Already thinking about college...

Parents Forum
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<p>for my eldest d, who is starting HS in the fall. She was admitted to a very selective public magnet school for math & science, and although it seems a little premature and silly, I am beginning to think I should be giving some thought to college now. The economy has taken its toll on her 529. My husband's income is just enough to provide a middle-class existence here in NJ (small house, high property taxes, 3 kids), yet will probably be considered too high to qualify my d for any need-based aid.</p>

<p>I will need to be creative when it comes to financing her college education. She is a hardworking, capable, self-motivated student and a very good test-taker so I am hoping she may qualify for some scholarships, but we can't depend on that.</p>

<p>She is strong academically in math, writing, and English, and has a keen interest in French language and culture. She is also a talented visual artist. Her dad is an engineer, and I think that could turn out to be the academic path she will choose.</p>

<p>Any ideas for schools we should know about? I'd ideally like her be somewhere academically stellar yet down-to-earth, not a cutthroat pressure-cooker environment. Not a huge party/sports place. Rural vs suburban vs urban not a huge consideration; she's pretty adaptable as far as that goes. I already have a tentative list of places to consider, including</p>

<p>Macaulay Honors program at CUNY- tuition-free!
McGill (for the French culture)
Brown (her grandfather went there; I grew up in Providence and to me it seems like the absolute perfect school for her, but even if she got in, I hear their FA is pretty bad)
Cooper Union (tuition-free; my husband went there; maybe overly intense?)
Middlebury (for the French program; bad merit aid?)
William & Mary (because we were visiting Colonial Williamsburg recently and I loved the campus ;-)
Rutgers & TCNJ- both seem like excellent instate options for us?
Lafayette College- nearby, solid academics, good merit aid?
University of Rochester- I've also heard they have good merit aid
Smith/Bryn Mawr/MHC/Barnard?
Cornell?</p>

<p>Are these good ideas? Any other ideas or things I should be thinking about at this stage would be much appreciated.</p>

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<p>Seems like you have a lot of reaches in there. Schools that are free like Macaulay honors and schools that meet need w/o big loans are difficult to get accepted to.</p>

<p>Remember, many of these schools are CSS Profile schools. They may look at your income/assets and declare that your family has to contribute a LOT more than you can afford. </p>

<p>Schools like URoch can be “hit or miss” when it comes to FA. I’ve seen kids with fab stats get really good aid. I’ve seen kids with high stats get lousy aid. They must not only look at “need,” they must also look at stats, maybe URM status, and if you’re from a state where they don’t get many applicants.</p>

<p>You need to include some solid financial safeties where you think your child’s future stats might get some assured merit.</p>

<p>Right now, you can’t really know what your child’s stats are going to be. She may have a strong GPA, but just a good SAT/ACT score…not enough to get merit money or to give great aid. (Yes, many schools give better FA packages to those with the highest stats - it’s called “preferential packaging.”)</p>

<p>The BEST thing you can do right now is to make sure her GPA stays HIGH and that she prepares well for PSAT/SAT/ACT exams. Have her learn SAT vocab words (there’s a shower curtain with the 500 most common SAT words. LOL) </p>

<p>Having high stats will likely help the most financially.</p>

<p>Keep the following in mind…</p>

<p>There is a large pool of students with high GPAs.</p>

<p>There is a small pool of students with very high ACT/SAT scores.</p>

<p>There is an even smaller pool of students who have both high GPAs and high test scores. The ones with both have the best chances of getting into the schools with great FA and/or great merit scholarships.</p>

<p>AUTO $$$ CC Important links to Auto Scholarships…
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>That’s just the kind of info I need. I know that list has mostly reaches- of course I just started thinking about this a few days ago :wink: - but I’m thinking/hoping that if her grades and scores stay roughly where they are now, TCNJ and Rutgers will likely be safeties for her. Point taken about staying on top of her grades/test prep.</p>

<p>Other schools that might be more like matches/safeties and seem like really nice schools: College of Charleston? James Madison? UVM? Delaware? I don’t want to call Virginia Tech a safety but I believe it has a pretty high acceptance rate… wondering if state schools are generally a waste of time, financially speaking, if we are OOS for them?</p>

<p>Thanks again for the feedback and the link!!</p>

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<p>It is really too early to look at specific schools. In a few years you will have a much better idea of which schools would be matches/reaches/safeties for your D. She will also have an idea of what type of school (large university?/small liberal arts college?/city school?/rural campus?/etc.) appeals to her. With that information you can start to look at your options.</p>

<p>mom2collegekids has given you some very good advice.</p>

<p>BTW - Congrats to your D on her acceptance to the magnet school!</p>

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<p>You are in NJ, and unfortunately as a middle class you won’t be eligible for any aid. The sad part of it is unless you are willing to pay 60,000/year for your daughter, you could forget about all need based schools, and that’s all the top tier schools (all Ivys). That being said, there are a lot of great schools offering merit aid. I think it’s good you are thinking about it now. Many parents on the board would tell you to be realistic and upfront with your daughter on what you could afford.</p>

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<p>Based on simply the demographics you gave, Wm & Mry is a good fit, however they do not have engineering (much to my S’s dismay…would have loved to have put this one on his list). I would agree that JMU is also is really nice school. Small in engineering…I believe only in Comp Sci (fairly new dept.).
Summer programs would be a good way to get an idea of what she likes and where she would excel without the worry of hurting her GPA. They are also great on a college resume. UVa has a great program, SEP (Summer Enrichment Program), Johns Hopkins has the Center for Talented Youth, VATech has a great engineering summer program for girls. Virginia has a highly selective summer program ‘Governer’s School’.<br>
Now is also the time to make sure she gets involved in EC’s that interest her. Not 7-8 clubs to write down how much she did, but a couple that she will support and become very involved in over her four years, hopefully growing into a leadership role. If you have debate or model UN these are good. If you have a science olympiad team, or robotics team that awesome. Those clubs are competition teams that required a large committment and are unique. NHS is great, but it’s not unique. Don’t overlook it, just don’t count on it to carry you. Some of these can lead to scholorships.<br>
Make sure she develops a relationship with a teacher at her school who will be able to write her a recommendation. If at all possible, take a class from that teacher her Sr. year. Many schools require the recommendation be from a Jr or Sr. teacher…the longer they have known your student the better. Look for internships in the summer that can help pay for college and look good on college resumes. Speciality schools often have connections to award these. They normally go to upperclassman. Have your student start showing interest now and asking about selection criteria.
Continue to take a rigorous course load based on what your school has to offer, not the neighboring school. You will be judged based on what was available to you. Do not make the mistake thinking that because she is taking a harder course load than students at the local high school she’s okay… she will be judged on how much she challenged herself based on what was available. There is a difference.</p>

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<p>Grinnell is a great school with merit aid. Smith has merit aid. Beloit has merit aid. There are many others. Rhodes has great merit aid including a full ride. So do University of Richmond and Chapel Hill.</p>

<p>The full rides are very, very competitive; other merit aid a bit less so.</p>

<p>Look up other threads on merit aid. There are many.</p>

<p>Run a financial aid calculator. You may be eligible for need based aid. I don’t know your income, so I can’t say.</p>

<p>The ivies have great need based aid. Brown’s has gotten much better since they got a dedicated donation.</p>

<p>Just as a little aside, my D had a stellar experience at Barnard. We are solidly middle class on Long Island and we did get appreciable need based aid. Barnard offers no merit aid.</p>

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<p>ok , here is my suggestion. Make SURE that she takes the PSAT her sophomore year- to give her an idea of which areas might need additional focus before taking the test FOR REAL in her Jr year. A PSAT score that is greater than the cutoff for NJ [ you’re going to have to find what that is these days] means that she will most probably be a NMSF, and thus be eligible for small to very large merit scholarships at many colleges around the country. [ there are numerous threads on CC re: colleges that give NM scholarships] The possibility of receiving 1/2 to full tuition scholarships for doing really well on a 1 hour long test is well worth some additional preparation and planning during her sophomore and Jr years. .</p>

<p>[and keep in mind that the Ivy’s, including Brown, do NOT give out merit scholarships of any kind]</p>

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<p>“There is an even smaller pool of students who have both high GPAs and high test scores” - Ha, there are lots more of them than I had realized before reading CC threads!</p>

<p>OP - Depending on the spacing of your 3 kids, there may be a lot of years where you actually do get FA… especially if the school calculates using FAFSA. The FAFSA EFC (expected family contritbution) gets divided by # students in college. Of course that number may still be too high for comfort, but at least do your homework at some point to better understand you situation.</p>

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<p>CSS Profile schools do that too or almost. You pay just a little over half what you were for each child, so the total EFC is higher than for one, but just a shade higher.</p>

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<p>A little too early for your son, but I think it wise to first choose your major, and then choose your college.</p>

<p>And don’t be swayed by prestige, money or pretty. (Bonus: This also functions as good marriage advice.)</p>

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<p>with the text in the box thingy. Sorry! I’m sure it’s easy but I have to run out in a minute so rather than try to figure it out, I’ll answer everyone like this:</p>

<p>FallGirl: thanks for the good wishes!</p>

<p>oldfort: thanks, and I agree that I need to be very clear with my d about what is realistic for her.</p>

<p>blueiguana: that info is extremely helpful. I’m going to bookmark this thread so I can keep all these great suggestions in mind. There definitely are opportunities for Science Olympiad, robotics, and the like at her new school, which is awesome.</p>

<p>mythmom: many thanks to you too. I’m so glad your daughter had a great time at Barnard and even received aid! Two of my oldest/best friends went there in the early 90s. In fact, I remember going up to visit them (I went to school elsewhere in NYC) and feeling so comfortable, and wistful that I didn’t go there too. MY dream college for sure; who knows if it will be hers, but wouldn’t it be great if it IS and they do give her aid??</p>

<p>menloparkmom: I love your mall! :wink: Yes, great idea. She actually enjoys taking tests so getting her to prepare shouldn’t be hard. It would be so fantastic if she got some aid as a result of that bit of extra work!</p>

<p>colorado_mom: unfortunately, my kids are all spaced a bit more than 4 years apart. I remember actually thinking to myself, not that it was the main factor, but “This will work out better when I have to pay for college.” Little did I know. GAH.</p>

<p>toblin: great advice. Although I suspect engineering could be something she’d love (she’s really into learning about the Roman roads at the moment), I can also imagine her doing French or creative writing or art or law or something else entirely. The only thing she’s said in no uncertain terms is that she does NOT want to be in medicine like many of our family members. The vehemence of this opinion surprised me a bit, but hey… I’ll just continue to watch and see what happens.</p>

<p>Thanks again for all these incredibly nice and helpful responses! This forum is a wonderful resource.</p>

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<p>My daughter is a French major at Washington and Lee, graduating in a few weeks. She will be working in France next year.</p>

<p>W&L is an excellent school, known for merit aid, and my daughter’s experience there was wonderful.</p>

<p>My son is pre-med at TCNJ. PM me if you want more info.</p>

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<p>In case of engineering and pre-med, it is truly does not matter. Engineering companies ususally hire locally. Pre-meds - shoose the cheapest place where kid feels fit, get high GPA - as close to 4.0 as possible and you will be all set (better yet, combine bs/md program).<br>
My H. is an engineer and my D. is pre-med college senior and I share our experiences. I am IT professional and UG school is completely does not matter in my field either.</p>