Our oldest daughter and first out of the nest decided to attend a US Service Academy. Her mind was set early and given she was aggressively recruited, we didn’t really didn’t need to learn the ropes. She and they figured it all out and when questions came up we had lots of friends and experience to lean on.
Daughter #2 is in second year of HS and thankfully seems to be on a different path and will likely decide to attend a traditional college. But she and we have no idea of where to start and the guidance folks at HS have been so cut they have little time or resources to help. Signed up here to get a better understanding and wow its like information overload!
While we know all about the service academies and that path we know nothing about this. A nudge in the right direction would be welcomed.
JTT
For help…we would need:
- Daughter's stats.
- Does she have a geographic preference?
- Would she prefer urban, rural, suburban?
- What size college?
- Any academic areas she is leaning towards...or would she prefer a place with lots of choices?
- Would she consider an all womens school?
- Do you have any financial restrictions?
Regardless…I always suggest that families start by looking at their instate flagship university. These are usually larger research universities with lots of choices for majors. Many have honors colleges which can make that larger university “feel” smaller.
My bad for the lack of clarity.
The service academy daughter had drive and purpose. As parents we were along for the ride. Daughter #2 is the more typical teenager. No clue what she wants to do; has not found a passion or focus yet to really see if she has the drive. Financials are not a consideration other than as parents we believe the education will be valued more if they have to work a bit for it so will cap our contribution at $100K. Thing is, these days it looks like its quite easy to spend $200K plus on an under-graduate degree form some second tier school, and come out still with no passion or drive and more importantly no job, no money, and a big debt.
What I am looking for is the more basic resources that can help a kid educate herself about options, find her way and make some good decisions because at the end of the day they are her decisions to make.
JTT
Well…if you are capping yoir contribution to $100,000, your daughter needs to look at colleges where her net cost will be $25,000 a year. Your instate public universities will fulfill that…along with the Direct Loan amount annually. Start there.
If your daughter ends up with a ver high GPA,mand high SAT or ACT scores, she could be eligible for merit aid which would bring your costs down to $25,000 a year or less.
Read the links in this thread.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest
Then go to Barnes and Noble…or order on Amazon…a college guide. Many here like the Fiske guide. It describes colleges well.