Full tuition would be tough to beat, especially if it matches any tuition increases and covers study abroad semesters.
@laralei that is AWESOME news! So happy for you! Now, can you give us your D’s stats for a benchmark? 
@laralei Congrats! Academic achievement must run in the family. You previously stated that you didn’t think that your D had the stats for this?
Thank you one & all.
She was so happy when she received the letter! I have been telling her she needs some merit money to be able to dorm on campus & she asked if she could now. Ahhh.
By suppertime it was a different story. ( I am wondering if she had been messaging her friends.? ) I was telling DH about the offer and how the scholarship was competitive and she, sour pussed, remarked how it wasn’t competitive because WCU isn’t a competitive school. All the other kids are applying to competitive schools like Princeton! Really?!? Boy are those kids in for a rude awakening.
Anyway, she is very fortunate & yes, @mommdc, the letter states full tuition for 8 semesters, so I took that to mean any increases as well.
@sparkleybarkley I remember those posts about your son’s experiences as it gave me hope that she just might qualify for something as well. They were the reason I actually had her tour both schools & apply.
That is why this thread & it’s contributors have been such an asset on this forum!
@laralei My D is in a very similar place with Rowan–not appreciating it because it’s too close, too familiar, too many people she knows go there–but it’s a great school. I wish they could just be happy and appreciate having such wonderful options–not to mention your D’s awesome scholarship!!!
We are still waiting for scholarship notification…
@laralei Congrats!!
What was the understanding,commitment about what you were willing to pay/could pay going into this process? Maybe take a look at that and give them some choice as long as they stay within budget.
Looking back at this past 10 pages, I think this thread has now become, for the most part, higher stat families (like most of the rest of CC). Should we start a PA college option “higher stat” thread maybe? It wouldn’t apply to my family, but may address a lot of the recent comments.
Well my kid isn’t higher-stat, not on the CC scale, and I am still getting amazing insights from this thread so I’m happy with the status quo. Maybe we should just think of it as a PA resident thread? (With some Jersey folks popping in now and then
And here’s a Virginia resident popping in too ! But I grew up in Pennsylvania. Does that count?
My kid is not higher stat on the CC scale. And as a PA resident, I have very much appreciated having this space to discuss the PASSHE schools from a variety of perspectives.
@sevmom We have such a messed up system here in PA. The options in VA are much better IMO.
There are a few posters who are getting large tuition scholarships from PASSHE schools. While it is great for them, the original point of this thread was to identify affordable options for kids that don’t have good options in PA and are caught in the middle.
I think the thread should remain for any families (high, medium, or low stat students) considering PASSHE schools. I’d put my daughter in the medium stat range - high enough to be accepted at West Chester but not high enough for merit aid. My son (now at Lackawanna) had such low stats that he was accepted to Shippensburg only for their special summer-start program and that only because the football coach wanted him to play after a redshirt year. I think the thread can be helpful for parents of all levels of students.
Maybe I’m missing something, but I was looking back at the start of this thread titled PASSHE schools and I don’t particularly get the sense that it was intended solely for lower stat kids. The title is Best and Worst PASSHE school. With the caveat of not being a Pa resident myself and the participant most likely to go off topic, it seems this thread should be open to all.
Forgive me for hurting any feelings in suggesting this, but there might be a special role for a thread devoted to truly average stat kids considering PASSHE schools. But I would have very serious reservations about that because parents might get less information that way than if it were all consolidated here and those parents need the most information.
I don’t know what the most helpful path would be for the future of this thread. But I love the community I have here.
And when I start looking for D20 who will most definitely be in the truly average stat category (she will be lucky to break 1000), doesn’t want to travel too far, might just be shut out of the NJ publics in environments she could tolerate (I see her only thriving in smaller, quieter places), and might decide she wants an alternative to community college, I know this thread is a place where I will feel welcome, never be intimidated, and will get the help I need in identifying appropriate options.
@Portercat I think D18 has good grades, but they aren’t high stats, and higher stats aren’t enough to get her into the meet full need schools, and that is what we would have needed. So this thread is also about finances and affordability for PA residents and nearby states apparently.
Many parents here are looking OOS for comparable schools, and finding that PA is still the best option in many cases. I think as parents we need to take that journey if only to feel we didn’t leave anything on the table. So I have been OK w/ the various tendrils that developed from the main theme.
It was from posts here that we chose the PA schools we would apply to for our best shot. So I would hate to see another thread started when this one offers so much already. My opinion.
There seems to be parents from a wide range of situations here. While my senior has high scores, his grades are average so I’m not sure he’ll end up with any merit aid & want to add a few more safety schools within my budget. I think the one thing we all have in common is the desire to find an affordable option and this thread has been one of the most informative threads on CC.
Part of it is not up to this group anyway. I have seen the moderator(s) abruptly close threads that seemed to have good ongoing debate and info, for reasons that were not clear, at least to me. Could happen any day.
I see no reason why this thread would be closed.
To your question @Gatormama regarding D18’s stats:
Her GPA as of today is a 3.8, but her school is messing around w/ their grade calculations like crazy, so what it really should be? She received a 1280 on her last SAT. (Two PSATs & one previous SAT were 1200, all three, exact same grades, how does that even happen? )
From the application for the Board of Governor’s Scholarship, they listed considerations other than just grades.
She is a female, going into a STEM program, was in a teen group that basically did service work, so had close to 1000 volunteer hours. (I made her join to keep her occupied over the long summer months ) She is also adopted and non white. When we first looked at the application, D18 even remarked how she “fit” everything on the app. So I imagine all of the above ticked a lot of boxes for them.
@sevmom I have seen them close threads that repeated the same info, which is weird to me as long as users were deriving value from the posts.