just_forget_me

It might be better posting in each of those school's respective forums.

I do know that applying to schools where your SAT score is above the 75% percentile for their applicants puts you in the merit aid range.

beginning

Regarding the Ivys, I know of at least two non-need scholarships Cornell gives out. First, any community college transfer student coming in with Phi Theta Kappa academic honors automatically gets a renewable $5,000 merit scholarship. (For those unfamiliar, it is awarded by the institution itself, not Phi Theta Kappa.) Students in ROTC who meet certain academic requirements get merit assistance, as well.

Now, the school I really wanted to mention is Wells. Wells is one of those rare schools that's exceptionally strong academically, yet has a very high admit rate due to it being lesser-known than its peers and frequently being used as a safety. Because they're doing a lot to bring in new students (a plan that's working, by the way), they've cut tuition plus room and board down to around $25,000, grant about 80% of students aid (including lots of merit), meet over 90% of need, and give an average aid package around $17,000. The joke is that all you need is a pulse to get a huge loan-free package there; your family situation is almost meaningless.

Again, however, it's an amazing school, so it's absolutely one of the best deals available. Next year is their first going co-ed, so consider it if you're looking for a fine education at a bargain price.

beautifulday

FORDHAM offers some competitive merit scholarships for top students. If you are in the Top 10% and a National Merit SEMI-Finalist or Finalist, National Hispanic Recognition Scholar or National Achievement Scholar, you can be eligible for a full-tuition scholarship if offered admission.

If you are #1 or #2 in your class and have a fantastic application, Fordham has a Presidential Scholarship offering full-tuition and room for all four years and I think you gain admission to their small honor's program, some preferential treatment and special preparation for prestigious fellowships and grad. school placement.

Then there are several other offerings including the Dean's which is a minimum of $7,500 a year up to full-tuition based on financial need. I am pretty sure you need to be in the Top 10% of your class for most of these scholarships, but some students were not and received pretty nice scholarships. They have also increased the amount of merit aid offered to top students this year.

silverlady

My daughter received a full tuition scholarship from American U. She didn't have to apply, it just came in her acceptance. If you are a very strong student, I think American can give you lots of money. When she was looking for schools, we told her what we were willing to pay. She could have gone to some top 25 schools, with no money. She decided to go to St. Louis University, which also gave her a full tuition scholarship. (SLU has 30 Presidential scholarships a year, which cover full tuition. It is renewable for 4 years. The finalists who don't get the Presidential do get a half tuition scholarship)
She won an additional scholarship, so our out of pocket expenses are less than $5,000 a year. However, because she won those scholarships, we are able to help her do other things with the money we had available. We are funding her IRA for a few years. We are paying for trips and other things that we would have been unable to pay for if she had gone to a school with no merit aid. She will walk away from college with no debt. The older she gets, the more she appreciates it.
She is looking to attend law school after graduation. While we always told our children that we gave them money for just 4 years of school, I think we would help her with some of her law school expenses because we are not having to pay for much in the way of her undergraduate expenses.
All three of our children received some merit aid, and we are pleased that they all graduated (or will graduate) with no debt. They are so grateful for that.

Seven Nights

GWU admitted me to their Honors program and gave me $80,000 (the highest merit award available. It was something called Presidential). Anyways, it brought down the cost to $120,000 over four years ($30,000 per year). I think it had something to do with the fact that I wrote on the lines that I was applying to Harvard, Yale, etc (and that they wanted to poach a potential admit from those high end Ivy league schools). I was eventually admitted to Yale, but decided to matriculate at UNC instead (although, the GWU offer did make me think about going to GWU. I never considered it seriously).

skierdude1000

cami, i think for those tier schools, you should still hope to be at the way top of the applicant list, but I haven't seen any of those schools listed in my research for schools with substantial merit aid.

aussiek517

Indiana's Wells Scholars is a good program, but you can only be nominated through your high school (up to TWO people per HS). Only certain schools are able to nominate students.... so check with your counselors to see if your high school is a feeder. Other than that, IU's merit awards are pretty basic... Up to $8,000/year for merit, plus a smaller honors college scholarship.

Miami University (OH) has the Harrison Scholarship, which is given to about 40 students per year. Last year, all 36 (I think that's how many were selected last year, give or take a few) received full tuition, room and board, but normally I believe some receive full tuition and others get tuition and room and board. There is also the University Honors Program (Harrisons are automatically admitted), which has an annual scholarship. I believe around 150 students per year are admitted to that, and still others are Oxford Scholars and receive a smaller annual scholarship. I believe Miami gives more merit money other than these scholarships as well.

DePauw (IN) offers several full tuition and possibly room and board scholarships as well. I don't know very much about this, other than the fact that two of my classmates applied and received the scholarship.

Denison is also supposed to be fairly generous, although I barely know anything about this school.


I turned down Wellesley in favor of the Harrison Scholarship at Miami. I would highly recommend applying if you are at all interested in Miami. Traditionally, each Harrison class takes a trip together somewhere... one year they went to Italy... another year was somewhere else in Europe, plus you work with a faculty mentor among other things. It is very true that programs like this want to "poach" students from the Ivies and upper LACs, so unless you are competitive at the very top schools, it's hard getting a full ride anywhere.

benndaman33

what kind of stats did you have to get the harrison scholarship? I had 1520 SATs and got in to both Duke and Cornell and received zero aide from miami of ohio

Seven Nights

SATs are part of the equation. I think most people assume that if you have XXXX SAT score then that must automatically qualify you for something. You need more than SAT scores. Sometimes I think newcomers to CC get this false perception that ultra high, SAT scores are the norm for getting into college or obtaining good scholarships. They aren't the be all end all folks. Like I originally said, it's part of the equation. They only open the door for you. The rest of your application has to vouch for you.

benndaman33

seven nights, I'm well aware of this but didn't feel like listing all my stats, that's why I listed the colleges I got accepted to. I got in too every college I aplied to, including Duke and Cornell - and got 18,000 at Allegheny 22,000 at Bucknell, 24,000 at Case Western and 0 at miami of ohio - thus being my point. I think the colleges I was accepted to show that I had a lot more than SAT scores - which is why I assumed I could list the colleges and you'd get the point I was a strong applicant.

Seven Nights

Well my post wasn't targeted to you specifically, but just to a general trend I have seen for a while on CC. Anyways, in regards to your specific post I think that Miami of Ohio thought that you were so above and beyond that any amount of money they offered you wouldn't make you think about coming to their college.

Dani

Everyone I've spoken to at Ursinus College but a couple (and that's still a good few) has received at least $12,000 in merit scholarships. I received their biggest award, $25,000. It seems to me that their merit scholarships are pretty evenly distributed/generous.

aussiek517

I can't fathom how you didn't receive any money, especially since I'm pretty sure they give merit money outside of the three main scholarships. Perhaps you said something in your application that gave Miami the impression that you weren't interested? The average Harrison stats for the 2009 class: 1480ish SAT, 34 ACT, 4.0+ GPA, top 1% class rank. Several had published research, some were nationally recognized in their respective activities... it's a diverse pool. The University Honors Program's stats were almost identical to the Harrison ones (the difference was a slightly lower average GPA and class rank; the board scores were the same), so I doubt Miami withholds money from kids with 1500+ SATs because they don't think they can attract them.

yulsie

St. Mary's College of Maryland (great place, you REALLY should check it out if you want an LAC - as I keep saying again and again) gives up to full tuition, UMD gives free rides.

Merit aid is nice, very very nice - (previous posts) - and of course, Catch-22 (read with an Italian accent), my son turned them all down for a place offering none, nada, zilch, zero. Sure, he will become Joe-cool-academic-fancy-pants-whose-mom-may-as-well-work-in-a-fertilizer-factory, BUT he will be dressed in rags and working part-time in an Indian restaurant for spending money. Character building.

benndaman33

yeah I applied specifically to the harrison scholarship and didn't get anything, I'm not really aware of anything I said wrong, I had a relative in attendance at the time too, regardless it is a very pretty campus and if possible to receive aide I would agree with previous posters to apply. I apologize to Seven Nights for my rude post - I was ina grumpy mood you said nothing wrong, i totally agree about the SATs not representing the whole picture. Anyway, Miami is a nice school, agreed that it's good to check out as well as case for merit aid