College list thoughts for "average excellent" S24 [$11k parent contribution, 4.0 GPA, 36 ACT]

College Search & Selection
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4.0 UW / 4.5 W
36 ACT (one sitting)
8 APs (including senior year)
11 Community College classes (including senior year)
2 sports
Theater
Band
Works as math tutor
Volunteer coach
Large middle class public high school

Things that are important to him:
#1 Wants to be in big city (Ideally LA, NY, Boston or Chicago, but pushing him to be open to smaller cities)
#2 Wants a big school

Things that don’t matter to him:
Open curriculum vs. core curriculum
Major offerings - he wants something general like Econ or Poli Sci so every school will have those
Campus (Ex: Columbia) or no campus (Ex: NYU) - He is fine with either

The thing that matters to us parents:
Cost - We need a lot of financial aid or merit aid. I have run the NPC for all of these schools and no surprise we are seeing by far the most generous financial aid from the schools that are hardest to get into. So that is why there are a number of reaches because those may be the best price if he can get into one. We are in California so he is happy about Cal or UCLA, but with our D22 the financial aid offers from those were quite a bit less that the financial offer she got from the private school she got into and is attending.

He loved New York City when he visited for the first time over spring break. Loved NYU, but NPC for Columbia says we would pay half of what NYU says. I have heard NYU gives less money. Is this still true? He talks about doing ED to NYU, but I am worried about the price. I think an ED to Columbia or Brown could be a safe chance financially based on their NPC.

I know the list is reach heavy… thanks for any thoughts!

High Reach
Columbia (Maybe ED1)
Brown
Northwestern
University of Chicago
USC
Georgetown

Reach
Tufts
NYU
Boston University
UCLA
UC Berkeley

Target
George Washington
De Paul
Pitt

Safety
Alabama (Not urban but if grades stay as is, could get Presidential Elite scholarship)

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Academically, a school with an available major in public policy, which relies on the fields of political science, economics and philosophy for its foundation, could make a good choice.

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Your targets are all safeties.

You might look at Arizona vs Bama. Not deep in city but more city in that Tucson is large and it’s close enough to downtown.

Bama you’ll get at least $28k vs $32 tuition. They have programs like Blount and Randall Research but there is not a city. Arizona you’ll get $32k or maybe $30k off near $40k. The Honors dorm and complex are spectacular.

I don’t know your budget but much of your list is 100% meets need. But calculation is different. Some will include home equity for example.

Knowing your budget will help a lot.

Also you say large but then say Tufts. Define large - and I assume that includes grads.

Thanks

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Pitt should be applied to as early as possible, but it is not a safety since it depends on a sufficiently large merit scholarship, not just admission.

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Budget specifics:
Our EFC on FAFSA is about $22,000. So the ideal would be that is the total we pay for BOTH kids in college. Some of the NPCs (Brown and Columbia for example) estimated that that might be possible). Crossing fingers!

In terms of size, he wants large, and yes including grads. I know Tufts is not so large and he also did not love that is was farther outside of downtown, but he loved Boston and is basing his decisions as much on the cities as the schools. He would rather go to a 2nd choice school in a 1st choice city than be out of a big city.

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So, you’re looking for $11k/year for your S24, if you want $22k/year for two kids. Is that correct? What year is your other student?

Also, you will need to run the NPCs later in the year when they set up their systems for the 24-25 school year, as the NPCs are currently running on the set up from this past year (when a family’s EFC was divided by the number of children in college) and that will change for FAFSA-based schools next year. It’s unknown how CSS schools will handle the change, but it’s likely to vary, school-by-school.

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Fair. Nothing is a safety if it doesn’t meet budget. But Pitt, let’s say with an app b4 dec 1 is an admission safety.

Would need to know the budget because Pitt is unlikely to give a large scholarship.

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Like @AustenNut confused.

And don’t forget FAFSA does not equal what schools will say you can afford.

Even a Bama will be $20k all in.

Your best bets, if $11k, is the budget may be some Hail Mary full ride scholarships like SMU, Seattle, W&L, Vandy and yes these are not your desired……or community college or a Cal grant type program. But unfortunately it may be a time of trade offs. May be……

You can look at WUE too - like an Utah - for budget help.

But on a public school level you’re unlikely to find need aid out of state short of UNC and UVA.

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Would Miami work for his city preferences? He would be a candidate for good merit at U of Miami, though not sure if it would get all the way down to your budget level.

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Tufts and BU yield protect so your son may get waitlisted or rejected if they dont apply ED.

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It’s another reach, but might consider Vanderbilt. Nashville is a great city, the school is beautiful and they are “meets need”, but also give merit which is a little unusual. Scholarship applications are due a little earlier, but well worth submitting.

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Sorry if I am being confusing. I am still a new-ish parent of a college student (D22) and new-ish to the FAFSA and CSS profile.

When I did the FAFSA (for D22), our EFC was/is about $22,000
The school she goes to met that and gave us the rest in financial aid.

I understand there will be changes re. FAFSA and siblings. I do not fully understand those changes. I am happy to have them explained to me.

Am I hoping to pay our EFC for 2 in college? Well, that’s what I’m aiming for, but maybe I am being delusional.

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Yes, I have heard this. I keep reiterating to him he should not expect to get into any of his reaches and be pleasantly surprised if he gets into any.

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Yes, Vanderbilt is definitely on his mind too. I have heard of their great scholarships. I don’t know if there is anything so special about him that he could receive one, but you are right, it’s worth trying!

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Thanks. I will check out their NPC.

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I would reach out to the college of your current D22 and ask them how they will handle the financials when your S24 enters the college picture. In another thread parents who were in a similar situation were sharing what the colleges were going to do, and it was college-dependent. Some schools indicated they would increase need-based aid while others said the amount of aid would remain static.

Up through this school year, FAFSA would say, a family’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is $22k, because that’s all our formula says it can pay. So, if a family had 1 kid in college, the EFC was $22k. If the family had 2 kids in college, the FAFSA formula would divide that in two ($11k/each). If the family had 3 kids in college, the formula would divide the $22k in 3 ($7kish/each student). Starting for when your son enters college, that will no longer be the case. The EFC, in the FAFSA formula, will be for each child. So a family would be expected to contribute $22k for child 1, $22k for child 2, $22k for child 3, etc.

(The rationale behind this is that families who had their children closer together in age are having college expenses subsidized that a family whose children are further apart in age are not. So, a family whose kids are 4 years apart would have $22k/year for each child whereas a family who had kids closer together might only be paying $11k/year for each child during the years that the students are in college at the same time.)

So, unknown #1 is how your D22’s college is going to handle the situation, but you can probably get some good guidance if you reach out to them.

Unknown #2 is how colleges will play this situation out, because as @tsbna44 indicated, the FAFSA is a formula with a price estimate, but schools don’t have to follow it.

It seems as though one of two things will happen:

  1. Your D22’s school will decide that your family has increased need with S24 and increase her aid package so that you’re only paying $11k for her college, leaving $11k for S24.

  2. Your D22’s school will not increase their aid package, leaving you paying $22k for her schooling and leaving $0 for S24, unless the budget is increased.

If situation 2 arises, then you would need a full ride for S24 or have family discussions on how to work things out.

If situation 1 arises, then you’re hoping for an $11k COA based on need (check the NPCs later in the summer) or a full ride or perhaps a full tuition scholarship with loans to help cover the distance in room & board, or going to college in a lower cost-of-living place where room & board costs would be $11k or under.

Will your son be a National Merit Finalist?

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My D21 recieved a full tuition scholarship - She had similar stats, no hooks. She had leadership in her EC’s - you don’t mention that, but otherwise is “average excellent”.

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Thank you. This is a super helpful explanation of the changes.
I will definitely call the financial aid office at D22’s school and see how they are going to handle the FAFSA sibling change.

No, he will probably not be a National Merit Finalist. Based on past history, he will probably just miss the cutoff here in CA. The ACT was a better fit for him.

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That’s awesome! Can I ask if she applied ED? I can’t figure out if one is more or less likely to get that type of merit scholarship if you apply ED or not.

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Consider some midwest public flagships, like University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities? Or University of Wisconsin in Madison, a mid-sized city with plenty of green space. Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio – also in the state capital, and on all sorts of lists as a great place for young people. The “sticker” price of those schools will be lower than privates, though the big flagships are not known for generous financial aid to out of state students.

Or Case Western in Cleveland, which does do merit? Though I understand Case wants to be “loved” so an applicant needs to demonstrate interest.

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