Where to get Merit aid?

Parent Cafe
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<p>The problem kids have who have stats like your daughter is that they do think they will get all kinds of money and some of them will. However, the easiest way to get really nice money is to target some of the schools that want to reward kids like her. She can apply to her dream schools, but each year on here we read about students who only shot for the stars and were left with few choices once the acceptances and scholarship offers are in.</p>

<p>Do take a look at the sticky for merit scholarships. My daughter applied to Pitt because I knew it offered merit money and I asked her to apply there. She also applied for several of the little local scholarships and received exactly $0. Those little scholarships are usually just for the first year. </p>

<p>If your daughter applies to a wide range of schools, she will have some lovely choices in the spring. This is a stressful time for seniors and their parents.</p>

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<p>Here is a thread of interest to look for affordable safeties: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Two tables (LAC, Universities) of private colleges with merit aid (sortable by %students receiving merit, avg. amount of merit, debt at graduation etc.):
[Best</a> Values in Private Colleges, 2012-13](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/privatecolleges/]Best”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts)</p>

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<p>You’ve received lots of good suggestions for some excellent schools with guaranteed merit. As others have said, it may be worth looking further into some private schools where her stats are well above the mean. </p>

<p>I agree with the suggestion of looking at Northeastern. They have a 6 year pharD program as well as a school of engineering. And they offer good merit to top students as well as fairly well paid co-ops. The caveat is that if she wants pharm, she has to apply into that program. It is one of the few programs at Northeastern that students cannot transfer into.</p>

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<p>Georgia Tech’s biggest $ merit scholarship, President’s, had a deadline to apply (via applying to the university) of 10/15. They have others with later deadlines, but don’t know if it would be enough money to offset the OOS tuition.</p>

<p>Rutger’s has a Presidential Scholarship with deadline 12/1. The award is $24,000 per year. For in-state that would be full ride, but OOS you still have rm/bd plus a couple thousand left. To be considered, need 4.0 and >2250 on SAT. It’s not guaranteed, so be sure to do well on essay and EC list.</p>

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<p>Also, for Twin Cities Gold Scholar, they give 125 of these, but in recent years have had way more NMF than available awards, so it’s become competitive. My D got an offer for one of these a couple of weeks ago. One of the pages of offer is an info sheet about the award. It is titled “Gold Scholar Award for National Merit Finalists.”</p>

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<p>fire123-</p>

<p>Your D sounds wonderful. You must be very proud.</p>

<p>Our S '13 has similar stats, with near perfect test scores and some strong ‘hooks’ as well. I try not to go on about him much, but he said it was ok to share that the first place he applied was Alabama. He also applied to a guaranteed full ride school. Most of his list would be considered ‘top schools’ and he knows he would thrive with that kind of peer group…he doesn’t need to be a big fish. He also knows he could get a great education and find peers at Alabama while having a wonderful time.</p>

<p>D '10 also had a very strong, interesting resume and applied to Alabama and another guaranteed safety. She would have been happy at Alabama as well. She was very impressed. She also applied to many upper end colleges (places with good merit and strong need based aid) and hit the lottery several times, so you never know. It is tougher, looking for very specialized majors though. In hindsight, we were very conservative but it was a fun spring for all of us!</p>

<p>Anyway, your D sounds like so many of our bright kids here on this board. She has earned the right to dream big. Just remember to find a couple of great safety schools so you all can sleep well in the meantime. Crazy things happen sometimes…there are good and bad surprises. I tell my kids to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.</p>

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<p>Middle son applied at Alabama as a safety too. Had he not had better schools (for his likes/dislikes) come through, he’d have been happy there. He admits that, it’s not just me stating it.</p>

<p>We also had a top stat student (2370) at our school apply to and get accepted at Alabama this year. It really is a nice safety if schools they prefer do not come through for them financially. Some even find they prefer Alabama even IF other schools come through for them (we had one of those at our school 3 - 4 years ago, plus there are plenty who frequent this board). In either case it’s worth the peace of mind knowing you have a guaranteed affordable choice.</p>

<p>But again, I suspect Pitt will give her a decent amount of money if she applies soon and Pitt might be more in line with what she is looking for with city/pharm, etc.</p>

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<p>My son who graduated last year had similar stats to your daughter, and he got into a lot of great schools. Some offered nice merit (Case Western) and some didn’t (UNC Chapel Hill, Cal, etc.). He ended up choosing a full ride at Maryland, our state school. It wasn’t as prestigious as some others he could have attended, but I can’t tell you what it feels like not to have any debt where he’s concerned…and he’s equally thrilled not to have any loans. He absolutely loves it at Maryland. His twin sister chose the same school without merit money, but it’s still manageable. I think your D’s mindset needs some adjustment. I get that you promised to pay half, but I think it’s unfair for her to rule out perfectly good schools that are affordable. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Ucb - thanks for posting a link to the more recent thread on merit aid. I knew it existed and couldn’t remember where to find it. Perhaps it should get a sticky somewhere?</p>

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<p>It is a sticky…in this forum. I use it as a reference frequently.</p>

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<p>Fire–we have a spreadsheet for our DD called “reality check”. She too was not really comprehending the cost issues associated with college. She still keeps wondering back to her most expensive choice. Tomorrow is “D” day for her. We will be reviewing all of her awards and she will be mulling those over this week (recruited athlete). She most likely won’t be going to her #1 because of money–we haven’t gotten final numbers from them yet.</p>

<p>She can’t take $100,000 in UG loans and then again for Pharm school. It’s just way too much. As a parent we refuse to co-sign ANY loans. You need to take a hard stance on this or you will end up working the rest of your lives and never get to retire.</p>

<p>Since she applied to the U of MN, how about looking at St. Thomas. They have a cooperative agreement with the U of MN for Engineering and really all majors so she can “stay” at the same place all through school, even live in the same apartment off campus at St. Thomas and the U of MN if she wanted. She will most likely qualify for a significant merit award at St. Thomas bringing your overall costs into your range. Part of that award will be federal loans but she is looking at $25,000 for 4 years with those, maybe.</p>

<p>You know that in 4 years, the “staying” will probably change, she doesn’t though so it’s hard to get past that right now but at least on the surface, going to St. Thomas would give her that option.</p>

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<p>Fly - I linked the one in this forum earlier in the thread yesterday. It’s a helpful thread but sometimes laborious to wade through. The one UCB linked deals only with guaranteed merit scholarships, is exceptionally well organized, and is found in the Financial Aid Forum (I know that now, but couldn’t remember where to find it when I was wracking my brain yesterday :slight_smile: ).</p>

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<p>OP,
Your daughter has done a great job so far, and she will thrive wherever she is planted for the next chapter of her life. You know that for sure.</p>

<p>But right now she is living in the world of teenage magical thinking and she doesn’t have the experience yet to understand the impact of decisions today on life down the line.</p>

<p>Sit her down and do a reality calculation with her. Have her use the figures in Post 26 as a basis, and have her assume she makes the average starting salary in her field when she graduates, for example, assume her starting salary is $45,000. Make sure she understands that not everyone makes that average starting salary, either–and that she could be on the underside as well as the better side.</p>

<p>Does she understand that about 35% of her salary will be taken out for the usual deductions for taxes, social security, and payment of her portion of health insurance? And, hopefully, she will have still more deducted to fund her retirement plan? But let’s stick with easy numbers for now.</p>

<p>So out of her $45,000 salary, it is likely that less than $30,000 will go into her checking account. </p>

<p>After paying those student loans, she will be lucky to have $16,000 to live on. Without funding her retirement plan.</p>

<p>From that amount she will be paying rent, utilities, car payments and car expenses, groceries, etc…That amount doesn’t go real far in real life.</p>

<p>And that is if she can qualify for any of the above, because her debt load will impact her credit score.</p>

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<p>since alabama has been mentioned… op should know that alabama has 2 pharmacy schools, one at auburn and one at samford.</p>

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<p>D read all of your posts and PMs. Had a mini melt down. A lot of tears and refused to talk to me for several hours.</p>

<p>She finally came around and made some concessions. She is working on applications to U Maryland and New Mexico. Still refused Uab and others. Sigh, it’s a step in the right direction, I guess.
Thanks everyone. Y’all have been great.</p>

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<p>Glad you had the talk. It may take her some time to swallow, but as others have said, better now than later, at admission time.</p>

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<p>good for you fire123… and good for your D… some of us have been there…its tough… she’ll find a great school and this will hopefully be behind you.</p>

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<p>Just scanned through this thread, but I would encourage your daughter to major as chemical engineering, where she would be eligible for women in engineering scholarships. At Bama, where my son attends, lots of premeds major in chem eng, rather than the usual bio or chem, so they get the extra engineering scholarship. Since she’s ruled Bama out, at least have her go the engineering route. It’s amazing how many opportunities there are out there for women in the STEM fields. They can almost write their own ticket. It’s best to encourage her to apply to many schools so she can have a broad choice to choose from.</p>

<p>Can I also suggest she apply to Tulane? It does still have chem engineering, and is very generous to pre health majors. Xavier has a pharmacy school, located in NOLA, and she may be able to get a little exposure to pharmacy just being in the area. There is also a pharmacy school in Northern Louisiana. </p>

<p>As we’re nearing the end of October, make sure she gets her apps in before December, which is the deadline for many scholarships.</p>

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<p>Some schools also have biomedical engineering - check those out too.</p>