Thank you @sevmom! I totally agree with you.
@Portercat Seton hall and Rider are actually private schools and pretty pricey. Rider is very close to us, but having major financial problems and they have been cutting majors and professors. Seton Hall is known as a suit case school and several kids we’ve known transferred out.
He was accepted at Rowan (both my husband and I graduated from there!) but it has changed since 1990! Pushing 20,000 students, triples in the rooms I lived in as doubles. And lots and lots of construction due to the growth -not a good impression at tour time. Beautiful new dorms, but if he lives in the dorms sticker is over $30k in-state! Millersville is about $27k out of state for us. Ramapo was nice, very comparable to York in size. I think the possibility of D3 wrestling is swaying him. TCNJ is the only state school in NJ with wrestling and he would never get in there! Very competitive.
I should mention my son isn’t a super motivated student! Athletics are his “thing” and if he didn’t have that motivation in high school, I don’t know he would’ve passed anything! The wrestling gives him the social/athletic aspect he loves, and also requires study hours and academic checks that we think will really help him do his best.
Yes, every kid is different! My D was/is a super motivated student with a good GPA but no great ECs and did not test well. GPA only gets you so far, might get you in but doesn’t get you merit $$. She didn’t pour her effort into test prep even though I pushed her. So with limited money we can pay (have 2 more kids in coming years), no need based aid, and mediocre test scores we are where we are.
Class and school work is always “in front” of you and she worked hard on those things, it was harder to see the payoff with test prep. I see it now! Even in second semester senior year she is working hard at school.
Has anyone looked at U Scranton? It is supposed to be good in the sciences. Would they give enough merit/need based aid?
Scranton is a great school from what I have heard. We didn’t look b/c my D didn’t want to go north. My cousin went there, loved it, is now a doctor. Not sure about aid but the sticker price is very high. The campus pics seem more urban, even though Scranton is not a metropolis.
I have heard great things about U of Scranton and that they give nice merit! My son wouldn’t even get out of the car to tour it though! It’s right downtown and it just didn’t appeal to him at all! I’ve been told their business major is great.
@Portercat our kids sound like polar opposites! Homework is a dirty word for my son! He has about a 2.8 gpa, no honors or AP courses, but scored as well on the SAT as his friends who are consistently high honors students!! We were shocked he got accepted everywhere, but maybe extra-curriculars? He has played for 2 state football championships and they won the wrestling state championship this year. It’s the only way I make sense of it! Lol. (Don’t get me wrong/ he’s a great kid, his study habits just drive me crazy!)
@NJWrestlingmom Sometimes boys do turn things around when they get to college. My oldest son was a very good student and also very good athlete. Younger son though was a very good athlete (all state in his sport) but mediocre high school student. Like your son, his SAT’s were much higher than his grades. He was not crazy about homework, or busy work in general! He made the honor roll once in all of high school , and that was as a senior! Very frustrating for us- and for his teachers, who knew testing indicated he should be doing much better in school. But, he ended up graduating Magna Cum Laude in engineering. Some boys are late bloomers. There is hope.
@NJWrestlingmom my guess is that the test scores played a big factor in getting in. What does he think of the dorms at York (old, a bit dark) vs. Millersville (new style)?.
Millersville won the dorms, hands down! He also liked that they were right by the student center and the gym was right there too. He didn’t like the way York was split with this streets between the 2 sections of campus. That was also what turned him off at Bloomsburg, although that was a top contender until he heard from Millersville. Millersville also surprised us with an extra award off of housing for the 1st 2 years (from reading on here seems like a lot of students go off campus the last 2 years).
It’s been almost a year since we’ve seen both, so our return trips for accepted student day should hopefully sort it out.
PASSHE answers questions about the system study…
http://abc27.com/2017/03/01/state-system-answers-questions-to-strategic-review/
PASSHE tries to calm fears…
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/education/index.ssf/2017/03/pa_state_schools.html
CALU of PA to build $37 million dollar science building…
http://www.observer-reporter.com/20170302/cal_u_plans_to_build_new_science_building
I think Millersville also has a new dining hall that you should check out on your accepted student day, Bloomsburg is split (upper and lower) but the streets are definitely safe, I think both Bloomsburg and York have shuttle buses between the 2 parts of campus.
Sorry I don’t have more info about the Millersville weekend question but I would be curious also. It is still on our list, even though on the back burner. I liked it quite a bit. We didn’t get any money from Millersville except unsubsizidized loans. Can I ask, did you receive that housing award in the letter from the financial aid office?
@Portercat yes, the housing award came with the financial aid offer. I knew he was eligible for the tuition award based on his SAT scores (unfortunately I think that’s only for OOS students?).
We don’t get anything but I subsidized loans for the NJ schools, which is what’s making these OOS schools comparable for us. His friend will be our class Valedictorian, GPA somewhere in the 101 area, 1500+ SAT and nice extra-curriculars got into TCNJ as a safety with a $6,000 award! It will be cheaper for her to go to Colgate! It’s really crazy.
@Portercat I also asked my friend about the weekends at Millersville. His daughter graduated 2 years ago. He said he felt like you hear that “suitcase college” thing about all the schools. He’s even further from Millersville than I am, and his daughter didn’t come home often and she had no problems. Millersville does have football and wrestling (D2 so my son not interested) so I would think that helps with the social aspect.
Pennsylvania may see similar things with top students as NJ does, sometimes cheaper with merit or generous need based aid elsewhere than Penn State or Pitt? That is certainly the case in Virginia. UVa does not give merit, is need based. There is no money attached to the honors programs. UVa is up to $30,000 instate (and $34,000 + for some programs like engineering). So, I do think top kids and families are casting a wider net these days , looking for more options to keep the cost down.
@sevmom is UVA need based only for out of state too? One of my son’s best friends is waiting to hear from them- it’s his top choice. But I know they won’t qualify for need based. His mom will be very disappointed if they get nothing! (Assuming he gets in- not a guarantee at UVA!)
Yes. They meet 100% need for both instate and OOS. (and of course their definition/perception of need and a family’s can be different) There are limited (usually about 30 some a year) Jefferson Scholarships that are merit based but these are awarded by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation , not awarded by UVa. There may be some limited merit type money out there these days to help with diversity goals but I’m not sure. In general, the aid is heavily geared toward need based aid. Hopefully, the family ran the NPC and have an idea of what they can expect if he is admitted.
@NJWrestlingmom , To clarify, I think money from UVa could be tough for them if “they won’t qualify for need based.” So, if they have a very high EFC ( $60,000 +), above the cost of OOS attendance for instance , they would probably still get offered unsubidized loans , but may not get much else. But, you never know and the family should run the NPC, talk to the financial aid people (they are the experts, certainly I am not). Good luck to your son’s friend! It’s a great school We were just in Charlottesville over the weekend-great weather, lots of people walking around , lots of activity
On another note, I thought the California campus was decent when I drove through about 3 years ago. Hope the PASSHE schools sort the system/financial issues out before they keep spending.
Has anyone been getting flyers from California? DD has had a few and this past week got a really nice brochure. I was very surprised, as I thought this was one of the PASSHE schools that wasn’t doing too well.
Re East Stroudsburg. My one friend had a son there and he didn’t like staying there on weekends, felt like everyone went home. He had wanted to study Cyber Security and a professor at Shippensburg actually recommended ESU. He has since quit and his mom doesn’t think he wants to go back to college.
We toured Shippensburg and at the time, it was having extensive work done on campus. I liked it, but son didn’t. My BIL’s daughter went to Shippensburg and she really liked it. She was from Philly and though her sister went to Drexel, she liked Shippensburg better. I’m sure her parents did as well! 
I really liked Bloomsburg when I toured w/ oldest DD. She liked it untl she saw the triple dorm. Couldn’t convince her to look past that. As a kid we always did the Bloomsburg Fair, I think the whole town shut down for that!
My youngest does not want to go to school in PA. We can’t really afford the PASSHE schools and she simply doesn’t have the grades for significant merit aid anywhere else. Told her she needs to realize that she has to go where we can afford to send her!
Still have another year to figure this out, she takes her SAT exam next week. Keep telling her to prep for it, so we will see how it goes.
@laralei …We are.considering Bloomsburg. One of the latest options is a brand-new suite style dorm set to open Fall of 2017. Triples in a room is a thing of the past. The new dorm has a Chick-fil-A so my daughter loves it…Lol…Go figure.