@palm715 another link that makes me really think Stevens if a great school from ROI perspective. But ultimately I want him to go to where he is going to be the most happy.
Yep, @grad8890 that is a factor we’ve looked at too. Of course, how far your pay goes depends greatly on your location. On the other hand, living in an expensive area ourselves, we make a conscious effort to “get our money’s worth.”
For my D, Stevens location is a huge plus, but college is not one size fits all. 
Good luck & aloha!
The Payscale ROI may not take into account the mix of majors, so it is not surprising that Stevens, a school with a high percentage of engineering majors, does well there, like other engineering-heavy schools. Note that the majority of schools on the first page of the link posted in reply #20 are engineering-heavy schools.
I am asking about the marquis scholarship at lafayette. problem is I believe it is also a “need” based scholarship bc he looks to fit the profile from an academic, etc perspective. I think i am above threshold for “need” based
Yes, they do not give athletic scholarships for track. Only a small few are now allowed at lafayette and bucknell for certain sports.
Have to tell you all good points and really a lot to absorb and thank you for your input.
@grad8890 My D is at Lafayette and I’m pretty sure the Marquis Scholarship is merit based. However, if you need to make a quick decision, it may be awarded too late to help you. I’d follow up and get more details about it.
https://admissions.lafayette.edu/financial-aid/types-of-aid/lafayette-scholarships/
Thanks @happy1 !
Marquis Scholarship is merit, not need. Fafsa is not required as far as I know. My son was regular decision and did not receive the scholarship notice until he recently received his acceptance to the college in March. ED would be different.
thanks @lotsofquests . Were his stats similar to my son’s?
FYI - My D is at Bucknell (with a $10K merit scholarship but arts based) and my S16 is currently looking at Lafayette. Both colleges have some merit based scholarships. The Dean’s and Presidential scholarships at Bucknell and the Marquis Scholarships/Fellowships at Lafayette. The issue will be that neither college awards those scholarships until the RD round so you wouldn’t know in time for ED. Your son’s stats for Bucknell or Lafayette look pretty strong - does he need the track “tip” in ED round at those colleges to be accepted? I admit that I don’t have experience / knowledge of athletic recruiting process, but especially since the Patriot League does not give scholarship money for track, could he apply to all 3 RD and see what the full options are in March? Of course the track coach wants to know who is going to be on his team so he wants your S to apply ED but would your son lose his spot on the team if he applies RD? I think you should have a frank discussion with coaches and admissions at both Bucknell and Lafayette.
Thanks @momofzag . He can wait for sure, but the Coaches are going to try to round out the teams so you are rolling the dice a bit. Believe it or not, 50% of the seats at both of the schools are gone after ED1. Lafayette wants a higher score on his ACT 33+ I think and would consider the Marquis early, but like you said it doesn’t happen until later. He can very well get in and get the scholarship, but if not I’m on my own with the costs which is pretty daunting.
That is a tricky situation. I would think that the college experience will be significantly different at Bucknell/Lafayette vs. Stevens (although I admit I don’t know anything first hand about Stevens). Only you can decide if your family situation/finances are such that it will be “worth” the difference. My D ended up leaving a very big scholarship on the table in favor of Bucknell but it really wasn’t so much about prestige/rankings as about where she preferred fit wise. We are fortunate that we are able to come up with the $$ for the difference without loans but I don’t think I would have done it if we had had to take out a ton of loans (beyond the federal loans for instance).
My S just decided not to ED anywhere and is applying all RD (which is also what my D did). He is only applying to 5 schools, 3 of which are tied for first place in his mind (Lafayette among them) and 2 of which should be fairly safe (and they are both EA so he will know in December). His stats are such that he is well qualified for all his top choices, he has visited all 3 of these twice and interviewed, so he should get accepted but who knows…
Good luck with your tough decision!
@momofzag I agree. Honestly I want him to go where he will be most happy, i.e. FIT. He has great choices so will work itself out!! I definitely don’t want him to settle and be unhappy. But I do have to think about cost as a factor.
So it comes down to:
- What is his rank order of schools, and how much of a difference in preference does he have between them?
- How much difference does the cost difference make to your finances and his (student loans)?
Following this thread with interest, grad8890. These decisions are so challenging! You sound like a wonderful and supportive parent to your son.
Does your son think he will be interested in Greek life? That might help you make a go/no go decision on Bucknell. Greek life really is pretty huge there. The percentage participating is in the 50% range, but I think that percentage is based on the entire student body, when in actuality, freshmen are not permitted to participate. So it may be an even higher percentage than it appears.
My son didn’t think he would be interested in Greek life, but became so and is very involved. So things can definitely change, but with a sport and engineering, it may not be that appealing to layer on another extracurricular activity.
When I did the visits with my son, I loved Hoboken. If your son likes a more urban location, I’m not sure you can beat it as a great place to go to school. Bucknell is definitely the most rural of the three, and I think that adds to campus cohesiveness, but also makes Greek life/parties more of a center of the social scene.
I look forward to seeing how things end up, and really really hope you end up feeling great about your choice, the finances, and that your son is super happy. I’m so glad I’m on my last child going through this . . .he’s going to be very disappointed if he doesn’t get into Bucknell, and for him, it is a reach.
What about co-op opportunities? DH and I graduated from Bucknell (admittedly a hundred years ago…) and don’t really want DD there as it isn’t near anything convenient. We would prefer for her to be somewhere that she can have some “real world” experiences.