This is helpful. Thank you so far! Are any of you from VA? The reason I ask is, at least to me, none of the schools mentioned so far on this thread would be worth turning down one of the top VA schools for. I think it would be hard to justify paying any more for one of these OOS schools if DC could get into a good state school, even if DC "liked" the OOS school better. My DC is still a junior. I am just trying to figure out how to set expectations (eg, don't get your heart set on Notre Dame or Middlebury, or whatever, because you aren't likely to qualify for enough merit aid to make it worthwhile to go out of state). I am not even sure how many OOS schools to take DC to visit given our good in state options.

Anonymous wrote:I know a kid who just got a generous (more than 10K) merit award from Mount Ida with a 14 ACT. I think that if a family needs merit aid it's out there somewhere.

There is no such thing as a "need" for merit aid. Merit aid is based strictly on achievement.

Anonymous wrote:I know a kid who just got a generous (more than 10K) merit award from Mount Ida with a 14 ACT. I think that if a family needs merit aid it's out there somewhere.

do you mean 34 ACT? It goes up to 36.

Northeastern (near Boston) offered merit aid to several kids we know, about $20K or $25K. These kids were mostly As with SATs around 2000-2100.

DD got into to 7/10 schools. Merit Aid varied widely $0 - $13,000 yr (which represented 1/2 tuition for oos. this would increase every year) We never would have been able to anticipate the final results or costs. These were Penn State, Miami of Ohio, Indiana U, U Connecticut. There is no way to anticipate this - really. At the school she received the most $$ she was not admitted to the honors college. Another student from her HS was, had higher SATs, but received no merit aid. She had 3.8 uw/ 2100 SATs

Anonymous wrote:DC was accepted at a school ED for which he is a strong candidate for merit aid. We were told that applying ED would not hurt him for merit aid (and I don't want to open that debate. I've satisfied myself its true.) When he got the acceptance there was no mention of merit aid so I'm wondering when they make those decisions. Do they wait until spring when they issue the other acceptances?

Some schools use the fafsa to help determine aid - even merit aid. You should probably complete it if you haven't already.

P.S. It totally depends on the school.

Call the Admissions Office. I'm sure they'd be happy to help. They want your child to enroll!

ACT 31 + 3.8 GPA - $9K/year from UGA, $12K/year from Miami U (OH), $500/year + in-state tuition from S Carolina. DC is attending another school where there was no offer of merit aid, but it's in-state for us.

What is and where is Mount Ida?

Small college in the suburbs of Boston.

Hobart and William Smith is worth trying. Denison is known to give generous merit aid.

DC was accepted at a school ED for which he is a strong candidate for merit aid. We were told that applying ED would not hurt him for merit aid (and I don't want to open that debate. I've satisfied myself its true.) When he got the acceptance there was no mention of merit aid so I'm wondering when they make those decisions. Do they wait until spring when they issue the other acceptances?

Anonymous wrote:I know a kid who just got a generous (more than 10K) merit award from Mount Ida with a 14 ACT. I think that if a family needs merit aid it's out there somewhere.

What is and where is Mount Ida?

I know a kid who just got a generous (more than 10K) merit award from Mount Ida with a 14 ACT. I think that if a family needs merit aid it's out there somewhere.

Can you share the school and test scores? I am trying to assess whether my dc has a shot at merit aid.