<p>I know this is a very broad question that may be difficult to answer, but here goes: What are the chances of a top student getting a full or nearly-full ride to a huge, out-of-state, public university?</p>
<p>We live in a small state with no major, top-tier university. I think he should apply to a huge state school (think Big Ten), but not if he can’t get a good scholarship, because with out-of-state tuition, it won’t be worth the cost.</p>
<p>Are out-of-state students applying to huge state schools pretty much out of luck when it comes to scholarship money? According to various Ivy League schools’ online financial aid calculators, we would pay about $8,000 per year if he went to an Ivy, and I estimate he has about a 50/50 chance of getting into one or more of those. Is it likely that he could get the same deal or better at a Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State, etc.? Or some other big, respectable public school, such as UC-Berkeley, Virginia, North Carolina, etc.?</p>
<p>However, these programs are highly selective (arguably moreso than any institution). If your child has outstanding achievements, then these programs may be feasible.</p>
<p>Michigan offers a shipman scholarship to a select group of OOS students, but those, like the Morehead and the Jefferson, are ridiculously expensive.</p>
<p>If your son is a National Merit Finalist there are some very good scholarships available at such schools as Oklahoma U and Alabama. Check the threads at the top of this forum.</p>
<p>^^ REALLY??? A kid from my son’s school just went to Pitt and loves it! I will definitely look into that.</p>
<p>Silverturtle, thank you for those helpful links.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, I’ve noticed that numerous schools in the South and Mid-South offer full rides to National Merit Finalists, but unfortunately my son isn’t really interested in going to school there. Some of the others I know of are Tulsa, Mississippi State, Central Arkansas, Oklahoma State (not full ride, but close), Arkansas State, Arkansas Tech, and Alabama-Huntsville.</p>
<p>It depends on the school and the kid’s stats. I can tell you that my son got zilch from the out of state publics. That put the cost of many of the privates with merit money in the same cost range. The OOS that he applied to did have some generous merit awards but the competition was very steep in order to get anything. Though he met the criteria to get an award, he did not make the culling process.</p>
<p>Pitt has given out full-tuition (NOT full ride) scholarships to kids scoring 1450 and over on the SAT (M/CR) and 33 ACT. The full-tuition deal is particularly nice because as tuition increases, so does the amount of your scholarship.</p>
<p>I have to add a caveat because the full-tuition scholarships are not “guaranteed” to kids who reach those levels. It seems to me that Pitt reserves the right to pick and choose who gets them. I feel that kids from distant states, who provide geographic diversity, are more likely to get them.</p>
<p>Pitt also has diversity scholarships, and I’m pretty sure those are on a case by case basis as well.</p>
<p>And of course with the economy the way it is, no one knows which scholarships will be offered next year.</p>
<p>Pitt is a wonderful school for those who want an urban experience and also a campus feel. It has strong programs in the health sciences (including nursing), foreign languages, psychology, engineering, etc. My daughter is going to be a junior, and she has been very happy there (she’s OOS). Pitt’s location in the student-centric Oakland neighborhood, right next to Carnegie Mellon, is a real plus.</p>
<p>Keilexandra has compiled a list of schools with good merit aid for NMFs. You should be able to search for it. I know Denison U offers full tuition.</p>
<p>Full ride to me includes room and board. Many of the schools listed offered tuition scholarships for NMS(which are very nice) but not room and board. Perhaps this is important–perhaps not.</p>
<p>LurkNessMonster is correct on the Pitt scholarship info. My daughter is a National Merit Scholar headed to Pitt in the fall and we never heard mention of her merit scholarship being linked to NMS and it does not include room and board. She was also interested in a place where competition with others was not a main part of life–from one of your other posts.</p>
<p>The Jefferson Scholarship is REALLY hard to get (about 30 each year). First, your school has to recommend you (and only you) to apply for it. And I think only certain schools can even recommend. You might ask your GC to look into it if you are interested in UVA and your school hasn’t participated. You can look it up on line as well. The good news though for UVA is that if you are the Jefferson nominee for your school, you will most likely be admitted even though the admissions office does not administer that program. I think that applications are due in early November.</p>
<p>Likewise, the Chancellor’s Scholarship at Pitt is kind of like Ivy admissions: who knows what they are looking for? The application process for both of these is pretty involved.</p>
<p>You might look at some of the states with smaller populations and large state universities. It seemed as though some of them offered some nice scholarships (Vermont and Iowa, for example).</p>
<p>Keep in mind as well–I just read your original post–that some of the Ivies are now doing some great financial aid for middle and upper middle class.</p>
<p>Thanks, MD Mom. If he gets into an Ivy or equivalent, he’s probably going to attend, because the (income-adjusted) cost is so low compared to the value of the education.</p>
<p>With good grades, your son’s 35 (ACT) will open plenty of doors below the Ivy and near-Ivy level. Consider Vandy or Emory Scholars. If your screen name indicates Asian, consider schools looking to increase their diversity.</p>
<p>Mythbuster2000, I didn’t say I know, I said I estimate. I estimate based on his qualifications compared with students who have been admitted. If he applies to several Ivies, I estimate a 50/50 chance he’ll get into one of them. I could be wrong.</p>
<p>bluebayou, thanks for those suggestions. We have talked about Vandy and Emory, but my son is a little concerned that they may be too “white bread” (i.e., old money, not much diversity). I do wonder if perhaps, like most top universities, they have made efforts in recent years to increase the diversity of their student bodies. For example, I’m looking at Emory’s profile on Co11egeb0ard dotc om right now, and I see that they are 20% Asian, which really surprised me. Perhaps they are both worth another look.</p>
<p>Why do you suggest ED at one of the Ivies? Would that improve his chances? The schools always seem to say it doesn’t.</p>
<p>Many schools will allow oos students to pay in-state tuition if they win competitive scholarships worth at least $1000, so the actual value of the $1000 is MUCH higher.</p>
<p>Actually, Emory is closer to 30% Asian. Vandy is trying to increase diversity; hence, your S has a higher chance of merit money as well as admission.</p>
<p>Re: Ivy ED’s…it really depends on which school he likes best of those that offer ED. (I would never recommend ED unless it was a strong first choice.) And, yes, ED does improve chances somewhat; a little at Dartmouth and Brown, and even more at Penn and Cornell. Dunno about Columbia. The other three do not offer ED.</p>
<p>There is a thread that momfromtexas started about free ride scholarships. The higher your student’s stats, the broader the field with more pickin’s. When you start looking at schools like Vandy, Emory, and other schools that are selective in admissions, those full ride scholarships they have are very selective. Much more difficult than getting into HPY just from the sheer numbers of kids competing for them. Georgia Tech has a presidential scholarship that can be a full ride, but I know the competition is fierce for one. </p>
<p>My oldest was accepted to only one out of his 5 highly selective choices, after being waitlisted initially. He was waitlisted at 3 out of the 5 and rejected outright from 2. He was accepted to all of the schools in the next level of selectivity but did not get one red cent from any of those schools, even the ones that had merit money. The only school where he got a substantial award was at his safety school that accepts about 80% or more of the kids who apply and where his stats were way up there. My next one did get merit money at a number of schools but nothing over $5K. You really have to go for the awards if you want substantial ones. </p>
<p>I don’t think being Asian lowers your chances at schools, but there are a number of schools that are so vanilla white that they want any kind of diversity and it would help in such cases. Looking for geographic diversity helps.</p>