Your merit aid success story

[Anonymous]

Full ride at Wisconsin (requires degree specific focus, but she can double major to do what she actually prefers)!

[Anonymous]

In my observation there seems to be two things going on with small SLAC that aren't sitting on low acceptance %, big endowments, and top rankings.

Some schools are cutting tuition from 20-30k a semester to 20-30k a year.

Other schools are offering a steep sticker discount. In a lot of cases it brings the cost down (before FA) to amount to the same thing:

30k tuition
15k room and board.

I don't think this is a coincidence. I think it might be what the market will bear, what a donut hole family can probably manage to pay. In our case I'm not quite sure how, but that's our problem. I think it's probably a realistic cost of what college 'should' cost.

[Anonymous]

Kid received enough at Kalamazoo College to bring price down to $25,000, full tuition at Juniata College to bring price to $13,000, and $15-$20,000 at UVM for a final COA of $45,000, and others.

Attending UMD for $30,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC was offered tuition covered at U of Arizona. We know some happy kids there, plus Tucson is a great town and a true change in scenery and culture.

This was before their recent huge money problem revelation?

[Anonymous]

To get merit, you have to research what school gives merit (are buyers) and which do not (are sellers).

If you want merit, look for schools that are “buyers.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid received enough at Kalamazoo College to bring price down to $25,000, full tuition at Juniata College to bring price to $13,000, and $15-$20,000 at UVM for a final COA of $45,000, and others.

Attending UMD for $30,000.


Wow! Great offers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To get merit, you have to research what school gives merit (are buyers) and which do not (are sellers).

If you want merit, look for schools that are “buyers.”

Gee thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn’t seem helpful unless people also provide their out of pocket number

The thing is, that changes with each year depending on what they do with tuition. So you can know that $42,000/year in merit aid will = $34,000 cost of attendance freshman year, but since tuitions tend to go up, you can't know what the cost will be in future years -- only that you'll get 42k/year merit off of that cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get merit, you have to research what school gives merit (are buyers) and which do not (are sellers).

If you want merit, look for schools that are “buyers.”

Gee thanks

And buy stocks low and sell high. This is free. The next advice will cost you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was offered full tuition at several small slacs you've never heard of (and not in his major) so he declined all.

Why did he even spend time and money applying to them?

He didn't. They were unsolicited. Schools buy the lists and want certain students. My kid was eagle scout, no 1 in class, 36 ACT, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was offered full tuition at several small slacs you've never heard of (and not in his major) so he declined all.

Why did he even spend time and money applying to them?

Can you say which?

Oof! They really were out of the blue. I think something like Virginia Wesleyan and something Trinity. Both small southern slacs that did not have engineering, which is what DS wanted. I actually took the phone call from the schools (this was a while ago) so could tell exactly what they were after. After figuring out I was the dad, they said they wanted to offer X the "Blank blank blank scholarship" of full tuition due to his 34 ACT. I said "Well, it's now a 36 because he retook it". I then heard a rustling of papers and the AO said "OK, then we can offer him the full President's scholarship at X dollars plus stipend". All of this information can be bought by the colleges via the testing services (big money maker). Your child can opt out of that when taking the exam if they wish. That will stop calls and emails

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn’t seem helpful unless people also provide their out of pocket number

For those who are too dumb and lazy to look up the sticker price 🙄

[Anonymous]

Way back when my kid got essentially half tuition merit from Grinnell. Once she got that she picked it over Carleton and William & Mary. We weren’t willing to go any lower than that in the rankings, merit or no merit aid. Didn’t make sense for a high achiever like her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS got merit at all or most of his schools - the trick is to apply to schools a bit below what you could just barely get admitted to - safeties for you will give you money.

+1. Apply to a lot of safeties and watch the merit offers roll in.

+1

Also be sure to check the conditions of the merit aid - most require that the student maintain a certain GPA to remain eligible.

[Anonymous]

Here's a list of merit aid scholarships: https://blog.prepscholar.com/colleges-with-full-ride-scholarships