My Dd had no in-state options that fit her major interests bc she was graduating from high school at such a high level of proficiency. We started researching schools the beginning of her jr yr and I am glad we did.
If she would be willing to move, Ole Miss’s Croft program (IR/IS) would be a good fit. They also offer Arabic at a high level and are working toward becoming an Arabic flagship.
If her French is good, UOttawa offers resident rates to international students in their French immersion program.
@twoinanddone Thanks for this advice. I think it’s possible we were so hung up on the few in-state options that we’ve been talking about it the wrong way. Do you think we should keep pushing UNH? Maybe have DD go back to visit for a third time during her senior year, without DS? Or during the summer when there will be fewer people?
@Empireapple We will definitely look into the SUNYs, thanks!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Great suggestions. I’m pretty embarrassed that we did not think of Canadian schools to begin with, but it sounds like there could be some good options there.
The thing to keep in mind about the UMaine is that I believe what they do is offer tuition at the cost of one’s in-state flagship–you don’t get UMaine in-state prices, you get what it would cost you to attend your flagship in-state.Google UMaine Flagship Match Program.
I believe the University of Northern Vermont (which is the recent combination of two former state colleges, Lyndon and Johnson) also has a tuition program to attract NH students. Not sure if either campus would have programs of interest to your child.
There is a book that list schools good for students that have learning disabilities. I can’t remember what’s in New England, but I know Clark University was in the book. It’s small, liberal arts, in New England. Might be work reaching out to their admissions and FA to see if it could be affordable for you. We know a current student there, she had a rough start in high school due to some mental health issues, so not the best GPA. She loves Clark and is thriving there.
I’m from NH and all of my extended family still lives there. Among the options people I know or their kids with humanities interests have chosen are Bates, Colby-Sawyer, Brandeis, Clark, UMass Lowell, and Elmira (in western NY, and for a dual-language major with an eye on possible international relations). Others have gone with UNH or Keene, which allows you to craft your own major, which might be an option for your DD if they don’t have exactly what she wants. I’ve noticed Castleton mentioned a few times, but unless they’ve changed, I don’t know that it would be a good option for a student who has issues with a school that offers rolling admission. It’s not terribly selective-I know of a student from NH who got in and honestly, didn’t belong admitted there or anywhere, he was that poor a student.
I’ll be blunt-your income is going to limit your options and your kids don’t have the kind of GPA/test scores that will net them copious amounts of merit where you are. Some of the OOS schools mentioned WILL, but that’s no help if they won’t go. None of the NH state colleges are terrible-they produce, like most state colleges, many successful graduates. They’re not the worst option. Hope you can find some options they’ll both like.
If she visits UNH again, I’d say concentrate on learning more about her depts, exploring the clubs and the calendar of events and activities, just what the local arts scene is. College is different than the way kids experience this while living at home. There’s usually a larger buffet of things to be involved with, some things that seem critical today shift in importance.
Yes! We are in Alabama and my daughter is firm in her desire to major in statistics and minor in or at least take several classes in Arabic, which few schools in the country offer both . She has a great gpa and test scores, so she is looking out of state where she can get some scholarship money, otherwise I just don’t know if we could make it happen for her without taking out pretty big loans which we don’t want to do. She knows she is getting at least in state tuition at University of South Carolina so we are super grateful and hoping for even more money from them or two other schools she applied to.
@sseamom We definitely don’t think the NH options are terrible or the worst. We do think Plymouth will work very well for our son. But given that our daughter ruled out 2 of the options for reasons that make sense to us and she is only, as she would put it, “meh” on the other choice, it didn’t seem like a good strategy to only apply to that one school. And she’s getting a lot of pressure from her school to put more on her list. We knew budget would be an issue but thought we would be OK in-state. I guess we should have been more prepared for the possibility that with few local options, we might have to look elsewhere.
I don’t blame the school for wanting more colleges on the list. Having only one school on the list isn’t advisable. I’d say the high school counselor is doing their job and making the correct suggestion.
Honestly, given the combo of grades, test scores, and the budget available, I really don’t think your family has the option of eliminating some of the in-state options. Given your daughter’s preference for New England schools and given the combo of transcript and family budget, those are probably her best options even if they aren’t her ideal colleges. Several here have tossed out out of state options but many are no better academically than UNH and are unlikely to be as affordable.
I also live in NH, so know that both Plymouth and Keene are not well regarded compared to UNH (an exception would be the education program at Keene). Their prospects post graduation would be better with a UNH degree. I know that one concern was the impression that UNH is STEM heavy. It is not. If you look at the Common Data Set for UNH, you can see that about 25% of students are humanities and social sciences majors. STEM is about 20%. Business is 25-30%. The CDS will also show you the mix of class sizes. Definitely a mix of small, medium and large. As with most schools, the intro classes are larger, but as you move on to more advanced classes, the number of students drop dramatically. This has been the experience of my kids, who are current students and Spanish and History majors, respectively. Maybe you can share some of this data with your kids.
This is probably too out in left field, but one of the best Arabic language programs out there is at U of Mississippi. The tuition is really low too. My son said by far and away the best prepared kid at his first junior year abroad program in Jordan was from Ole Miss. (My son studied four years of Arabic at Tufts which also has a strong program, but is not likely to be affordable.)
She might also look into the possibility of doing independent study in Arabic, or doing a term abroad. My son also studied in Jordan the summer after freshman year.
That is a very low budget. UMaine Orono will likely be too expensive. Farmington might be affordable. The irony is everyone else is trying to get to UNH and willing to pay OOS. On what planet is UNH lackluster. All NE kids want to go to a different flagship than their own. UNH isn’t STEM only. Is UNH commutable for junior and senior years?
https://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/#8 indicates that a 3.0 HS GPA and 27 ACT would get a scholarship of $2,250 plus $3,000 off the out-of-state fee at the University of Mississippi. (It is not obvious how the HS GPA is calculated, so ask directly if it is of interest.)
The problem is at a school that is more selective, with a gpa of 3.0 and ACT of 27, she might be the one who is excluded. My daughter with the lower gpa and lower test scores is by far the more intellectual and interesting of my two kids, the one who loves to read and discuss literature and art and theater and politics, and who teachers referred to as a ‘delight to have in class.’ But it was a lot easier for my other kid with better stats to get into college, to qualify for merit aid, to be invited to small LACs and offered merit. Life isn’t fair, but I think your daughter is being a little unfair to others at schools with rolling admissions and judging them as not academically qualified or intellectual. My daughter goes to Wyoming with rolling admissions and a 95% admissions rate. Most of the students have well above a 3.0 and mid-20’s ACT scores. These are not students who are just going to school to party. The school has a great engineering school, environmental studies programs, a $10M dance and theater complex, international relations and study abroad programs that are well funded and offer study all over the world. And the quarterback is expected to go in the first round NFL draft.
I’m a lot meaner of a mom than you. I helped my kids look for schools but in the end it was up to them to find a school where they’d be happy and that I could afford. One of my kids is very picky and quite the snob. She had to get over it. The other kid had a lot of pressure from her then boyfriend (and his idiot father) not to go to Wyoming as it was inferior. Not to her. For her it has been the perfect school. And of course they broke up before she even started, but we had a year of ‘please don’t go there, when will I ever see you, please don’t go there, pleeeeze!’. I’m mean. I did not care about his feelings.
I understand not wanting to leave NE, but then other things on the list may have to give. Budget is #1. If #2 is location, her major has to be #3 and that might be enough to eliminate all but UNH.
It is very hard to do, but try not to worry about where other kids are going to school (or think they are going, or are looking at, or are dreaming of). We were very lucky that most kids who were going to college from our h.s. (and many went into the military or worked) were staying instate so there wasn’t a lot of pressure to go to an Ivy; if anything, it was pressure to go to an ACC or SEC football school. People were much more impressed with Auburn than Yale.
Sorry if some of this is a repeat…but a few thoughts. First, the Tuition Break program: http://www.nebhe.org/programs-overview/rsp-tuition-break/overview/ Second, definitely look at Canadian Schools. There are definitely ones that take kids 2.8 and above. Third, don’t worry about sticker price; worry about net price. You’ll have to do some work plugging in figures into a lot of net price calculators.
What we did with my son last year (and will do with child number two) is came up with a list…2 stretch, 3 on target, 3 safety…that met his criteria. I got to select 3 that I knew we could afford in that list that he would be willing to attend. The rule was that money would be a factor…meaning I had veto power…BUT…I agreed to negotiate like mad with any school he got into that was too expensive. It came down to three schools for him…the one in Boston wouldn’t budget (and it would have wiped out all of our college savings in a single year…a second that I thought was fine at best…and a third that was (in my opinion) the best fit and the cheapest. He actually chose the cheapest (phew) and is incredibly happy. And yes, it is in Canada.
Good luck…it’s stressful but it will all work out!
@gearmom UNH as a school is not lackluster at all! I really don’t want to give anyone the impression we’re looking down on these schools. We are not. But UNH might not work for my particular kids. Both kids were totally overwhelmed by the number of people on campus and they must have had a bad guide, because DD said that the guide knew nothing about any of the arts programs, rushed them past a dilapidated arts building, and they only saw the STEM buildings and newest labs and heard about research opportunities in the sciences. We will try to convince her to go back alone for a third visit and see if it changes her mind, because it’s possible her brother’s dislike of the campus soured her on it (it definitely would NOT work for DS and he was not shy about that). But she prefers Keene to UNH based on size and her interactions with the current students there.
Did she meet with anyone from her targeted departments? They’ll show her the buildings and all the warts. Group tours aren’t for everyone. They tend to focus on the things that might interest everyone - the library, the rec center, the football stadium (with that $$Million scoreboard at UNH). The joke we had at D’s school was the telescope. I think it was mentioned 20 times, and my daughter’s been there 3.5 years and has NEVER been near the telescope.
@twoinanddone I should clarify that my daughter is not opposed to a school with rolling admissions at all. That concern is mine based on what it’s taken to keep her interested and performing in school thus far, so any unfair attitude is mine alone. We hear so much from the guidance counselor about “under-matching” that it seems I got carried away. For my daughter, it’s more about class size and campus size. But I agree with you that our limited budget and her stats mean we need to focus on absolute needs and not preferences.
I’m so glad your daughter likes Wyoming and wasn’t talked out of it by her hs BF!
Oh, since @gearmom asked and I forgot to include it, none of the 4-year schools are commutable. Plymouth is the closest at 1 hour and 45 minutes, Keene is the furthest (but since it’s New Hampshire, nothing is more than 3.5 hours away). One of the community colleges is nearby.