Harvard and Princeton do not give any merit scholarships.
Notre Dame and Duke give precious few merit scholarships…and they are highly competitive.
If you are looking for merit aid, you might want to add different schools to your list.
UCLA has merit awards…but they are also very competiitive.
@ mom2collegekids - where are your two kids attending?
Has he applied to USC? I would think USC would not purposely hold it against your second son (and not consider him for that same scholarship) just because your older son earned it.
My kids are no longer undergrads. They graduated 2 and 4 years ago.
It appears that you and your older son were really planning on him attending Vandy but the lack of merit stopped that. Would your older son be hurt/annoyed if you let S2 go to a full pay school because S1 is going to a big merit school? I realize that it’s your money, but as a mom, I wouldn’t want to create a situation that might cause a rift.
@Madison85 - He is only a Junior. Yes, USC is on his list of schools to apply to. I just don’t want our sons competing against each other. They have almost identical stats/classes/GPA’s, etc. If our younger son doesn’t apply to SC then his older brother can never tell him “I received a full merit scholarship”. Not that he would do that but I would feel terrible if he did. Our sons have always been very competitive towards each other.
Are you saying your younger son doesn’t know his big brother got a full ride merit award to USC? Just clarifying!
thumper1 - Yes. Our younger son is VERY aware of his brother being a Trustee Scholar. I would just prefer that SC not be on his list of schools to apply to.
@mom2collegekids - We told our older son that we would pay for his MBA and Law Degree. We told our younger son that if we pay full tuition for his undergrad then he would have to pay for his own medical school. I wish we had a money tree in our back yard and that we could pay for everything but that just isn’t possible. Luckily, they both realize that and are appreciative of what we can do.
I understand. It’s nice to have siblings each have their own colleges.
But really…if you are chasing merit aid…Princeton and Harvard don’t have it. Notre Dame and Duke have precious little merit aid. Most is need based aid.
And as you know…UCLA is also not a slam dunk.
With the stats you are posting there are plenty of places where your kiddo would get merit aid…but these are either impossible because they don’t give merit at all…or very iffy because they are so competitive.
Oh, right, he is a high school junior now.
It always breaks my heart to see kids who are seeking merit aid and think they will get it at top-tier schools because they’ve worked incredibly hard and have incredible achievements. The reality is, to receive merit aid, you need to be in the top 10-15 % of students at the school to which you are applying. That doesn’t mean you need to go to a school that isn’t great - it just means that schools with the name recognition of an Ivy or other top-tier schools are not at all guaranteed. There are plenty of great undergrads that would offer significant merit money to a kid with these scores, and if med school is a goal, better to save the money on undergrad by going to a “lesser” school with a better scholarship (and better chance of a high GPA). Save the $$ for medical school.
thumper1 - Thanks. We are aware that the Ivy league schools, along with most other selective schools, do now award any merit scholarships. They are reach schools for everybody. If our son was fortunate enough to be accepted we would gladly pay full tuition.
My thread was asking about College’s that are known for giving Merit Scholarships. It somehow got off topic and seemed to turn into more about our older son…
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We told our younger son that if we pay full tuition for his undergrad then he would have to pay for his own medical school.
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Ahhhhhhhhh…medical school. I have a son in medical school.
I think you’re going about this backwards if med school is the goal. The goal for undergrad should not be “get into a super reach” if the goal is getting a med-school worthy GPA.
First off, med schools don’t care what your undergrad is. That may be counter-intuitive. Some wrongly think, "oh, go to a super reach school and med schools will be impressed. " No, they won’t. And, there is no forgiveness by med schools for a lesser GPA from a top school. (there is a mom here on CC whose D went to a top undergrad and got a good GPA, but not high…and she has gotten no MD interviews even tho she applied to many, many MD schools and had a good MCAT.
Classics majors have a high acceptance rate to med school. He’d be better off grabbing high merit for undergrad and having you help pay for med school.
@ InigoMontoya - Thank You! That is our goal 
.That is what my post was asking for. I didn’t have the opportunity to attend college and of course I want the best for my sons - like all parents do.
Please let me know if you have any “lesser” school recommendations that offer merit scholarships. We are certain he will bring his ACT score up to 33-35. He seems to have somewhat of a photographic memory.
I honestly don’t think what your older son is doing has any bearing on your younger one…at least not in terms of getting merit awards.
But this list is very top heavy…and not a lot of merit aid potential…if,that is how you want your son to contribute.
I would suggest looking for schools that offer good classics programs, and checking to see if any are schools where your so would garner merit aid with more certainty…if that is your optimal goal.
@mom2collegekids - thank you!! That is what we would prefer to do. His top two school choices are Duke and Notre Dame. He wants me to pick out his other schools. He is very low key and really just doesn’t care. I am just trying to inquire about College’s that offer good merit scholarships so I can add them to our list of schools. If he has a few reach schools on his list (Duke, ND, etc) that is okay. At the end of the day we will sit down as a family and hopefully have merit scholarships to compare to make a decision. He would rather us pay for med school and go to a “lesser school”.
Congratulations! You must be a proud Momma with a son in Med School
thumper1 - That is my optimal goal and the reason that I posted here on CC
I still highly recommend the Jesuit schools (outside of BC and Georgetown). Especially if accepted into an Honors program at one of the Jesuit schools, the student will learn critical thinking, reading, and writing skills that will help immensely in graduate school. Quaker and Lutheran schools also have strong traditions in the liberal arts. As long as the appropriate science courses are taken, then a focus on undergrad that emphasizes a liberal arts skill set makes sense.
What about Fordham, Santa Clara? Do all of the Jesuit schools offer classics as a major?
Thank you. I have added Santa Clara University to his list of schools.