Best schools that give the most merit based aid - Page 22

gaitian · 02-28-2009, 12:44 PM

To study accounting after high school,which is better,university of south dakoda or Louisiana Tech university.or to some LAC?

whaler · 03-03-2009, 06:50 AM

The average "aid package" at Duke is over $30,000. That's against a total cost of $50,700 (Books, room & board, tuition and fees). It's similar at the Ivy League schools. My guess is that the real "cost" of the education is in the upper 20s, so the schools make money on the small percentage who pay full tuition, and that buys margin used to pay for the poor folks like me who can't pay our own way. If you have a pulse you'll qualify for some money at most schools. Whether you'll get enough to make it affordable depends on how much they want you and how rich the school is. Harvard's endowment last year was over $30 Billion. That's $30,000,000,000, or about $475,000 per year for each undergraduate student! Princeton's endowment was about half of that, but there are only 4,600 students at Princeton. They don't even need to collect tuition.

Obviously, lower tier schools don't have the same ability, but there is a lot of money available if you're a decent student (top 10%), especially if your parents earn less than $60,000. If you're a minority there's even more money, much more, and top half of the class is probably enough for most schools. The folks who are really jammed up are the white, middle-class kids with parents who earn between $90,000 and $150,000 -- especially if they live in a place like New York or L.A., where $90,000 supports a very modest, minimal lifestyle. Those kids/families will be expected to write checks for twelve or twenty thousand per year, and the vast majority wont be able to do it.

A friend of mine was admitted to Brown this year. She's awesome. She's exremely smart, funny, and athletically talented. She didn't need any extra "points", but she's black too, and that does matter to schools trying to compete for diversity. Her parents both work, and their combined income is $110,000. By living modestly and driving old cars they managed to save almost $100,000 for college over the last 19 years. They're being punished for that. Brown says they have to spend that money before they'll qualify for any aid -- even though that money represents the college savings for ALL their kids. They're screwed, so she can't afford to go to Brown. In this context, the best possible profile is minority with poor parents. If that's you, you can go to almost any decent school for cheap or free as long as you have a pulse and decent grades.

Greta · 03-04-2009, 03:51 PM

Well, I'm just going to ignore the previous post 'cuz I'm not sure where to start and we would all go off on tangents not related to the purpose of this thread.

It might have been stated previously, but I just wanted to remind those new to the college application process:

Many schools have an early, priority application deadline to be considered for merit scholarship aid. Look for and meet those deadlines.

dpattzlover · 03-07-2009, 02:48 PM

UW-Madison-->I was just given a full-tuition scholarship the other day. It's called the UW-Chancellor's Scholarship (for URMs), so I don't know what scholarships are like for other groups......

katytibbs · 03-15-2009, 07:58 AM

This year U PIttsburgh is giving aid to students in the top 5% of their class, with a 1425 or higher SAT.

lkf725 · 03-15-2009, 12:15 PM

katytibbs, is that officially posted anywhere?

LaVieEnChocolat · 03-16-2009, 02:02 PM

my D received $18000 in merit scholarship at American!! 31 act, 2000 sat, 3.83 gpa

SM10 · 03-17-2009, 11:06 PM

Recently the Ivys have been giving out a lot of need based and merit based grants i know for a fact that harvard and brown are, so dont let financial aid be a problem.

HImom · 03-18-2009, 12:48 PM

It is important to have realistic expectations and a back up financial safety plan (with several schools that student can attend with NO aid) that will work, as money IS tougher to get for everyone these days. Many schools have taken huge hits in their investments and don't have as much to offer for any aid--merit or need-based. It is also tough for some folks to know whether they will retain their jobs and be able to help with tuition & other college costs. Making wise choices and keeping options open is KEY to being able to sleep at night--for students and families.

ksabbo · 03-19-2009, 04:06 PM

My daughter also received $18,000 ($72K/4 years) in merit scholarships at American University. 3.93 gpa, 1170 R/M SAT. That still leaves over $100k /for 4 years!!! The inflated tuition prices are shameless. I can only give her $30k....I still have 2 more kids to get through college. That's $90k out of pocket. If she chooses to attend American, she will probably have $100k in student loans

The inflated tuition and "large" scholarships are a sham.

ksabbo · 03-19-2009, 04:10 PM

Also, ....realistic expectations???? A back up financial safety plan??? That leaves an in-state school for most average families. Some kids bust their a$#$ to get into a very good college. Typically an "in-state school" doesn't fulfill the dream of a "very good college". I know, I know....there are exceptions.

northeastmom · 03-19-2009, 04:39 PM

ksabbo, about the inflated prices being shameless, I agree with you! Most people on this board believe and keep repeating that even the full pay student is getting a discount because everyone is being subsidized.....yeah, right.

Congratulations to our D and to LaVie's D regarding American's scholarships. ksabbo, I think that going into debt for 100k for an undergraduate degree is insane! Hope it works out.

applicannot · 03-19-2009, 08:33 PM

I have been hearing about good scholarships from American as well. I have high SAT scores, and my ACT should be decent (I got a 32 on my non-prepped-for practice test, so I'm aiming for a 29-30 on the real thing, hopefully 30-33 with a lot of prep work), but my GPA is in the dumps (3.6). I hope I get some good scholarship money from there, too. I read that they offer on average 96% of the demonstrated need. I thought this would be great because my EFC is 0, but now I'm worried... my EFC is 0 so frankly I wasn't considering the possibility that my financial aid package might stink.

northeastmom · 03-19-2009, 08:41 PM

American on average seems to only meet 68% of financial need according to this source:

Student Aid on the Web

ksabbo · 03-20-2009, 09:51 AM

Very Important factor regarding financial aid "averages", etc. If a school indicates they will meet i.e. 85% of financial need. The financial aid package includes LOANS as well as grants/scholarships. I totally don't get how they consider the loans as fulfilling the need. Granted the loans may be more favorable than the standard private loan, but as far as I'm concerned...a loan is a loan! If you look on Collegeboard.com, the "average indebtedness" is typically listed as approximately $30k. How on earth do they come up with that figure? They AREN'T including loans in the financial aid package as "indebtedness". Any college bound kid and especially college grads should know ANY type of loan is debt.