What colleges give really good merit aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Google the name of the school + Common Data Set.

I recommend the book, The College Solution, which lays out the strategy for finding the right school at the right price.

[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.

Ding! 1540 SAT. That certainly impacts merit aid.

[Anonymous]

It's not merit aid, but Rice University (great Texas school, especially for STEM) has recently adjusted their expenses for families that fall in the gap between financial aid and being able to afford full tuition.

https://news.rice.edu/2019/03/22/rice-university-announces-tuition-for-fall-2019-2/

[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.

I suspect daughters needing abortions do not want to go back home and let their family know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Google the name of the school + Common Data Set.

I recommend the book, The College Solution, which lays out the strategy for finding the right school at the right price.

This. Common Data Set is the place where you’ll find the answer to this question. It’s not an efficient process by any means (think of college, find CDS, copy key data) but I haven’t found any resource that compiles it. I’ll give you an example from a recent CDS hunt that’s illuminating. Bowdoin and Oberlin both do merit aid. Cool. Both are yes. But Bowdoin awards merit aid to 2% of incoming classes at an average of $1000 each year. Oberlin also does merit aid, but it awards same to 33% of incoming classes at an average of $19,000 each year. Very different.

[Anonymous]

"Ding! 1540 SAT. That certainly impacts merit aid."

My DC got $35k merit aid per year to study an engineering major with a more than 200 point lower SAT score, similar GPA but less than 1/2 as many AP classes.

While almost no one on DCUM would know the name of the school, it is an "R2" university and ranked just over #100 by US News.

[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.

I suspect daughters needing abortions do not want to go back home and let their family know.

Hi dad!! Can you drive me to...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Ding! 1540 SAT. That certainly impacts merit aid."

My DC got $35k merit aid per year to study an engineering major with a more than 200 point lower SAT score, similar GPA but less than 1/2 as many AP classes.

While almost no one on DCUM would know the name of the school, it is an "R2" university and ranked just over #100 by US News.

Please share the name! This 120k income home of a stem kid needs to know. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

It is my understanding that merit aid is used to entice over qualified students to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Google the name of the school + Common Data Set.

I recommend the book, The College Solution, which lays out the strategy for finding the right school at the right price.

This. Common Data Set is the place where you’ll find the answer to this question. It’s not an efficient process by any means (think of college, find CDS, copy key data) but I haven’t found any resource that compiles it. I’ll give you an example from a recent CDS hunt that’s illuminating. Bowdoin and Oberlin both do merit aid. Cool. Both are yes. But Bowdoin awards merit aid to 2% of incoming classes at an average of $1000 each year. Oberlin also does merit aid, but it awards same to 33% of incoming classes at an average of $19,000 each year. Very different.

Yes. Searching through the CDS for each school is time-consuming and tedious, but worth the effort. Ditto re: the Net Price Calculator.

My DC got a $34K/year scholarship from Oberlin and no financial aid of any kind (other than the $5500 student loan) from Bowdoin or Williams, where she was admitted. That is a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Google the name of the school + Common Data Set.

I recommend the book, The College Solution, which lays out the strategy for finding the right school at the right price.

This. Common Data Set is the place where you’ll find the answer to this question. It’s not an efficient process by any means (think of college, find CDS, copy key data) but I haven’t found any resource that compiles it. I’ll give you an example from a recent CDS hunt that’s illuminating. Bowdoin and Oberlin both do merit aid. Cool. Both are yes. But Bowdoin awards merit aid to 2% of incoming classes at an average of $1000 each year. Oberlin also does merit aid, but it awards same to 33% of incoming classes at an average of $19,000 each year. Very different.

Yes. Searching through the CDS for each school is time-consuming and tedious, but worth the effort. Ditto re: the Net Price Calculator.

My DC got a $34K/year scholarship from Oberlin and no financial aid of any kind (other than the $5500 student loan) from Bowdoin or Williams, where she was admitted. That is a huge difference.

Which makes sense. Both Bowden and Williams (and Amherst and Colby and Bates...) say that they do not give merit aid. Period. Oberlin and Kenyon do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Google the name of the school + Common Data Set.

I recommend the book, The College Solution, which lays out the strategy for finding the right school at the right price.

This. Common Data Set is the place where you’ll find the answer to this question. It’s not an efficient process by any means (think of college, find CDS, copy key data) but I haven’t found any resource that compiles it. I’ll give you an example from a recent CDS hunt that’s illuminating. Bowdoin and Oberlin both do merit aid. Cool. Both are yes. But Bowdoin awards merit aid to 2% of incoming classes at an average of $1000 each year. Oberlin also does merit aid, but it awards same to 33% of incoming classes at an average of $19,000 each year. Very different.

Yes. Searching through the CDS for each school is time-consuming and tedious, but worth the effort. Ditto re: the Net Price Calculator.

My DC got a $34K/year scholarship from Oberlin and no financial aid of any kind (other than the $5500 student loan) from Bowdoin or Williams, where she was admitted. That is a huge difference.

Which makes sense. Both Bowden and Williams (and Amherst and Colby and Bates...) say that they do not give merit aid. Period. Oberlin and Kenyon do.

PP here. I didn't say "merit aid" for Bowdoin and Williams. I said *financial aid*.

[Anonymous]

NP here. I thought Bowdoin covered all remaining expenses between EFC and Net Cost. Perhaps I'm wrong? Or your EFC was full pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I thought Bowdoin covered all remaining expenses between EFC and Net Cost. Perhaps I'm wrong? Or your EFC was full pay?

Our EFC is full pay. But we can't pay anything close to that EFC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Ding! 1540 SAT. That certainly impacts merit aid."

My DC got $35k merit aid per year to study an engineering major with a more than 200 point lower SAT score, similar GPA but less than 1/2 as many AP classes.

While almost no one on DCUM would know the name of the school, it is an "R2" university and ranked just over #100 by US News.

Why so secretive? Let’s name some names and spread the wealth.