University of Nevada - Reno gives $16,000 for NMS finalists for 4 years. Not as good as Arizona or Alabama, but maybe for kids who like some snow.
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Lawrence University provides full need. D was offered separately for merit $28k.
Lawrence does not meet full need for all. Starting next cycle, they will meet full need for all students from Illinois and Wisconsin, a great development.
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Loyola New Orleans is giving my son good merit of 31k. They also give institutional need-based grants. Among my kidās 13 schools, they gave us the most considerate merit and aid package, and they have treated us well. (He has a 3.9 UW GPA and did not submit test scores.)
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I was warned by a friend who just completed this process with her daughter and they accepted a spot already, to just be aware that schools that entice kids with a lot of merit aid, might actually be on shaky financial footing themselves. They may be trying to bolster enrollment numbers to get a little buzz going on about how they are āimprovingā. Not say itās the case for every college but something to keep in mind, especially if itās a smaller college. Check out their endowment and their projected operating cost.
My DD is in 11th grade so weāre about knee deep in the process. Weāll be ramping things up this summer working on essays and a resume alongside a summer job.
Good luck to everyone.
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Forbes ranks the financial health of private colleges.
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Congrats to ur ward - I am interested in more information on Univ of alabama since my son is applying this year - which campus is this ? Also did ur kid automatically the honors program admission? Did ur kid apply for any specific engineering major ? My son wants tk apply for mech but might want to shift to computer science later ? Do they allo that in bama ! Thanks in advance
Campus ā Tuscaloosa, the main campus. Your son should look at Huntsville too.
Honors ā Had to apply for university honors, engineering is automatic based on SAT/GPA. EPIC is by application only. I think they take 25 kids each year or some such?
Major ā Chem E; very easy to switch once accepted. No stress.
Good luck.
Thanks so much
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? This is an incredible source of info. for families.
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I kept a spreadsheet of the merit aid offered to my daughter (high school grad in 2022).
I figured Iād post the data here and hopefully some folks find it helpful. She was looking at schools with engineering programs. All of the dollar figures are per-year offers for four years. In no particular order:
Marquette: $31,500
Loyola-Chicago: $25,000
Purdue: nothing
Northeastern: $20,000
Rensselear: $51,000
University of Illinois: nothing
Worcester Polytechnic Institute: $30,000
University of Rochester: $14,000
Bucknell: nothing
Case Western Reserve: $37,000
Washington University in St. Louis: nothing
Lehigh: $15,000
Stevens Institute of Technology: $36,000
Boston University: $21,500
I have another kid applying to schools this year (for fall 2024). So Iāll post that data when itās complete in couple months.
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The amount of merit isnāt nearly as important as the net cost.
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University of Denver, Alabama University
Do you mean University of Alabama?
yes, sorry - UA
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Agreed. This is a thread for people to learn about āschools known for good merit aidā.
well, that depends. Someone might be willing to pay a higher ānet costā for a school that is higher quality or more prestigious. Cost is one - very important - factor, but itās not the only factor. If the kidās first choice private school gives a lot of merit aid which brings the net cost closer ( but not as low) as their state college, they might still opt for the private school
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Yes, net cost is a family decision. And some people are very willing to pay more, while others wonāt even if they can.
But we donāt want to get more off topic here.
A combination of merit aid and net costs would be important, in my opinion.
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This is great information, thank you. Lots of schools my 2025 hs grad is looking at! Can you share where your 2022 student wound up picking, as well as any details about gpa/test scores/ECs that could clue me in to my sonās chances at these places?