<p>Rice offers 25% or more of its students merit aid, AND has tuition/fees that average $7-8,000 less per year than its “peer” universities like Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, etc. It ends up a good deal for most students, as it also a meets %100 need, with total student loans capped at $10,000 (for the entire 4 years). Our FA there for the last 6 years has been very good, and, although they are a Profile school, our EFC has matched the FAFSA one every year. It’s a great school!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I know I got that at my undergrad school, Carnegie Mellon. I applied as Materials Science & Engineering (a department that was, at the time, graduating four students a year) and was given a few thousand dollars a year to stick with the major.</p>
<p>That said, they’re unfortunately light on the rest of their aid as their endowment and funds are fairly low compared to many of their peer schools.</p>
<p>CMU is interesting in its explicit “matching” policy.</p>
<p>Davidson. They offer have various merit scholarships that cover all or a substantial part of the cost. My son won a full tuition merit scholarship, which convinced him to attend Davidson over an Ivy. When he was doing his research, he concluded Davidson was the most academically competitive LAC that offered significant merit scholarships (Grinnell was a close second, but he wouldnt consider Iowa).</p>
<p>Brandeis University
University of Rochester</p>
<p>xcfan - Oooh, I forgot about Davidson. But for “most academically competitive LAC” with significant merit scholarships, I’d argue that Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd are equally great.</p>
<p>^^I think Smith, Scripps, and Mount Holyoke all deserve honorable mentions!!!</p>
<p>fwiw
son of a friend passed on a full ride at UNC for Princeton…
don’t you know his dad was feeling it in the wallet!</p>
<p>Keil, what is CMU’s explicit matching policy?</p>
<p>Given it’s generous “Presidential Scholarship” (requiring Ivy qualifications) you have to add Villanova to the list.</p>
<p>For in-staters, the University of Maryland at College Park.</p>
<p>But they don’t steal the students, they buy them, with fat merit scholarships.</p>
<p>A few years ago, NMSF-caliber in-state students would very often get full rides from Maryland. Now, it’s often a half-ride. Maryland figured that it would be possible to attract more top-caliber students that way without spending more money. After all, a state school is reasonably priced to begin with, and if half of the costs are covered, it becomes a downright bargain.</p>
<p>Check out the honors colleges at some large public universities. Many people feel that they offer an education that rivals that of elite private colleges, along with the resources and social opportunities of a large school.</p>
<p>One that always comes to mind is the University of Arkansas, which received $200 million from the Walton family about five years ago. $200 million dollars just for the Honors College! That pays for a lot of very generous scholarships, highly qualified faculty, study abroad, nice housing, etc.</p>
<p>Top grad from DD’s HS went to William and Mary and received some money but not full tuition. </p>
<p>There is a great thread about merit money on CC.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think this is an important point to stress.</p>
<p>I know many young people who were admitted to both the Ivy League (yes, including HYP) and Duke and received zilch in terms of merit money to Duke. </p>
<p>Duke’s biggest overlap schools are Brown and UPenn, if I remember. It stands to reason then that many of its admitted students - if not a plurality - are admitted to both the Ivy League and that institution and do NOT receive merit scholarships there.</p>
<p>Also, to the OP, what school wouldn’t want a top-caliber student? I don’t think it matters whether it’s the University of Southeastern RandomState or RandomState University-Regional – schools that offer/have the capacity for merit based financial aid are going to try to recruit the best students possible (with some exceptions of course).</p>
<p>Vanderbilt and Boston College</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Admission</a> > Principles and Practices](<a href=“Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University”>Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University)</p>
<p>CMC has 2 scholarships: the McKenna which is $10K per year and the Seaver which is full tuition. There are several McKenna’s but only a handfull of Seaver.</p>
<p>^I was going solely by the presence of a full-tuition scholarship, which is rare. (And I omitted Scripps, which is an world-class LAC with one full-ride and many half-tuition scholarships.) Davidson does offer more, I think, though some have specialized criteria.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, Keil. It was really helpful. I wasn’t sure it was worthwhile for my son to apply to CMU given its reputation for FA, but it may be worth a shot.</p>
<p>2blue, be sure to let them know of any other FA offers you get from other schools which are more generous. I was offered a bit more money by RPI, and after telling CMU about it (quick conversation and faxing RPI’s letter over) they were willing to match the offer. It’s a big reason why I’m a CMU alumni now and not an RPI one. ;)</p>