Anonymous wrote:I have an average child grade wide who doesn’t play sports or have any other hooks. And we’re white and middle class. Am I to assume child won’t receive any merit aid or scholarship? I’m looking at the college price tags and trying to figure out what’s realistic. If merit was a miracle, would it only be for like $5k or something hardly worth considering for OOS or private?

It’s unlikely. Merit money is usually given to get a student or athlete who has better options so lesser options spend money as bribe to get them to commit at schools they wouldn’t attend.

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks everyone. I’m fairly certain we won’t qualify for need based aid since we are two working parents. The merit aid is so confusing because I don’t know what to tell my child the cutoff amount is for applying to schools. Realistically we can afford mid $30s (in-state rates) so do I tell my child a school over $50k is off limits for applying? Since he wants a larger school, most of the ones that seem to offer big merit are small. His grades are average, so I can’t imagine why a medium size or larger school would offer merit as I’m sure they’re getting lots of applications. Hopefully I’m wrong. Child would like to go to school out of this area, but cost is certainly a factor.

To find out whether you would qualify for need-based aid, find the Net Price Calculator for the schools in question - it's on the financial aid website.

As for merit, what are his GPA and test scores? "Average" is too vague to suggest schools.

Anonymous wrote:I have an average student, good EC but nothing extraordinary. She applied to a range of schools from 35% rate to 65% acceptance rate and got merit everywhere ranging from 20k a year to $43K a year

Were those merit awards from in-state public?

I have an average student, good EC but nothing extraordinary. She applied to a range of schools from 35% rate to 65% acceptance rate and got merit everywhere ranging from 20k a year to $43K a year

OP here: thanks everyone. I’m fairly certain we won’t qualify for need based aid since we are two working parents. The merit aid is so confusing because I don’t know what to tell my child the cutoff amount is for applying to schools. Realistically we can afford mid $30s (in-state rates) so do I tell my child a school over $50k is off limits for applying? Since he wants a larger school, most of the ones that seem to offer big merit are small. His grades are average, so I can’t imagine why a medium size or larger school would offer merit as I’m sure they’re getting lots of applications. Hopefully I’m wrong. Child would like to go to school out of this area, but cost is certainly a factor.

Anonymous wrote:I have an average child grade wide who doesn’t play sports or have any other hooks. And we’re white and middle class. Am I to assume child won’t receive any merit aid or scholarship? I’m looking at the college price tags and trying to figure out what’s realistic. If merit was a miracle, would it only be for like $5k or something hardly worth considering for OOS or private?

Merit aid is one thing, but don’t forget that is separate from need-based aid. How much would vary based on family income, the cost of a particular school, etc.

Some schools like Miami U in OH, Alabama, Kentucky, and ASU will tell you how much merit they'll give based on your stats. Other than that, there are always going to be schools, even smaller and private ones, who will award merit, you just have to drop down a tier or two, so your kid is above average. Washington & Jefferson College in PA guarantee at least 24k in merit and I hear that Chatham University in Pittsburgh is also generous. Other private universities like Duquesne (sorry, I'm from Western PA) will have lower tuition than many privates at 60k, so even a small scholarship can cover more of what you're charged. Another option is OOS public colleges, which are like in the aforementioned less costly privates.

It is highly variable across colleges. But a few rules of thumb... Merit is mainly a tool to help schools compete for good students so highly competitive schools don't give it, except for a few very highly competitive awards. So, you are most likely to get good merit from a school where you are above the average admitted student stats. You don't get merit from a reach (unless it's a school that pretty much gives it to everyone). Public schools in more desirable areas don't give merit, those that want to attract students do (e.g. CA schools do not give merit aid but West Virginia, Alabama, Iowa, Maine, etc. do).

My DS is now at VT (no merit) but did get enough aid at schools like University of Delaware and Miami (Ohio) to bring the price down into the mid-$30s (still more expensive than VT).

DD wants to go to a small college. Her list right now is a range of LACs with acceptance rates in the range of 50%-80% whose net price calculators say should end up costing us in the range of $25k-$40k (vs. sticker prices in the range of $60k-$75k). All competitive in price to her in-state options of UMW (safety) and W&M (reach).

It can be challenging to figure out because not all colleges include a merit estimation in their net price calculator (if they don't ask for GPA/test scores they likely aren't estimating that). But, you can get a sense by going to the school's Common Data Set and find the page that shows how many students without financial need got grants and what the average amount was.

There's also a long thread on College Confidential about schools that give good merit aid. But, be sure to look at the more current postings. Some schools that used to give a lot of merit as a tool to attract better students succeed in that goal, have become more competitive, and no longer give as much (e.g. Pitt, Northeastern)

To really understand how the pricing game is played, I recommend reading "The Price You Pay For College" by Ron Lieber

New Mexico

An average kid isn’t going to get merit at schools like Pitt and Lafayette. Many applicants with outstanding stats don’t get merit at Pitt. As a pp said, there are lots of schools where your child can get merit (and more than $5,000). Particularly at smaller schools. Some examples are Susquehanna, Ohio Wesleyan, Roanoake, College of Wooster. University of Hartford is a bit larger but they are very generous. It just depends on what you can pay and whether the merit will bring it to something affordable. There are other threads on this topic so you can search for more names.

I hear West Virginia gives good merit to average students. Apparently great school for outdoorsy type. UMBC also gave merit to my slightly better than average student, made cost very nice. She said almost all her friends got the same $3500/yr merit so if you are in MD you should check out.

Anonymous wrote:I have an average child grade wide who doesn’t play sports or have any other hooks. And we’re white and middle class. Am I to assume child won’t receive any merit aid or scholarship? I’m looking at the college price tags and trying to figure out what’s realistic. If merit was a miracle, would it only be for like $5k or something hardly worth considering for OOS or private?

Yes, your child can get merit at some of the CTCL colleges, which have 60% or higher acceptance rates. If the college is in another part of the country, you're more likely to get more merit. Not a lot, mind you, but some. My friend's kid, who had mediocre grades, not any ECs, no sports, still got merit at a CTCL. This kid did really well there, and went to a mid-tier law school and is now gainfully and happily employed as a public interest lawyer. Not making a whole lot of money, but successful and happy.

The pandemic has changed things a lot. My older kids got a lot of merit ($25K when the price tag for a typical private college was about $65k), but my youngest child with far better stats, got almost no merit this year from schools like Pitt and Lafayette, which have offered substantial merit in the past to kids with my kid's profile. So things, have changed. But don't give up on merit, which is just a discounted price not an "award" or anything they dress it up as. And things may change back, so by the time your kid is applying to college, lower-tier colleges may once again be competing for kids with your child's stats.

Anonymous wrote:I have an average child grade wide who doesn’t play sports or have any other hooks. And we’re white and middle class. Am I to assume child won’t receive any merit aid or scholarship? I’m looking at the college price tags and trying to figure out what’s realistic. If merit was a miracle, would it only be for like $5k or something hardly worth considering for OOS or private?

There is merit aid available at hundreds of colleges even for average students. It can often bring the price down to your instate public college price, but your student will have to be far above average for admitted students to expect merit aid at a school.

I wouldn’t count in any merit aid if I were you.

I have an average child grade wide who doesn’t play sports or have any other hooks. And we’re white and middle class. Am I to assume child won’t receive any merit aid or scholarship? I’m looking at the college price tags and trying to figure out what’s realistic. If merit was a miracle, would it only be for like $5k or something hardly worth considering for OOS or private?