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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not always.
Also, why can't they raise money to increase their endowments to cover their operating costs, and charge lower tuition? They spend a lot of money on their development department. Princeton spent $50 million on a new sports stadium that's used 8 times a year. If they had spread around that $50 million on FA and paying operating costs, they could lower tuition. But there are so many people willing to pay or borrow to pay that high tuition that schools have no need to lower tuition. Even schools like Drexel, which used to be a Philly commuter school, now charges $60k. Insane to pay that much for Drexel!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I looked at the Common Data Set for Juniata, and it said the average merit aid award is $17K. Your child must have pretty good stats, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My child at TJ knows three kids who are at West Point and one at the Naval Academy who were told to write the amount designated by the academies on the form. He was with one of them when the form was being filled out and heard them talking about it. The kids who received ROTC scholarships did the same thing. This is standard and not at all unusual. They also announced the amounts at the TJ senior awards ceremony at which I was present.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

3.4 UW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I looked at the Common Data Set for Juniata, and it said the average merit aid award is $17K. Your child must have pretty good stats, no?

Yes. Excellent scores and leadership ECs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My child at TJ knows three kids who are at West Point and one at the Naval Academy who were told to write the amount designated by the academies on the form. He was with one of them when the form was being filled out and heard them talking about it. The kids who received ROTC scholarships did the same thing. This is standard and not at all unusual. They also announced the amounts at the TJ senior awards ceremony at which I was present.

So you are saying:

1) Academies tell the incoming students that the students are receiving $300,000.00 to $400,000.00 in merit based scholarship to attend one of the academies even though the graduates will have to serve in the military typically for 4 to 5 years at a substantially reduced compensation;

2) TJ school official tells these seniors specifically to write these amounts on the college/scholarship form?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My child at TJ knows three kids who are at West Point and one at the Naval Academy who were told to write the amount designated by the academies on the form. He was with one of them when the form was being filled out and heard them talking about it. The kids who received ROTC scholarships did the same thing. This is standard and not at all unusual. They also announced the amounts at the TJ senior awards ceremony at which I was present.

So you are saying:

1) Academies tell the incoming students that the students are receiving $300,000.00 to $400,000.00 in merit based scholarship to attend one of the academies even though the graduates will have to serve in the military typically for 4 to 5 years at a substantially reduced compensation;

2) TJ school official tells these seniors specifically to write these amounts on the college/scholarship form?

Yes, that is exactly what that post is saying. Once they graduate they get the same pay as any other officer in the same pay grade, regardless of where they went to college. Their pay is not reduced because they went to a service academy.
Most of these kids have high stats and have been offered merit scholarships from other colleges and universities, so have lots of options.

This is nothing new. A high school classmate of mine went to West Point and the value of his scholarship was announced at our graduation. It's pretty standard.

[Anonymous]

TJ tells all seniors to write the value of their scholarships on those forms. Seniors who are receiving full scholarships to a service academy aren't any different from seniors receiving merit scholarships to any other college or university.

Cooper Union, for instance, until recently had no tuition. Every student was on full tuition scholarship and the school would tell students what the value of that scholarship was so they could inform their high school guidance office. The service academies fall into the same category.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ tells all seniors to write the value of their scholarships on those forms. Seniors who are receiving full scholarships to a service academy aren't any different from seniors receiving merit scholarships to any other college or university.

Cooper Union, for instance, until recently had no tuition. Every student was on full tuition scholarship and the school would tell students what the value of that scholarship was so they could inform their high school guidance office. The service academies fall into the same category.

My TJ kid received a full ride to one of the top universities and he was not told to write a certain amount on the form. He had to figure out on his own adding up the tuition, room & board etc. and complete the form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ tells all seniors to write the value of their scholarships on those forms. Seniors who are receiving full scholarships to a service academy aren't any different from seniors receiving merit scholarships to any other college or university.

Cooper Union, for instance, until recently had no tuition. Every student was on full tuition scholarship and the school would tell students what the value of that scholarship was so they could inform their high school guidance office. The service academies fall into the same category.

My TJ kid received a full ride to one of the top universities and he was not told to write a certain amount on the form. He had to figure out on his own adding up the tuition, room & board etc. and complete the form.

merit full ride? from like top 20??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ tells all seniors to write the value of their scholarships on those forms. Seniors who are receiving full scholarships to a service academy aren't any different from seniors receiving merit scholarships to any other college or university.

Cooper Union, for instance, until recently had no tuition. Every student was on full tuition scholarship and the school would tell students what the value of that scholarship was so they could inform their high school guidance office. The service academies fall into the same category.

My TJ kid received a full ride to one of the top universities and he was not told to write a certain amount on the form. He had to figure out on his own adding up the tuition, room & board etc. and complete the form.

Didn't the school offering the free ride give a dollar amount as to what it was worth? My child was a NMF, so we received a lot of information from various schools about full ride scholarships and they all had a dollar amount listed. The schools were very clear as to how much their full ride scholarships were worth.

No one told my child to write a certain amount on the form, he was told to write the amount of the value of his merit scholarship. We found that out in the paperwork the school had sent us about the scholarship and that was the figure my child used. It is the same for the kids who go to the service academies. The academies add up the value of tuition, room, and board and that is the value of the full ride scholarship each student earns, so that is the amount the student writes on the end of senior year forms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ tells all seniors to write the value of their scholarships on those forms. Seniors who are receiving full scholarships to a service academy aren't any different from seniors receiving merit scholarships to any other college or university.

Cooper Union, for instance, until recently had no tuition. Every student was on full tuition scholarship and the school would tell students what the value of that scholarship was so they could inform their high school guidance office. The service academies fall into the same category.

My TJ kid received a full ride to one of the top universities and he was not told to write a certain amount on the form. He had to figure out on his own adding up the tuition, room & board etc. and complete the form.

Didn't the school offering the free ride give a dollar amount as to what it was worth? My child was a NMF, so we received a lot of information from various schools about full ride scholarships and they all had a dollar amount listed. The schools were very clear as to how much their full ride scholarships were worth.

No one told my child to write a certain amount on the form, he was told to write the amount of the value of his merit scholarship. We found that out in the paperwork the school had sent us about the scholarship and that was the figure my child used. It is the same for the kids who go to the service academies. The academies add up the value of tuition, room, and board and that is the value of the full ride scholarship each student earns, so that is the amount the student writes on the end of senior year forms.

No he was not and he was a national merit scholarship winner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ tells all seniors to write the value of their scholarships on those forms. Seniors who are receiving full scholarships to a service academy aren't any different from seniors receiving merit scholarships to any other college or university.

Cooper Union, for instance, until recently had no tuition. Every student was on full tuition scholarship and the school would tell students what the value of that scholarship was so they could inform their high school guidance office. The service academies fall into the same category.

My TJ kid received a full ride to one of the top universities and he was not told to write a certain amount on the form. He had to figure out on his own adding up the tuition, room & board etc. and complete the form.

Didn't the school offering the free ride give a dollar amount as to what it was worth? My child was a NMF, so we received a lot of information from various schools about full ride scholarships and they all had a dollar amount listed. The schools were very clear as to how much their full ride scholarships were worth.

No one told my child to write a certain amount on the form, he was told to write the amount of the value of his merit scholarship. We found that out in the paperwork the school had sent us about the scholarship and that was the figure my child used. It is the same for the kids who go to the service academies. The academies add up the value of tuition, room, and board and that is the value of the full ride scholarship each student earns, so that is the amount the student writes on the end of senior year forms.

It costs $100,000.00 per year to educate a cadet at the West Point?

[Anonymous]

^ this is really not very interesting. I think this thread is done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ this is really not very interesting. I think this thread is done.

You are the final arbiter as to when a thread is done?