Did anyone get more than $30K in merit aid at private college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Berea and Cooper Union, respectively.

But isn't Berea for lower income students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't know about the amounts, but you probably also need to look at other geographies. Your DC doesn't bring much to the table to a relatively local school. For merit aid they want something distinctive - high scores, diverse geography, etc. Just a decent GPA isn't going to do it.

Hmmm. We've been thinking about this and wondering if we should consider some in the midwest like Wooster, Antioch, Ohio Wesleyan, etc. (But DC#1 only got $25K from Denison (Ohio), which was not enough for our budget.)

You should absolutely apply to more LACs in the Midwest. They tend to be more generous to attract a more diverse student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ class of 2015 received approximately 36 million dollars in merit based scholarship for 430 graduating seniors.

That works out to about $83,000 in scholarship money per student.

typical kids apply to 10-15 schools. assuming 10 acceptance, it's only 8300/school. not that impressive.

Around May/June, each graduating senior has to complete a form regarding which college the student is attending and the amount of merit based scholarship received from the said college. So, no need to divide by ten.

Four or five kids from this TJ class went to service academies which put the scholarship value of tuition, room, and board at 3 to 400,000 dollars, that's 1.2 to 2 million right there.

The service academies do not charge for tuition/room & board for attending thus the scholarship awarded would be zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread to see if anyone can answer my original question. I'm the OP

I re-read the entire thread, and the only two schools that posters reported offered $30K in merit aid were Oberlin and College of Wooster.

I don't see any publics other than Arkansas (not for DC) offering enough merit aid to match IS. Any other suggestions?

BTW, DC loves UVM. But merit aid seems scarce there, esp. if you are not a top student.

Did your kid get more than $30K in merit at a private?
Or enough merit to match IS at a public?

If so, which schools?

Our child got $30k/ year in merit aid at Juniata College, taking the net price to about $23k/year.

[Anonymous]

Our child got $30k/ year in merit aid at Juniata College, taking the net price to about $23k/year.

What was your child's GPA?

[Anonymous]

Our grandson got 45K in merit aid from University of Miami.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our grandson got 45K in merit aid from University of Miami.

He got Stamps Scholarship?

[Anonymous]

Seeing all these still-high costs for shitty schools I am 1) greatful to have been in-state at a big 10 2) sending my children to do AmeriCorps or something for a year so they can also go in state at a cheap decent quality school.

[Anonymous]

St. Joseph's in PA, give DD 30k, St. John's in NYC gave 30k, George Mason gave just over 5k. Waiting on a few more.

[Anonymous]

I think this will be a good year for merit aid. My advice is to apply and see what happens!!

[Anonymous]

I went to Hope College in Holland, a SLAC/D3 school. I don't know what their current scholarships are like, but tuition and fees are around $31,000 for next year (room and board is about $9000 extra). You wouldn't need $30,000 in aid to get that down to $25,000, only $6000 to $15,000, depending on whether or not room and board is included in the $25,000 you're saying you can pay each year.

They have a great theater program, including summer repiratory theater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a junior. We're starting the college search. We don't qualify for FA, but can't afford more than $25K per year.

He's applying in-state, but wants a few more options. (3.87 unweighted gpa, but poor PSAT math scores, probably English/theater major). He's considering East Coast schools that offer merit aid like Juniata, Ursinus, U Vermont, Allegheny, Lesley, Fairfield, Muhlenberg, Mary Washington, Saint Michael's, Clark, Washington College (MD), College of New Jersey, etc.

BUT, I'm wondering, has ANYONE with similar stats received more than $30K in merit aid at any of these or similar private colleges? Anyone received in-state price at public OOS schools?

I don't want to waste our time applying if there's no hope that merit aid awards will bring DS's cost down to around $25K.

Thanks!

Wrong approach. You need to apply and let it play out.

Worst advice EVER.

How so?

Generally speaking, people with family incomes north of $180k (i.e., DCUM "middle class) and two kids will receive ZERO financial aid. Let me say that again: ZERO. The cost to attend college will be in the neighborhood of $60k per year unless the student goes to an in-state public or an OOS public with reasonable OOS tuition (i.e, not Michigan, UVA, W&M, or any UC), or unless the student is awarded merit aid by a private college that gives merit aid. (Most of the USNWR top-rated schools give financial aid only, no merit aid.)

Estimate your expected family contribution using the on-line estimator and look at that number closely. It's likely a low-ball of what colleges will expect you to pay. If you can't afford that number, it's time to take a good, hard, realistic look at where your kid can go to college. If you can't afford your EFC, your kid should not waste any time looking at Ivy League schools and their ilk.

This is where we are, and we have four kids. We cannot pay $60K or whatever the EFC says. We can't. We're not crying poor. It's the cost of private colleges that's too high. In-state, we can and will pay. If OOS costs were lower, we'd have a lot more options for DC. If private tuitions were lower, we'd also have a lot more options.

The private SLACs we've visited seem outrageously outfitted. They have these gigantic sports complexes that cost $40 million, arts buildings that cost $60 million -- why?? If they didn't spend so much $$ on these expensive buildings, which do not add anything to the actual education they offer, they could charge reasonable tuition, allowing middle class kids like mine to attend. As it is, they are getting rich kids and poor kids, but the middle class are out. If that's what they want, fine. But it's not diverse, nor is it representative of the US. And isn't it the middle class that adds stability to most communities, including colleges?

Often those buildings have a name on it ... the money isn't free to be used for tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ class of 2015 received approximately 36 million dollars in merit based scholarship for 430 graduating seniors.

That works out to about $83,000 in scholarship money per student.

typical kids apply to 10-15 schools. assuming 10 acceptance, it's only 8300/school. not that impressive.

Around May/June, each graduating senior has to complete a form regarding which college the student is attending and the amount of merit based scholarship received from the said college. So, no need to divide by ten.

Four or five kids from this TJ class went to service academies which put the scholarship value of tuition, room, and board at 3 to 400,000 dollars, that's 1.2 to 2 million right there.

The service academies do not charge for tuition/room & board for attending thus the scholarship awarded would be zero.

Right, the value of the education is considered a full ride merit scholarship. The students fill out their high school forms with the value that the academy has figured out for each year. It can vary by academy. The education there is not free; it does cost money, so that value is considered a full scholarship. (Obviously, the students take on an active duty service requirement when they graduate.)

The value of a service academy education is listed as a full ride scholarship in the paperwork that students fill out at the end of the senior year and thus is included in the total announced by the school. So it is a large portion of the total amount.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a junior. We're starting the college search. We don't qualify for FA, but can't afford more than $25K per year.

He's applying in-state, but wants a few more options. (3.87 unweighted gpa, but poor PSAT math scores, probably English/theater major). He's considering East Coast schools that offer merit aid like Juniata, Ursinus, U Vermont, Allegheny, Lesley, Fairfield, Muhlenberg, Mary Washington, Saint Michael's, Clark, Washington College (MD), College of New Jersey, etc.

BUT, I'm wondering, has ANYONE with similar stats received more than $30K in merit aid at any of these or similar private colleges? Anyone received in-state price at public OOS schools?

I don't want to waste our time applying if there's no hope that merit aid awards will bring DS's cost down to around $25K.

Thanks!

Wrong approach. You need to apply and let it play out.

No, not wrong approach. We did the "apply first and hope" with older DC and ended up with a bunch of merit aid packages of $5K to $25K, not enough to bring the cost of private schools within reach of our budget. (DC#1 did apply to more selective colleges than the ones DC#2 is considering, though.)

I'm curious if any kids got big packages from not-very-selective privates (most of the ones I listed above have 60% or higher acceptance rates).

+1. For most of us, FA is a joke. Just a way to charge exorbitant tuition fees and get graduates hooked into massive loans.

Makes much more sense to only apply to schools with affordable fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ class of 2015 received approximately 36 million dollars in merit based scholarship for 430 graduating seniors.

That works out to about $83,000 in scholarship money per student.

typical kids apply to 10-15 schools. assuming 10 acceptance, it's only 8300/school. not that impressive.

Around May/June, each graduating senior has to complete a form regarding which college the student is attending and the amount of merit based scholarship received from the said college. So, no need to divide by ten.

Four or five kids from this TJ class went to service academies which put the scholarship value of tuition, room, and board at 3 to 400,000 dollars, that's 1.2 to 2 million right there.

The service academies do not charge for tuition/room & board for attending thus the scholarship awarded would be zero.

Right, the value of the education is considered a full ride merit scholarship. The students fill out their high school forms with the value that the academy has figured out for each year. It can vary by academy. The education there is not free; it does cost money, so that value is considered a full scholarship. (Obviously, the students take on an active duty service requirement when they graduate.)

The value of a service academy education is listed as a full ride scholarship in the paperwork that students fill out at the end of the senior year and thus is included in the total announced by the school. So it is a large portion of the total amount.

I have never heard of TJ kids putting on the senior final college/scholarship form that they received $300,000 to $400,000 in merit based scholarship just because they will attend one of the service academies. Maybe kids at your school do this but not kids at TJ.