<p>Your D’s stats are amazing. Did I miss what state you are in? Make sure she has a safety that you can pay for. What do you estimate you CAN pay per year? </p>
<p>If by luck my D gets a chance at Columbia ( by ED), she will matriculated there and we will somehow make the financing happen. We did save some money for her in a college trust account. If she does not get a chance, I believe with regular admissions, we will have time to compare all the scholarship and grant offers that hopefully she will get from the other colleges. We will see which offer is best, which one she can live with, and which one we can afford.</p>
<p>@TempeMom Thank you! You did not miss anything, as I did not say what state we are in. The State Universities are her safeties, and we have enough to pay for all college expenses. There is even one university close enough that she said she would not mind commuting to. Not paying for room and board will cut down her expenses a bit. </p>
<p>My husband and I also agreed that we are comfortable paying up to $35K per year (including money from her trust), and we already had that talk with our D. She is very realistic. If the school she gets in does not come up with a good enough award, she will not mind going to a state university. That school she is thinking of will possibly give her a lot of AP credits, and can potentially save her about a year. That school also gives full ride scholarship for music as well. She would love to double major in music.</p>
<p>@soze - somebody else pointed that out. There are Wesleyan named scholarships available that we will definitely take a look at. Wesleyan is not her #1 school. It just happens that they have the right combination of majors that she is interested in. Right now, she will apply to about 7-8 schools. We will see where she can get in. I was told that an acceptance letter will also include an award letter. The award amount will definitely be considered in her decision.</p>
<p>Thank you for having the money talk with your kid! We’d hate to have her back with “but my stats were so good…if only my parents had TOLD me …”</p>
<p>@TempeMom That will be very disappointing for any kid to go through. My D actually came to us and ask before the start of her junior year. Since she started the college talk, we also set our college search rules/guidelines that time. Like I said before, she is very realistic. </p>