@lvvcsf @wifemomteacher your information is highly appreciated, which render us easier to make a decision.
Thank you for that clarity. This may likely take Purdue out of the running. One thing I’ve noticed through my son’s process, Big 10 schools are not particularly generous with merit aid.
OSU came through with Maximus and National Buckeye for my son, bringing cost of attendance down to under $30K, and they were pleasantly quick about it (and honors admissions), so for a few days in December they were his top choice 
Daughter was accepted into engineering but no merit; 36 ACT, 4.7 GPA, OOS, National Merit Semi Finalist; engineering related and other ECs; comm service; black belt and more; we are disappointed…
@sjpatt, agree with you completely
we are in the same boat . It seems they have upset a lot of parents with their scholarships. From the board it seems they have give 10-15 k scholarship for kids who got less than 1500 SAT and less than perfect GPA. My son has 1560 , 35 ACT and 800 on Subject tests Math , chemistry and Biology, perfect GPA . And pursuing chemical engineering and still did not mention anything of scholarship . And I have seen some other kids also who is very high who did not get scholarship . And some of the lower performing students get scholarship .
This makes me believe the bigger scholarships will follow for the perfect ACT , perfect GPA.
Something on scholarship money seems upside down to me, or they made some mistakes .
Anyway same here purdue is out of the running, as we got almost free ride to many others and uiuc honors. So purdue was any way not going to be considered . But now completely out of contention.
@snakster – Not as highly ranked as some, but Michigan State has been super generous with merit as well. (My S was offered $28k per year in merit + honors + $5k for study abroad with no additional applications needed… Honestly MSU is still very much being considered in our house thanks to the speedy and generous offers made.)
We visited last August. It was 100 in Texas, upper 70’s in Indiana. We definitely visited at the right time 
Our D was accepted to HHS (Brain and Behavioral Sciences). No merit but her stats are not extraordinary (1390 SAT, 31 ACT). She did apply for SSA so we will see if anything comes from that; strong LORs, essays, ECs/service, interned with FBI - which is what she wants to do. I think she is down to Pepperdine and Butler (similar cost to Purdue with 20K merit and way better dorms lol) but we are making the trip to IN next week so she can meet with someone in the program.
Thank you.
@illinoisdad1729 There is no “mistake” in the merit scholarships. The very few invitations for STAMPS scholars that will be coming later are almost always drawn from the pool of Trustee and Presidential scholars, not someone who was awarded no merit on EA. If you did not get merit now, it is unlikely that you are going to get it later, except in the case of some college-specific (not CoE) scholarships.
The harsh reality is that there are a large number of exceptionally qualified students - especially judging only by scores and GPA. Perfect GPA and SAT will get you into consideration but not over the finish line for competitive scholarships. Purdue is also looking for students who express a specific interest in Purdue and take the time to show that. You also have to remember that the scholarships are distributed across all subject fields, and engineering is extremely competitive, driving the scores even further up. My daughter scored a 4.8 GPA, 35 ACT, 800 Math SAT2, AP Scholar with Distinction and is a Team Captain/FIRST Robotics Dean’s List Finalist. She also attended Purdue’s STEP summer camp. She was accepted FYE with a 10K Presidential Scholarship OOS and has applied to the Honors College (fingers crossed). Her essays made it very clear why Purdue is a special place to her. She knows quite a few people with 36 ACT and 800 SAT scores who applied to Purdue as a “safety” school and were accepted but received no merit.
My S1 goes to U of MN twin cities for CSE and is CS major. Loves it. Must tolerate cold to go there. Great thing about MN is you dont have to choose major up front in CSE so there is time to figure that out. Economy strong in Minneapolis from what I see, so good opportunties there.
That’s nice to hear. MSU was never a consideration because they don’t have Nuclear Engineering major.
I’m not saying Big 10 schools don’t give money to some people, just not as liberally as others. Maybe I will get proven wrong, but I’m not optimistic that Wisconsin will give anything when their letter comes. Deferred at Michigan, but I don’t expect anything there OOS. Even in state for us at Penn State, they are notoriously tight with merit money. Conversely, if you head south, a school like Tennessee has automatic money if you have a certain gpa and a certain level of test score. My son got 15k right off the bat and he submitted application for nuclear engineering scholarship which could add more. Many schools, especially in the south, have this auto merit money.
It seems to me that many of these higher profile big 10 schools have a smaller pool, therefore use a ‘holistic’ process for determining merit aid. As an aside, once this process is over, I will be very happy if I never hear the word holistic again. (To be safe I should point out that that last bit was a joke)
I think what’s happening at Purdue, especially with engineering and CS, is that as their rankings and popularity increase, the merit is decreasing. A decade ago merit awards were necessary to attract high stats kids. Not so anymore.
That may be part of it, but it still makes me scratch my head when you see some truly exceptional stat kids get shut out, while kids with lesser stats get thousands of dollars for what is labeled as ‘merit’ aid. My son has very good stats, and it was a bit upsetting. Until you see some others with even better stats get shut out. Then I’m thinking, ‘now THERE’S someone who should be ticked’.
My intention is not to complain about it. I firmly believe schools should do what they think is right for them. And clearly they do. It must work for them. But the message that is being sent to kids with higher stats who get zero is that the school really doesn’t want them. I’m sure other schools ARE offering them money, and I doubt many kids will say, ‘I’ll pay full freight at Purdue instead of going to xxxxxxx for half’.
Full freight at Purdue though is still way less than schools like Michigan but I hear what you are saying.
The reality is we as parents don’t see all the applications and don’t know how the university is trying to balance their class.
My son will go to MIT for about what it would cost to go to Purdue.
Would he go to Purdue if they gave him $15K of merit money? Of course not! But they have no way of knowing that, and it would be nice of them to try:)
Would you please refrain from making negative comments. You are taking the joy away from others that are very excited. Congrats to your son, but it’s time for you to stop making comments on this page since you are certain he won’t be attending Purdue.
I am pretty sure that Purdue knew that with your son’s stats, it’s a safety for him, even with scholarship. So they offered to those who are most likely to attend.
Totally agree with @RoboticsDad. I think Purdue is offering merit to strong applicants who demonstrate an interest in the school. While they may not have perfect stats, they’re still highly qualified students. My D was accepted to Actuarial Science with Presidential Scholarship.
3.9 UW/4.6Weighted
1350 SAT
34 ACT
10 APs
Good ECs but nothing crazy
I suspect she had excellent recommendations, but more importantly, she visited the school twice and interviewed with the Actuarial Science recruiter prior to applying. A friend from her same school with better test scores was accepted, but not offered a scholarship. This friend had not visited or demonstrated prior interest. For what it’s worth, D has decided to attend a different school, so maybe that will free up $40k for someone else. Good luck & congratulations to those admitted and attending.
It’s not like people getting scholarships have garbage SAT scores and GPAs … doesn’t make them any less “exceptional”.