Which schools will likely waive OOS or give a substantial merit scholarship for our daughter?

Paying for College
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Our daughter wanted to attend a military academy, but she has asthma and is disqualified. So sad! We live in the Minneapolis area, and she wants to go OOS for school. Her top choices do not seem to offer much in the way of merit scholarships or OOS waivers (U of Mich, UNC Chapel Hill). I’m encouraging her to apply to some schools that will waive OOS and possibly provide additional merit based scholarships. Here are her stats:
-34 ACT
-Perfect grades (not sure on # of APs, but she has taken as many as possible)
-#1 in class of 550

She has a fairly open mind on where to go. Just not MN, WI, ND or IA. We probably won’t qualify for much financial aid. She will need merit scholarships and an OOS waiver!

Thanks for your help!
From a first-timer

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How much can you pay annually…that will help answer your question better.

University of Arizona
Arizona State
University of New Mexico
University of Alabama

The above have guaranteed awards for her stats.

Then there are places like these:

University of South Carolina
Miami University in Ohio
College of Charleston

And look at places like these for merit and lower costs:

UTAH
Montana

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Is she a Junior this year?

SUNY Schools (Binghamton or Geneseo) are very generous with OOS students

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@MNGirlMom if this screen name is your real name, I would urge you to change it.

@CC_Jon @CC_Sorin

@Novacat9191 I’m sure your question about this students grade in HS was not meant to be directed to me.

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Budget matters more than merit.

For example, W Carolina may (or may not) give merit but the OOS tuition is $5K.

At Alabama, she gets $28K and $30.5K- if studying engineering. That’s auto merit. WVU, Ms State, Ole Miss, UAH, Truman State, Murray State and more have tables and then other schools mentioned by @thumper (and far more) will have variable.

She might qualify for an OOS waiver at Florida State. If she wants an LAC, Hendrix and Ogelthorpe could match the UMN tuition rate. But then tons of other privates have big merit.

Merit - in its own right - is great but ultimately do you have a target price. It’s best to work from that and then find merit schools that can get you there.

You also have the Midwest Student Exchange Program | (mhec.org) which can get you into states you haven’t excluded above.

Good luck.

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What’s your budget?

She probably would be eligible for the OOS waiver at FSU. WVU would offer lots of merit.

Schools like SMU or Fordham offer scholarships that make them attractive. Still not inexpensive but not full price either.

Texas A&M has competitive scholarships and a large Corp of Cadets.

She still might be eligible for ROTC classes.

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The asthma that keeps her out of the US military service academies may be an issue for any US military service, according to section 6.10.e on page 20 of https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/613003_vol1.PDF .

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Maybe I missed it, but what major?

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It would help others help you if you stated the price limit and her intended or possible majors.

So basically most of the reciprocity states. There are also South Dakota (but the public universities are low cost to begin with there) and Manitoba (Canada). There may also be a limited number of MSEP options.

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Is she a senior or junior?

What desired major or field?

Have you considered trying for competitive merit awards or are you mainly looking for an affordable safety?

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I’m pretty sure she could take ROTC classes without any physical requirements. If she wanted a scholarship or to contract her junior year she would be ineligible. Anyone can take ROTC classes. Some meet gen Ed requirements.

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What about test scores? Is she / will she be a NMSF? Texas A&M still offers a package equivalent to full tuition and OOS tuition waiver for NMF.

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MSEP options are Ball State. U of Kansas. Truman State. U of Nebraska-Lincoln.

She would get solid money at privates as well. Look at Jesuit schools.

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She’d get auto-merit in-state tuition at U of Missouri. And would likely be invited to apply for Stamps, which is a full ride.

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Check out Utah schools— Utah and Utah state.

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had a kiddo with similar stats and went auto merit… . so pretty much all mentioned here. I’ll add texas tech to the list and Ole Miss; KU, AZ, UNL, FSU would all be instate or less as mentioned above. Maybe Tulsa U?

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Sorry! Pre-Med. So likely Biology.

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Thank you! I changed it. Good advice.

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She was sick the day of the PSAT and her score isn’t great so I don’t think she will be a NMSF.

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She’s currently a Junior. Looking for an affordable safety. She has her heart set on UNC Chapel Hill, and I know it will be way too expensive.

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