Most top students will also face financial constraints and end up at their state flagships. This will include gifted students with perfect test scores and/or grades, National Merit Scholarship finalists and scholars… There will also be some of these elite stud3ents at their state’s other schools because of finances- eg needing to commute to the local public U instead of the flagship. Absolutely no shame/whatever in going to an affordable school. btw- Tulane is a good, well known school but there are many, many more as good as it is. Keep in mind that there are far fewer spaces available in the elite schools than there are elite students so most won’t be attending them. Many of your state’s top students will be at your flagship (and one reason public c U’s usually have some sort of honors program available).
Are you applying for the Questbridge National College Match program?
Never, ever feel ashamed about good grades. Never feel ashamed about your personal process of working towards a degree while holding down loans and costs! There are many paths, and the path with low (or no) debt is one that may not be as glowingly showy but will give you peace of mind later.
@fallenchemist thoughts on this students chances for merit aid at Tulane? I would recommend applying at the very least ans see what they offer you.
I agree with @dolphnlvr6 that you should explore Tulane down to the last tool in the drawer. Besides merit scholarships, which you have a good chance of getting, Tulane has a no-loan guarantee for tuition for household incomes under $75,000 I believe is the number. Now I understand that still leaves room and board, but since you are local you do have the option of living at home and commuting. If that is unappealing because you want the experience of living in the dorms like most students (which I totally get, btw), they may still provide you with a combination of grants, work-study and some Federal loans which might make it all very affordable. At least you have the option of meeting with them face-to-face after you get accepted and have seen what their first offer financial package looks like. But I certainly wouldn’t give up. After freshman year, there is the strong possibility of being an RA in the dorm, which then covers your room and board. If you were fortunate enough to get the no-loan tuition, then after freshman year the rest would be covered if you got to be an RA.
Just something to consider, but there are a lot of avenues to be explored for a clever young woman such as yourself.
Hi OP, you stated:
be sure to examine all the NPCs carefully. The better ones will list all the costs and all the aid as separate line items - and the entire coast of attendance (COA) is usually considered in the bottom line, not just tuition. We had similar EFC for multiple kids and had great success with different schools.
you mentioned Scripps and Vassar. You are right that they are tough to get into, but the net price (excluding loans) with your EFC should be in the 10K(+/- 3k) range at these top-level schools. You should include some other 100%-need-met schools that are similar to Scripps but perhaps not as tough to get into. Some examples are Occidental, St Olaf, and other women’s schools. Be sure to review the list linked above by another poster.
You should at least try for Tulane and Loyola, but my guess is the final cost will be closer to 20k for you (minus loans), but you never know! And LSU will have some merit money and TOPS for you, so don’t count them out. GEAUX Tigers!