Schools known for good merit aid - Page 43

bears and dogs · 07-14-2009, 08:24 AM

Gee, I thought those scores are admirable if you mean ESL and that. I can never top CR 600 practicing.
Don’t just give up. If you got family, relative, remotely known person in NYC who owes you something that you can use for mailing address/ bunking, then try Cooper.
Worry about fees after get in.
Shoulda bring math score up and might need SATII for your major, I’m not sure.

Keilexandra · 07-14-2009, 09:14 AM

^ Internationals CANNOT just "worry about fees after get[ting] in." Most schools will reject high-need intls unless they have exceptional stats/ECs; and if they don't check the aid box and are accepted, they won't be eligible for aid in any subsequent years.

Cooper is a good choice, but a serious long shot.

bears and dogs · 07-14-2009, 09:42 AM

I bet s/he can earn or save 5-7K if sleeping (bunked) is taking care of, no? free food can be found plenty around Astor place/Union square ( I won't get into details)
Peter Cooper would be proud.

bears and dogs · 07-14-2009, 10:01 AM

Oh I got it, you are talking schools in general.
no, I meant solely of cooper, you'd fill up money thing if you did get in.

WanToBeABrownie · 07-14-2009, 11:34 AM

any other safety school or match school which I should be looking into ? .. I mean there are soooo many universities in the US .. there must be at least 1 or 2 decent universities offering a good undergrad mech Eng degree that should give me some good aid .

Thank you

WanToBeABrownie · 07-14-2009, 01:04 PM

i have no relatives in the US

Please help me out people

Thanks in advance

2girls4me · 07-14-2009, 02:46 PM

My understanding (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong) is that there are very few schools that offer financial aid to internationals and those that do are looking for exceptional students with much higher stats than yours. You will get a better understanding of the American financial aid process if you peruse the threads in the Financial Aid forum here on C.C.

bears and dogs · 07-14-2009, 04:49 PM

Have you heard how Steve Jobs’ kid is named after the college?
I want to believe that if you want something badly enough and willing to work for it, there is a way.
Even I’ve ended up here in US.
Just don’t lose hope.

Keilexandra · 07-14-2009, 08:57 PM

If you really want to visit/settle in the U.S., your chances are much better if you do well in your home country's undergrad and get a fellowship to a U.S./Canadian grad school. My dad came from middle-grade Chinese universities to a mediocre university in Canada, where he earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry--but we are now Canadian citizens and U.S. permanent residents.

xam · 07-21-2009, 11:41 AM

Can anyone update this? It's 2009.

Keilexandra · 07-21-2009, 12:25 PM

"Good merit aid" means anything from 10k to a full ride, depending on the person. It's unrealistic to expect someone to compile a list of every school in the U.S. that offers merit aid, which is what this list is becoming.

Perhaps someone will create a compilation of schools with specific merit aid award amounts, but that is a job for someone braver than I.

bears and dogs · 07-21-2009, 10:12 PM

Geez I was gonna add how Frank McCourt (rest his soul) gotten in NYU without HS diploma though he could have kept citizenship.
Alright you gen. Me kids, use internet, which wasn’t around our time, and do your own search.
Outer-way third, fourth tier schools are gold mines. Dig!

Neonzeus · 08-06-2009, 11:59 AM

WanToBe -- Take a look at SUNY Buffalo's department of engineering. They have a very big contingent of international students, and the cost is reasonable. Last year on move-in day, there was a busload of Chinese students in the WalMart. I believe they have a web site just for international students. You are likely to receive some aid with your SAT scores, although it's unlikely to be free.

Otherwise, you can consider looking at schools in whatever state in the US where you might like to live. There are big differences between the North and South, the midwest or the West Coast. If you look at colleges with SATs much lower than your scores, you may find them willing to give you a scholarship.

ChuckleDoodle · 08-16-2009, 01:08 PM

schools that may offer a lot of merit aid.

Son has 3.4 GPA, 31 ACT and 1940 SAT scores. He has taken 5 APs (scores for those are 2, 3, and 4) so far and will be taking 4 more APs his senior year. He wants to apply to WPI, RPI, VA Tech, Bucknell, Lehigh and Lafayette, which depending on the day and which posts I read here are possibly reaches. I think his safety may be VCU, ODU but not sure.

We don't have a lot of money to help support him in college and I feel that his #1 choice - WPI, may accept him but then won't offer enough money for him to be able to afford to go there. Based on our income, he will also not be getting any (or hardly any) financial aid but at this point in time, there's not much we can do about this.

He wants to be a mechanical engineer, wants to play club lacrosse (not division), be at a college with snow, and be on the east coast. Based on our college visits during spring break- he prefers suburban colleges with smaller classes and campuses that may have less than 10K students.

At this point, I want to make sure he will have an option of a four year college to attend- it may not be the best (WPI) but one that will offer him money to attend- if that's even possible with his grades (not that his grades are bad- they aren't).

Can anyone offer any ideas? thanks.

AnagramPanda · 08-16-2009, 02:11 PM

I've been looking at this thread and truly appreciate the information it provides. This thread made me add UMin- Morris to my list because of its National Merit scholarship. I'm also looking at Grinnell, Brandeis, , the College of Idaho, Green Mountain College and Whitman because of their reputation for good merit aid. Are there other small, liberal LACs which give good merit aid which I've missed?
My stats: probable NMF, 35 ACT/2320 SAT, 3.86 GPA, top 2% of HS class.