Quick question: non-NMF but 2400 SAT?

mom2collegekids
Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:06:00 +0000

*My dad has made it pretty clear that there is no way my parents are paying 50k/yr for any school (he’s a college dropout so he’s not really sold on the CC-outlook of life haha).

So my plan as of now is to bulk up my college lists with financial safeties, some “regardless of price” schools just to see, and then some schools that are potential candidates for merit aid.
*

You need to find out how much your dad intends on paying each year. Get a good estimate from him…$10k per year, 15k per year, 20k per year…etc.

In the meantime, you’re right to apply to several schools that will give you big merit for your stats.

A UC might give you their big Regents Scholarship…so apply to those that have big Regents that don’t consider income (some only have small $1k Regents when you have a high EFC). Find out which UCs Regents are big and don’t include income for consideration.

You could probably get the 50% tuition scholarship from USC. However, if your dad has a very limited budget, you won’t be able to cover the other $35k that the school costs.

There are other schools that will also work.

keep in mind that there are a few different kinds of merit scholarships.

1) Some merit scholarships are competitive. NO guarantees. A school awards a limited number of scholarships from a group of qualified applicants. (Some consider income - some will ask you to submit FAFSA for scholarship consideration. )

2) Some merit scholarships are “assured” or automatic. That means that if you apply to the school (and sometimes have to submit a scholarship app) by the required deadline, and you have the required stats, then you definitely get the scholarship. These schools make good financial safety schools.