best school she can get into?

College Search & Selection
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@salma45

You stated that your daughter’s high school was a top TX High School. That being the case, I oiled imagine they have decent college counseling. What are THEY saying to you?

More free advice from me…Pare the application list down to no more than 12-15 schools…max. Your DD needs to do a good job with these applications and supplemental essays. Better to do less very well…than more doing a meh job.

The current list of colleges is all over the place in terms of geography, and size. What exactly is this kid looking for? There is a HUGE difference between Amherst and Barnard. What is the common thread? CM, Duke, Michigan, Rice, UCLA are NOT in the northeast.

You also mention that urban might not be the best choice…so why UCLA, Barnard, NYU, Harvard, Brown, Yale…all in urban settings.

I live in the northeast, and many kids from HERE want to leave the northeast…some because of the weather, some because of the high cost of living. Oh…and don’t underestimate that high cost of living as it affects college students as well.

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That was the PSAT in 10th grade. What did she get on the PSAT in 11th grade.

Maybe the ACT will be better.

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@Thumper1 I think the test she took in tenth grade was the PSAT since it was scored out of 1520.

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I think you’re getting a lot of good advice here. Some things I want to emphasize or suggest:

Definitely get Fiske. This will help her get a sense of the students and the culture at each school and give her some sense of where she’ll fit in and be happy.

Has she looked at Wesleyan? It’s another reach, but an AA SJW who wants a non-urban LAC in the NE and whose grades are much better than her SAT should at least give it a look. Test optional, lots of diversity of all kinds, meets all demonstrated need, enough SJW’s for almost anyone, smart, interesting people.

If she’s willing to consider women’s schools, with their higher admit rates, she should take a look at Bryn Mawr. They have an incredibly tight relationship with co-ed Haverford; they fall just a little short of being one combined school. She can take classes, live in dorms, join clubs and eat in dining halls with men.

Just a reminder that everyone’s list should have reaches, matches and safeties, all of which you can afford. Those are hard to quantify exactly, but if you poke around here on CC and on the internet generally you should find some useful definitions. If she’s an auto-admit to UT and would be willing to go if she didn’t get in anywhere else, then that’s a great safety. The she can add 1 or 2 safeties that aren’t as safe as auto-admits, but that are still quite safe. Austin isn’t the NE or NYC specifically, but it’s not like the rest of Texas, either.

Her matches and safeties are a great opportunity to pursue merit aid. If there’s a significant difference between what the schools think you and her father can afford and the reality, you want merit aid. She will get that at schools that give merit aid (not all do) and that want to woo her because she’s at the top of their stats. That DOESN’T mean so-so schools or students.

I don’t know exactly how the NYS residency rules work, but based on the language people have linked to and my general sense of how states approach the issue for college students, I would not assume that college vacations with her father would constitute “living with him.” I don’t find it inconceivable that it could mean actually living with the parent full time and commuting to school. Again, I don’t know, but I’d check very carefully before you rely on it.

I’m not persuaded that Binghamton is a safety. They consider standardized test scores very important and their mid 50% ranges are M:650-720, CR:640-711. For the school to be a safety, especially with your daughter applying as an OOS resident and with only a 40% admit rate, I think her scores would need to place her in the top 25%.

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Regarding Binghamton, its SAT profile at the 25th percentile falls at exactly the same level as Bowdoin’s. What’s true for one with respect to standardized scoring expectations would seem to be at least partly true for the other.

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Binghamton acceptance is by school.

If I recall from last year’s stats , SOM (business) is first, followed by Watson (Engineering & CS), and then Harpur (Arts and Sciences).

They do like high stat kids from out of state and will scholarship many of them down to in-state rates to increase geographic diversity. I have no idea if the URM hook will work, but it might.

147

The OP mentions the non-custodial parent. Schools requiring the non-custodial parent Profile will require the dad and his wife…income and assets.

@salma45 does your former husband have income? His wife? I’m asking because this could dramatically affect your kid’s need based aid. You certainly don’t need to post that here…but you need to understand that this is the case. Colleges that use the non-custodial parent form are not going to ignore the financials presented on it.

With regard to his three additional children…this will only have a small impact on his calculated contribution unless one or two of them will be in college as well.

With regard to caring for his mother, this is a wonderful thing for him to be doing. Most colleges won’t factor that into the financial aid calculations either.

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Apologies in advance, if I missed something in this extraordinarily complicated thread, but, how is UT “unaffordable” to an in-state resident earning $160k a year?

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Her D has preferred OOS schools. That’s the $ crunch.

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I’m hoping someone addressed this on this LONG thread already @salma45

Your daughter would need to establish her residency in NY state prior to enrolling in college there. Simply living in NY while she is attending a SUNY will NOT NOT NOT establish in state residency status for tuition purposes there. It just won’t.

Your daughter is graduating from a Texas high school. This will be the first thing those SUNY schools notice when she applies. She will be an out of state student.

@sybbie719

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@circuitrider UT is affordable, less than the $30K a year budget for an instate student including R&B it’s a great educational value at a highley ranked school but it seems OP values geography over budget. The student is also an auto admit going into libral arts so test scores wouldn’t matter. UT should be one of this kid’s safety schools.

https://admissions.utexas.edu/tuition/cost-of-attendance

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@salma45, how are you holding up under this barrage of posts?! You are getting a lot of good advice, from some really experienced posters, but I hope it’s being helpful, not overwhelming :slight_smile:

You are on a short, steep learning curve, but you are doing a great thing for your daughter by sticking with it. You have done so much already: she is clearly growing into herself well, and has so much to be proud of already, and your commitment to preparing her for her future is really paying off. She is really lucky to have you in her corner!

College admissions is not the last hurdle, but it is the last of this set of hurdles (spoiler alert: there’s a whole other set of challenges when parenting a just-barely adult kid!). Her job is to dream and reach for the stars, yours is the much less fun & glamorous one of making sure that come April there are affordable, happy choices.

Another poster once asked how a well-known college admissions company can guarantee that your child will get into one of their top 3 choices? The short answer is that they make sure at least one of the student’s ‘top 3’ is affordable and a certainty for admission. The hard part of the answer is getting the student to the point of having that list! That means research and adjusting expectations.

I’ve followed this thread from the beginning, and just in case it isn’t clear: no matter how any given post reads, everybody here really is pulling for you, and wants to help you support your daughter :slight_smile:

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Agree with @collegemom3717

Parents and students need to look at the college search and selection process from multiple angles.

The need to consider potential for admission, but they also need to consider the FAMILY finances to pay for college. It’s a package.

Every student needs an affordable really likely for admissions school…or two…on their application list. Start there. Do you have one or two FOR SURE affordable colleges where your kiddo will most definitely be accepted, and she would be happy to attend.

Then build your list UP from there.

Please, please don’t risk your personal financial situation to fund a college that would otherwise be unaffordable. In other words…don’t withdraw from retirement. Don’t refinance the house. Don’t take out personal loans. These all risk YOUR parent financial picture at some point.

Be realistic. Here is my suggestion about money. If you think you can pay $40,000 out of pocket…start putting $4000 a month in the bank right now out of your current earnings. Do this for a few months or so. Figure out if this is sustainable for the whole time your kiddo is in college.

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I think it is going to be unlikely that your daughter gets in-state tuition to attend Bing, even if her father does live in NYS.

Unless you daughter is willing to take a gap year before starting at SUNY, is is essentially coming to NYS for the purpose of attending college, where she would not be eligible for in-state tuition. By your own statement she has had limited contact with her father.

Like others I think her list is very top heavy and I don’t think that Bing is a safety for her. She stands a good chance of being admitted, but it is definitely not a safety. the middle 50 at Bing 1300-1400.

Love it or hate it, Excelsior has been a game changer and the number of applications at all SUNY schools have gone up making all of them more competitive.

Being a URM is not a hook at Bing, because NYS is not at a loss for URM students especially with the NYC DOE being the largest public school system in the country. Bing can kill 2 birds with one stone by accepting students who are economically disadvantaged and achieve ethnic diversity through their EOP program.

Barnard College/Columbia University is the largest employer of people in Harlem/Washington heights working for the university/Columbia Presbyterian. As part of their benefit program, children of Columbia/Barnard employees get free tuition and Columbia or any of the affiliated schools. Barnard has a feeder through their own STEP/Columbia STEP/Double discovery programs in addition to programs like SEO/Questbridge for smart minority women who attend school in NYC .

Again, Columbia/Barnard can kill birds with multiple stones through their HEOP program, where there will be many disadvantaged students of color.

NYU is not a safety because they do not meet 100% demonstrated need and can you/ are you willing to pay full freight?

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I agree that this list is top heavy and that Binghamton is not a safety for this student. Maybe SUNY New Paltz should be added to the list? It’s not too far from the city and students often go in on the weekends. Union, Skidmore are some other schools to look into. I would use the NPC to check affordability.

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@twogirls

This is a single parent. The net price calculators are not always accurate for single parents.

Union uses both the Profile and non-custodial parent Profile. While this student might be accepted there, paying isn’t going to be easier.

Skidmore also uses the non-custodial parent form.

While these colleges are less competitive for admissions than Amherst and Yale, both are, in my opinion, not actual safety schools. Neither is guaranteed affordable, even if the student is admitted.

157

The safety needs to be UT, if she’s 6%. I know the gal wants out of TX, but Mom’s hard work has left her with a very high EFC.

@salma45 , many on CC have needed to guide their kids to one of their home state public colleges. You’ve done your best for her, but now you can offer her so much more if you aren’t locked into 40-50k per year for college costs. And the UT system is strong, highly respected.

This is when many of us teach our kids an important life lesson about making solid choices. And help them see the future includes work or grad school choices in other parts of the country. We help them grow strong and able.

Even if a reach comes through, the magic isn’t the fancy private college name. We hope your hard work won’t leave you with crushing bills and debt for years to come. Many CC parents have been through this reality. Try to see UT as a great option. Best wishes.

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For everyone getting hung up on Binghamton and in-state tuition, I had all intentions on contacting the school re: residency. It’s ONE school and there are a lot of opinions and assumptions about whether or not she could qualify, but I’m awaiting a callback from the VP who makes the decisions about residency.

NYU, UMich and UCLA are now off her list. She has added Howard, UT, Rice and we will look into Wesleyan today or tomorrow.

@thumper1 her dad isn’t remarried nor am I so it’s really just our incomes that would need to be considered. I know I mentioned no women’s college in the beginning, but in reading some of the posts, my daughter agreed w/ some of the points that were mentioned, so she added Barnard to the list. I cannot afford to save 4K a month, so I guess that puts a lot into perspective. I didn’t even know to look for the EFC on the FAFSA until @suzy100 mentioned it.

I initially started this post to get some feedback about what colleges my daughter should apply to. I got some really good feedback about financial aid and suggestions for schools for which I am extremely grateful. We were always aware that most of the schools on her list were highly selective. We should have considered what someone else pointed out about all students applying to most of these schools.

@collegemom3717 lots of posts and it’s extremely overwhelming. I had to take a break for a day because my head was spinning yesterday. Thank you for your uber supportive post. My daughter reads these as well.

@lookingforward I agree there may be many lessons in this for both my daughter and myself. I’ve learned so much from this post alone. This process is very different than it was for me 21 years ago.

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This process is very different than it was for my kids just a few years ago!! It changes every year. Its important to stay on top of this stuff!! That’s why so many here have been as clear as they can with guidance, especially at this late date. Keep us posted of her final list and outcome.

And if you haven’t looked at the Colleges that change lives, do that. They can be very generous.

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Has OP actually visited any of these colleges? I don’t think they are necessarily what the student is expecting to find.