The Morrill scholarship is highly competitive (which would make sense with a freshman class of 7000 students). I disagree they would use geography for diversity but the OP can try. It’s just one more application fee.
I would prep again and get better scores. It would give her more options.
Yes, merit is going to be hard for this student…my point is to focus on colleges that offer these “non-grade-dependent” types of scholarships, and at colleges that don’t have a large east coast student body (Ohio State is a poor example, I guess).
In addition to Wooster, Depauw offered my S’12 very good merit and his ACT was 28 and his GPA lower than this student’s is. There is definitely merit at this score/gpa level but not at schools where admission itself is iffy.
Boy guns a blazing on this thread!
OP, if you want to be among the blessed poor there are ways to get there. Going in the other direction is much harder.
Carry on…
I would suggest a look here:
Mississippi State, for instance, would grant an automatic OOS tuition waiver. It is somewhat similar to Clemson.
@wppdf2 what does your d like to do for fun and relaxation? It is important for a student to have healthy outlets for fun and stress release that do not just focus on partying. It can also help focus a college search.
Miss State is rural, but it may be too provincial.
It sounds like this student has a lot of personality and is dedicated to causes that interest her. I’m not sure being a bio major fits with that personality…particularly when dad sees her as someone who will likely manage things.
If so, I see why maybe a Business degree may end up being a better fit.
I know that the dad has mentioned UDayton. Have you visited? I’ve seen students with similar stats get a nice merit offer from UDayton…better than their advertised merit.
Maybe a major in marketing in the business school.
It appears the OP’s daughter has a lot of choices within her budget. I don’t think NJ will be considered as a big hook for diversity for any of the schools mentioned. Idaho? Maybe, but there is no where on the east coast or Ohio that doesn’t have plenty of kids from NJ.
College of Wooster’s merit maxes out at 30K. They have a mandatory senior thesis requirement that looks interesting. Ohio Wesleyan might be an option also. Merit is capped at 28. Your daughter’s stats are in line with their merit-based awards - maybe not the full amount but something reasonable.
Midwestern schools also are often a bit cheaper than their east coast counterparts (maybe around 58K instead of 65) Both are in nice towns. A long day’s drive from Jersey.
No kid likes to retake these standardized tests. Better chance to raise ACT IMHO. DDs took more than your DD, a lot more. Took more than one prep class. Test tutoring for both DDs, and practice test sections as homework for the tutor - they would go over what was wrong and the type of questions that she seemed to be missing… DD would work on pacing herself to get through each section. Worked on raising the strong scores to also help bring up general score, which she did. DD1 didn’t have to work as hard at testing to raise her one point. She didn’t want to retest either, but in the end it was a whole lot easier than her scratching up $12,000.
OP, your post #136 - did you get knocked on the head? You are so very biased.
There are kids that do test well and it seems easy-peasy. That is frustrating to the students that will do well in college w/o the higher standardized test scores.
You and W are both engineers - maybe not enough of another perspective/dimension.
If your DD wants to go to Clemson, dangle it with better testing. As another poster said, DD may need higher test score for admission. You can always pay if you decide it is the best fit and she gets admitted.
wddf stonybrooke is not very highly rated school forbes has it at like #259.
“My biggest problem is with parents who don’t guide their children with financial decisions.”
OP, I’ve been mulling over your comment from post #56 yesterday. From reading over your posts I think your general view can be summarized as: 1) Many colleges over charge, and the cost of attendance is not justified by the likely ROI; 2) Children from impoverished families sometimes get benefits that are not available to middle-class families, thus unfairly penalizing those who “have done everything right”; 3) too many people look to the government to bail them out financially; and 4) parents do not model good financial habits to children, especially when they are willing to take out large loans for education.
Two things in particular bother me about your approach. First, you seem biased against privates, which otherwise would seem like a natural fit given your daughter’s preference for small and rural. Reading between the lines, my guess is that you feel they just aren’t worth it. Instead, you are looking to me to subsidize your daughter’s education by sending her to a school that my tax dollars support (I live in Ohio). Although I’m happy to subsidize most people, I’m not thrilled about doing so for someone who complains about poor people while at the same time taking a huge mortgage interest deduction, one of the largest government subsidy programs that exists.
Second, and even more grating, I see a holier than thou attitude toward financial modeling by parents, but I don’t see any indication that you have shown your child an instance in which you sacrificed something in order to save for their education. It may be there, but you haven’t mentioned it. A personal example: When our child was a toddler, we committed to saving $250 per month towards her education. Some months we couldn’t do it, but we always made it up. By the time she was looking at colleges last year, we had saved a total of $45,000 in a prepaid tuition plan, which had grown to $67,000 tax free.
Like you, we told our daughter we could budget around $20,000 per year for school from cash flow. It requires some significant sacrifices, but it is doable. Added to that she has what is in effect a $16,750 per year “scholarship” from what we already saved. We skipped some of the trips to Europe that your family had, but that money is in the bank. So she had $36,750 per year going in. We told her she could go anywhere she wanted if she made up the rest in merit aid. She applied to 9 colleges–8 privates and an in-state U. Her various merit aid awards ranged from $5K to $24,000. When all was said and done, only one college that she was accepted to had to be crossed off the list as too expensive. When it came time to put down the deposit, she paid $100 from her part-time job earnings, and we paid $400.
Demonstrating good financial habits to children extends beyond not encouraging them to take out loans, IMO. It includes showing them that although saving entails some sacrifice and delayed gratification, the payoff is a lot more choice in life.
If she doesn’t go to a “name brand” school, it won’t be because of cost. The writing score counts the least. Many schools don’t even use it. M & CR scores in the low-to-mid 600’s are only 75-80th percentile nationally, and below average at the selective schools.
wwpp this is a joke right? i just read your previous post where you proudly proclaim the ability to pay full boat full 4 years tuition today upfront if you wanted to . Hmmmm , leads me to be the pster is not geniune. Makes no sense to brag about $$$;s then complain about aid and those that get it. Plus belittle some great schools because they are publics… Maybe schools should pay your daugter and you for the privledge.
According to Post #136 she is unmatched in ability and potential along with being utterly amazing and having a way about her.
Perhaps dad and daughter can find a Charisma Scholarship where GPA and test scores are not a factor.
Maybe she could get a scholarship from here?
The sad thing is that there are great schools out there for her if dad would take his blinders off. She wants to do bio, he wants her to be a CEO, she wants smallish and rural. I’d think Ithaca College would be a great school for her to look at. Average ACT 27. The right size. Beautiful small town environment. Great undergrad business program. Cross-registration with a “name-brand” institution across the street. She might even get some scholarship money.
OP- I’m going to give it to you straight since you seem to like a no hold’s barred approach.
Something’s got to give.
I know a couple of utterly fantastic/wonderful/incredible kids who didn’t appear to be so incredible “on paper” so I get where you are coming from. But at the end of the day, colleges are academic institutions (despite the impression you may get from the media) and the best way to “up the ante” in terms of merit aid is to be at the top of the applicant pool in terms of academics. Having charisma and getting great recommendations from teachers is what may distinguish your D from other applicants once it gets down to the picking and choosing portion of the scholarship process, but her stats are going to keep her out of that pool entirely- so her winning personality won’t even be a consideration.
So you either start targeting schools where her stats keep her at the top of the pool, or you loosen your financial constraints (I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking for “sweat equity” in terms of small loans and a job- part time during the school year and full time during the summer). A future CEO can handle 30K or so after graduation by living on a budget and getting a job once she graduates. Or you open up the checkbook a bit. Or you reconsider urban campuses which millions of kids have found to be safe and nurturing. (mine did).
Or just draw a line around your house and figure out where she could commute to which at least eliminates the room and board fees.
If your D is determined NOT to bring up her scores, and you are determined NOT to open your checkbook wider, and you are all determined NOT to reconsider some of your “lifestyle” criteria like hating cities (not all cities are the same. Madison Wisconsin is not Worcester Massachusetts which is not Providence Rhode Island which is not Evanston Illinois… ) then you might be at a bit of a stalemate. MAYBE merit aid will be enough at one of her target schools but it doesn’t look like you’ve got a sure bet in the pile right now.
Like I said- something’s got to give.
Or take a gap year, have her find a fulltime job, live at home, bank her salary, and be able to supplement your contribution with her own.