When hunting for merit, you’ll want to look for two things:
- The school offers merit scholarships. Yes, I know that is super obvious, but lots of schools simply don’t.
- You are a stronger than average student for that school. Depending on how generous or stingy the school is with merit, you might need to be just above average, or you might need to be a much stronger student than average.
Also be sure you pay attention to deadlines. Sometimes a school has an earlier application deadline in order to be considered for merit scholarships.
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That is not a unique situation at all. There are plenty of parents out there who have a hard limit in what they are willing to spend for college.
@tsbna44 usually has decent suggestions for students with limited annual resources. You need to actually target colleges where you will get sufficient merit aid which doesn’t take family income into consideration.
But first, you need a sit down with your family. They need to see how much colleges cost now…and what your options are. And then make an affordability decision.
Most of these T 20 schools do not give merit aid, and of those that do, it’s highly competitive. Schools in the Ivy League give zero merit aid. MIT gives zero merit aid.
So…you need to start researching colleges that will come in at your parent price point.
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Yes and there are so many other colleges available that can provide an even better experience for you at a lower cost. The college doesn’t matter: what you put into your education at college matters. Don’t be upset if you don’t get into MIT, just know that another door is waiting for you to be opened.
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