Suggest Schools which may offer me Merit Aid

Paying for College
1

Hello everyone! My name is MK and I’m a rising high school senior. I am a white female who is not anticipating any financial aid (parents combined income is >$150,000). I am hoping for suggestions on schools that may offer me merit aid. I am looking for schools that are well respected by employers and graduate programs that have some name recognition. I am undecided as to what degree I want to pursue but am leaning toward the health sciences. I’ve been working on forming my list of potential schools but have begun to panic about the huge mountain of debt I may be facing. I live in Maryland and my stats and extracurricular activities are as follows. Thank you for any help!

Academics:
GPA : 3.83 UW/4.55 W
PSAT : 1320
SAT : 1370 (retaking with hopes for 1400+)
APs : AP US Gov (10th grade-3), AP Lang (11th grade-4), AP World History (11th grade-4), AP Psychology (11th grade-5), AP AB Calculus (to be taken this year), AP Comparitive Government (to be taken this year), AP Literature (to be taken this year)
Other:

  • Member of Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a five course program which gives students the opportunity to earn college engineering credits
  • Nearly all of my classes have the honors distinction

Extracurriculars :
Varsity Cross Country
Varsity Indoor Track - State qualifier in the high jump for 2 years
Varsity Outdoor Track
(Captain of jumps team for both seasons of track)
President of Debate Team
Lawyer for Mock Trial
Championship level Irish Step Dancer (since age 5 0 12 years and counting)
Member of 5 honor societies (National English Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society, National Latin Honor Society, Rho Kappa, National Honor Society)

Volunteer/Internships :
Over 100 hours of community service
Head Counselor at a Safety and Leadership Training Sleep-away Camp for local youth; run by my county’s police department (this is my 4th year volunteering for the program)
Accepted into a competitive observership program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in summer of 2018 - will be participating in a month long clinical observership this August at the same hospital.

2

Are your in-state Maryland public universities affordable?

3

Certainly more affordable than out of state, but our flagship university (UMD-College Park) still has a total tuition of $27,000 a year total.

4

What is your price limit?

5

quote still has a total tuition of $27,000 a year total.

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That’s COA , not tuition. Tuition is only about $11000. Most schools are going to have a COA of at least $20k when including r&b.

If you find another school with a big merit award, it is likely to bring the cost down to about $20k. Still, getting merit may give you more affordable options.

6

How much will your parents pay per year for you to attend college?