Chance My Daughter: Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Skidmore [VT resident, 4.0/1500, NMSF, English/Poli Sci, need COA <24K]

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics

  • US domestic *
  • VT)*
  • Very Small Public HS*:
  • Female / white*

Engish / PoliSci

4.0 unweighted, Rank #2, 1500 SAT

Coursework
Seven APs (all the school offers), six 5s, one 4

National Merit Scholar Semifinalist

Extracurriculars
5 years Varsity Soccer, Anti-Racist Club, Student Govt, Lions Club

Need a COA below 24K

Schools
Possible ED or EA, but … affordability is the biggest issue …

  • Safety* St. Lawrence, St. John’s (annapolis)
  • Likely* Dunno
  • Match* Bard? Skidmore?
  • Reach * Vassar, Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Middlebury
1 Like
2

Can’t speak to the $, but I like her chances at Bard, Skidmore, and Vassar. Midd likes Vermont kids (I speak from experience) so I’d push that with them where possible.

1 Like
3

Does your family qualify for need based aid…because these colleges either give no merit aid or not enough that it might get you to <$24,000 net cost per year?

Would you like additional college suggestions where her national merit scholarship status would likely garner very significant merit aid and lower costs? Please let us know and if so, folks here can weigh in.

5 Likes
4

Her stats are very nice. Your issue is gonna be money. Run the net price calculator at the schools. Consider adding Amherst as a high reach.

You’ve got to create some financial safeties, too, because depending upon your financial resources, you may find that affordability is the issue. She needs to apply for finalist status, and then you can work her national merit achievement for full tuition, even full ride options (albeit at schools she might like a lot less, but if the others come in at too high a price, at least she’ll have an option that you can afford).

2 Likes
5

Just pointing out that Tulsa’s NM package is for semi-finalists. Being a finalist adds some extra $$, but the following is offered if a student is a semi-finalist.

  • Full tuition (excluding summers) for five years or until an undergraduate degree is earned. Students must maintain a minimum of 15 hours of coursework per semester.
  • Tier II Room and Board
  • Standard Student Fees
  • Textbooks (free textbooks for the entirety of their undergraduate years)
  • Secured spot in Leadership TU led by President Brad Carson
  • $6,000 monetary gift per year (funded by the Oklahoma Regents or the TU Board of Trustees)
10 Likes
6

Probably need to designate to which–if any–school you will be applying ED as that typically has a significant effect on LAC admissions.

Have you run the NPCs (net price calculators) for each school to determine affordability ?

Very eclectic array of schools.

You should be offered admission to St. John’s, St. Lawrence, Bard, and Skidmore.

The other schools odds will be different dependent upon whether you apply ED or RD.

1 Like
7

Well, first off … thank you SO much for these thoughts. I’m grateful. It’s kind of a lonely and spooky business, this acceptance and aid forecasting, and every thought helps.

Have done the MyIntuition and other estimators, and their “best guess” get us to around 8-10K more than we think we can afford (after a small student loan and work study.) Their low estimates work for us. (Four kids, three currently in HS, and not much saved for college or retirement.) I think we would get some need based aid, particularly at the no loan schools. I’m afraid Skidmore and Bard won’t think we need as much as we actually do. We can go Tuition Exchange, but the fixed rate of 43K doesn’t get us close w/most of these schools … still, nice to have options, and that seems an insanely competitive route. Vassar is closest to her heart, but after a skajillion visits, she’s arrived at all the schools listed here, and any would be a privilege to attend. If she went ED, it’d probably be Vassar or St. John’s, or perhaps Bowdoin. She’ll do the finalist thing … it looks like it’s kind of a layup from semi-finalist to finalist. Not sure why.

Yes, please, on other ideas. A bit geographically limited, as she’d like to be able to visit sibs on short notice. Roughly anything within 6 hours of VT will work. And thanks again.

1 Like
8

No need to ED to St. John’s.

Based on your daughter’s profile, Skidmore & Bard are doing her a favor.

If she wants Vassar, then ED to Vassar.

2 Likes
9

Don’t do myintuition. Do the net price calculators for the schools themselves.

So to chance her - sure, she has a chance everywhere.

But when you are NMSF and you need $24K, you also have a chance to 100% meet budget. You said some schools were more than you can afford - so sure take a loan, get a job now (In HS), during the school year, in summer, etc.

Or and I saw someone mentioned Tulsa (for a small school) where 1/4 of the student body is natl merit because who doesn’t like full ride? It was linked above by @ikg4answers- or if you want to be in the NE, U Maine - which looks like free tuition although you need to keep a 3.3.

Other top contenders and they’re not small but for your budget - Alabama NMF which is you get finalist is 5 years free tuition so grad school, one year housing and an annual stipend of $4,000, Alabama Huntsville, UArizona, UTD (natl merit), Florida State national merit - and there’s many other “guaranteeed” at your cost. There’s also schools like the W&L Johnson (and meets need otherwise, so look at their NPC) and SMU and their Presidential.

So in summary - yes there’s a chance at some of these - and there’s other meets needs that will be easier - an F&M, Lafayette, etc.

But if you can’t get to budget, are you willing to trade off for a larger school in a different geography that will get you there and in some cases comfortably under based on auto merit and/or national merit. It’s a tradeoff perhaps but it saves you and the student from being financially strangled, potentially for years to come.

Good luck.

Bowdoin College - Net Price Calculator (studentaidcalculator.com)

Welcome | Net Price Calculator (collegeboard.org)

2024-2025 First Year Merit Scholarships for Maine Residents - Undergraduate Admissions - University of Maine (umaine.edu)

National Merit Scholars – Afford (ua.edu)

2024-2025 First Year Merit Scholarships for Maine Residents - Undergraduate Admissions - University of Maine (umaine.edu)

7 Likes
10

If you haven’t done so already, you may want to look into Hamilton, which is well recognized for its literary attributes (see, e.g., The 10 Best Colleges for Creative Writers | The Freelancer, by Contently). With respect to political science, Hamilton offers a long established senester in D.C. for students interested in the workings of government. In terms of admission, Hamilton recently accepted female applicants at a rate slightly higher than that for males, which is uncommon for a liberal arts college

4 Likes
11

Not specific to National Merit Scholars, but University of Vermont has very generous scholarships for in-state residents nominated by their schools and also an Honors College that can give a student more of a small liberal arts school experience within a larger school.

In your daughter’s shoes, I would put it on the list and also check out the Honors College options and nonresident scholarships available at public flagship universities in neighboring states.

https://www.uvm.edu/honorscollege/frequently_asked_questions

https://www.uvm.edu/studentfinancialservices/scholarships_prospective_vermont_resident_students

8 Likes
12

For what it’s worth, we found the net price calculator for our son to be spot-on for Vassar. It is well worth the extra time that it takes to do this as compared to the more general estimate given by myintuition.

For the 100% need schools like Vassar, where merit scholarships and tuition discounting are not in play, the net price calculators are often excellent. Between my two children applying to liberal arts college, the only net price calculator that was not extremely close to the offered financial aid was Amherst, where the financial aid offer was even better than what the NPC had estimated.

So if you do the net price calculator and the cost of Vassar (or Swarthmore, Skidmore, Middlebury, Bowdoin, etc.) is still too high, I’d have that difficult talk now rather than later, and cut them from the list before applying. Or, if the price is Ok, then green-light your child to ED to her first choice.

10 Likes
13

Thanks so much! I’ll do the NPCs and we’ll have that talk. I think it’s fine print, but the APs were Calc, Stats, Chem, APUSH, Lit, Lang, and Whist. The 4 was in chem. The rest 5s. I’ll have my fingers crossed with the NPCs, and I think getting Hamilton back on the map makes sense. It was our first ever visit, and there was nothing not to like.

2 Likes
14

Add Williams?

3 Likes
15

And add Williams. It was a great visit … it suffers from being perhaps a little too close to home.

2 Likes
16

Cannot ED anywhere, need see fin aid offers.

3 Likes
17

I would still run their NPC, along with Amherst’s. Their financial aid might be better and they’ve not only eliminated loans, but work-study from their aid. Also, any student who gets financial aid gets their books and class materials (e.g. art supplies) covered as well as summer storage.

2 Likes
18

I believe that a financial aid offer that is substantially different than an accurately-filled-out net price calculator at a 100% of need school is considered a viable reason for declining an ED admission offer. Check me to make sure I’m right, but I’m pretty sure.

Not the case at schools that are not 100% need no merit schools.

3 Likes
19

They can ED if they are okay paying what the NPC indicates. Assuming they are accepted and the FA lines up with the NPC,they won’t get the chance to see if there is a better deal out there. But needing FA doesn’t mean they can’t apply to their first choice ED.

4 Likes
20

I’m surprised Wesleyan isn’t part of this conversation yet (unless I missed it). Top-notch programs in both English and PoliSci (check out the College of Social Studies), great aid, and not too far from Vermont. (NB: Biden’s current White House Counsel and the current director of the National Economic Council are both Wes alums, as is the editor in chief of the New York Review of Books.) Seems like a great fit, just fyi.

4 Likes