<p>“The problem I have with assured merit universities is that I don’t like any of the ones I’ve heard about, and there’s no point in applying if you can’t see yourself having a good time there.”</p>
<p>What are you basing your opinion of that you wouldn’t have a good time at those schools?</p>
<p>What’s your idea of a good time.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen of engineering students, wherever they go, they have to spend a lot of time studying. They don’t seem to have the time available for lots of partying that students in some easier majors have.</p>
<p>I think you’re a bit confused by the 25k thing- the reason your efc will go down after the first year is that your parents will be expected to pay 25k for you AND 25k for your sibling, so 50k total.</p>
Yes, I need to find a safety that I would love, and would be willing to afford.</p>
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I’m not assuming anything, which is why I’m applying to many.</p>
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umm out of pocket</p>
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The people there, they kind of school it is, and the weather and location.</p>
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Okay, I did not mean literally “a good time”, just hoping to enjoy my college experience.</p>
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No, I understand that, but my parents are definelty more willing to pay 50k total for two of their kids rather than just one. It’s like this: I have a budget for myself on how much I can spend for college, its not us together.</p>
<p>My son’s stats were only slightly under yours and he didn’t even get into UMich or UVa. I don’t think you are highly likely to get a merit scholarship at either.</p>
<p>Aren’t these your stats (posted on page 1 of this thread)? </p>
<h1>SAT I (breakdown): 2160 (M 740, CR 740, W 680)</h1>
<h1>ACT: 34 (M 36, E 34, R 30, S 36)</h1>
<h1>SAT II: 800 Chemistry, 790 Math II</h1>
<h1>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8</h1>
<h1>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%, at least</h1>
<p>I also want you to realize that there is no guarantee schools will meet either the EFC or IM family contribution number. In other words, it may not be a matter of $45K now and $25 later. It may be a matter of $45K for 4 years and you taking the rest in loans. That’s why I’m suggesting you lock in the RPI money. It is the only assured money you have. Unless you have an in-state option you love, it could end up being your best deal. Of course, maybe it won’t be-- but a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.</p>
<p>I don’t understand though, why I would not get close to this money in financial aid for the three years. Why would it ever come down to 45K for four years, the meet full need.</p>
<p>Ok, I guess there really isn’t much to lose applying to RPI…or is there?</p>
<p>Do the other schools guarantee to meet full demonstrated need? If not, then they may just not give you any need-based aid at all, even once your EFC goes down to $25K and your need increases. Also usually part of the package to meet the need portion is loans, so that’s money you’re going to pay eventually too, even if it’s in your aid package. </p>
<p>Unless you hate RPI so much that you’d never consider going there, I think you should certainly apply given that you have the assured merit money there. If you don’t want to apply to RPI then you need to find some other school(s) that you would be happy to go to that you are pretty much guaranteed to get into, and that are guaranteed to be within your budget (either because their costs are lower, or they offer guaranteed merit scholarships, etc.)</p>
<p>The schools meet need as they determine it-- and your circumstances are unusual. You have to realize that your numbers aren’t typical (your family has a lot in assets for its income level), so you are adding an element of unpredictability into the equation. So one school may determine you have very little need (met by a loan and on-campus work) and another school may determine you have enough need to give you a grant. </p>
<p>You also have to realize that you have no idea where your brother will go to school. He may attend a school that doesn’t meet need and your parents may have to fork over additional money for him.</p>
<p>I know Michigan, Purdue and Illinois don’t guarantee to meet full need. Does CT guarantee to meet full need for instate students? That leaves USC and Vanderbilt. Ok, now you have some homework to do (unless you already know this): ask them if they cap equity in a house when they count for assets, ask them how much they expect you to earn per summer and per school year and how much they package in loan amounts. Tell them that your parents have an income just under $100K but they have assets close to $1million and want to know how the school will see it. You do not have to give your real name but you do need to listen carefully. (It may be better to do this via email if they’ll respond.) </p>
<p>Vandy has a no-loan policy (which is great) but what we found was that schools that say they don’t package loans usually estimate higher contributions in summer and school year work from the students. So listen and run your numbers. The advantage to Vandy is that your loans would actually lower EFC since they don’t include them in the package.</p>
<p>I realize you think we parents are all telling you to play this very conservatively. We are. We hope the best situation comes true: you get in to all these schools and they give you generous merit or grant money. But the truth is that we parents have learned to hope for the best and plan for the worst. </p>
<p>If you absolutely hate RPI and won’t go there, then don’t include it on the list. But you need to try to find one or two schools where you are almost certain to be accepted, that you would attend and that you can definitely afford.</p>
<p>You might also look at Drexel, Northeastern, and WPI as well. I don’t think you’d get anything close to full tuition at these schools, but they might offer you enough merit money to be competitive to RPI’s medal scholarship, and you might like their locations better.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this really makes sense, but you might want to put RPI on the list so that you have their offer as leverage to ask other schools for a bit more?</p>
<p>I think it’s a mistake to write off schools because you don’t think you’d like the students there. All students at a school are not alike. </p>
<p>You can choose to be happy in many types of college environments. </p>
<p>Given your stats, there are many colleges across the country that you could be applying to and probably would find affordable. Open your mind because in the long term finding a college that you can afford without large loans can lead to much happiness and much less stress over the next 10 years or so.</p>
<p>I have a daughter at Vanderbilt and agree that it is doubtful you will qualify for merit aid with your stats. While Vanderbilt does offer some generous merit aid packages, my understanding is that they are reserved for those with 2300/35 and above.</p>
<p>If you think that merit aid at a place like Vanderbilt is about stats, I think you’ll be suprised. From the Vanderbilt website,
It definetley considers Extracurricular impact (contributions outside the classroom), Captainships of successful activities (strong leadership), and academic achievement which doesn’t just mean GPA and test scores. Just what I think, which is why I’m applying. Feel free to tell me otherwise if you know what you’re talking about.</p>
<p>I could take those tests again anyway, I ust don’t think that would make the difference in getting scholarships.</p>
<p>My nephew with high stats, excellent ECs, strong community and academic leadership and achievements, received ZILCH from Vandy.</p>
<p>Don’t believe that quote at all. Vandy uses those scholarships to steal desirable ivy quality students from ivy schools.</p>
<p>*I could take those tests again anyway, I ust don’t think that would make the difference in getting scholarships. *</p>
<p>Tell them that your parents have an income just under $100K but they have assets close to $1million and want to know how the school will see it.</p>
<p>Isn’t your family income about $120k with lots of assets? If so, I think you will find that your family will not qualify for much aid. You need to find out.</p>
<p>"think now I’m just going to apply to reach/match schools I love and a few of these scholarships, and chances are I’ll end up with at least one place to look forward to going to. "</p>
<p>That could prove to be horribly short-sighted. This forum has many sad stories of kids getting very high “expected family contributions” in the spring of senior year and not having any financial safety schools.</p>
<p>You can “hope for the best,” but protect yourself and include some affordable schools- like Purdue (likely $16k in merit) and a few others that will give you assured merit.</p>
<p>Also, don’t assume that you won’t like a school or its students.</p>
<p>At least visit first before concluding this, if possible (I know, it’s hard to visit everywhere – in this case err on the side of caution and apply to some schools you’re not sure about, with the plan to visit if you get a tempting acceptance/offer.) When you visit a school, try to seek out the students you’d be interested in hanging out with – that is find out about clubs you’d be interested in joining etc. and see if you can meet people involved with them. Then you’re more likely to find “your crowd” and see if you’d be comfortable there.</p>
<p>I know you think all of us parents are just nagging at you, but really please try to keep looking until you can find at least one viable financial safety that you think you would be happy to attend if the money doesn’t work out elsewhere. </p>
<p>I’m on the parent side of the same situation you are in – wanting my son to be able to attend a top school that he will love, but dealing with the financial reality that we can’t afford to pay for them, and trying to help him find safe alternatives that he is likely to still have a great time and get a great education at. And it definitely isn’t easy! But it’s important because it will be extremely depressing if you get accepted to a bunch of schools and can’t afford to go to any of them! It’s very tempting to hide our heads in the sand and say you/he has great stats and somehow it will all work out, but looking at the realities of what your and my S’s top choice schools tend to offer, I have to say that we can hope for that but we can’t count on it! </p>
<p>So… what would your ideal school look like? Maybe someone here can help you find a financial safety school that would be close enough to your “dream” to make it a great place to spend 4 years. What do you like to do for fun? How far from home do you want (or are you willing) to travel?</p>
<p>Also if you are planning grad school, students in science/engineering fields can usually go for free by being teaching or research assistants (usually covers full tuition plus a stipend for living expenses). So that can be the time to go to the expensive private college of your dreams without going into crazy amounts of debt. </p>
<p>Good luck finding the right balance of schools to apply to!</p>
Do you mean Ivy quality applicants will likely get scholarships, or that the best Ivy applicants will get scholarships?</p>
<p>Where else did your son get into? </p>
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You think so with my stats? I’ll have to decide whether I like Purdue or RPI better. but why do you say “a few others” with assured merit, I would think one or two is good enough - RPI + something else.</p>
<p>“Also, don’t assume that you won’t like a school or its students.” - Okay, I got it. I won’t assume, but I will try to see if I do.</p>
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