Schools known for good merit aid

[HImom]

It might be easier if you post what your S's scores & GPA are, as well as his interests so folks can make suggestions that might be helpful. A friend's D got good merit aid at Seattle U; Willamette is also known for generous merit aid. USC gives good merit aid IF your grades & scores are very high.

[lamom]

Son is a 2008 grad of U of Redlands. He is there now for his masters. My nephew just visited him yesterday for a tour. My "data" is just based on what students and parents have told me so while it could be completely wrong, everyone seems to have similiar Merit award amounts (12) Redlands has several categories that they use to give Merit $. Leadership, Scholarship, community service, talent and I think writing. Students they are interested in seem to get about 1/2. I've seem kids (son) who received awards in all
Categories = 1/2 and students who received awards in just 2 categories receive 1/2. When son applied/interviewed the interviewer told husband that FASFA might not help us & that they would negotiate if we were not happy with award. I believe they want FAFSA now, even if you don't plan on loans. We were pleased with the way we were treated and didn't feel that asking for more was right. Son has had a wonderful experience and education. It is amazing to see his freshman calculus teacher come to his concerts and congratulate him. Students are often treated to home cooked meals at profs homes.

LA

[csleslie51]

D applied to Redlands, U of OR honors college, Willamette and Occidental. 1310 SAT, 4.0 uwgpa, great ECs. Got around 20K from each school through a variety of scholarships and grants. However COA differed widely, so scholarships aren't everything.

[maenidmom]

Re: GPA/ SAT's, etc. in regards to S receiving good merit aid at Redlands. He had a 4.0 weighted GPA (yes, some B's!!), high math SAT (760), the English score somewhere around 630 and writing score I truly can't recall- but I don't think he broke 600 (that frustrated him! He thinks of himself as a good writer). His grades were generally high across the board though math is obviously his strength. He's looking to major in the sciences (biochem?). He scored 4 in AP Bio, 5 in the AP math he took. Played sports in high school, Varsity and club teams, zero community service. He did meet with an admissions officer after our tour and I really think that visit helped. When I was invited back to join them the energy in the room was good! My S doesn't have the scores of some kids I've read about that have made my mouth drop open. He's laid back and easy going but very inquisitive. I imagine that he got good merit aid in part because the admissions officer thought he'd be a good fit there.

To Illinois Dad, our southern Cal college journey swept through Occidental, Redlands, and the Claremont Mckenna campus (five distinct colleges sharing facilities/classes). The west is a big place! I found the collegeboard tool that lets you narrow your choices to be very helpful. Remember to book your tours ahead of time once you plan a trip out here.(And lots of good options near Portland and Seattle)

[Illinois Dad]

Thanks for the details maenidmom -- more inspiration for the search. Yes, we're also looking at Willamette, U of O and Lewis & Clark (though it doesn't appear they give much merit aid) in the Portland environs and Puget Sound in Seattle and may do a monster driving tour this summer. S also is most enamored of the U of Victoria after I encouraged him to look at more affordable options north of the border. Your son's scores and background are in the ballpark with mine. Here's hoping one of those schools comes through with big $$$ in the end!

[LuckyMe]

Like Maenidmom, we've saved enough money to pay for our two children's undergraduate educations, and will not be eligible for financial aid. Two of the schools my S is applying to, Boston University and Fordham, require you to submit a FAFSA and CSS Profile in order to be considered for some of the merit aid scholarships they offer. I talked to someone in the financial aid office at Fordham who told me that in order to receive certain non-need based merit scholarships, you must submit the FAFSA, but that we could wait until my S was offered a scholarship before submitting it. To be considered for a Dean's Scholarship at BU you must submit them both by Feb. 15 and although you don't need to qualify for financial aid, your expected family contributions must not substantially exceed the cost of attendance.

I don't know how the FAFSA and CSS Profile work. Is it possible to submit them to a college after the March 2 deadline, because we probably won't hear from Fordham until April 1st? I'm reluctant to send it now because I think he may be more likely to receive some merit aid if they don't know he doesn't require need based aid.

I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time because we will likely have an EFC that exceeds the cost of attendance at BU. The question is whether it "substantially" exceeds it.

If anyone has any experience with either of these schools or these forms and merit scholarships, I'd appreciate any advice.

[Zetesis]

Luckyme, I suggest you re-post this on a new thread with a heading of something like FAFSA/CSS deadlines ... it's likely to get lost on this thread.

[geezermom]

Agree with ^^^, but I sent you a PM. Our son got a BU Dean's Scholarship last year and did not qualify for need-based aid. You should file the forms on time.

[tk21769]

>> Does anyone know of any selective 4-year liberal arts colleges that offer more than $2,000/year for NM Scholars?

Colorado College has offered a $5K/year merit scholarship to my kid, who is not an NM scholar but was NM "commended" (or something like that). They have not yet given us a decision about need-based aid. We are still waiting to hear from other schools, too.

CC has been on the lower end of selectivity among its peers (small, highly selective liberal arts colleges). My understanding is that a strong applicant may have better luck getting merit aid from such a school than from the most selective LACs (such as Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin or Middlebury). Grinnell is another example of a high-quality LAC, slightly off the beaten trail compared to the New England competition, that reportedly grants a lot of merit aid.

[Chedva]

Amherst and Williams don't offer merit aid.

[bethievt]

Grinnell's top merit award is $15,000 per year. It is off the beaten track, but an absolutely wonderful school. Lewis & Clark does offer good merit $$, but stats have to be very high. I think my son was offered $17,000 per year.

[paying3tuitions]

While it's true that Amherst, Williams and some other LAC's offer need-based aid only (not merit), when a student on financial aid matriculates with some kind of outside scholarship, such as NM or from a local Kiwanis or whatever, I know at least Amherst does not then SUBTRACT that $ amount from the college's need-based award, as some other schools do.

If that's relevant for you, ask college by college, as I think they differ on this matter.

They're still not offering merit aid; rather, they let the student keep any merit aid achieved from outside scholarship sources without changing their need-based award. Hair-splitting, I know, but hairs count.

[Illinois Dad]

When you say "very high" stats, bethievt, how high do you mean? If you'd rather not cite your son's stats, would like to at least know an estimated minimum of stats needed to get Lewis & Clark merit aid

[bethievt]

GPA 3.98uw, SAT 760 790 790, SAT IIs 710 French 760 US History, 4 APs with one 4 and three 5s, NMS, presidential scholarship candidate, great ECs with leadership, a witty essay that everyone loved and the rec I saw was glowing.

[Illinois Dad]

Thanks, and congrats to your son. My son has good stats but they're not in that league. I've already steeled him to the likelihood that he's not going to get good enough merit aid to make Lewis & Clark affordable for us, alas, though it's his top choice at the moment.