College List Thoughts [CS/Physics with Marching Band (3.8UW/4.6W, 1470SAT) Maryland]

Applying to College
41

Oh if u r adding take a look at RPI and for major flexibility Va Tech although it seems most your choices are more urban/suburban.

42

He will get a good scholarship there and even more if he applies to one of the scholar programs. Their CS program is also strong and because of location the students easily get internships and jobs. Apply EA itā€™s nice to have this since it comes in mid Dec while UMD is late Jan.

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43

I think Va Tech is more like 4 to 5 hours unless you are coming from eastern shore. Lots of Maryland students apply there.

44

Closer than some others on the list. Didnā€™t seem like budget is an issue but if it was WVU would be within distance and solid. For CS, short of a couple names on your list, your outcomes would likely be fine and similar.

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45

The nice thing about VA tech is if you find a major there that is not covered by MD schools, can get in state tuition. Neighborā€™s son did that.

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46

Its 5.5 hours. I think big thing is the desire to be able to come home for a weekend without hassle if need be. Some others on list are similar distance but have an airport nearby and flying is an option (direct flights). Not the case with VT (we love VT otherwise).

47

Iā€™ve heard that VA doesnā€™t participate in the exchange program anymore.

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48

Thatā€™s very unfortunate to hear. I guess they need the OOS tuition.

49

Deleted.

50

Here is the list of majors available for MD residents through the academic common market.

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51

Youā€™ll need all of this information to fill out the CSS profile!

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52

Just to reemphasize, apply as early as possible to Pitt. Students that apply early seem to have more success in getting that coveted OOS merit money.

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53

Iā€™m hopeful for him to get into College Park, because I think thatā€™s going to be your best value, and of course itā€™s close to home. Just a thought. You might want to add UMass Amherst to his list. It is just under 6 hours drive, and there are lots of cheap non-stop flights from BWI to BDL (which is 50 min drive from UMass).

The reason that I recommend this is that UMass Amherst has a very highly ranked Comp Sci department, and has a big friendly marching band that would jump start his social life, not to mention that itā€™s a lovely campus, has a great honors college campus within the campus with new dorms, has fantastic food, and has the cute little town of Amherst, plus the option to take classes at Amherst and the other schools in the 5 college consortium. They would probably give your son their maximum OOS scholarship, bringing his cost of attendance down to about 40K/yr. I have a feeling that this may be far less/yr than he would have at some of the private schools on his list, should he get accepted to them.

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54

Thanks! That looks good - Iā€™ll have him look at it. Would you put that under target or safety, you think?

55

Do you need to (or should you) fill out fafsa and css if you wonā€™t get need based money and donā€™t plan to take loans? Do you need to fill out to be considered for merit $?

56

Iā€™d say that it would be a target to low reach, if he were applying for Comp Sci. If he were to apply for Physics, Iā€™d say that heā€™s likely to be accepted, given honors college status, and the max OOS merit (16K/yr?). I think that it is then possible to get into the Comp Sci major if he takes the intro classes and does well in them, but you would have to check on this, since my info is a little out of date.

I donā€™t think that one has to fill out a FAFSA to receive merit money.

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57

Most colleges - no forms for merit. A few require. Check each school. But unlikely.

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58

At most places that I have looked at FAFSA and CSS can be required (note that is not a large sample among those that offer merit - most were need-only aid). Colleges want to see the financial aid info so that they can fine tune the merit awards to attract the students. While aid forms might not be required for a true scholarship (e.g., ā€œthe Tiggleson Award is granted annually in the amount of $10,000 to the student from a dehydrated area who demonstrates the most promise as a future underwater basket weaverā€), most of what is thought of as merit is just a price discount, a college coupon with a fancy name.

59

Based on our personal experience, no.

I wrote to each school on my Dā€™s list that offered merit $$ and they confirmed no FAFSA or CSS was required. And she ended up getting good merit money.

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60

Honors is a tough admit at UMASS, my kids with higher stats who got the $16000 did not get into honors, the only other honors program they didnā€™t get was Rutgers, another tough honors to get into.

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