Looking for schools with good merit scholarships - Page 2

schrizto · 10-11-2009, 10:55 AM

University of Pittsburgh and Case Western are really generous with scholarships.

schrizto · 10-11-2009, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Having flipped through the University of Washington in St. Louis brochure, I noticed they have a LOT of scholarships- granted they seem pretty competitive, but if you get it, a good portion of them cover all costs or full tuition.

lol, kind of confused sounding there. I assume you mean Washington University in St. Louis, not University of Washington? WUSTL does have a lot of merit scholarships, but they require a separate application and are extremely competitive.

schrizto · 10-11-2009, 11:01 AM

Quote:

What about the University of Miami (Florida)? Does anyone think I would have a shot at a full scholarship?

If it helps any, I only got 16k/yr from UMiami and I would say my test scores were higher than yours. I think someone needs to have about the equivalent of about 1500+/1600 to get a chance at the 24k/yr merit scholarship. They do have a full tuition scholarship, but it requires a separate application and interview.

mom2collegekids · 10-11-2009, 11:19 AM

>>>> WUSTL does have a lot of merit scholarships, but they require a separate application and are extremely competitive.
<<<<<<

Exactly...but I still wouldn't say they have a LOT of schollies. A list of schollies that are only awarded to 1 -5 students each is not a lot of schollies. The chances of being awarded one of those schollies is almost right up there with winning the lottery.

I'm not suggesting that someone shouldn't apply for those competitive schollies. It's just that those schools need to be considered financial reaches...not financial safeties. In addition to applying to a school with a competitive scholly, a student (who needs money) needs to apply to at least 2 financial safeties - which are schools that will definitely award money based on stats..no competition.

Also...I think some here need to realize that all "generous scholarships" aren't really all that generous IF the student doesn't have the means to pay the big balance not covered by the scholly. Privates are costing $55k+ per year these days, so a $15-25k scholly isn't going to be enough for the OP.

A 50% tuition scholly (about $17k) from a private that costs $55k to attend wouldn't be considered "generous" to the student who doesn't have the means to pay for the $38k for the difference.

OP Quote:
What about the University of Miami (Florida)? Does anyone think I would have a shot at a full scholarship?

>>>If it helps any, I only got 16k/yr from UMiami and I would say my test scores were higher than yours. I think someone needs to have about the equivalent of about 1500+/1600 [M+CR] to get a chance at the 24k/yr merit scholarship. <<<

^^^^ The above is a perfect example of my concern. Yes, I do think the OP can get some merit money from some top privates....the problem is that it likely won't be enough.

mom2collegekids · 10-11-2009, 11:40 AM

I also think that when people post suggestions, they should post the link or the scholarship info....

schrizto · 10-11-2009, 12:17 PM

I would definitely post scholarship information from the school's website if I could, but some schools don't publicly post this information. I'll talk about what I know about merit scholarships for the schools I mentioned.

University of Pittsburgh is really generous with scholarships. I've seen people with basic 1450+/1600 SATs and top 5-10% of their class get full tuition scholarships.

Case Western awards merit scholarships of up to $27,500/yr. I remember I was given $22,500/yr, which was still pretty good.

And for both of these schools, there was no separate application needed for merit scholarships.

PapaSmurf · 10-11-2009, 12:27 PM

Thanks for all the input. Just as a side note, I'm not going to have that much trouble paying for U of M, and I've already been accepeted to Michigan State as kind of a safety, but I read on other posts that their Alumni Distinguished Scholarship competition is actually really competetive for a full ride. I was just wondering if I could get a full scholarship to schools at least as good as Michigan State...so far the only colleges in Michigan that I could probably go to for free are more locally known schools like Wayne State and Central Michigan and I wouldn't turn down acceptance at U of M for a school like that...

PapaSmurf · 10-13-2009, 07:24 PM

bump bump

PapaSmurf · 10-15-2009, 11:44 AM

Including need based aid, could I go to any tier 1 or 2 schools for like $15,000 or less? I was thinking about applying to USoCal, Miami, or Purdue...

mom2collegekids · 10-15-2009, 12:32 PM

I don't think there are any tier 2 schools anymore. I believe the top 110-120 National U's are all considered Tier 1.

So, what you may mean is which schools ranked 50-110 would likely give you enough money that $15k per year would pay for the balance.

As I mentioned in an earlier post ( http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...314-post2.html ), Alabama would fit that requirement since it's ranked high enough for your needs.

You'd qualify for free OOS tuition (worth about $80,000), and therefore your remaining $15k would easily pay for housing, food, books, and personal expenses.

Seriously, don't let the fact that UA is in the south keep you from exploring it. Go to the above link and go to the Virtual Tour and other links and look around.

At a minimum, you need to apply to heavy merit award schools like Alabama as your financial safety for going OOS. You essentially need a full-tuition award for your $15k to pay for housing, food, books, etc.

Almost anything less than full tuition is not going to provide you with enough money so that $15k will cover the rest. Room and board are running about 10k..then you have books and misc.

Purdue is bad about giving OOS student's money. USC isnt' likely going to give you enough so that $15k is going to pay the rest. USC is costing about $50k per year (COA), so if you're lucky to get 1/2 tuition, that would still leave you with about $30k for you to pay for.

PapaSmurf · 10-30-2009, 03:07 PM

Pittsburgh actually sounds kind of interesting...does anyone else think I could get a full ride there? If anyone else could tell me more about the school that would be great. I like the fact that it's urban, and relatively close to home.

merkur · 10-31-2009, 10:47 AM

momof2, I'm so glad glad UA has worked out great for your 2, especially coming from CA. DS ultimately chose UGA, but UA offered so much, like the computer-based honors program (You should share some more info about that, maybe. Did you ever meet Dr. Sharpe?) And to hear you say the girls beat USC and UCLA, wow! But, I take it you have not visited Athens, GA.

mom2collegekids · 10-31-2009, 01:40 PM

^^^

Yes, we've met Dr. Sharpe many, many times! My DS1 is in CBHP.

We did visit UGa in 2007. I think southern schools have the best looking girls.

PapaSmurf · 10-31-2009, 02:10 PM

I just realized that being able to go to a school like U of M is a huge accomplishment, and it pretty much fits all my criteria for the perfect college. I'm not gonna go to a crappier school just because of money. Thanks for the suggestions but I realized that the best choice for me would be to go to Michigan at the instate rate, or go a school of equal or greater prestige. I know it sounds superficial, but it's a helluva lot less superficial than determining your future based on what school you can go to for free. It's like having the money to go to a fancy restaurant but deciding to go to McDonalds because you have a coupon for a free sandwich.

diontechristmas · 11-01-2009, 12:09 AM

Quote:

I just realized that being able to go to a school like U of M is a huge accomplishment, and it pretty much fits all my criteria for the perfect college. I'm not gonna go to a crappier school just because of money. Thanks for the suggestions but I realized that the best choice for me would be to go to Michigan at the instate rate, or go a school of equal or greater prestige. I know it sounds superficial, but it's a helluva lot less superficial than determining your future based on what school you can go to for free. It's like having the money to go to a fancy restaurant but deciding to go to McDonalds because you have a coupon for a free sandwich.

You phrased that utterly disrespectfully. You'll fit in well at scUM.