Where can I get the best merit scholarship?

Paying for College
1

I am a rising high school senior. I’m looking for a school I can apply to in the Northeast (Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia) that I can apply to that are most likely to give me a significant merit scholarship. My stats are…
SAT: 1950 (super-scored)
CR: 640
W: 630
M:680

ACT: 28

GPA: 3.85 UW, 4.2 W

5 APs, 10 Honors Freshman - Senior year

Creator and Co-President of Crafts For Kids Club
In Habitat for Humanity, Literary Magazine, Ski Club, Stage Crew (former assistant stage manager, future head of sound)
NHS, Music Honors Society, and Italian Honors Society member
Community Service Organizer for a 4H Music Club
Dancing for 12 years
Volunteer at a dance school, hospital, and animal hospital
Worked at After School Program and Aeropostale

The schools on my list right now are American U, Binghampton, Boston U, Drexel, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, Ithaca, Umass Amherst, U Miami, Pitt, Rutgers, Tulane, Villanova

With my stats, do I have a chance at any good merit scholarships from any of these schools? Are there any other schools in the region that I have not listed that give out good merit scholarships to students like me?

2

Not that I am aware of. You would need to raise your scores quite bit. A better question to ask is what are your parents willing to pay? Do you know your EFC? How much aid are you looking for?

3

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com

How much do you need? Do you qualify for need-based aid? It would be helpful to know the answers to the above ^^^ questions? Home State? Intended major?

4

I am unsure if I qualify for need-based, my family makes about 90-95k. My home state is New Jersey and my intended major is Biology. We would like to pay less than 40k at least, but ofc the lower the cost the better

5

Each school’s website has a net price calculator that you can use to see what type of FA will be available. Plug in the info and see what your estimated costs will be for the schools on your list. If the costs are above what you plan on paying, look further into merit based aid that may be available for these schools. As stated in post #1, you need to calculate your EFC (Estimated Family contribution). This is minimum amount you will be expected to pay. Once you have the amount of $$ you need to fund, then posters can give you some suggestions for schools that will fit your budget or will offer aid.

6

Rowan University in southern NJ gives excellent merit scholarships. Every summer they take the chart down, but they will put it back up in the fall. It shows what money you’d get if you hit certain test score/GPA combos. My daughter is getting $11,500 per year merit aid from them. It was about half that, but for some reason in January they bumped it up a lot. The school is up and coming, has a very solid bio program, and since it isn’t HUGE you can start doing research and independent work very early, and you get to actually use the fancy lab equipment (not reserved for only grad students as at many big schools). It is a 30 minute bus ride from Philly, the bus picks up on campus. You are about an hour from the shore. The school would be in-state and public for you, so more affordable. Take a look!

7

Many schools do not superscore for merit. What is your best SAT from one sitting that has the highest M+CR score?

You need to retest.

What are your parents saying? How much will they pay?

8

I hate to be discouraging, but you are unlikely to get sufficient merit to get your COA under $40,000 at American, Boston U, Drexel, Fordham, GWU, Miami, Tulane or Villanova. You might get $5,000 to $15,000 at some of them, but that won’t be sufficient as they are $60,000+. Pitt costs less but no chance at merit there without much higher scores (33 ACT) and top 5% class rank.

Duquesne is a good choice. Check out U Scranton and Siena, maybe Loyola MD. Agree with Rowan and would add TCNJ as another possible in-state option.

Don’t know enough about Bing, Ithaca or U Mass to comment.

9

Don’t count on Binghamton for any merit aid regardless of your stats. They are notoriously stingy with merit aid to incoming freshmen. HOWEVER, they tend to be very generous to upperclassmen who have proven themselves with good grades and campus involvement.

10

Duquesne gave a minimum of $10k merit to every student admitted in 2014. Try their net price calculator, I think it asks about GPA/test scores.

http://www.duq.edu/admissions-and-aid/tuition/net-price-calculator

Allegheny College in PA is good for sciences and I think you might get merit there, also maybe St Vincent, Juniata.

https://secure.allegheny.edu/npc/

https://stvincent.studentaidcalculator.com/welcome.aspx

https://secureweb.juniata.edu/admission/calculator/aid_calculator_new.html

11

^ack, I guess Duquesne doesn’t have the more detailed NPC anymore, just a generic one. But even with $10k merit the price should be under $40k.

But don’t discount the good choices in your own state as well. TCNJ for example.

12

@LuckyCharms913 - having just gone thru this I can tell you TCNJ is more expensive than Rowan and gives little to no merit aid. My D’s best friend, who got $19,500 a year in merit from Rowan, got $3,000 from TCNJ. Her SATs were 1390, excellent GPA from a highly ranked high school. I am a TCNJ alum (bio/chem) and loved it there, in fact got significant merit aid in my day :slight_smile: but they no longer offer that.

13

^ Yes, but the OP is looking for a school that costs less than $40,000–not necessarily looking for the least expensive option, just one within her family’s budget. TCNJ at or near full price in state still may be a better option than some of the privates.

14

To get merit your stats need to be above the 75th percentile of admitted students. Tt most of the schools you list you would be between the 25th and 50th percentile. Tulane would be an admission reach.

15

@LuckyCharms913 – does Loyola offer merit aid? They are on the Space Available report again this year so I guess I assumed that they would not be offering much merit money.

16

I second the suggestion for Rowan U. It is a bargain for NJ residents and there is lots of investment in the campus, with new buildings and upgrades ongoing. My OOS daughter was offered 15K merit with a 32 ACT and 1450 SAT(CR+M, old SAT)and it would have been much cheaper than our state U. If I recall, the in state cost of attendance is less than 25K, so with some merit aid, it could be an affordable choice for your family. It may also be worth prepping for and taking the SAT/ACT again to increase chances for merit aid. The same daughter was offered $20 K merit from Drexel along with some need based aid, but the price tag was still nearly $28K per year, too high for our family.

The sciences and engineering at Rowan have a very good reputation. We have a family friend who is a Bio professor and she has a fantastic lab with undergrads doing research. I think Rowan gets overshadowed by Rutgers, TCNJ, etc., but it is definitely worth a look, especially for a Bio major. The campus is really nice, we were impressed.

My middle daughter was accepted to Villanova back in 2014, and she was offered 15K merit aid with a 35 ACT/ other good stats, so your odds of significant merit there are slim.

17

If th OP can pay $40,000 a year…then there are LOTS of college options. She should start with The College of New Jersey. Great school and certainly at her price point as an instate student. Wouldn’t Rutgers be less than $40,000 a year for an instate student?

How about University of Delaware?

What about someone of the SUNY schools? Even for OOS, the $40,000 should,cover the cost especially if you add in the $5500 Direct Loan the student can take.

BU costs $64,000 a year. It is unlikely the student will get $20,000 in merit at BU. Same with George Washington.

18

Out of state COA for UDel is currently listed at $46,000.

Rowan (D is incoming, FS is 2nd year) is $32,500 COA according to the bill we just got, still a good deal, but this is the real price tag now, not 25,000 :slight_smile: Of course you can shrink that down for the things on that COA you can control, but just a heads up. TCNJ is more expensive, but still under the 40K.

Depending on major, Rowan started offering a “Degree in 3 years” program this fall. They include 2 summers of tuition and room for free in this program. Limited to specific majors (no engineering or science majors).

19

If you are willing to look at Ohio Schools, I believe Ohio State or Akron may worth looking into. D has a friend with your similar stat going to Honor College in Akron with good merit money.