What colleges give really good merit aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama is very generous. I know a few people who got a full ride without lifting a finger. Not even an application.

Yup. My nephew from Michigan benefited from this. Alabama reached out to him. Full ride in the Honors program. Just graduated a couple of years ago.

Just curious - with the change in AL abortion laws and several other states, does that impact where your DC apply?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alabama is very generous. I know a few people who got a full ride without lifting a finger. Not even an application.

I don't care if it's free. I'd never send my DC to Alabama. State stuck in 1950s. Disgusting and depressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reasons why this post is vague: What does "really good" FA mean? Full ride or 20K merit off per year? Does the student have tippy top SATs and GPA? Is the student a white boy from the suburbs or a URM? The OP gave ZERO information, so how can anyone give advice?

Are you this nitpicky over everything? I had no idea that Mary Washington gave $10,000 a year merit scholarships. Asking a question like this allows someone to know what possibilities are out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama is very generous. I know a few people who got a full ride without lifting a finger. Not even an application.

Yup. My nephew from Michigan benefited from this. Alabama reached out to him. Full ride in the Honors program. Just graduated a couple of years ago.

Just curious - with the change in AL abortion laws and several other states, does that impact where your DC apply?

Why in the world would that impact where someone applies? If a girl wanted an abortion during college, she could go back home or out of state to get it. Easy work around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama is very generous. I know a few people who got a full ride without lifting a finger. Not even an application.

I don't care if it's free. I'd never send my DC to Alabama. State stuck in 1950s. Disgusting and depressing.

How is it depressing? I've known people who have lived in Alabama (gulf coast) and loved it.

[Anonymous]

University of Louisville gives merit aid for kids from specific regions. DC is one of them. Our kid had mid 1200s and a 3.5 GPA. He qualified for $11K per year. Add on the $10K DC TAG, and the total cost for us is down to $15K per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama is very generous. I know a few people who got a full ride without lifting a finger. Not even an application.

Yup. My nephew from Michigan benefited from this. Alabama reached out to him. Full ride in the Honors program. Just graduated a couple of years ago.

Just curious - with the change in AL abortion laws and several other states, does that impact where your DC apply?

Why in the world would that impact where someone applies? If a girl wanted an abortion during college, she could go back home or out of state to get it. Easy work around.

Alabama law purports to make traveling elsewhere to get an abortion a crime.

Aside from whether the issue would have an impact on my child, I won't support a state with such draconian and inhumane laws with a dime of my money, and I certainly wouldn't want my child to go there to be "educated."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama is very generous. I know a few people who got a full ride without lifting a finger. Not even an application.

I don't care if it's free. I'd never send my DC to Alabama. State stuck in 1950s. Disgusting and depressing.

How is it depressing? I've known people who have lived in Alabama (gulf coast) and loved it.

They must not care about the larger world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama is very generous. I know a few people who got a full ride without lifting a finger. Not even an application.

Yup. My nephew from Michigan benefited from this. Alabama reached out to him. Full ride in the Honors program. Just graduated a couple of years ago.

Just curious - with the change in AL abortion laws and several other states, does that impact where your DC apply?

Why in the world would that impact where someone applies? If a girl wanted an abortion during college, she could go back home or out of state to get it. Easy work around.

Alabama law purports to make traveling elsewhere to get an abortion a crime.

Aside from whether the issue would have an impact on my child, I won't support a state with such draconian and inhumane laws with a dime of my money, and I certainly wouldn't want my child to go there to be "educated."

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reasons why this post is vague: What does "really good" FA mean? Full ride or 20K merit off per year? Does the student have tippy top SATs and GPA? Is the student a white boy from the suburbs or a URM? The OP gave ZERO information, so how can anyone give advice?

Are you this nitpicky over everything? I had no idea that Mary Washington gave $10,000 a year merit scholarships. Asking a question like this allows someone to know what possibilities are out there.

I am not nit-picky, but colleges really are about who they give merit scholarships to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your DC have extended time? What % of kids in class have them? If no to first and high percentage to second, then difficult unless your DC managed to still be top 1% of class.

My kid wasn’t in the top 1% of her class and she received a lot of merit aid. She had a 1540 SAT and 4.2 GPA, 9 APs.

OP: if your child is above the top quartile in stats at the college in question, your kid has a decent shot at schools who offer aid.

Check the common data set and it will tell you the number of kids who receive non-need based financial
aid AND the average award.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reasons why this post is vague: What does "really good" FA mean? Full ride or 20K merit off per year? Does the student have tippy top SATs and GPA? Is the student a white boy from the suburbs or a URM? The OP gave ZERO information, so how can anyone give advice?

Are you this nitpicky over everything? I had no idea that Mary Washington gave $10,000 a year merit scholarships. Asking a question like this allows someone to know what possibilities are out there.

I am not nit-picky, but colleges really are about who they give merit scholarships to.

and since you are an admissions officer, at every school in the country, you could just admit them on the spot?

[Anonymous]

OP, the very top schools do not have to give merit aid to get the classes they want. If you drop down a tier or two you will find some LACs and some state universities that will offer merit aid but usually they want something in return, like a high ACT, a saxophone player or some other hook, like URM, or other that is quantifiable and reportable to USN&WR and the other rating entities.

[Anonymous]

Temple
Ohio University

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your DC have extended time? What % of kids in class have them? If no to first and high percentage to second, then difficult unless your DC managed to still be top 1% of class.

My kid wasn’t in the top 1% of her class and she received a lot of merit aid. She had a 1540 SAT and 4.2 GPA, 9 APs.

OP: if your child is above the top quartile in stats at the college in question, your kid has a decent shot at schools who offer aid.

Check the common data set and it will tell you the number of kids who receive non-need based financial
aid AND the average award.

How does one find the common data set?