Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check Davidson

Stats aren't competetive to even get accepted, let along get merit aid.

Any tips for 3.9 goals on upward curve and 35 ACT for merit aid?
Kid has worked and volunteered too.

Pitt for sure. Aplly now. They are first come first served in terms of merit aid.

MY DD had much higher scores and got in but did not get any merit from Pitt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-grid/

She would qualify for $11K/year, bringing cost of attendance to $35K ish.

But OP said they wanted <5000 students. Not sure why people want to jump in with suggestions if they don't even read the question.

Maybe because with these stats, she won't have the luxury of many merit scholarships...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-grid/

She would qualify for $11K/year, bringing cost of attendance to $35K ish.

But OP said they wanted <5000 students. Not sure why people want to jump in with suggestions if they don't even read the question.

UVM - 10K
Pitt - 19K
South Carolina - 34K
UCF - 56K

MOST of the suggestions on this thread aren't <5K

OP will soon learn that chasing merit requires adjustment of expectations. And that includes school size.

Uh, there are dozens of decent colleges that would meet OP's criteria.

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. DD wants to be in the mid-atlantic or midwest. We're in Maryland and think she has a decent shot at College Park. She started taking APs junior year, which allowed her to get over a 4.0, and did well on her AP tests (a 3,4, & 5). But she's more interested in small schools. She's not sure what she wants to study, basically anything except humanities is on the table.

I went to Beloit College in Wisconsin and got (at the time) 20K off of the 30K/yr bill via their Presidential scholarship, which was merit based but also required an on-campus interview. I had a 4.0 and 33 ACT score, though, but I interviewed applicants for that scholarship while in college and a 3.8/29 would possibly get you the second-level merit scholarship, which is now 25K off of the full tuition (which I think is more like 40K).

I'm using a very specific example, but I suspect that a lot of other schools in that category will have similar packages. I remember Macalester gave me a similar package, as did one of the Claremont Colleges. This might have changed, but small middle tier privates would be likely to give generous merit aid to a student like yours. Think: Knox College, Kalamazoo, Cornell College, Lawrence, Earlham etc.

Generally, merit is based on the student stats. Both Dickinson and LaFayette offered my student 20K merit scholarship. That's wonderful, but the school's cost of attendance is $65.

Anonymous wrote:DC got excellent merit aid from GW, Denison, Junianta, Muhlenberg, Dickinson, Lehigh, Hood, McDaniel, UMary Washington. DC's stats were similar to OP's child's stats. DC is very outgoing and interviewed everywhere. Interviewers seem to enjoy talking to DC, so that may have helped. We are a donut hole family, so DC had to get merit aid. We could not pay $40K, though.

So your DC had a 3.6 unweighted/3.8 weighted GPA and a 29 ACT and got "excellent" merit aid from all those schools? Even GW & Lehigh? I'm skeptical.

DC got excellent merit aid from GW, Denison, Junianta, Muhlenberg, Dickinson, Lehigh, Hood, McDaniel, UMary Washington. DC's stats were similar to OP's child's stats. DC is very outgoing and interviewed everywhere. Interviewers seem to enjoy talking to DC, so that may have helped. We are a donut hole family, so DC had to get merit aid. We could not pay $40K, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:15K is pretty standard for good grades/good ACT

it's called "token merit" aid

Good by me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of possibilities with that ACT. Be more specific about what they want and how much aid you're hunting. Big/Small, North/South, Public/Private, what sort of science? What net cost do you hope to get to? Be aware that merit aid and "prestige" will be inversely related.

Big, diverse, smart kids but not so much privileged kids? She does speak of the place where 'fun goes to die', for instance.

So, mostly a big school that attracts a lot of smart kids (like u of Chicago) has less merit aid? But a small private university in North Dakota or middle Florida might?

Your situation is harder than OP because you have so many more options. She might get some merit money at a number of schools that are relatively automatic. All the way up to possibly being competitive for large competitive awards (full ride) at places like American or even WashU depending on other parts of her application. I really would have a more extended conversation with her counselors.

Yeah, but Wash U seems like a refuge for rich kids who don't make it to the Ivies? They're fine kids, it's who she is going to school with now, but I think she wants a different atmosphere. Apparently she might get a great deal at Notre Dame but that's not her crowd.
Back to the counselor, yes.

I don't know if this is true, but I do know that it is a great choice for "donut hole" families who cannot pay Ivy League or similar tuition, but whose DC is qualified to be admitted.

Given that, WashU seems like a logical choice.

Thanks, will look into it.