Best way to find schools with high merit aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I viewed the CDS for a school, and it said that their average award for "non-need" aid is $19,000. Their tuition is $74,000.

That's still a lot. I wish we could be full pay, but we can't.

What's the best way to find schools that award more? I don't think we'll qualify for need-based aid. I'm already looking for schools where kid's grade and scores would be the top 25% of admitted students.

Then that's not the right school for you. Do not apply to schools that you know you will not be able to pay.

How do you know whether you can afford it before you apply and get your aid package? You can’t really go by rack rates.

CDS
NPC

Do your homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what kinds of schools you're looking for. Miami University in Ohio gives pretty generous aid based on GPA/scores that bring tuition well within in-state range and possibly even cheaper than your own in-state schools.

Wooster
Denison
Kalamazoo
Dickinson
Washington & Jefferson (it seems like they straight up guarantee at least some merit aid)
Chatham University
Gettysburg
Juniata
Oberlin
Grinnell
Macalester
Occidental
Smith
Bryn Mawr
Mount Holyoke
Connecticut College
Case Western
Allegheny College
W&L
Lawrence University
St Lawrence
Beloit
Sarah Lawrence
Kenyon
OOS schools like UKY, ASU, Alabama

Great list. Some overlaps with my dc’s experience.

+1 This is a great list. DC who loved W&M but didn't get in (had scores just below W&M's median), has received merit aid offers from a number of these schools that brings the price down to the same or lower as WM in-state.

[Anonymous]

The paying for college 101 and road2college Facebook groups are very helpful. They have a paid resource that will give you detailed information about this. (I think thousands of members put in the offers they received, with test scores and GPA.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CDS provides useful info on all kinds of things, but be careful around interpreting the info. Just because a school gives a lot of merit doesn't mean your kid will get a lot of merit.

Most of the schools with more competitive admissions don't give merit aid. And in our (limited) experience, your DC is more likely to get merit aid at a school where their stats are way above average. That makes sense - schools use merit to attract high performers. Also be prepared to apply early - either EA or very early in a rolling admissions process.

College Confidential forums have a lot of advice about hunting for merit. There are a number of schools that are transparent about merit aid. They publish on their website how much merit they award based on an applicant's stats. Again, it's a way of attracting top students. They often have honors colleges or other selective programs.

+1 Look for the "good colleges for merit aid" discussion on College Confidential

[Anonymous]

The OOS state schools (Alabama, etc) have very transparent charts re: GPA and SAT scores that equate to how much merit the student will receive. These are all very public on their websites

[Anonymous]

Smith does not give merit aid. They literally only award two merit awards and it’s very prestigious. Not like the other schools at all that hand it out.

[Anonymous]

True re case western?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True re case western?

At least a few people responded on the separate CWRU thread that their DC’s were wait listed and then admitted with merit, which I don’t get but sounded good.

[Anonymous]

For 2020-21, but still gives you an idea of which schools provide merit. There are some recognizable names. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-merit-aid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I viewed the CDS for a school, and it said that their average award for "non-need" aid is $19,000. Their tuition is $74,000.

That's still a lot. I wish we could be full pay, but we can't.

What's the best way to find schools that award more? I don't think we'll qualify for need-based aid. I'm already looking for schools where kid's grade and scores would be the top 25% of admitted students.

Then that's not the right school for you. Do not apply to schools that you know you will not be able to pay.

Well you can do it but your kid needs to understand that unless they come back with some good merit/scholarship/grants offer, it will likely not be happening. However, it does not hurt to give it a whirl if your kid really likes the college.

We had some unexpected surprises of high tuitions dropping down to in-state levels due to those factors.

Our kid is your average high stat good student, but not tippy toppy by any means.

[Anonymous]

Check Lynn O’Shaughnessy blog

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True re case western?

Case Western gives significant merit but their sticker price is at 81K for next year. DS got merit of 40K/year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smith does not give merit aid. They literally only award two merit awards and it’s very prestigious. Not like the other schools at all that hand it out.

That's not true.