We love these schools! S24’s grandma is Wisconsin alumnus and grandpa is an alumnus of IU. Unfortunately I don’t think we will get enough financial aid 
D22’s first choices were a few out of state publics and we were naive (first child) about the finances so we encouraged her to apply. She did not get a penny at any of them. We have lots of family in the midwest and have checked out all of those campuses multiple times on road trips. I wish we could afford them!
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For my D22, NYU and Georgetown offered the least amount of financial aid, $20K to $30K less than all the others.
When we appealed it, they really didn’t care much, especially NYU, whereas one school increased the FA offer by $10K over a phone call.
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I would look for the named scholarships that require extra application components. IU, for instance, has the Wells Scholars program which is extremely competitive, but it’s a full ride for those who receive it. You may look to see if Minnesota or Wisconsin have a similar program. (Bloomington, though pleasantly cosmopolitan, is not a big city.)
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Some other schools to consider: I also thought of Arizona. Perhaps UNLV or University of Colorado Denver? (Both would have WUE discount available.)
Or maybe Loyola University of Chicago (depending on how generous the financial aid).
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This is really helpful. Thanks. That’s kind of what I heard about NYU.
I actually called their financial aid office earlier this week because I was getting vastly different answers using the two NPCs they provide on their website. I know it’s just one person, but the individual I spoke with was not too helpful. He was sort of like, “well, so many people want to come to NYU so we don’t have to give too much money.” Not in those words, but that’s what it felt like he was telling me.
The reality is - there are schools like U of NM that you might get to a #.
Troy - yes, rural - you could go free.
I think you need to find the 100% absolute safety at $11K if that’s the most you can afford.
That might mean community college.
Then you can go to the meets needs schools - your Brown, BU, Miami, Franklin & Marshall, Vandy, WUSTL- whomever.
Schools like Pitt, unless you are a URM, are not likely to come in close to your $$.
You know where Bama and Arizona will come in - it’s auto merit - but not $11K (when factoring in living). It’ll be close to double.
Maybe some Cal State in addition to UCs.
The NPCs are important because the FAFSA # may not be relevant.
But it might be best to find some schools that do have full ride opportunities - like some above plus an SMU, maybe Tulsa, maybe VCU or others out there.
Unfortunately, your students desire for where he wants to be may have to fall to the wayside…may…
Best of luck.
The highest award this year at GW for your son’s intended major was 20k.
BU offered our kiddo guaranteed transfer admission as a sophomore with no merit. Maybe they thought he would hurt their yield, maybe they didn’t want to have to pay out the guaranteed National Merit scholarship he would have earned, or maybe he didn’t have what they were looking for as a freshman. However, I think it may easily have been the latter two as I have seen lower stats kids admitted with lots of merit.
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Have you gone to each college’s web site and used the net price calculator to get a financial aid estimate for that college?
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re: Wisconsin, with that NPC (as long as it basically stays in the same range for 4 years), and with those stats, don’t be so sure about minimal aid there. 2022 is lonng time ago in this new world of college admissions. TRUST ME. 
Worth another shot, especially if you have family who attended.
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She applied RD. She knows many who recieved merit who applied RD, but some ED as well.
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Have you gone to each college’s web site and used the net price calculator to get a financial aid estimate for that college?
Yes, I did this on each website. We got amounts ranging from $10,000 to $40,000, with of course the best deals being from the highly rejective colleges.
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With a 4.0 and strong list of APs/DEs, Utah’s presidential scholarship is likely. That puts the tuition, room and board cost at $20K-$25K the first year but only $10K in subsequent years once you get residency. It also has many of the other attributes you are looking for: a decent sized city (state capital with lots of internship opportunities) and a large university with D1 sports. It could be comparable in cost to Arizona, given their increases in OOS tuition, and cheaper than the UCs.
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Right now I’m trying to find some sure-thing options for your son. Frankly, I’m paying little attention to his preferences for the sure-things, because there are so few options that are going to come in at $11k, all-in, and the budget might actually be $0k, depending on what the financial aid office says at your daughter’s school.
If your D’s school won’t budge on expenses, Alabama would be affordable for at least the first year as your son should qualify for the Presidential Elite scholarship (4.0+ GPA and 36 ACT/1600 SAT) which would still leave your family needing to cover food expenses (source). The costs for sophomore year would be the worst (when your D22 would be a senior), but once she graduated then junior and senior year should be within the $22k budget:
Value of tuition for up to four years or eight semesters for degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate or law studies First year of on-campus housing at regular room rate (based on assignment by Housing and Residential Communities) $1,000 per year supplemental scholarship for four years $2,000 one-time allowance for use in summer research or international study (after completing one year of study at UA) $500 per year Supe Store book scholarship for four years
One school that would definitely meet the $11k budget is U. of Louisiana - Lafayette. Your son would qualify for the Live Oak scholarship, leaving about $8k in costs/year: Incoming Freshmen Scholarships - Fall 2024 | Office of Scholarships. The town has about 130k people or so so definitely not a big metro, but it’s not a tiny town either.
Aiming for a less competitive school may optimize his chances for a full ride, if the college grants them. Another option is the Stamps Scholarship which is a full ride at most universities, though at U. of Oregon, at least, it’s only full tuition. These are extremely competitive scholarships, but they are out there and people on CC have gotten them before.
https://www.stampsscholars.org/our-program/partner-schools/
Will think some more on schools for your son.
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Take a look at UMN. Right in the city and a beautiful land grant campus. Big school with big sports and spirit that would be a match/likely depending on what school he is applying to. Good chance of being accepted into the honors program. It’s so big that there is anything you can ever want as long as “the city” is what you want.
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I don’t think this school for Econ but it’s mid size, up and coming and we’ll know for engineering. You’d have free tuition. In a mid size city niw named a top place for grads by one pub.
UAH.
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Schools in cities that would fill up some target/safety spots: University of Denver, University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota, University of Washington, American University, George Washington, and a few Canadian universities: McGill, Toronto, UBC. Canadian universities admit by stats alone – threshold changes slightly each year, but it’s generally pretty predictable. If you’re open to smaller schools: College of Charleston, Macalester, Occidental.
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I do think he would enjoy these big public schools, but my experience has been that most do not give much money (if any) to out of state students. My D22 applied to the University of Washington (amongst others) and got no financial aid. But I will check out financial aid at Wisconsin and Minnesota.
College of Charleston is beautiful and we have relatives there. I wish he would be interested but I think he feels like Charleston the city is a little small for his liking. Macalester and Occidental also seem like great schools but a lot smaller than he wants. His high school has 4000 people so he wants something larger.
I will look into the Canadian schools. I did not know they were affordable for students from the US. Thanks!
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Has anyone mentioned Univ of New Mexico?
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Amongst the Canadian universities McGill is especially affordable. Note that they hav different tuition depending on BA, BA, engineering etc . And make sure to convert to US dollars!
Room and board I think runs about 16k Canadian a year, and apartments seem very inexpensive (at least to me).
I agree that compared to US schools McGill is quite affordable. But I don’t think it can meet the OP’s budget of $11k. I’d love to hear I am mistaken.
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