Honestly, my concern w/Grinnell was, “where the heck is the closest major hospital?” and I just couldn’t get past that with my kid being so far away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many (perhaps even most) colleges offer CS as a major now. Figure out some of the other attributes you are looking for in a college (big/small, rural/urban, near/far) and then find colleges that meet those parameters that are outside the top tiers of overall rankings. That's where you will start to find merit aid. Then look at the CS departments of those schools.

There's a whole world of schools outside of Ivies and the tip-top SLACs (such as Amherst and Pomona).

If merit aid is that important, start with the generous schools and then cull the list from there, rather than working at it from the other direction.

+ 1000

Merit aid is generally given to recruit top students to a school that otherwise wouldn't get those students. You will find the most merit aid for your student where your student has stats above the profile of the typical incoming student. Look at your safety schools (true safeties).

Yes..look at schools where your child is in the top 10% of applicants. The very top schools do not offer any merit aid. It is the mid level schools that do (any many will offer a very good education).

One very highly ranked and excellent LAC that does offer significant merit aid is Grinnell, and they do offer a CS major: https://www.grinnell.edu/academics/majors-concentrations/computer-science. My older son (who had excellent grades at TJ and was a National Merit Finalist) wanted to major in CS, and was offered about $25K per year from Grinnell. Its pretty remote, however, and he ended up going somewhere else. Looking back, I'm not 100% sure he made the right choice.

Anonymous wrote:Are there any colleges that give generous merit aid and offer CS as a major. I cannot find any. We will not qualify for need based aid. We liked Amherst and Pamona but then were told they do not give merit, just like the Ivies.

Sounds like you are only looking at top tier colleges. Amherst and Pomona are top LACs and reaches for everyone. You need to look more at target and safety colleges. You will find some merit opportunities there. Look past T20 schools. OOS flagships/public can be affordable w/o financial aid, but some are not and some offer little, so look at those carefully. UMD offers aid to in and OOS accepted students, but is usually more generous w/ OOS, since their tuition fees are much higher. But, my kid (in state) was offered 1/2 tuition presidential and then offer another 6K from her dept (not CS), so essentially full tuition. There is more than Banneker Key there.

Anonymous wrote:University of Maryland College Park. My CS graduate received the Banneker Key scholarship (full cost of attendance, plus stipend).

Humble bragging at its worst... really infuriates people

Anonymous wrote:Are there any colleges that give generous merit aid and offer CS as a major. I cannot find any. We will not qualify for need based aid. We liked Amherst and Pamona but then were told they do not give merit, just like the Ivies.

Look for lower-ranked LACs which offer computer science (there are many). If your stats are at or above their 75th percentile, you may get a merit aid offer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many (perhaps even most) colleges offer CS as a major now. Figure out some of the other attributes you are looking for in a college (big/small, rural/urban, near/far) and then find colleges that meet those parameters that are outside the top tiers of overall rankings. That's where you will start to find merit aid. Then look at the CS departments of those schools.

There's a whole world of schools outside of Ivies and the tip-top SLACs (such as Amherst and Pomona).

If merit aid is that important, start with the generous schools and then cull the list from there, rather than working at it from the other direction.

+ 1000

Merit aid is generally given to recruit top students to a school that otherwise wouldn't get those students. You will find the most merit aid for your student where your student has stats above the profile of the typical incoming student. Look at your safety schools (true safeties).

Yes..look at schools where your child is in the top 10% of applicants. The very top schools do not offer any merit aid. It is the mid level schools that do (any many will offer a very good education).

Anonymous wrote:Many (perhaps even most) colleges offer CS as a major now. Figure out some of the other attributes you are looking for in a college (big/small, rural/urban, near/far) and then find colleges that meet those parameters that are outside the top tiers of overall rankings. That's where you will start to find merit aid. Then look at the CS departments of those schools.

There's a whole world of schools outside of Ivies and the tip-top SLACs (such as Amherst and Pomona).

If merit aid is that important, start with the generous schools and then cull the list from there, rather than working at it from the other direction.

+ 1000

Merit aid is generally given to recruit top students to a school that otherwise wouldn't get those students. You will find the most merit aid for your student where your student has stats above the profile of the typical incoming student. Look at your safety schools (true safeties).

Carnegie Mellon has at least one substantial merit scholarship.

University of Maryland College Park. My CS graduate received the Banneker Key scholarship (full cost of attendance, plus stipend).

Many (perhaps even most) colleges offer CS as a major now. Figure out some of the other attributes you are looking for in a college (big/small, rural/urban, near/far) and then find colleges that meet those parameters that are outside the top tiers of overall rankings. That's where you will start to find merit aid. Then look at the CS departments of those schools.

There's a whole world of schools outside of Ivies and the tip-top SLACs (such as Amherst and Pomona).

If merit aid is that important, start with the generous schools and then cull the list from there, rather than working at it from the other direction.

you might try college confidential, where the people don't have the DCUM hive mind about college.

Try spending less and saving more.

Anonymous wrote:Nobody knows Pamona. Not worth the full price for an unknown school.

Nobody knows Pamona. Not worth the full price for an unknown school.

Are there any colleges that give generous merit aid and offer CS as a major. I cannot find any. We will not qualify for need based aid. We liked Amherst and Pamona but then were told they do not give merit, just like the Ivies.