<p>tiaram- your parents have discussed their concerns about finances. If you have not done so already, now is the time to discuss with them how much they are able to contribute, and the different kinds of financial aid-grants, loans, need based, merit. Each college approaches this differently. There are net price calculators on college websites, but these are estimates. You don’t have to give up “aiming big” as it is not possible to compare the costs of schools until acceptance, but be aware that the most selective schools award need based aid, but less merit aid. If you need merit aid, also include schools where such aid is more likely. Some may be automatic and some competitive. ECU has one for ACT>27. UNCG, Pembrook, UNCC have several different scholarships. NC A&T and NCCU offer generous scholarships to students with your grades and ACT>26/27 and I’m not sure but they might be automatic.If finances are a major concern, you might want to consider applying to the schools with automatic merit awards to students with your grades and scores so that you have at least one affordable college while waiting to hear about the others. Be sure to read all the financial aid information and pay attention to any deadlines or extra applications.
This is a long discussion on schools that offer merit aid- note that some may have changed since the beginning of the discussion:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>