<p>Northeastern does give merit money to students they want, particularly NMF’s. If your stats are high, it’s definitely worth applying. In addition to NMF’s who’ve gotten full tuition, I know several students who’ve gotten half tuition merit scholarships from there.</p>
<p>Public versus private costs will depend on a combination of factors. For a very high stats, lower income student, private may be cheaper as many top schools guarantee to meet full need as they define it and will have a price lower than an in state public. I had a niece who went to Notre Dame more cheaply than she could have gone to Penn State. For a high stats student with a higher income, publics will likely be the cheaper option. There are full scholarships to private schools, but for the most part these scholarships are extremely competitive, even to the lower ranked schools. Finally, there are full scholarships to public universities like Alabama and Temple that any high stats kid can get. </p>
<p>For a more average student, in state publics are usually the cheapest option. But even that depends. I know several kids who were average high school students who are attending St. Joe’s University. Due to merit scholarships (tuition discounting), the final cost is comparable to Penn State. Because we live in the area, the students have the option of commuting from home - it’s an option many of them take for the junior and senior years to cut down on student loans. St. Joe’s actually ends up cheaper than if they’d gone to four years in Happy Valley.</p>