that will give me at least half-cost scholarships? </p>

2

<p>You’d be competitive for UMiami’s Singer or Stamps full tuition and full COA scholarships. </p>

<p>They aren’t automatic, whole interview process and whatnot, but your stats would definitely get you an invite.</p>

3

<p>There are threads on the topic of Automatic scholarships and Competitive scholarships at the top of the Financial Aid Forum, and a thread on institutions that are good with merit-based aid at the top of the Parents Forum. Start with those three.</p>

4

<p>Miami (Ohio) University you would qualify for half to full tuition off, with your stats, I would guess you would get full… Too bad their application deadline was february 1st!</p>

5

<p>^ OP is a junior, applying next year. </p>

6

<p>The higher the rank, the less merit offered. That’s because higher ranking schools are full of excellent students.</p>

<p>What is your major and career goal?</p>

<p>How much will your parents spend on college? If you don’t know, ask them.</p>

7

<p>You’d be eligible for at least 1/4 tuition(the NMF scholarship) at USC, with the possibility of being upgraded to half/full(very competitive though).</p>

8

<p>Consider Fordham in NYC</p>

9

<p>Here’s a list of national universities that offer full ride scholarships, sorted by admissions selectivity:
<a href=“http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/2012/12/09/national-universities-that-offer-full-ride-scholarship/”>http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/2012/12/09/national-universities-that-offer-full-ride-scholarship/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The Kiplinger’s “Best Value” pages are good sources of information about private schools that offer merit scholarships (not necessarily full ride or full tuition scholarships):
<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts&state_code[]=ALL&id[]=none”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts&state_code[]=ALL&id[]=none&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>Agreed with the Miami suggestion. Son had almost identical stats and rec’d the Singer Scholarship (full tuition) and Foote Fellow (great perks that go along with it). Also try Tulane. </p>

11

<p>Funny, @crazed, my older brother, very similar to me, actually has the Singer scholarship and Foote Fellowship at Miami. Was just wondering what other ideas people had. I am also looking at Tulane</p>