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I was hoping to be about $50k knowing graduate school would be at least $60k.... <<<
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If you mean $50k total for her undergrad, then she needs FREE TUITION!!!
So…send apps into UAB, UAHuntsville, and Miss State. Get on it! Lol
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People have given you several options. If you and your daughter don’t like the options she could consider a gap year. Then next year she could put together a better application strategy that tries to maximize merit $. There is no magic way to turn a $20k merit scholarship that she already has into one that is twice as big.
Yes, along with the free tuition suggestions that I provided above for Fall 2017, if none interest your DD, then she can take a gap year (no classes ANYWHERE…not even a community college!!!), and apply to schools that FOR SURE will give her free tuition.
If your goal is $50k TOTAL…about $12k per year…then DO THE MATH!!! That $12k only pays for room and board…that means your child needs FREE TUITION!!! And she can work over summers to pay for her books and other expenses!
I don’t understand why people apply to schools that will give “some merit” but not BIG merit when they NEED free tuition!!!
Along with the nearly-free tuition from UAB that is ASSURED, there is also this notation: Scholarships from specific schools and departments may require additional applications, and their deadlines may be earlier than May 1.
Those add’l awards would STACK. Also… UAB has been giving small housing scholarships to OOS students as well.
@TnTWalter
I rarely recommend my alma mater, but BGSU. Good program for her major. Huge complex for it.
OOS is about 30k a year w room and board, but she would likely get about 11k or more in scholarships and tuition waivers.
And closer to home.
If your d is going to take a gap year, then she should apply to University of New Mexico before December 1. With her stats, she’s eligible for the OOS Regents Scholarship (requires ACT 31 plus 3.9 GPA). The Regents pays 100% of the OOS tuition differential, full in-state tuition & fees AND room* & board. (aka “a full ride”)
*Covers cost of standard dorm room; apartment style suites or single rooms will cost additional $$$.
Regent Scholars get other perks like early class registrations and eligibility for the Honors programs.
UNM is a Div1 school (approx 30,000 students on the main campus), has a DPT program (but doesn’t do a 3+3) and located about 12 miles from an international airport.
[Out of State Freshman Scholarships](https://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/non-resident.html)
[Divison of Physical therapy](http://orthopaedics.unm.edu/pt/admissions/preparation.html)
If she wants to start college this fall, she can still apply to UNM. Although the Regents have been awarded for this year, she could still qualify for the Amigo Scholarship--which pays the OOS tuition differential. In-state costs at UNM for 15 credits/semester + room & board are around $19K/year.Direct admit would be a great advantage, if she is sure she wants DPT.
MS State - we know student with her stats that got more than full tuition there. Have to visit to see if rural setting is too much of a negative for the university opportunities.
UAB, and UAH - there is more ‘city’ there (B’ham is large, Huntsville is mid-sized).
Put in application NOW and visit after you know the financial side. Look at all three on-line.
Had you put in earlier, your DD would have had full tuition at UA Tuscaloosa.
I have one DD at UA, and another that graduated from UAB. They love their school and location.
University of South Alabama - do not know their scholarship application deadline - look at their web site to see. They also have PT and other medical areas (including med school): http://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/alliedhealth/
mom2college… i don’t need free. we have about $200k for 3 kids…so trying to stretch it out.
she received direct admit to U evansville and SLU and U Indy 3+3 programs. Evansville 's merit goes all through the 6 years so works out best for all 6 years…about $146k…
thanks for all the tips…
i think i was unclear in my question…it was more of a vent…
i wanted to see if there was a way to get more scholarships from the schools she has applied to…
thanks for the tips…hope these ideas will work for my other 2 kids…i’m getting a leg up here at least! 2 years til 2nd graduates and 4 for 3rd…
i didn’t think about gap year…i’ll ponder…
I know you mentioned wanting to stay in a certain area. Those restrictions can easily change the result. There are certain more desirable locations (NE/coasts) and certain less desirable locations (flyover states, low population states, the South, etc). The less desirable locations need to work harder (eg give more merit) than universities in cool cities/on beaches etc. which makes sense, right? Just like a house, the better the location generally the more $$$. That is why you are getting suggestions for NM, Alabama, etc.
That said, she probably can still get merit at ASU. They have a very simple net price calculator and you can know in 15 minutes. The honors college is likely already full, but you can check–it is great.
One more thing about UAH (University of Alabama Huntsville). With a 33 ACT, you daughter qualifies for a full tuition scholarship. However, UAH allows admitted students to continue taking the ACT/SAT until Aug. 1 of the year of entry. If your daughter can raise her ACT to a 34, she will then receive free housing plus a stipend for books ($500 I think). Her only costs will be the meal plan (about $3000/year depending on her choice of plans), fees (about $800/year) and any cost for books above the stipend amount.
UAH has a good basketball program and a decent hockey program (believe it or not), so there are sports internship opportunities.
If Evansville is a 3+3 program and she would go there, you could cover the first 3 years of undergrad, and she could borrow for the 3 years of graduate program. So you would only have to pay about $70,000 and she could borrow $70,000. Then you would still have $130,000 left in the college savings for the other two.
It’s not realistic to think that $70,000 each will be enough for undergrad and grad school, unless they go a full tuition merit school.
She can also take out her student loans and bank them for grad school, since direct loans have lower interest rates and fees than grad/grad plus loans.
she’s the only one that is going to do grad school i think. #2 wants to be a teacher. #3 no idea but not studious so undergraduate at most for him.
i seriously just wondered if i had options that i hadn’t considered. sounds like no unless want to apply to completely different schools or wait a year…
thanks for the help.
If your #2 wants to be a public school teacher (K-12) in most states he or she DOES need grad school.
I think you are putting the cart before the horse on grad school. Most kids change their major. Many kids end up working for a few years before going back to grad school. Some kids end up pursuing a field they knew nothing about when they were in HS.
@TnTWalter I think you have a good handle on the situation. Unfortunately you have discovered what we all have also. This “merit aid” everyone talks about and says you will get does not exist. It just does not. Sure there are some schools like UofA that have set benchmarks for full tuition but those are really only open to students willing to attend there. Many students just do not want to travel that far from home.
We found out the same thing. Son is an A student, Top 10%, Varsity XC/Basketball/Track, 1340 SAT and we found out the same hard truth. The schools he applied to gave him ~$20K for each year bringing the cost down to between $35K and $45K per year. This was just a bit too rich for us once you factor in the escalating costs over the 4 years of $3 - $4K annual increases. He luckily applied to a local public city school as a financial safety school and this most likely will be where he attends. We can only spend $25-$30 per year which we found out is just not that much money when your talking colleges in 2017. God help my Children’s ability to assist with college costs for their kids.
I think all students are recruitable, but there might not be much money available. There often is not a lot of money available even if the student is a very good athlete as many scholarships are sliced pretty thin, but D2 and NAIA often have more money than a D1 school has.
yes the sad truth is that no one can just “hope” that a good student will get $$$. you MUST apply to at least one college that you KNOW will give you enough $$$ to be affordable.
Oh, misunderstood. You’ve probably hit all the merit sources. It’s eye opening for sure.
It sounds like you have enough to cover room/board/travel/books for your 3 kids. So yes, full tuition awards are what your budget can sustain.
Purdue in state at 19K per year sounds like a pretty good deal. So it sounds like you have one possible option. If your D works part time and/or during summers, that would help too.
If you want your child to go to school in fall 2017 and are looking for more options, then, yes, some last minute applications to some of the schools listed above may give your child more options. My daughter has a good friend at ASU Barrett Honors Program - it was initially one of her safeties but she got a great merit-based offer from ASU, took a closer look, really liked it, enrolled, and loves it! Her stats are similar to your daughters - very strong student with test scores to match and exceptional ECs. If it’s not too late, I’d have your daughter put in an application.
Also, as mentioned upthread, she would qualify for in state tuition at UNM (about 7K) - total COA per year is less than 20K. Pretty sure that they are still accepting applications on a rolling basis.
Good luck! And yes, it is very frustrating when those awards don’t come in at the level you had hoped!
Outside scholarships are for poor kids. Any lay person who tosses out “Your kid will get scholarships” probably doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Good grades != scholarships. Most opportunities are based heavily on financial status. And where they’re solely merit, the competition for tippy top stats is fierce.