College educational consultants recommending below-par schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:8:52, where are you pulling your stats from. I'm not challenging them . . . just want to know source for own purposes. Thanks

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

You can also google the name of the college in question and "common data set" to get the most recent raw data.

SAT ranges are under "admissions."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, they particularly offer a lot of merit dollars to National Merit Finalists. My child had high PSAT scores and we get a lot of mail from USC telling us about these scholarships. I suspect it's a bit far away for us, but if my child ends up being found eligible it is sure tempting.

Anonymous wrote:Most schools give scholarships to National Merit Semifinalists provided you indicate that that particular school is your "first choice" school.
http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Home/TypesofAid/ScholarshipsandGrants/OFAScholarshipListing.aspx

Actually, many schools give no money at all for National Merit. Examples off the top of my head include the Ivy League schools and UVa. Many other schools offer only token amounts of a couple or a few thousand (not much compared to a $55-60,000 tuition bill). The most generous for National Merit are schools like USC, Oklahoma, Alabama, and a lot of smaller LACs.
(Could not find a listing for National Merit Scholars in your link, but I'm in a hurry right now and didn't have time to go through the entire thing.)

I never could find an reference to National Merit Scholarships on this linked page. Was it elsewhere on that site? We are looking at schools that offer substantial (covering at least half tuition) scholarships for National Merit qualified students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, they particularly offer a lot of merit dollars to National Merit Finalists. My child had high PSAT scores and we get a lot of mail from USC telling us about these scholarships. I suspect it's a bit far away for us, but if my child ends up being found eligible it is sure tempting.

Anonymous wrote:Most schools give scholarships to National Merit Semifinalists provided you indicate that that particular school is your "first choice" school.
http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Home/TypesofAid/ScholarshipsandGrants/OFAScholarshipListing.aspx

Actually, many schools give no money at all for National Merit. Examples off the top of my head include the Ivy League schools and UVa. Many other schools offer only token amounts of a couple or a few thousand (not much compared to a $55-60,000 tuition bill). The most generous for National Merit are schools like USC, Oklahoma, Alabama, and a lot of smaller LACs.
(Could not find a listing for National Merit Scholars in your link, but I'm in a hurry right now and didn't have time to go through the entire thing.)

I never could find an reference to National Merit Scholarships on this linked page. Was it elsewhere on that site? We are looking at schools that offer substantial (covering at least half tuition) scholarships for National Merit qualified students.

This link mentions that many elite pubic and private universities no longer use their own funds for national merit scholarships.

http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2013/04/20/best-major-universities-for-national-merit-scholarship-funding/


Top 25 schools that use their own money to award merit scholarships regardless of need are: University of Chicago with 303 merit scholars (217 of them with university sponsorship); USC with 263 merit scholars (228 with USC support); Northwestern with 236 scholars (169 with school support); Washington University St. Louis with 206 scholars (142 with university sponsorship); Vanderbilt with 187 scholars (137 with university support); and Rice with 147 scholars (104 with Rice sponsorship)

[Anonymous]

The link above wrote:All of the Ivy League universities have stopped matching or funding national merit scholarships, although they continue to enroll large numbers of winners because of the prestige of the institutions. Ivy League schools also, as a rule, provide generous financial support based on actual need, making them an excellent choice for most of the applicants they admit. The mean SAT scores for many of these schools are likely significantly higher than the mean score nationwide on the PSAT (converted to SAT). …
Many public elites have joined the Ivies in not providing their own funds to match or pay entirely for merit scholarships. Among these schools are all the UC campuses, UT Austin, and the University of Washington. Michigan and Virginia also appear to have stopped using their own funds for merit scholarships based solely on the PSAT. At these universities, merit scholars may still receive assistance but it will not be in the form of merit matching funds or totally funded merit scholarships. These and other universities may also have non-need-based scholarships for valedictorians

This is good to know. So many of the higher-ranked schools only give need-based aid. It is truly difficult for families that make just over the limit for aid, but do not make enough to just easily pay out $60,000/year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The link above wrote:All of the Ivy League universities have stopped matching or funding national merit scholarships, although they continue to enroll large numbers of winners because of the prestige of the institutions. Ivy League schools also, as a rule, provide generous financial support based on actual need, making them an excellent choice for most of the applicants they admit. The mean SAT scores for many of these schools are likely significantly higher than the mean score nationwide on the PSAT (converted to SAT). …
Many public elites have joined the Ivies in not providing their own funds to match or pay entirely for merit scholarships. Among these schools are all the UC campuses, UT Austin, and the University of Washington. Michigan and Virginia also appear to have stopped using their own funds for merit scholarships based solely on the PSAT. At these universities, merit scholars may still receive assistance but it will not be in the form of merit matching funds or totally funded merit scholarships. These and other universities may also have non-need-based scholarships for valedictorians

This is good to know. So many of the higher-ranked schools only give need-based aid. It is truly difficult for families that make just over the limit for aid, but do not make enough to just easily pay out $60,000/year.

Not unlike private high schools in the DC area, you have the well-to-do and the low SES, but not much of the middle class. Thank God for public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The link above wrote:All of the Ivy League universities have stopped matching or funding national merit scholarships, although they continue to enroll large numbers of winners because of the prestige of the institutions. Ivy League schools also, as a rule, provide generous financial support based on actual need, making them an excellent choice for most of the applicants they admit. The mean SAT scores for many of these schools are likely significantly higher than the mean score nationwide on the PSAT (converted to SAT). …
Many public elites have joined the Ivies in not providing their own funds to match or pay entirely for merit scholarships. Among these schools are all the UC campuses, UT Austin, and the University of Washington. Michigan and Virginia also appear to have stopped using their own funds for merit scholarships based solely on the PSAT. At these universities, merit scholars may still receive assistance but it will not be in the form of merit matching funds or totally funded merit scholarships. These and other universities may also have non-need-based scholarships for valedictorians

This is good to know. So many of the higher-ranked schools only give need-based aid. It is truly difficult for families that make just over the limit for aid, but do not make enough to just easily pay out $60,000/year.

Not unlike private high schools in the DC area, you have the well-to-do and the low SES, but not much of the middle class. Thank God for public schools.

Or the people who do public for K-12 and save like mad for private universities. It always slays me when I see people on the Private School forum writing about how "we scacrifice our retirement and college savings for private school, but we think it's worth it." No, it's usually not worth sacrificing college options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, they particularly offer a lot of merit dollars to National Merit Finalists. My child had high PSAT scores and we get a lot of mail from USC telling us about these scholarships. I suspect it's a bit far away for us, but if my child ends up being found eligible it is sure tempting.

Anonymous wrote:Most schools give scholarships to National Merit Semifinalists provided you indicate that that particular school is your "first choice" school.
http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Home/TypesofAid/ScholarshipsandGrants/OFAScholarshipListing.aspx

Actually, many schools give no money at all for National Merit. Examples off the top of my head include the Ivy League schools and UVa. Many other schools offer only token amounts of a couple or a few thousand (not much compared to a $55-60,000 tuition bill). The most generous for National Merit are schools like USC, Oklahoma, Alabama, and a lot of smaller LACs.
(Could not find a listing for National Merit Scholars in your link, but I'm in a hurry right now and didn't have time to go through the entire thing.)

I never could find an reference to National Merit Scholarships on this linked page. Was it elsewhere on that site? We are looking at schools that offer substantial (covering at least half tuition) scholarships for National Merit qualified students.

This list might be helpful - though I can't vouch for its accuracy:

https://www.applerouth.com/blog/2010/08/06/schools-offer-free-ride-to-students-based-on-psat-scores/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8:52, where are you pulling your stats from. I'm not challenging them . . . just want to know source for own purposes. Thanks

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

You can also google the name of the college in question and "common data set" to get the most recent raw data.

SAT ranges are under "admissions."

THank you!