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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid is attending a private that cost $75k a year.  She got significant merit scholarships that have us paying about $40k/year out of pocket.

That’s why.[/quote]

Did you know (through Net Price Calculator or other means) that she had a good chance of receiving a significant merit scholarship BEFORE applying to that school?  Otherwise - if $40K was your limit - you could have had a very disappointed kid. [/quote]

Yeah, I think they just wanted to brag about the scholarship.[/quote]

+1. Note also they didn’t provide the name. That’s because it’s not an elite school. Elite schools don’t have to give large merit awards in order to compose the class they want[/quote]

And?  So what?

My kid got $34K at Oberlin which enabled her to choose it over in-state options.  It is not elite but it is what she wanted and we can afford it.

What is your point?[/quote]

Do you mind sharing whether the 34K was all merit and what year it was?  That would be a good number if available to us, but I had heard that 25K was top merit the last year or so.[/quote]

Not PP, but my kids got 34k and 30k in 2020. [/quote]

A[b]nd my kid got 40K merit at a school for 2022 admission.[/b]  It's different at each school  
However that's at a $80K school, so still not affordable for many (for us, we are lucky to have saved enough and allowed DC to turn that down and attend a similar priced school for full pay, but if we hadn't had enough saved, they'd be at the school with $40K merit. ) 
And truly, there were schools my DC could have gotten even more $$$, and if we needed it, we would have had them apply to schools like that and search for the merit.  Those schools do exist, they just might not be T50 schools[/quote]

OK, but if true, that's not a top school, which is what most DCUMers obsess about.  And for $40K your kid was offering something that the school wanted (URM, first gen, athlete, instrument, etc. etc. etc.).  Please don't let the DCUM readers think everyone can get a $40K merit scholarship.  [b]Our DD applied to top schools and received zero in merit [/b]and zero in financial aid.  That is what usually happens to people living in the DMV area.  [/quote]

Of course she didn't. If you expected merit from a "top school" you were very uninformed about the process. If families are clear on their budget and how financial aid and merit aid works, there are plenty of options but you also have to get out of the obsession with rankings. A good education can be had at plenty of schools.[/quote]

Exactly!!! My own DC with 25ACT/3.6UW had schools they could attend for $15K all in each year, and private schools that were under $30K all in---you can find something affordable if your kid has decent scores.   Find privates with funding where your kid is at 80-90% and acceptance rate is over 50% and you will likely find some decent merit.  Ditch the rankings and find somewhere affordable.

Btw, I consider $15k/year all in affordable.  Take $5K in loans and the student can earn the other $10K during summer/breaks and working PT during school.  Add in $2-3K help from family and the student could come out with only $20K in loans.  Not too bad.  
You just can't do this at T20 schools as they don't need to offer merit
[/quote]

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