@MassDaD68 Have you found the same true for WPI? My youngest is a girl, focused on Ivy engineering but I thought she might get some merit money from WPI or RPI. Do you have any info on the real cost to attend those two schools?
@massda68 you’re right about it being tough for those that have some money, but not swimming in wealth. We’ve managed to live within our means and save and invest which means we do not qualify for financial aid. I’ll have two in school and do not qualify for any aid beside a Stafford loan. Fortunately it does work out sometime. My daughter attends Northeastern and received generous merit. I was holding out hope that my son would have a similar situation with Bentley but that didn’t happen.
@Massdad68 -> Personally, I would like to see all kids go to their dream school but as a parent we need to guide them in the right direction. For extremely smart kids (A+), it doesn’t matter which school or college they attend, they will excel no matter which school they go. The challenge is with the next tier kids who falls in between B+ and A.
For all the parents, who cannot afford kids dream school, please don’t feel disheartened. If your kid is A/A+ student, you could potentially take a different route and get 4-year education done in less than $100k. Now, you will ask how??
This is a real option and I have seen smart kids have taken this route in NJ and I am positive this option is available in other states too.
- For the first two years, student can go to a Community college which costs approx $10K/year
- Take all the courses required for getting into state college/university. For NJ, it is Rutgers and for MA it will be UMASS. Student needs to be focused and take all business related courses in community college.
- State university accepts credits earned in the community college but it would require upfront planning
- Get a good grade in Freshman and Sophomore years (GPA 3.5 - 3.7)
- Transfer to UMASS during junior year or other local state university
Because your kid is smart, he/she will do very good when he/she transfers to UMASS or any other State University.
Another data point: During Freshman and Sophomore years class sizes are huge in any State university and the class size drops to 40-60 during junior and senior years.
Price tag for any 4-year private college without merit/grant is around $250k - $280k
Price tag for any Community college & state university without merit/grant is around $80 - $100k
Assumption: 4% cost inflation
Private college Community college & state university combination
Year 1 $65,000 $10,000 (Community college)
Year 2 $67,600 $10,400 (Community college)
Year 3 $70,304 $35,000 (State Univ)
Year 4 $73,116 $36,400 (State Univ)
Total $276,020 $91,800
This may not be an ideal option for everyone but it is available and people are leveraging it. Bachelors degree will show State university and NOT the community college.
Hope this helps.
@schak123 Is it worth going to CC for 2 years, then transferring to a private university?
@robinleckey based on my limited knowledge i would say - it depends.
Last year, I met one intern in my company from RPI who had lower grades/GPA in High school, so he went to the Community college and then he transferred to RPI. But he ended up paying more because RPI did not allow him to transfer all his grades. He had repeat many courses in RPI.
If anyone wants to take the Community college route then please do the research first.
This option works better with Local Community college and Local state university. For example: If someone is from NJ, Rutgers in NJ will only allow full transfer of credits from certain NJ community college. In rare cases, Rutgers will allow full transfer of credits from out-of-state community college or private college
Please remember College is a big business (I am not trying to offend anyone) whether it is a Private or State college. I would say check with your state university counselor and ask the process to transfer full credits from Local community college or any other college.
Switching college is an expensive affair unless it is well though out upfront.
I would encourage to do the home work first and map out the road map. Yes, it is lots of work but an individual may save lots of $.
Hope this answer your question and good luck.
I got waitlisted too. It’s BS because I think I’m more than well qualified to go there. Very disappointing.
I got waitlisted too. I am disappointed as well. Going to join the waitlist but not expecting anything special. Hopefully they will notify waitlist by mid April.
If Bentley is your dream school and thinking of transferring there from Community College after 2 years, please connect with the Bentley Admission counselor and get all the details in advance . Transfer requirement varies college by college. Prepare a list of questions, setup an appointment with the Bentley admission office and get all the answers.
You need to know upfront, how much credit you can transfer - I have seen students/parents end-up paying more because they didn’t have advance knowledge of all the fine prints:).
http://www.bentley.edu/undergraduate/applying/transfer-applicants
http://www.bentley.edu/undergraduate/transfer-credit-policies
Also, here is the link for UMASS transfer. if you are interested in UMASS, please connect with the UMASS admission counselor and get all the transfer details.
Good luck
Did anyone receive admissions info in their email from Bentley? I heard from a neighbor that Bentley told them they had over 8000 applicants and only accepted 800 and that info was in the email to her son. Sounds fishy. My D was accepted ED so I’m curious if that is true. Can anyone help?
@iluvnaples just an FYI…Bentley generally gets over 8,000 application and this year they might have received little more due to better ranking.
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=132
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/bentley-university
I think the class has 800 spots but more than 800 were accepted
Of course it’s the year that I applied. My bad luck.
Thanks for the info. I’m wondering if anyone who has been accepted received similar information with respect to the number of applicants and the number of students Bentley accepted? It just sounded crazy to me since generally Bentley has a Freshman class of around 900 - 1000 students. Since my daughter was accepted ED, I don’t have any numbers. Really curious to hear what anyone has to say who received an acceptance or wait list on their Bentley page. Thanks!!
@geniusa1a You may do much better than a Bentley graduate or equally good. It will all depend on- what you do, once you are in the workforce. I have seen many leaders from regular colleges reached the rank of CEO/CFO/COO while some Ivy graduates ended up retiring as a manager/director. I am not trying to say anything bad about IVY colleges but do some research and you will see the facts.
I hope. Only time will tell. Their loss.
The acceptance numbers have to be well in excess of the freshman class size (900-1000) because most will not attend due to many reasons. They have an admission yield of around 30% which means that 70% of the kids who they accept tell them “no thanks” and go elsewhere. They need to accept around 3,500 kids in order to end up with the required freshman class.
Just looking at the acceptance thread shows you how many here are not going to Bentley and this forum contains very competitive students. I don’t recall anyone mentioning that they will be attending. Most are struggling with the huge cost. I suspect many accepted will pass on the opportunity and that spots will open up from the weight list. Those of you weightlisted will have a good chance of getting in if you are full pay. Talk to your parents and confirm that they are ok with the freshman price of $65K and remember that the price will increase 3-4K each year.
My son’s spot will most likely be open as well. To us the full price is just too much.
Hello all,
We received my son’s acceptance packet in the mail yesterday. Basically the same that was posted on the website.
We got no FIN AID letter providing the standard subsidized federal loans. Did anyone receive any FIN AID determinations yet?
Any idea when we can expect those to come? That is our last hope here. There is no way we can pay the full price of Bentley - $65K+. Frankly I don’t think an undergrad degree is worth that. $250K+ is too much for UG.
Got our package @MassDaD68 and no merit $$ mentioned. There is no way Bentley is worth full price of admittance.
Nice school, but if you are in state and can get into Bentley you should be able to get into Isenburg at less than 1/2 the cost.
I might suggest emailing Bentley and asking if son is being considered for merit aid or not in a polite manner. Son did that with one school and found out immediately. It made the decision easier with info in hand.
@RightCoaster Yes. It has been mentioned to reach out to them mid April and express my son’s desire to go and that it is his top choice. Which it still is and we would absolutely commit to sending him if we can get the cost in line. We do feel like we are a ways off between the full price and what we can pay. I will be a bit shocked if they claim we are in a position to be a full pay family. If they do, then someone in that FIN AID office needs to take a few courses in Finance at the school. Granted, we do have the ability to access the credit markets to raise the funds needed but it would be irresponsible to do so and for them to think that it is otherwise, is just bizarre. This college cost thing is getting out of hand if colleges think middle class families have $65K/year extra lying around.
@MassDaD68 I agree its a good idea to wait to call ** admissions ** until April to ask for merit that would allow your son to attend, but it would not hurt to pick up the phone today and call the ** financial aid office ** and ask what is the status of your son’s FA application. FA office and admissions are generally 2 different departments.