<p>Baltimore's train station takes you by Amtrak so readily to downtown: Wilmington, Washington D.C., Philadelphia (1-3 hours) and NYC (4 or 5 hours). Also the airport is a hub for some airlines so there are nonstop flights at excellent rates to all kinds of places like Manchester, New Hampshire. So much is at your doorstep, but don't just think of car driving when you consider "distance from home."
(written by a former Baltimorean who misses the crabcakes turrible)</p>
<p>Perhaps he can re-read HSMOMSTEF's post; keep the focus very wide at first. Consider the emotional climate on campus. Maybe he'd like to read about places where grades aren't discussed as much and community is more important to the students (Oberlin? Antioch? Haverford?). </p>
<p>If he's anything like the math people my kids love to have as friends, also keep track of the boy/girl ratio and don't forget it's nice to look forward to some romance as well as numbers.</p>
<p>He might also end up moving from math into another major. This happened to my cousin, who left town as a math major but got interested in new subjects. Majored in Econ; then went to law school; excellent career as a tax bankruptcy expert first hired by his firm because his math-y mind could see outside-the-box and solve his clients' problems in novel ways.</p>
<p>So I'd encourage a wide look, geographically, emotionally and financially. Don't start with price and road miles from Reisterstown Road. This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment. If you end up back close to home at least you'll have looked out and CONCLUDED that it's the best idea.</p>
<p>D's back-up plan to her ED school, where she is enrolled, was Rhodes College in Memphis. If I remember correctly, they have a merit aid award that for students with stats in your S's range that has nothing to do with EFC. It is a beautiful campus and the school is well respected in this area of the country.</p>
<p>Due to Katrina, my S has experienced three schools in three terms and has some experience falling in different spots on the "SAT spectrum." Of course, mini is right that the SAT score does not have a ton of meaning, but I think you're using it as shorthand for how he will be affected by the possibility of being at the "top of the heap" academically.</p>
<p>My S was in the top 5-10% at Tulane and had the merit $$ that goes with this. He loved it there. He was in the Honors dorm, in Engineering (which tended to be a higher SAT group than the school average). There was a critical mass of other highly qualified (based on scores and hs GPAs) at the school and he was surrounded by them due to his dorm and choice of major. I think those are key elements - is there a critical mass or is he a lone ranger?</p>
<p>He was at Bates during his Katrina semester - there he was probably more like the quarter (?) based on hs/test performance. He also liked it there immensely and did very well in a rigorous science-heavy schedule.</p>
<p>He is now at Hopkins where I have no clue how he "ranks" based on hs/SAT, but most certainly not in the top quartile SAT-wise. It is a much more competitive academic environment. Not in a cut-throat/kids compete with each other way. But in a kids very very focused on GPA way. He likes this environment the least of the three.</p>
<p>All of which is to say, I think you want to focus less on where he stands on the score range and more on the ethos of the school, whether he will find a critical mass of like-minded kids. </p>
<p>Visits, I think, are a good way to figure this. My own view is that he can find himself in a very happy place even if he is at the top of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>while i wouldn't get excited that your son is in the "90th percentile of students" (while he very well could be, he very well could not be) you must think of it these terms. Would you rather have your child be in the 40th-60th percentile of his class at a pretty good school or at the very top of his class a pretty good school?</p>
<p>Jaybee, I think it is a HUGE mistake to judge the caliber of the school and academic demands -- or your kid's standing within the school -- based on SAT scores. The culture and expectations of the school are far more important, and test scores aren't nearly as significant as personal factors that cannot be measured so easily. My daughter has test scores at the bottom end of her school - but her first semester grades will qualify her for the Dean's list - and she is definitely not having to struggle to keep up. Her main "secret" is simply that she is disciplined and serious about school.</p>
<p>We called it the big fish in a small pond/small fish in a big pond. When I went to undergrad, I was a happy big fish in two "small ponds." While the schools I attended were large, they were not known for the academic rigor (good solid flagship Us). My grad school on the other hand was & I had to work hard.
In my son's case, he wanted to be where he's around kids like him in ability & has found it in his engineering school at a pretty competitive school. We discussed him going to an OOS public honor's college, but are satisfied that he chose what works well for him.</p>
<p>Name recognition is often a big factor in which schools can demand more money. They get more applicants and a higher yield, and can afford to be stingier with merit money and still get strong academics in their acceptees. They also tend to pull in kids from larger geographic areas which really can help.
You are lucky to have one of the top state LACs in your state-St Mary's which is very reasonable if you are in state. Mary Washington in Va is also a bargain, Elon in Carolina (don't know the distance there), York in Pa. All of these are within range without merit money and would make good financial safeties.<br>
We will be looking at lower cost LACs for our son next year as well. So good luck.</p>
<p>Jaybee, Take a look at Juniata College. It sounds similar to many of the other LACs mentioned here but has good merit money awarded as part of the application. Strong academics, strong education program - ed majors are in the classroom from the very first semester, wonderful outdoor opportunities, fairly evenly distributed m/f ratio, no greek system, draws quite a few kids from MD, VA, NJ.</p>
<p>here's a different thought: since your son mentioined interest in becoming a math teacher, would a state teacher's college work? Morgan State Teachers College (historically black); Towson State teachers college?</p>
<p>or my most "out there" idea: check into programs in New York City where they will repay you the cost of tuition as long as you teach in the NY Public School system for (i think) 3 years after graduation. Tough work, but that's where math teachers would be very HOT. Google up "New York State Teachers Fellows"
goood luck. then he could go to teachers college anywhere in NYC; many choices</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your suggestions. Son read the thread, and came away with a lot of insight not provided by mom.</p>
<p>I have learned so much here, but what I think I missed somewhere is how difficult it is to get merit aid as the selectivity level rises even slightly.</p>
<p>In other words, at a McDaniel or Elizabethtown, you can get merit aid with a 1200, where at Gettysburg or F&M you almost need to be NMF, if I have understood properly.</p>
<p>I think he may still apply at the "financial reaches" if he likes them, as I don't want to assume how a private college would interpret our CSS/Profile. Our FAFSA EFC is MUCH lower, and would provide enough aid for our budget, but there's that pesky paid-off house that Profile is considering.</p>
<p>jaybee-it is always a good idea to apply to a few financial reaches that he likes. He(and you) might be pleasantly surprised!!</p>
<p>BUT if you do indeed have a limit on the amount of money you feel comfortable spending on college, be very clear in letting him know that right now. That way he will be able to accept the necessity of turning down a financial reach which is at or near the top of his list of figure out ways to close the $ gap himself.</p>
<p>Jaybee, the drop in merit aid is not truly proportional to the selectivity, it is more complicated than that. Some schools have a higher endowment, and can afford to be more generous. Some schools have an unusually high number of "scholarships with strings" - merit money that has been donated for students from a certain geographic area or of a certain ethnicity or religion - criteria that your child may or may not meet. Most schools that use merit money heavily, use it for students that the school particularly wants to attract - boys, maybe, or kids with interests in a particular major, or kids that can afford to pay 75% of the tuition, but won't attend unless the last 25% is covered (these schools are more likely to give straight up discounts, based on given ACT scores/GPAs.
Curmudgeon has some great threads on playing the merit money game - and it is a game that you have at least a little control over. He covers a lot of the important points - things like the trade-offs you have to make if the child is set on a particular region of the country, or if he needs a school with engineering or nursing, or really doesn't want a certain size - all these things affect how much merit money and how likely the student is to get merit money. At some point, increasing SAT/ACT scores equal increasing dollars, so that it is good if the kid can look at the test as sort of a job - higher score, better paycheck. In fact, for a child like your son, whose scores are on the fence between getting a "discount" that will allow attendance, and true merit money that will allow you to retain some of his college nest egg for grad school, I would urge him to study up for the tests - no summer job will earn him that kind of money.</p>
<p>Schools use merit money for enrollment management, and again the game can be played at its fullest by the student with very high SAT scores and GPA, but it can also be played out by any student in the school's upper 25%, sometimes even in the upper one-half, AND you can't necessarily predict based on the SAT ranges of the school how the merit will fall out.</p>