Merit scholarship chances at LAC

brentbh · October 27, 2004, 8:46am

We are first-timers in this daunting process. Can anyone make an educated guess about Ds chances for merit aid and the level of merit aid that is reasonable to expect? She has 3.7 weighted gpa, several APs and honors at a large, above average public high school. 1390SAT (750v 640m) 31 ACT. Good ECs-editor of school paper, drama, student rep., academic team, middle school academic team coach. She was a governors scholar in our state, has worked through most of high school and is a National Merit semifinalist.

We are interested in small LACs in the south and midwest like Rhodes, Sewanee, Centre, Depauw and W&L. We are probably in the range of folks who don't qualify for need-based aid, but will be hard pressed to pay the freight w/o merit aid. We have no idea what to expect and any educated guesses will be appreciated.

One last question-any thoughts on the quality of University of Evansville- I know its not quite up there with the others mentioned but they have a great deal for National Merit finalists. Thanks for your input.

emeraldkity4 · October 27, 2004, 9:00am

Rhodes has a lot of merit aid as does Sewanee,Centre, Depauw, & Washington & Lee.
Rhodes for instance offers up to full costs in the Morse scholarship down to the Rhodes awards which offer up to $5000 to selected students with at least a 3.6 GPA and a SAT/ACT score of 1210/27

Suzy · October 27, 2004, 9:18am

Brentbh,
I suppose that you've seen the merit aid calculator on the DePauw website? Here's the address: <a href="https://go2.depauw.edu/merit/calculator/form.asp%5B/url%5D">https://go2.depauw.edu/merit/calculator/form.asp</a> 
It has a great campus and strong academics that would appeal to your daughter. I think it moved up a few spots in this year's US News rankings. Even though it's my husband's alma mater (maybe because of it!), our daughter was adamant that she wanted nothing to do with this school...until we took her for a quick look during the summer. She fell in love with the campus despite its rural location and was even more impressed by its programs and curriculum during a formal visit two weeks ago. She's leaning heavily toward DePauw and if it were closer to Chicago I think that she would choose it outright today.

cangel · October 27, 2004, 10:26am

Rhodes has a rep for good merit aid, large endowment. There is a school in Texas (Southwestern in Dallas I think) that has a very cut and dried merit aid system with a calculator on the website like DePauw (Carolyn will be here soon, she knows).
Does your daughter have strong preferences for any particular school? If one of the schools with very defined aid, brings the cost down to something your finances can livel with, then you can mentally use that as a financial safety, and compare packages in the spring.

What about state schools? My daughter's ultimate financial safety would be in-state public, which is way too large (she also wants a LAC), but she has already been accepted with a full scholarship, which with the pre-paid money means a full ride. If I lode my job, or get hit by a bus, she is set.

cangel · October 27, 2004, 10:27am

My post doesn't make sense - try again. If she likes a school that has a defined aid scheme, and that suits your finances, then it can be a "safety".

brentbh · October 27, 2004, 11:04am

Thanks for the input- we really liked Rhodes, Centre and Sewanee and plan to see Depauw and Denison. We have visited the University of Ky. where we could get a full ride but she really wants a small LAC. There are some really neat schools that provide great deals for National Merit finalists like Arizona and Oklahoma- but I can't get her interested. When I went through this my choices were go to the public regional closest to home or go to work-so this is really an education, so to speak. We need to get about one-half of the cost (at least) in merit aid to make the LACs work and I don't know how realistic that may or may not be. This Forum is a great source of information and I appreciate the replies.

fredo · October 27, 2004, 11:14am

My daughter is a freshman at DePauw so I can answer any questions about it. That merit aid calculator just gives you the basic merit money - there's other scholarships that you can apply to over and above that. My daughter's stats (1370 SAT, 3.3 UW) gave her a $7000 scholarship plus she has a LEAD scholarship for another $2000. She tells me she has one of the smallest scholarships amounts of any one she's met there. Those stats also got her $10,000 a year at Denison. Your daughter's stats are stronger than mine - she'll get $$. I don't know much about Evansville but you're right that's a step below those other schools and the overall student populations might be a step below as well. Don't go skewering me anyone - obviously there are very bright students there but I mean "overall" student populations.

Again, any specific questions about DePauw I'd be glad to answer. My daughter loves it there and she's very happy with her decision to attend.

emeraldkity4 · October 27, 2004, 11:15am

I would suggest also to fill out the PROFILE and FAFSA even if you don't think you qualify. Schools often like that info and just in case your income changes it will be good to have it already in.

kinshasa · October 27, 2004, 11:45am

Yes, you should submit the PROFILE and FAFSA. Some schools require the forms even if you're looking for merit aid, not need-based aid.

brentbh · October 27, 2004, 12:14pm

Do you know if DePauw does anything for National Merit finalists? How did your daughter choose Depauw over Denison?

emeraldkity4 · October 27, 2004, 12:25pm

Depauw is listed as having the Holton scholarship program which covers full costs for students from select midwestern states who demonstrate outstanding leadership or community service.
merit awards are also dispensed to all students with qualifying GPAs and test scores down to min level of 3.00 and 1100 for SATI.
Lots of merit awards but I don't see anything specific for NM

shennie · October 27, 2004, 12:27pm

She might want to look at Allegheny College. With her stats she would probably qualify for their Trustee Scholarship which is $15,000 / year. The college is 1800 students and in the small city of Meadville, PA about 40 miles south of Erie. A little out of the way but definitely worth a look.

Faline2 · October 27, 2004, 12:34pm

Hi there
She is qualified for merit aid at Furman University in Greenville, SC. I am a graduate. The campus is stunning and the average SAT now is 1285. The full profs in every classroom mean excellent prep for graduate schools. Most of the kids from Charlotte/Atlanta/big cities in Florida. They broke from the Baptist convention in the 80s, as did Wake Forest etc. The other improvement since my day is that Greenville is now a boom town in the New South...lots of jobs and nice downtown to visit and hang out in.
The faculty is the school's strongest point. 
best of luck!

carolyn · October 27, 2004, 1:39pm

One public you might want to look into is the University of South Dakota. It is a small school (about 5000 undergrads) and has a strong liberal arts focus. They give merit money to NMS, I believe full rides in some cases.

If she doesn't mind an east coast school, St. Mary's College of Maryland is a public liberal arts school - considered the honors college of Maryland - with a beautiful campus and excellent academics. The cost is way below "private" LACs. Not sure what type of merit money is available.

Finally, she should take a look at Hendrix College in Arkansas. They are a wonderful LAC and extremely generous with merit aid as they are trying to broaden their geographic diversity. Beautiful small campus with terrific academics.

vadad · October 27, 2004, 1:41pm

Davidson College in NC offers substantial merit aid.

fredo · October 27, 2004, 2:04pm

Brent: as mentioned above, I don't think there's anything specific for NM but certainly it factors into the other scholarships (holton, rector and bonner are the biggies - all require separate apps by the way). As to DePauw over Denison - honestly, it came down to location. Her closest friends are all are IU and Purdue and she just didn't want to be too far away from then or from home so she could get back to see them when they were in town or meet up with them to watch marching band competitions are the RCA Dome. But there were several other factors. She was impressed with the people in admissions when she interviewed and the students that she saw. She also has two fairly good friends that go there and they are different as night and day. But both are extremely happy there and feel the environment is supportive of all types. She wanted a school with diversity and although DePauw is not exactly diverse, it's a tolerant place where all views are treated with respect, in her opinion. I think that swayed her a lot. Honestly, she was also a bubble candidate - it was her interview that mainly got her in and I think that "ooh they like me, they really like me" attitude sucked her in.

She's been impressed with the caliber of student there. There is a culture that supports studying - Greencastle not being the most exciting place around there isn't too much to do during the week. By default, the kids study and she follows right along. She works hard but not "to the bone" hard. She's gotten very good grades so far although she doesn't have the hardest schedule. Which is fine by me - I don't think first semester frosh need to push themselves. Heavy greek presence at the school, obviously, but she wants that. If you don't want to drink, it's okay. If you do, it's easy to get.

She didn't look too hard at Denison once she interviewed/visited DePauw and had that sense of comfort and fit. I would have liked her to do that because I thought Denison would be a good place to be but she didn't want to pursue it.

driver · October 27, 2004, 2:21pm

Have you seen this site? <a href="http://www.guaranteed-scholarships.com%5B/url%5D">www.guaranteed-scholarships.com</a>
A whole list of schools that offer merit money for a variety of specific things.

momofthree · October 27, 2004, 2:49pm

Looks to me like Washington and Lee is the only school on your list which might be unlikely for merit. W & L has gotten awfully selective lately. Sewanee is the school I am most familiar with, as an alum, and I think y'all have a good shot at a Wilkins Scholarship there. My S is also looking at Rhodes. I think your D is competitive there for all but the Bellingrath Scholarship. . . they give three Bellingraths, with the average SAT being 1511, and ACT being 34 last year. Still, as has been mentioned, Rhodes gives a number of merit scholarships for leadership and academics.

curmudgeon · October 27, 2004, 3:36pm

You really need to look at the University of Tulsa . It may be everything you are looking for in a LAC, only it's a small Uni. Fine academics and NM freebies. Just a bit bigger, but still manageable. The school in Tx Cangel was talking about is Southwestern University in Georgetown. Your D would quailfy for at least $10K a year. Also D has been thinking a lot about Hanover. Top 100 LAC, beautiful campus. All of the schools named are great schools, definitely worthy of consideration.

momofthree · October 27, 2004, 5:17pm

I checked, and W & L does give National Merit money for finalists who put them first, so this note is an addendum to my other post. Good luck!