Yet another question about *merit aid* options for a strong student from a middle-class family...

College Search & Selection
1

Now that the (early) application deadline is just a month away, we’re really trying to finalize a list of schools to apply to, hoping to get at least a few merit aid offers that would reduce our EFC.

Here’s our situation:

  • family income around 100K with (very) modest savings and one kid means our EFC comes in around 20-25K. Even the places that offer generous merit aid (such as half tuition) would leave us paying at least that much, and thus about as much as we would at a more selective school that covers all financial need. We’re really hoping to get him through school without paying $100K for four years (fully aware that others are paying far more).

Our son has really good stats: 1590 SAT, NMSF, 4.0gpa, around 10 APs (all 5s). Leaning heavily toward Computer Science, doesn’t care about hyper (or HYP?) prestige, probably won’t go on to grad school (b/c not necessary in CS). No particular hook or story to tell–he’s a pretty typical white male midwestern computer science kid. We’re looking for the strongest school that might still be eager to attract a high-stats kid applying to a super-popular area like CS.

Here’s his working list right now:

Crazy reach schools, mostly because they calculate family need more generously than others and would bring our cost down to 10-15K:
Stanford and MIT

Really strong choices that would cover need up to EFC:
Northwestern
U of Chicago
U of Michigan (our state flagship, and his top choice–though, given our EFC, surprisingly no cheaper than comparable selective private schools)

One tier down (yes?) in hopes of getting more generous merit scholarships:
Case Western

Any suggestions on other schools to add to that last list? I was just reading a few threads about U Pittsburgh on this site–would that be a good option to consider?

A few other considerations:

  • Personally I’m a big fan of a selective LAC, but so few of them have really strong CS departments–most have just a few CS profs, while UMich hired nine new CS faculty just this year. So we’re looking mostly for schools with a grad school but not huge party schools. (Before someone suggests it, Michigan State didn’t make our list because my wife and I both went there for grad school and can’t quite imagine sending our son there for undergrad.)
  • Kind of prefer midwest, though open to any options.

Would love to hear any suggestions. @mom2collegekids, I’ve appreciated your wisdom on many similar posts.

2

Check out UT Dallas if he makes NMF he’ll get a full ride (tuition, fees, room and board if he lives on campas and books, give or take $100 a semester). My son is a NM student compsci major at UTD and really likes it. You son would make it into the CS2 program (comp sci honors) and there are several perks including great internships. They have a FastTrack program for grad school. Let me know if you have any questions.

3

At Case Western you’d presumably need one of their named full tuition/full ride scholarships to do better with merit than need-based aid. If that’s a direction you want to go then you could either cast a much wider net on super-competitive scholarships (UVA, Duke, UNC, USCal, etc) though without getting your hopes up too far, or look another level down, at places like UTD, UAH, UNM, etc with automatic scholarships.

Another possibility is some of the cohort-based Honors College scholarships that provide a great experience and may be slightly less competitive than the super reach scholarships. Alabama (https://honors.ua.edu/programs/randall-research-scholars-program/) is often cited, another example is Utah (https://honors.utah.edu/admissions/eccles-distinguished-scholarship/). I would certainly look in that direction if you are trying to maximize value for money.

4

Thanks for that suggestion, @3scoutsmom–UT Dallas wasn’t even on our radar. We’ll check it out!

5

Check out Arizona State U, with the Barrett Honors College.
They do allow for merit aid to OOS students and have a number solid CS programs.

6

If he makes NMF, any of the Florida schools will come in way under $10k.

7

Is he applying for outside scholarships? His stats are high enough that he has a good shot. One I recommend is the Elks National Foundation MVS (Most Valuable Student) Scholarship . They award 500 4-year scholarships at the national level. Some state and local branches also give their own awards https://www.elks.org/scholars/scholarships/mvs.cfm

Also look at local/regional/state scholarships. Some can be quite generous. Your high school’s college resource counselor should have a list and application due dates. I also checked the scholarship lists of surrounding high schools to make sure we weren’t missing anything.

Would he consider the University of Tulsa? It is a smaller LAC and has a strong CS department; they are an NSA National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations https://engineering.utulsa.edu/computer-science/

Their Presidential Scholarship is a 4-year, full-ride scholarship which he qualifies to apply for (it’s competitive, not automatic) https://admission.utulsa.edu/special-programs/presidential-scholars/#eligibility-requirements

Your in-state school would be my first choice, but it’s certainly worthwhile to look around.

8

Have you checked Vassar? I think they have more women then men, so a high stats male would be an asset. They don’t have a grad school but, from what I remember when my CS son was looking, the dept. seems really supportive of students interested in getting PhDs. My son ended up not applying because he preferred our in state publics, but I really liked it.

9

CRWU is going to be tough. Their max non named scholarship is $30k/year. Have you looked at Alabama? Your out of pocket cost would be around $5k/year and that includes his spending money.

10

Have you looked at University of Alabama-Huntsville? Just with the current stats he would get full tuition up to 18 credits plus up to $1000 course fee stipend.

If he makes NMF then he will get full tuition up to 18 credit hours per semester, a course fee stipend up to $1000, an on-campus housing allowance, and a meal plan allowance.

Not a selective LAC, but guaranteed merit based on stats! Also, check out the UAH link for CS: https://www.uah.edu/science

11

@TwoHearted, my S18, with similar stats, was offered a very generous, non-need-based full tuition scholarship (OOS) at University of Pittsburgh last year. He was also admitted to the Honors College. The application is available now and the short essay answers appear to be very important. Good luck!

12

Carnegie-Mellon?

13

University of Pittsburgh, but apply soon! Also Ohio State which has an Oct 1 deadline.

14

The private U’s in California could be worth a look: the Claremont Consortium (Pomona or Harvey Mudd), Caltech, Stanford, and USC (which gives generous merit to NMF). Stanford is another “crazy reach” but might be worth a try. See how the NPC looks for the others - they all meet full need as they define it.

Rice is an easy “commute” from the Midwest, terrific CS, and they’ve just announced a more generous (“crazy-reach” quality) aid formula for middle-class families. Definitely worth a close look. The smaller size and residential college system make the undergraduate experience an excellent one. Demonstrated interest is very important for admissions.

Northeastern also meets full need (by their definition) and gives generous NMF merit scholarships, but need-based aid and merit do not stack so your bottom line still might not be great. Run the NPC and see - they do have a great CS program. Also consider Tufts, which has no merit but has generous need-based aid.

CMU is stingy on both merit and need-based aid, so I wouldn’t be optimistic there. Maybe consider Johns Hopkins, Penn, and/or Cornell, though.

Smaller midwestern schools with merit potential and good CS include Macalester and Rose-Hulman. Carleton and/or St. Olaf might give enough need-based aid - worth running the NPC’s to see.

15

Is he a Natl Merit Scholar? If so, he gets automatic 1/2 tuition if accepted to Univ. o Southern California, and may be considered for a full tuition scholarship. The application deadline is Dec. 1st.

In general, the most generous schools (those that meet full need) are also the most difficult to get into, as you know, having aptly described them “as crazy reach” or “really strong” (UChicago has become a “crazy reach,” I’m afraid).

As you know, different schools calculate need differently, so it helps to check individual school’s Net Price Calculators. You might want to throw a few more “crazy reaches” in the mix: HYP in addition to Stanford, MIT, and UChicago. And, of course, “crazy reach” LACs (Mudd, Swat, Amherst).

I’d also throw Carnegie Mellon in as being somewhere between “crazy reach” and “really strong.” For merit, other generous schools that like great stats (some of which require extra essays and/or may have earlier deadlines) include Tulane, Emory, Richmond and Vanderbilt.). Note that full tuition, or more rarely, full ride scholarships will turn a “really strong” school into a “crazy reach”

Rice is also a reach, but it might be a solid choice – they have begun making a concerted effort to make themselves more affordable for middle income families (their COA is traditionally lower than many); their FA program now states that if parental income falls between $65K and $130K (with commensurate assets), need-based aid will cover full tuition:

https://financialaid.rice.edu/thericeinvestment

They also have some (automatic) merit scholarships, but that would probably lower need, so it’s a wash.

You might also want to look at Santa Clara Univ. – great connections with Silicon Valley with decent merit and FA.

I disagree with @chercheur that outside scholarships like the Elks are worth pursuing. The maximum award that Elks offers is $12,500/year ($50K total) and only two people win that. (The Coca Cola Scholarship is a tad more generous; it offers $20K/year and there are more of them).

Be aware that outside scholarships will, in most cases, raise your EFC in FA calculations, so you will be judged to have less need. Moreover, most outside scholarships consider financial need, and are either tied to Pell grant eligibility and/or have income thresholds well below yours (e.g., around $65K for a family of four). I think your best bet is hunting down institutional merit money.

That said, there are a couple (literally a couple) of very generous non-need based outside scholarships (more for URMs), but – in addition to outstanding academics – they are looking for strong community leaders and public service. They are the Bryce Cameron scholarship (Cameron Impact Scholarship) and the Coolidge Scholarship; both are full-ride, non-need based, and both are exceedingly hard to get.

As for other institutional merit options, Pitt’s a good choice. Also look into Miami of Ohio.

Check the yola sites for competitive, automatic, and NMF-automatic scholarships (not sure how up-to-date they are, but they’re a great place to start:

http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com

http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com

Also, you might find that the Midwestern Student Exchange Program might be helpful in targeting schools:

https://msep.mhec.org/about

16

Their smallest award, $1,000 per year ($4,000 total), is still a nice award for families looking for merit aid. If the OP’s son wants to attend Michigan, a few outside scholarships could make the difference. One of my kids won a statewide scholarship that paid off his remaining balance each semester (after all charges/credits were applied). He is in grad school (debt free) and just received a large, national scholarship in his field.

The Elks is the only national scholarship I’d recommend for the OP’s son (I would not recommend the Coca-Cola scholarship). As I said, he’s more likely to win local/state scholarships.

This is my recommendation based on my family’s experience. Some families don’t want to spend the extra time required to complete the applications, which I understand. We did, and it paid off.

17

I keep hearing great things about CS at University of Central Florida - they give a lot of money to NMSF (not sure if it was full tuition or full ride) plus their programming team keeps winning all sorts of competitions even over MIT and other top name schools.

18

@chercheur - $1K is a drop in the bucket for full-pay privates or even in-state flagship (in many cases, it won’t even cover travel). As I said, outside scholarships often reduce FA awards. OP is looking to pay less than $25K/year. They need full tuition or full-ride scholarships for privates, and their kid has the stats to be competitive for them.

My daughter had the stats and put in the work for both institutional and outside scholarships. She was awarded over $2 million in institutional merit aid, including full tuition scholarships at Vandy, USC, Wash U., Grinnell, and Kenyon and between $25 and $36K/year at many other top schools).

Outside national scholarships (she applied to any and all non-need based merit scholarships) required the same amount of work for my D as the institutional ones did; they ended up yielding under $5K (she did get a couple of nice junkets out of them in the cases that she ended up being a finalist or semifinalist). Moreover, some of these scholarships were just one-time awards. Definitely not worth the effort for us and I suspect it wouldn’t be worth it to OP. Glad it was for your S, @chercheur.

If @TwoHearted wants to go that route, I’d suggest looking up some of Courtney Thurston’s threads:

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1793418-i-won-291-500-in-outside-scholarships-my-story.html

19

I’m always a fan of Grinnell. They offer generous Merit $ and it’s an LAC in the midwest.

20

Seconding Grinnell, computer science is one of if not the most popular major. And if you go back far enough Robert Noyce was an alumni. Not only do they have generous with merit aid, but also need based aid.