My D, adopted from China, will be entering college in 2017. Her practice ACT was 24; her GPA is around 3.4 but she’ll graduate with ~ 5 APs. So higher level interests than her grades and test scores would suggest/support. Great kid with record of working hard and sticking to things (multiple-year ECs) and would obviously bring racial, though not cultural, diversity.
Doesn’t know what she’ll major in but would do best in a small to mid sized LA school with smart but not crazy-driven kids. We’re liberal and not religious but wouldn’t rule out progressive, religiously affiliated colleges. Have to stay within driving distance of NYC.
Finaid is the sticking point:I’m divorced mom of 2 (next D will graduate HS in 2021) making decent-ish salary but living in v. expensive suburb (for work and number of similar family types). Father makes child support payments but won’t be able to do any more than that.
So…I need a smart but not too selective school that has the resources of a most selective school. Can’t afford any of the public universities, so I’m looking at everything from Mt. Holyoke to Stonehill, CT College to Allegheny. Any suggestions? Any positioning tips?
Obvious thing first: she needs to get her ACT scores up. There are tons of resources available for that.
Unfortunately for you guys, most colleges aren’t looking for Asian students when they talk about diversity, so you probably can’t consider that to be a plus. However, your daughter could make a great essay out of her life experience. Help her to focus on honing her writing skills. If she can deliver good ACT scores and a killer essay, your options will open up considerably.
One thing about the essay though, she may not want to write about her experiences as an Asian adoptee so don’t try to force it. I was surprised that my son didn’t address what I know to be the most compelling parts of his life experiences but in the end it’s his story to tell, not mine.
Finally, start seriously looking at starting with a community college where, if she can make good grades, your daughter will be able to transfer to a 4 year program that she wouldn’t qualify for straight out of high school or that you couldn’t otherwise afford.
Liberal arts schools generally ARE looking for Asian kids for diversity. But your issue right now is going to be cost. Any school that requires the CSS profile (which are usually the ones that offer the best aid) is also going to require both parents to fill out financial aid info (and include any new spouses’ info, too). Whether dad wants to contribute (not sure if he can or not, but you might start by at least asking him to contribute the amount he has been paying in child support toward college – that argument worked with my ex) or you live in an expensive suburb, colleges don’t care when they are giving out need based aid. Her GPA is low-ish for a significant merit, but the one element you still have some control over is standardized tests. She needs to study/prep, and get her scores as high as possible. Some schools are test optional, but their more significant merit aid usually goes to kids who submit good test scores, unfortunately. You also will find cheaper schools in the midwest – so considering expanding your geographic range can expand her options.
What can you actually pay?
If you enter your info into the net price calculators (on the school websites) for schools like Mount Holyoke, what are you seeing for an aid package? Unfortunately, to get an accurate reading, you should probably have your ex run the NPCs as well. Add together the cost of attendance (remember she can only take loans or work study once, so don’t double count those) to see what she might end up paying.
Who is looking at the top 15 universities in the country, with blinders on toward the many other excellent options, especially in the LAC world. 17 year olds aren’t the most reliable sources – I sure wasn’t at 17.
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Her practice ACT was 24; her GPA is around 3.4 but she’ll graduate with ~ 5 APs
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The problem is her stats and NCP issue. Schools that give the best aid usually require higher stats.
The other issue is that schools that give the best aid will likely ALSO look at her dad’s income…and it sounds like he won’t pay.
Lucky for you, NY state schools do not use NCP info, and will only use your income to determine aid. Will you qualify for a NY TAP award? a Pell Grant?
Running the NPCs on CSS Profile schools will not give correct results if they will also be looking at dad’s income.
If you live in NY, does that mean dad has to pay child support until child is 21?
LOL, I know…I should so have known better. The kid is actually just applying to UCs and may end up going the CC route. His family has refused to let him apply to any LACs which breaks my heart.
Yes, family pressure often plays into that issue… to their detriment, there are a whole slew of great colleges who would love to have their kids and give them an amazing education.
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We’re liberal and not religious but wouldn’t rule out progressive, religiously affiliated colleges. Have to stay within driving distance of NYC.
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Run the NPC of colleges within that area, but not the ones that will use Non custodial parent’s info.
I’m almost certain her stats are too low for MHC…and MCH likely uses NPC info.
Just to see…I used the NPC for Seton Hall. I put in your DD’s stats and an income of $60k with a family of 3 with one in college…
Estimated total direct costs: $49,480
a. Estimated tuition and fees $37,226
b. Estimated room and board $12,254
Estimated total grant aid:
(Includes both merit and need based aid from all sources, federal,state and institutional.) $20,500
Estimated net price:
(Direct cost minus grant aid) $28,980
In addition to direct costs, you should plan to cover any additional indirect costs. Here are some approximate costs you should be aware of:
Books and supplies - $1,000
Misc - transportation, personal expense, etc. - $2,200
The net cost to the family would be about $31,000. Obviously not affordable if the income is only $60k.
Whether being Asian will help varies among LACs. The best way to get a sense of whether it will help, be neutral, or hurt is by checking the common data sets of the LACs of interest. The greater the percentage of Asian-American kids attending, the less likely it will be a plus for diversity. As a GENERAL rule of thumb, schools within driving distance of NYC are not going to consider it a plus. Nor will LACs within driving distance of LA or San Francisco or any other area of the country with a percentage of Asian residents higher than the percentage of Asians nationally. IME, urban LACs are likely to have a higher percentage of Asian-Americans than those in rural areas.
You get the idea–check out the percentage of Asian-Americans at each LAC to get an idea of how much “diversity” she will add.
If Dad has paid child support, his income and assets will be taken into account by many private LACs and there is nothing you can do about that. Public schools, which are usually FAFSA only, are probably a better bet.
How much her APs will help will depend on which APs they are. It is politically incorrect to say so, but AP psych, AP environmental science, etc. are less impressive than AP BC Calc or an AP foreign language. Scores also matter.
Talk to her GC and get access to Naviance, if your high school uses it. It will be very helpful.
Actually, we live in a NJ suburb of NYC, so we’re stuck with the NJ state schools. When I run the NPC on Rutgers or Montclair, we get $0 in grant aid, D is assigned $7k in loans and parent contribution is $30k.This leaves me speechless.
mom2collegekids, you nailed my income! However, add in $22k/yr in child support. You’d think this would be more than enough income to pay for college, right? But the combination of getting divorced, selling the marital house during the housing market crash and losing my job / being out of work / having to retool for 2.5 years left me with no savings and lots of debt in the state with the highest property taxes in the nation.
When I do the NPC on Mt. Holyoke, I get a grant of $41,247 (bless you, Mt. H, even though the number means nothing in reality); D work/loan adds $6,000; and my contribution is $9000, which I would be able to pay and would do so with deep gratitude.
The ex is a complete wild card. I’d be surprised if he’s filed taxes since he left. He’s self-employed and erratic in child support payments and I doubt he could provide more than he is. If I allocate half his CS payments to college, then I have to move fairly far away because I wouldn’t be able to afford this town. (I’ve always planned to leave NJ as soon as D2 graduates from HS.) Ugh.
For Stonehill, the NPC gives me $26k in grant; $8k D loan/work; and $21,770 net cost. Which I wouldn’t be able to swing.
How would I figure out which schools don’t ask for NCP data?
Re: APs, she’s planning to take by the end of 12th grade, Eng. Comp; Eng. Lit; US History; World History and Calc B/C.
Believe me, I’ve collected all the Asian percentiles for the lists that I’m pulling together, and except for Rutgers (25%), Smith (12%); Lehigh (8%) and MHC (7%); they’re all less than 5%. CT College is 3%; Juniata is 3.4%; Allegheny is 3%. And how many kids of any race bring her kind of life story?
If the school asks for the CSS Profile, then 99% of the time they are going to want the other bio parent (and new spouse’s info). It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want to pay, they will expect him to. The NPC is not going to be accurate with just your info for Mt. Holyoke, and I doubt you will get a waiver as he in in touch/findable. You need to look hard at your in-state options, including schools she can commute to.
If you are living in an expensive suburb you might want to consider moving-if you don’t have other kids in the school system. I’ve never understood that as justification for complaining about the system but people use it all the tim (as in " I live in an expensive house-why should I have to mortgage it?"). People with homes paid off can have millions of dollars in assets tied up in their homes.
OP, New Jersey schools are certainly better than the SUNY system!
Yes your student must submit the financial information from both parents for the CSS Profile even if the other parent does not pay a thing. The only exception is if you don’t know who the the other parent is and/or the other parent has had no contact with the child and you can get official verification of that (like on only one name on the birth certificate).
Being Asian was a non-issue with my daughter, either positive or negative. The small LAC’s in New England and Ohio were interested in her for her sport, but being Asian was just an extra for their stats and I don’t even think some knew she was Asian. She has an Irish name, she had nothing, and I mean nothing, on her application that would indicate she’s Asian - no Asian dance, crafts, groups, interests. She did check the Asian box on the applications (although thought long and hard about it because she doesn’t like to get preferences for being Asian). There are thousands of adopted Asian kids getting ready for college (2000-2005 were the biggest years for Chinese adoptions) , so while each is special to his/her family, not all that special for colleges anymore. Even their ‘story’ is not that unique and most admission counselors have read several of them about abandonment, travel back to the home country, looking for birth parents, etc.
Just don’t count on it being unique, especially if you are looking only at schools that are within 3-4 hours of NYC.
There are a lot of NY state universities that are smaller than what most consider the BIG State U with 40,000 students like Ohio State or Michigan. I know kids (also Chinese adoptees) who go to New Paltz and Geneseo and feel the size is just right. I think your daughter would get into a number of the mid-selective schools, but the cost might be a lot higher than you’d feel comfortable with.
Drew University (too close to home?), Wheaton College (Massachusetts), possibly Clark (also Massachusetts) - you could get merit aid at those - also consider Roger Williams (not a LAC but could fit the bill),
And, if you adopted her as an infant, being an international adoptee isn’t going to help much, at least based on the results I’ve seen. Of course, if she grew up in an orphanage in China until she was 10, that’s a different story.
