My daughter has been accepted at three public Universities. One of these is in our state and has offered her some scholarships. The other two are out of state and offered her 0. I am wondering why this is. She is a good student, with a 3.72 unweighted GPA and has taken the most difficult classes she can. Both of the out of state universities have a cost way over our EFC. She will be studying Computer Science where there is a significant lack of females. We have been told by many that this would help her but apparently it has not. Any thoughts?
State universities’ first responsibility is to their own state residents. Out of state students are seen as a source of revenue. That seems fair to me.
A lot of the OOS schools don’t office any scholarships to OOS students, only in-state students. Some public universities such as Arizona, Alabama and Iowa offer merit scholarships to OOS students. There are several threads on here with lists of who does. My daughter applied to two OOS schools, her #1 offered her -0-. The other one did.
So what is her SAT or ACT score?
What states didn’t award her any aid?
Maryland and NC
Do you happen to know the names of the threads that discuss this? I have not found any yet.
look for automatic merit aid schools, a lot depends on test scores…
University of Alabama in Hunstville
University of New Mexico (amigo scholarship)
University of Toledo
@Zach159 MD merit has been aptly described on another thread as “consistently inconsistent.” This includes instate and OOS kids.
What are her SAT or ACT scores?
I haven’t seen much merit offered for CS or Eng’g female students. Maybe schools don’t want to give merit solely for choosing that major because many will change their minds and end up majoring in something else.
NC do you mean UNC Chapel Hill? If so, she would need to be a tippy top OOS candidate to even be considered for merit scholarships. UNC Chapel Hill does meet full need for students…but I guess you don’t have financial need either…right?
U of Maryland CP has some very competitive merit awards.
What re her stats? If they are high enough…University of Alabama Huntsville is still taking applications…and giving auto scholarships.
BUT her stats have to be high enough …so what are they?
UNC and UMD? Not shocking that no scholarships. Just to get in out of state at a school like UNC-CH is an honor. They are selective state schools with priority on their in state kids. Like UNC-CH has to 82% of kids accepted be from NC. I’m sorry you didn’t get any scholarships though, unfortunately it’s just the nature of these schools.
Generous merit and college selectivity are often inversely proportional. A desirable school can fill its classes without offering discounts. If you needed big scholarships, you needed to be much lower on the selectivity scale.
That’s a myth that colleges pay girls to major in STEM. Even when they do offer scholarships, you have to really stand out. A 3.72 is good but not eye popping for UMD (92% of accepted students have 3.75 and above) or UNC (96% at 3.75, stats from Big Future).
For comparison, my DD had a 4.0, a 35 ACT, and second author on a paper accepted in a scientific journal. She was interviewed for, but didn’t get, a STEM scholarship at our state flagship. Out of state students can get scholarships there, but they only cover about half the OOS tuition upcharge. Nothing big is available.
So is your instate acceptance affordable?
Re: cost.
UMD does NOT guarantee to meet full need…so it’s no surprise that your net cost to attend there exceeded your FAFSA EFC.
UNC-CH uses the CSS Profile to determine need based aid awards. Any chance you are self employed? Are the parents divorced/remarried? Do you own real estate in addition to your primary residence?
There had to be something on that Profile that would have indicated you could be full pay as an OOS student at UNC CH.
But likely, your kid does have the stats to get a decent merit award at UA Huntsville. If that is what you need…apply…now.
There is a lack of females in Computer Science so it is fantastic she is thinking of studying CS. This might not help her at the college level but if she is a good at programming, she will be golden when she looks for jobs.
There are a lot of private schools that likely would’ve given her merit based on her stats (if her SAT/ACT was decent) You may still be able to apply to some.
Is she interested in Cyber Security?
Is her college on the list of participating institutions?