My daughter is an excellent student ( 4.0) will have 35 or 36 act and expected to perform well on act. My husband and I are fortunate to have a nice amount in the bank however we intend to use that money to start a new company in the next 2 years as well as future medical expenses. paying 60,000 year will jeapordise our future if we use it for college tuition. I’m more than happy to help my child but risking my future seems like too much to ask. So…down to the question, do any elite or top tier schools offer non need based aid?
lf you are lucky enough to get in Princeton, they have a terrific no loan policy and meet 100% of demonstrated financial aid 
The problem is we cannot demonstrate financial need. We have set money aside in our personal names that we need to use to start our business. Unfortunately it appears like we have a lot more money than we really do. I’m not trying to ’ get out’ of tuition, I just know the reality of a start up business and would like to know the best schools that offer good merit aid not based in need.
For good merit awards for high stats:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
Some selective schools that offer extremely competitive merit scholarships are Duke, Vanderbilt, Wash U in St Louis, and USC. U of Chicago offers merit up to about 30K, based on awards reported on this site last spring.
Is she a junior?
Senior
Focus on schools in the 30-100 rank of the USNews ranking of National Universities and LACs.
What are you regional requirements? Size of school? Expected major?
Also, what is her PSAT Selection Index score? She may be eligible for National Merit.
What is her actual ACT score (not predicted)?
PSAT score?
It’s a lot to consider, isn’t it?
If you need merit aid, the general strategy seems to put together a list of schools that offer competitive merit aid and then a list of more “financial safety” schools where your child will get automatic merit based on stats.
One usually has to give up the notion of “top tier” schools and instead consider and focus in on schools that are a good fit and offer the program your child wants to study. Still keep some of the more selective ones on the list if they offer some competitive merit aid, but also realize they indeed are super competitive.
There are lots and lots of tip top students whose stats should put them at “top tier” type schools but who cannot demonstrate financial need like you described and their parents do not want to pay the $60K per year or simply do not have what the NPCs say they should have. It is a process of adjusting and accepting that there are plenty of other great schools and then pushing forward to figure it all out.
Good luck! You are not alone. Is your child a junior or senior?
Rule of thumb:
To get one of the handful of full-tuition/full-ride awards at Duke/WashU/UVa/JHU, you pretty much have to be HYPSM-quality. That’s the level of student that those schools are trying to entice.
To get a full scholarship from USC/UNC/Emory/Vandy/BC/Wake/Rice, you have to be at least Ivy/equivalent-quality.
And as you should know, just stats alone won’t guarantee you a place at an Ivy/equivalent.
Thus why people are asking what you are looking for in a college. For instance, UT-Dallas isn’t exactly seen as elite, but it’s McDermott program offers a lot.
Where are you in-state for?
Oh, and ND offers some big scholarships. Fit is very important to them, though.
Actual act is 35. 800 on 3 subject tests. PSAT 1500. Extra curricular so are limited to club and Jv level sports. Just hard to put pieces of the puzzle together. So many great students, great schools it’s a bit of a maze.
It’s Mixed message telling your kid, no need aid because your saving for a business… and don’t want to start that under water. While watching others be completely reckless and actually get full aid. In the end, I’m sure it will work out, just looking for direction
Anyone know if hooks (legacy, recruited athlete, urm, special talents, etc.) which affect ivy admissions also affect scholarships at the schools listed in post #3 and #9. My guess is that the scholarships are truly based on extraordinary leadership and community service on top of 99th-percentile grades and scores.
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PSAT 1500… She will be a likely NMF then??
The highly competitive truly selective merit programs will not be based on GPA and test scores. Your daughter will need to be a rock star in their applicant pool based on what makes her special. Is she?
If not, perhaps an honors college at a flagship is the best play.
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@nw2this, there are certainly URM scholarships, alumni scholarships, and scholarships for certain talents (as well as athletic scholarships, obviously), but you’d have to look school by school.
The only scholarships that Stanford and Georgetown offer are athletic scholarships and the only big scholarships that Northwestern offer are athletic scholarships. Likewise, the only big scholarships for OOS offered by Cal and UMich* are athletic scholarships.
*Actually, UMich may have some non-athletic scholarships for OOS that cover almost everything, but they are exceedingly rare if they exist. Getting a full-tuition/ride if you are a MI resident is certainly possible, however.
Knowing the state you’re in may help in terms of strategies.
THE most important thing you need to do with your daughter is find two sure thing colleges. Places that you can afford, and where she would be happy to attend and will likely acceoted. Do this first. It’s easy to find expensive reach schools (and financially, the top schools look like a reach for you). So…identify the sure things first…then go from there!
Where are you an instate resident? The honors college at your flagship might be a great place to start.
Some other ideas…
Ohio State gives some merit awards to OOS high flying students. So does University of Pittsburgh.
There are a number of excellent schools where your kiddo would get automatic,mguaranteed MERIT aid. UNiversity of Alabama is one of those places.
By application, your kid could apply for the Trustee Scholarship at Boston University. It’s tuition only, however, so you would need to pay other costs.
As noted, Duke, Vandy, University of Chicago, ND all offer highly competitive merit awards. Apply and see.same with University of Southern California…apply and see. she could get a full tuition award there too…but it’s not guaranteed.
How much can you contribute annually?
In terms of your savings…parent assets are assessed at 5.6% of value for FAFSA EFC purposes. You would have to have a HUGE amount of money in the bank to have an EFC of total cost of attendance at these private universities. I’m talking in the million dollar range.
I was thinking of the scholarships that not are specifically intended for these populations like the Robertson scholarship at Duke or the Mork/Stamps at USC.
Thumper1
Thank you. Yes, the problem is that we have a ‘huge’ amount saved but it’s in my personal name until I have enough for equipment at which point I’ll transfer it when I incorporate. ( don’t want to do that until everything is in place which will be 2 more years) I would tap into that money but it would be grossly irresponsible, it would jeapordise the entire project…its just a perfect storm.
I can safely contribute 25-30k at the most but the schools are saying price of attendance is 65k. I’ll look into the schools you listed but thought u Chicago was need only…we have toured local schools but they are not a very good fit. ( too large)
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