Hey everyone! I am a current sophomore in high school and am looking for college suggestions.
I qualify for no financial aid but am looking for relatively prestigious or academically rigorous schools that provide significant merit aid. I would strongly prefer a school that is not in the South. I currently live in Tennessee which has not been the most accepting place for me. I am gender non-conforming (an identity similar to non-binary that falls under the trans umbrella) as well as a lesbian. I am also a person of color. I am looking for a school that would be accepting of all of my identities and would prefer a place with diversity that is integrated not separated (like all the LGBTQ+ kids only hang out with each other and are shunned by the rest of the student body). I will study social sciences (current possibilities are political science, womenâs, gender, and sexuality studies, and English) with the end goal of attending law school to become a public interest lawyer. Pre-professional bent is a positive.
I attend a small private school where I take the most rigorous courses and will start taking IB courses next year. I have not yet taken the SAT or ACT although I have a 1490 on the PSAT 10/NMSQT. My ECs mainly revolve around advocacy (I am on multiple national and regional boards) and have received the gold PVSA award for 100 hours of volunteer work.
So far, I have really liked Claremont McKenna College (part of the Claremont Consortium) which gives merit aid and schools such as Swarthmore and Brown University (heavy reaches). My parents are willing to pay for a prestigious college/university but would prefer to have some merit aid for a less prestigious school.
You need to check policies, but I believe some of the womenâs colleges could be of interest. And they are great schools (some donât give merit aid, however).
Really, itâs too soon to predict your merit aid potential anyway. This will be easier after your mid year grades junior year, and a real SAT or ACT score.
You might want to read about Connecticut College and Skidmore.
If you are looking for significant merit money, you will need to either get one of the vanishingly few merit awards at highly competitive schools (Washington and Lee comes to mind - tho it is in the south), or you will need to look further down the selectivity scale of colleges.
There are lots of schools ranked 50-100 of LACs that offer excellent merit and financial aid (some even stacking the two) that also offer rigorous courses of study.
The good thing is you have plenty of time to really start investigating what your budget is, what colleges cost these days and how much is reasonable to expect in merit aid at different schools.
I definitely understand that the more selective the school is, the less merit aid is available. I was trying to communicate that while I am attempting to get into selective schools (CMC, Brown, Swarthmore), I also want to consider schools that are less prestigious but have similar academics, social scene, and overall atmosphere. I included them so that you can understand what kind of school I am looking for if that makes sense. I really appreciate the suggestions. I know it is early to be asking but I just wanted to see what schools other people suggest so I have time to look into them on my own and (possibly) visit.
My daughter is a senior at Cornell. She didnât qualify for financial aid, but Cornell was very generous with offering her a grant each of her 4 years there. Some of the elite colleges offer grants, so that is something to consider. You donât have to pay back grants. Best of luck to you!
Two small schools that are not in the South that give merit and are acemically rigorous and somewhat prestigious are Oberlin and Grinnell. The problem being they are in Ohio and Iowa so while the campuses are extremely accepting and inclusive the state governments are not.
I agree that looking into the womenâs college (if policies are acceptable) is a good idea.
Also, have your parents run Net Price Calculators for the more generous full need schools.
You first need a budget. So talk to your parents about an annual amount.
Some schools will be $95K+ and you say your parents might pay.
Another might be $75K or another $50K.
So Iâm not sure what significant merit means. There are schools full pay that are cheaper than others with merit.
Also, social sciences run the gamut - do you have a specific interest? If it was International Relations, U of Denver might fit your bill. Anthropology - there might be small LACs that give big $$ like Beloit.
So if you have a specific budget, that would help.
Prestige is in the eye of the beholder, btw. Many havenât heard of the Claremont schools or Swarthmore.
Do you have preferences - urban, rural, etc. Weather, etc.
Is there a chance youâll be a National Merit Finalist?
To get âbig meritâ, you either go to an automerit school or a âlessâ prestigious college that âbuysâ you in.
In the South, but check out Agnes Scott (very diverse womenâs college in Decatur GA/Atlanta, very LGBTQ+ friendly). They give a lot of scholarships and your scores right now would put you at the top so you might stand a good chance at getting extra $$. Itâs about 1/3 black, 1/3 white, 1/3 other ethnicities. Atlanta seems pretty LGBTQ friendly, too.
Also in the South, check out Warren Wilson. It is not for everyone. Itâs a work college where every student has to have a job on campus (no money paid, but it goes toward tuition). Itâs super gay (like 50%), super hippie. Not incredibly diverse racially but there is some diversity. They have some good scholarships too. Asheville is a vibe. WWC is not super challenging academically, but if you are motivated you can get a good education. Very beautiful area. They have a working farm. Everything there is super hands-on. Worth a look at their website at least.
Oberlin might be worth a look. I know an academically excellent LGBTQ student who went there on scholarship and had a great experience.
We are in New Jersey. We didnât qualify for financial aid, but they gave her a grant each year. She paid the equivalent as if she was going to an out of state public university with no merit. Cornell doesnât give merit aid.
If youâre looking for grant aid, be sure to fill out the CSS profile in addition to the Fafsa. Grant aid is based on filling out the CSS profile. My daughter did not get any aid based on the Fafsa.
We are getting a little off topic here. But for schoolâs that use the CSS Profile, the financial data on that form is what is used to determine institutional need based aidâŠnot the FAFSA (which is largely used to determine eligibility for federally funded need based aid). Cornell uses the Profile. Glad it worked out for your student!
The best thing this student can do is run the net price calculators for schools of interest for an estimated net cost. Right now, they are set for students starting in fall 2025, and that is not this student. SoâŠestimate only.
Some NPCs actually include merit aid..but look for questions like GPA and test scores to see.
I agree these are two good schools, but Iâm not sure that Sarah Lawrence gives âsignificant meritâ (at least imo). S24 was accepted there and received $28k/yearâŠleaving well over $60k to still pay per year.
This is why I think a budget helps immensely with helping students find schools whose merit aid offers are actually helpful in getting them to a price that is right (for them).
My daughter got a significant merit aid offer from Sarah Lawrence. I donât remember exactly, but I think it was in the neighborhood of $40,000. Maybe more. She got a nice offer from Mount Holyoke, too (not as much as SL, though). I would highly recommend the OP look into these schools.
Others that would fit the bill but give smaller merit awards include Conn College, Macalester, St. Olaf (actually not sure of their merit awards), and Oberlin (I think they give merit?).
Grinnell and Cornell College (IA, not NY) are very generous as well, though as with Oberlin, the OP would have to consider whether they would be comfortable in a blue island in a red state.
Bard does not give merit at all. Is it prestigious to OP ? I donât know.
But OP needs a budget figure as I need merit means little without definition.
âAll Bard College scholarships are need based.â
That is directly from the Bard scholarship website. They began phasing out a few years ago. Per the last CDS which was two years ago they had 11 merit scholarships but have updated their language to show what I put above the paragraph.