Hi all, I have a Junior who is going to qualify to be a National Merit Semifinalist (then hopefully finalist!) and we live in southern ME. The National Merit program offers some great “full ride” opportunities at some southern schools but not in the North. I’m trying to find some New England schools that offer fabulous Merit Aid (money is a huge factor and we are not likely to receive financial aid) so that we can consider some schools close to home as well as those in the South. I know Northeastern does offer a $30K scholarship for National Merit but I am honestly not sure she would love living right in the city. Anyone have any suggestions? She would be a science/pre-med type major if that matters.
Boston College
Boston University
College of the Holy Cross gives some merit and meets full need
If she is interested in women’s colleges, check out Smith College and Mount Holyoke.
There may be others, but those are the ones I know.
Not sure about scholarship for National Merit… But, overall, Clark University gives awesome merit scholarships!
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M or F can matter. WPI has given some very large scholarships to girls from our HS, smaller to boys.
They want women in STEM and will pay to get them.
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If you’re willing to consider as far south at NY, Fordham historically has offered some fairly generous scholarships for national merit. Not sure if this is still true; check website for current info.
Hi. @Rivers4
Just a little clarification for the OP.
Boston College offers no merit at all, zero. They have 15 Gabelli scholarships that are invitation only and require a competitive interview process. Everyone one of the students in that group who won probably would get into the ivy of their choice. They offer honors tracks to select invited freshmen . No honors college that was eliminated last year as the students are all nearly equal in strength. They offer 4 years of housing to the top 15 percent of freshmen and other majors needing the convenience. Nursing. And varsity athletes.
@FrozenMaineMom @privatebanker ,
I’m sorry for passing on erroneous information. I was surprised to read that BC doesn’t have any scholarships, as I’m positive I had read that they do on a list of schools that give merit. Just now I typed in “schools with merit scholarships” into my bing search engine. A list pops up with BC third on the list. I’m positive I have seen it listed in a differently formatted list before too. Did they used to have scholarships?
https://www.bing.com/search?q=schools+with+merit+scholarships&go=Search&qs=ds&form=QBRE
Btw, thanks for pointing this out @privatebanker.
Hi. @Rivers4
Really not sure. But no worries. This is just a conversation.
They meet 100 percent of demonstrated need which might be the confusion. They just don’t offer merit scholarships or tuition benefits for high achieving students. It’s pretty much the same when a school has more than enough high achievers to fill a class. They spend their endowment money on financial aid instead
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-merit-aid
This is a bit better. It’s a listing most of the schools greater than 30 percent of students receiving some form of Merit aid
It doesn’t state how much. It could be 500 per year in some cases for all I know
@Rivers4 Third party lists are usually inaccurate. What @privatebanker says is correct. 15 merit scholarships period.
Bentley offers good merit aid. It’s a business oriented school with a liberal arts component. Would only consider it if you were heavily interested in business, economics, etc.
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Why dont you send her to University of ME? It will be very reasonably priced. She can work out the finances for graduate school.
That Gabelli scholarship sounds like merit, but it also sounds highly competitive.
The Gabelli scholarship IS Merit.
Good news: Essentially a full ride
Bad News: Only offer it to approx 1% (less actually) per yr. The very tippy top of the admitted class.
Bad News 2: They offer ZERO additional merit aid. it’s Gabelli or bust. (they are simply trying to pick off some Harvard admits with a full ride)
However, there need based aid is very good, 100% need met, etc. Only helps you if you “qualify” for need based on their formula (this is where schools vary quite a bit). There will be many kids attending BC who receive need based aid. There will be many who are full pay. That’s reality.
WPI offers excellent merit for females
Not full rides, but check out some of the women’s colleges which all have strong science. Mount Holyoke gives full tuition, Smith gives $25,000 + guaranteed paid research for two years (STRIDE program), and Bryn Mawr gives either $25,000 or maybe $30,000 (best to confirm what they are offering this admission’s cycle by visiting their websites). Note that Wellesley and Barnard don’t give merit.
My Smith D is in a fabulous bio lab doing real research at Smith. And that merit award has helped us out tremendously.
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@FrozenMaineMom First of all I assume that you are not frozen right now.
If you either go north to New Brunswick, or east across the Bay of Fundy to Nova Scotia, there are some very good universities that would be less than US$30k per year full price for an international student. A bit of merit based aid is possible as well. At least one (Dalhousie) is in a big city, the smaller ones (Mount Allison, Acadia, St Francis Xavier) are in very nice small towns.
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Thanks all! I never thought of the Canadian schools - thx and will check them out! I am off to research Mount Holyoke too 