<p>We are looking for a good, affordable college/univ in the northeast or northern states (NY, PA, OH, IL) We have looked at a number of schools that seem really perfect, but the tuition would be impossible at $30-40 a year and beyond.</p>
<p>Our D is a junior and an A-B student in honors classes for English, science and history but not for math or foreigh language. I don't think she will qualify for any type of merit aid and we don't qualify for financial aid. </p>
<p>She is not definite on her plans for a major but has interests in literature, photojournalism, writing, history. </p>
<p>Anyone know of an affordable, lesser known college?</p>
<p>Oh, yes, York is one of the few lower priced privates in PA. Good suggestion! I don't think it's location is all that great but the college is affordable, very well maintained and easy to get to. Fendergirl, who posts mostly on the Cafe' graduated from York a couple of years ago.</p>
<p>I have also heard a lot of good things about Lycoming including how attractive the campus is. It certainly is hard to find a moderately priced LAC in NY and PA. We tended to focus on private colleges that gave good merit aid. Both of my kids schools had sticker prices of around $30,000 but with merit aid we paid/are paying just over 1/2 of that amount.</p>
<p>Not knowing D's standardized test scores make firm evaluation difficult, but these stats could easily qualify her for merit aid at schools with the Muhlenburg or Northeastern level of selectivity.</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to Lycoming. They did not award "merit aid" like other colleges. They look at everyone and then offer grants, which are tied to financial statements. Bottom line was the same, but if your fin aid staus changes so could the grant amount.
You might want to check out Lebanon Valley, in a small town east of Harrisburg. They give auto merit aid to all students in the top 30% of their class.</p>
<p>We will check those out. She will take the SAT for the first time in Oct. She is doing a prep class also. Hopefully she will do well the first time around. </p>
<p>It allows you to look at every college/university by state; when you click on the name of the school, it goes directly to that school's website. It's handy, especially if you're looking for a particular place.</p>
<p>Trustee Scholarship ~ $18,000 per year ~ Students who rank 1 st or 2 nd in their class (of 30 or more students) at the end of their junior year of high school are eligible for this scholarship. </p>
<p>Faculty Scholarship ~ up to $18,000 per year ~ Students with a minumum GPA of 3.65 on a 4.00 scale and a total SAT score (math, critical reading and writing sections) of 1950 (ACT composite score of 29) or above are eligible for this scholarship. Interviews with the Dean of the College and a faculty department chairperson are required, but a minimum of $16,000 will be awarded to all qualifying candidates who enroll at Lycoming. Interviews can be arranged through the Office of Admissions and must be completed by March 14, 2008. </p>
<p>Departmental Scholarship ~ up to $15,000 per year ~ Students with a minimum GPA of 3.30 on a 4.00 scale and a total SAT score (math, critical reading and writing sections) of 1800 (ACT composite score of 27) or above are eligible for this scholarship. An interview with the appropriate departmental chairperson is required, but a minimum of $13,000 will be awarded to all qualifying candidates who enroll at Lycoming. Interviews can be arranged through the Office of Admission and must be completed by March 14, 2008.</p>
<p>Dean’s Scholarship ~ $6,000 to $12,000 per year ~ Students with a minimum GPA of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale and a total SAT score (math, critical reading and writing sections) of 1500 (ACT composite score of 22) or higher are considered for this scholarship..</p>
<p>Transfer Scholarships ~ $6,000 - $12,000 ~ New transfer students who have completed 24 credits and have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or higher qualify for this scholarship.</p>
<p>cmbmom, my kid was a val and Lycoming has a val scholarship. That's the only reason I knew about their merit aid program, but dang it looks like it has been expanded. That sounds like guaranteed moo-lah to me at not unreachable numbers. The $12k Dean's with a total COA of $34K gets you below a lot of state schools.</p>
<p>Costs at York
A student's financial aid package is based on total educational costs incurred during the academic year. York College's costs for the 2007-2008 academic year are as follows:*
Resident<br>
Tuition and Fees $12,750<br>
Room and board** $7,410 Room and board**<br>
$20,160 </p>
<p>Estimated costs: Estimated costs:<br>
Books/supplies $1,000 Books/supplies $1,000
Personal expenses $1,500 Personal expenses $1,250
$22,660 Total COA</p>
<p>Dean's Academic Scholarship**
All information is subject to changes in the federal/state regulations and York College policy. </p>
<p>A scholarship of one-third tuition per year for one hundred fifty (150) entering first-time, full-time freshmen who have graduated in the upper two-fifths of their high school class and have a combined critical reading and math SAT score of 1150 or higher with a minimum score of 540 on the math and critical reading sections or a composite ACT score of 26 (optional writing test required) with a minimum score of 24 on the math and English sections.</p>
<p>For those graduating from a high school which does not rank students, the Admissions Office will determine eligibility based on academic record. A minimum grade point average of 3.25 is required to renew the scholarship each year for up to four years. One-half of the scholarship will be awarded annually to those maintaining a grade point average of 3.00 to 3.24. Priority given to candidates who submit completed applications, transcripts, and all required supporting documentation by January 1.</p>
<p>OT: Gee. I posted 5 out of the last 6 times. I really need to get a grip. (And yes, this exactly how D and I did the search.) LOL.</p>
<p>I think Alfred Unversity in Western NY is a small gem with COA of 31k to 35k depending upon the school one is attending. They, also have a number of gauranteed scholarships for GPA and SAT scores.</p>
<p>speech529, You mention what you can't afford, but how much can you afford? I think you are going about this slightly the wrong way. Many colleges have learned that it is not good for their reputation to be considered a "bargain." Rather than charge $20k for a full year they do better by charging $35k and offering $15k scholarships to many or most of their students. The families are also much happier to attend a $35k college with a $15k scholarship than they would be attending a $20k bargain basement school, even tho the $$ out of pocket are exactly the same. </p>
<p>The search for an inexpensive school based solely on their advertised rate may exclude lots of great opportunities. </p>
<p>You might be pleasantly surprised at the merit aid offered to your daughter by schools outside the top tier, many of them very nice schools.</p>
<p>Check out Hood College in Fredricksburg, MD. Hood offers nice merit aid and is a well-respected LAC and offers some nice programs AND rolling admissions, which can be a real life-saver during the college search. We have a family member there who benefitted from their generous aid and is she very happy. Fredricksburg is about an hour west of Baltimore and about an hour south of the Pennsylvania state line.</p>
<p>NJres--your points are excellent and thank you for making them. We could afford something like that. We will not rule out any school just because their total cost is around $35K, but we would have to have some assistance with that. </p>
<p>Her success in obtaining merit aid obviously depends on how she ends up this year with her overall GPA, rank and SAT scores. She attends a very competetive high school so maintaining a higher class rank is difficult. GPA is unweighted. There are many students who take heavy AP loads beginning sophomore year. Our DD isn't that type of student; she is taking her first AP this (junior) year.</p>
<p>She is a hard worker and puts her all into it. Her EC is Speech/Debate which takes a few hours of her time 4 days per week after school and and many hours on competition weekends.</p>
<p>I appreciate everyone's suggestions and welcome more! We plan to attend the presentation in our city for Loren Pope's "40 Colleges that Change Lives". All the school reps will be in town so that will be a nice introduction to some good LACs around the country.</p>
<p>Susquehanna, north of Harrisburg PA., St Joseph in Philly, Mount Saint Mary's in MD, 15 mins southeast of Gettysburg, PA. Washington College on MD's eastern shore has an auto scholarship for any NHS student they admit. If you are reading Pope, you will see that Lynchburg, in VA, is also generous with merit aid. Goucher College, Towson MD, a Balto suburb.</p>