<p>I must be extremely naive, for I thought that ‘merit aid’ meant that you were given a scholarship based on your excellent ability, regardless of your need for aid. Therefore, if you do need aid (need-based) on top of that ‘merit aid’ you would receive the same amount as if you had received no ‘merit aid’, plus the merit aid. Meaning the ‘merit aid’ would cover the difference. Otherwise, a poor person that barely got in would get the same aid as a poor person that received a scholarship for excellent ability; If you are to receive the same amount of total aid regardless of merit aid, why is it called ‘merit aid’? So what, it helps out the wealthy kids with little need? I don’t get it…How am I ever going to pay off that giant mass of loans… </p>
<p>My mother can afford about 2k/year for college on top of the 10k living expenses, and Tulane gives me 22k (18k merit), leaving me with an extra 9k/year to cover, am I right to be aggrevated? I guess it’s better than my state school which offered me 19k/year in LOANS.</p>
<p>You can take summer classes and graduate early if money is that big of a concern, or you can schedule all your classes in the evening your senior year and work a lot. Or, you can work full-time in the summers and come out with a lot less debt. It’s not that bad of a deal, especially if you are set on attending an expensive, first tier private school.</p>
<p>It’s not that I’m set on a top tier private school, it’s that even my state school only offered 19k/year in LOANS, making all of my schools (Syracuse, Pratt, Tulane, UT) cost almost exactly the same when merit/need aid is factored in. It doesn’t seem like it should all be so damned expensive. It seems like the middle class kind of get screwed in the process.</p>
<p>my middle-class friends came out of the process just fine. some went to second tier private schools on full rides. others went to their local state schools (by the way, how on earth does your local state school cost $19,000?!? mine costs like $6000, and it offers free tuition to anyone with over a certain sat/gpa). If your stats are high enough to get a scholarship at Tulane, shouldn’t you be able to get some sort of scholarship to your state school? </p>
<p>but anyway, you can work part-time during the school year and full-time in the summer. new orleans is paying quite nicely these days due to the shortage of labor… even the walmart is paying 9/hr.</p>
<p>I’ve never been able to figure out how the need/merit aid works. When I was in high school, a Tulane rep told us that need aid was given first and then merit aid was given regardless of your need aid. But I don’t believe this is actually the case. If you’re coming, try to be an RA after freshman year. Really cuts down the costs.</p>
<p>the 19k includes room + board, which would leave me with about the same amount of debt at graduation as Tulane/Syracuse/Pratt, that’s about what UT-Austin costs…</p>