<p>What is your M+CR? That’s what merit is usually based on.</p>
<p>How much merit do you want/need? Full tuition? more? less?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16451378-post300.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16451378-post300.html</a></p>
<p>I know that some here on this thread are upset because of the missed opportunity to get large merit scholarships…either from safety schools or just to afford to go to college.</p>
<p>Look at the above list. With a free tuition scholarship, your family’s remaining costs will be about $15k per year. </p>
<p>If that’s too much, then you can take out a $5500 loan, and if you work a lot during the SUMMER (save about $2-3k) and work 8 hrs a week during the school year (for pocket money), then you can get the family contribution down to about $6-7k per year.</p>