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<p>There’s a difference between qualifying for ADMITTANCE and qualifying for MERIT scholarships. Merit scholarships tend to be given to students whose stats are well-within the upper quartile of the school. </p>
<p>Your child will likely get admitted to a number of schools. However, schools don’t award merit scholarships to every/most students who they accept. Usually only about 5-20% of admitted students get merit scholarships of various levels (from the schools that give them). </p>
<p>this is kind of how it works…</p>
<p>There’s a large pool of kids with high GPAs</p>
<p>There’s a small pool of kids with high test scores</p>
<p>There’s an even smaller pool of kids with both high test scores and high GPAs…those are generally the kids who get the merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Cpt makes an excellent point. </p>
<p>If your child is male, then look at the privates that need more male students. They might be more generous. however, they might not have engineering programs.</p>
<p>What about a public school in another state…?? As in, somewhere in the South? Many colleges in states not especially known for their higher education offer great merit aid, as compared to the less-than-generous “public ivies”. Though their ranking may not be as high, lesser-known publics can often save a student a great deal of money throughout the course of their undergraduate career. Often, such schools may waive out of state additional fees (though not all of them do). I am a rising senior, and I’ve decided that going to a lesser-known public university is probably the way I’m going to go. By doing this, I will be able to keep my debt to a minimum. I am going through a similar situation financially with my parents.</p>
<p>@thumper. Thanks. Always have to have a breakout plan.</p>
<p><a href=“mailto:thanks@lookingforward”>thanks@lookingforward</a>. Yes. You are right. We live in an expensive area. But my home lost value like alot of ppl. I bought it 6yrs ago 245K. My car is 13 yo. Thankfully its running. I have 26K in 401K. Thats all my assets.
I think my child would be fine in community college. No sports. More time for studies. Im exploring all avenues and taking all advice.</p>
<p><a href=“mailto:thanks@cpt”>thanks@cpt</a>. You gave great info that i need to look into more. The high school does have a great reputation. Many colleges are aware and have worked with the school before. They know what to expect. But for me. Im nervous and loosing sleep. Lol. And other parents say a B here is an A elsewhere. But there are no legacies to influence any school either. I cant pay 20K year and dont want loans.</p>
<p>I would get an affordable, doable choice in the bag, and then look at as many other options as you can. Never know what will happen. My boys were/are all athletes too, and all but one continued in sports in college, though so far only one was a recruited NCAA athlete. Though my current college kid is no longer on a team, he enjoys going to his school’s games and is a definite spirit contributor. Another was in a club sport, and enjoyed every minute of his time doing that.</p>
<p>@mom2kids. You make a great point. Thanks for breaking it down for me. High GPA and SAT gets merit aid. Family income too high for need aid. I really dont know what to do.</p>
<p>@cpt. Do you think VCU is a good school choice?</p>
<p>@yaksic. Do you have suggestions on other public schools in the south? Thanks. It is good to see a student taking charge of future finances.</p>
<p>Your retirement won’t really count as assets. Everyone is offering good advice- you can also get a good college guide (Fiske or Princeton Review.) Sometimes, the value in those is where they show comparable colleges. A school that your child matches well in personality, academic interests, and where he/she exceeds averages will sometimes go to bat financially in ways that a school where the stats seem to fall into the mid-range won’t. Sometimes, that’s about gleaning everything you can from what the school touts about its programs and the sorts of kids it brags about. You may be helped by looking hard at your child’s activities, any leadership, etc, to get a better picture of the strengths than just stats and sports. Good luck.</p>
<p>ps. You’re not really “too high for need aid.” The issue is maximizing aid by finding schools able to do more for you. The NPC example from VT is sobering. You might also benefit from digging through finaid.org.</p>
<p>You may want to look in to university of Arkansas at Monticello (they would give your son full tuition + room, a near full-ride). Also, Louisiana tech gives good aid, and has an excellent engineering program. Arkansas tech is also quite generous. The list goes on, and the amount of aid at schools like these only goes up with improved scores. Don’t let the words “Arkansas” and “Louisiana” scare you away. Almost every university in each of these states has generous merit aid, and having your son go to school here at a university rather than at your local CC, I feel,is almost certainly a better choice. I live in Arkansas, and I probably will go to college either here or in Louisiana. I don’t want to be in major debt when I apply for medical school.</p>
<p>@yaksic. Thank you so much for your suggestions. Its funny you mention Louisiana. They want to attend school there. would love to go to Tulane. I will look at other state schools.</p>
<p>Vamom…you keep referring to “they”. I thought you had one child.</p>
<p>You might also want to check University of South Carolina. The McKissick and Cooper scholarships are awarded based on the strength of the application and reduce the cost to instate tuition for recipients. The McKissick also has a scholarship stipend in addition. If your child is willing to complete the Honors college/scholarship application and is a very strong student, the McNair scholarship is a free ride.</p>
<p>@thumper. Yes only one child. Use wrong pronouns.</p>
<p>You can find information on automatic merit aid at Louisiana colleges here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14649882-post97.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14649882-post97.html</a></p>
<p>There will also be other merit awards at Louisiana schools that are competitive, for example, there are many competitive awards available at Tulane.</p>
<p>^^^^
thank you Bob, thunder and yaksic. Im hoping with the re-taking of the test, the score will be raised and we can take advantage of some of this scholarships. It certainly does open my eyes to not just VA. And yes yaksic, going to university will be a better choice than community college.</p>
<p>Run the numbers also at places like Lynchburg and Roanoke to see what the $ look like. Compare those to the state schools. Just another thought.</p>
<p>Just to compare re: Tulane however, my 2140 SAT D (3.45 unweighted GPA-school does not weight) received nothing from Tulane.</p>
<p>Just to compare re: Tulane however, my 2140 SAT D (3.45 unweighted GPA-school does not weight) received nothing from Tulane. </p>
<p>^^^^^
right. I believe another parent said the merit scholarship based on grades are hard to come by. How are you paying for school (if you don’t mind me asking) I already know Tulane is outta my reach. Or did your family decide on another school?</p>