Anonymous wrote:You really need to apply strategically if seeking merit. Lots of state schools don't give merit. And the others you really need to be in top 10% of their admitting stats.

True except when applying to schools w/auto merit tied to merit charts posted on their websites - Miami Ohio, U of SC, Alabama, etc.

You really need to apply strategically if seeking merit. Lots of state schools don't give merit. And the others you really need to be in top 10% of their admitting stats.

He was way over VT's 75% for engineering and at or above for the others.

My DS is in the same boat with state schools for Engineering and we did not fill out the FAFSA. He has got some good merit (more than half of the tuition) from the private STEM schools.

if you want merit, you have to target schools where your kid is at the TOP of their stats.

not tied to income.

OP here - if it helps DS applied to engineering schools. So 1480 too low to receive merit, then? We would've gone with VT but he was waitlisted. Privates gave merit but it brings it down to OOS public which is still quite a bit.

Merit not tied to income.

Is merit aid actually tied to income for state publics? We filled out the FAFSA and are thinking maybe we shouldn't for our second. DC 1 applied and was accepted to some T50-75 but received no merit. Maybe test scores too low (1480)?