You need to cast a wide net when you apply to colleges.
- Include schools that meet full need for all as well as schools where you are guaranteed merit aid based on your stats.
- Don’t assume that any school that meets full need for all students is a match school.
- Some schools that meet full need for all have much deeper pockets and more generous need based aid than others. For example...don’t assume that your net price calculator results for Yale will match anyone else’s.
- You are smart to be researching this now.
- Look at your instate public colleges. Do any have honors colleges? Are they affordable?
- Apply to some schools where your stats would put you in consideration for merit aid...but these would not be guarantees.
- If your family finances are easy ones (no divorced parents, no self employed parents, no secondary real estate), the net price calculators on the college websites will give you a good estimate of you net costs. Estimate...because they are currently set up for students starting fall 2019. Policies do change.
- Merit aid will not be income dependent...and will also not change when your sibling is no longer in college. Need based aid has the potential to change from year to year.
- Get the book “Paying for College Without Going Broke”
- I flagged @CourtneyThurston because I think she might have some ideas about computer science programs where merit aid would be possible given your stats. She can also explain how computer science programs differ...or not...from college to college.