http://www.berea.edu/admissions/financial-aid-scholarships/bereas-tuition-scholarship/ One of the CTCL schools with free tuition for all students.
Why does she want to do engineering? It seems that may be part of the problem. Is this a passionate interest?
I question whether the OP really wants help and advice. As I asked earlier- I wonder if this thread was primarily a vent- to say things he doesn’t want to say at home. Or it could be as another poster suggested… The “poor me, everyone’s out to get us” approach to having a problem - in which case offering solutions would be counterproductive…
Attending a too-expensive school for frosh year would be a bad idea, as it limits future options significantly – far fewer merit scholarship options as a transfer student, and using up lots of money on an expensive school (instead of a low cost community college) means that the price limit for potential transfer schools is even lower than it otherwise has to be.
The more financially viable options for this student are either a gap year with a new application list that is merit-seeking, or starting at a community college and then transfer to a state university, if that is more affordable than four years at a state university.
This is an example of poor planning by the family and the boarding providing poor counsel. It seems like UiUC was the expectation. Columbia and Chicago were reaches. Denver was unrealistic financially for the family.
The best advice we received came from a counselor at a local private school who gave a free seminar to the community (my D went to a public school in the area). She advised doing a lot of research up front to see which schools were good fits for your child’s interests and were financially viable. With that work completed then apply to 6 to 10 schools consisting of 1 to 3 reach schools, 3 to 4 schools that are in range and 2 to 3 “safety” schools.
I cannot tell how valuable we found that up front work. My D applied to 6 schools that she knew she would be happy to attend and we knew we could afford. It was a relatively stress-free process after that.
Columbia and U. of Chicago are very expensive. Columbia does not offer merit and apparently Chicago not much, since it has become so selective, Denver is too expensive and engineering at UIUC is too. So there was no affordable option on the list. UIUC for something other than engineering would have worked.
The academic stats, even with a higher ACT, won’t get this young person into top colleges. That’s just not how it works. I again suggest she do something interesting for a year; or, alternatively, since money is an issue, do the cc route.
The family got along with less income in the past. Only they know if they can again get along with less liquid cash after providing full tuition for their child at a college that is satisfactory but costly.
I think relying on merit money is risky in the situation as it stands.
Isn’t Berea for lower income students? It’s original mission was to provide college education to poor students in Appalachia. If the OP has a higher income, such that they don’t qualify for that much financial aid, they aren’t the target pool for Berea either.
I believe @lostparent is the dad. I wonder where the mom is in all this.
I’m starting to have a different take as I think about this situation:
I’m wondering if the daughter knew what she was doing with her college apps – maybe she was feeling ambivalent and really didn’t want to attend college – or perhaps she did feel comfortable the idea of Denver and didn’t quite understand the financial aid issues.
It’s just that the college list is so offbeat that I can’t imagine that it is what the college counselor at the boarding school came up with. Maybe the D. really was feeling burned out – figured she’d throw in some apps to super-reaches just to see if she would get in, and chose Denver as her safety. The single app to Illinois doesn’t sound like a kid who is enthusiastic about the idea of engineering… Sounds more like a kid who doesn’t have a clue what she wants to do next with her life and is very relieved at the prospect of taking some time off and getting a job. The speed with which she got a job seems to indicate that she can get what she wants when she sets her mind to it.
Unlike kids who attend local high schools, a kid who has been in boarding school for 4 years might not be all that eager for the moving away part of college — maybe she’s tired of dorm life and dorm food and not at all disturbed by the prospect of moving back in with the parents for a while.
Kids don’t have to to go straight to college-- sometimes a break of a year or two is the best choice a young person can make.
To the OP: I think now that you’ve vented on CC you might want to stop thinking about who to blame for the current situation and instead take some time to listen to your daughter. Tell her that you love her and you respect her, and any choice she makes going forward is o.k. with you. You might be surprised --she might be exactly where she wants to be right now.
@lostParent #120 Well, it is her list and her process. It’s not your fault. She needed to be mature enough to make a reasonable list. Next year, she can try again and the curate a reasonable list.
My take is slightly different.
We really don’t KNOW what the boarding school guidance counselor did…and the parent says they didn’t know either. The parent left it up to the school counselor…all of it.
So I would say…
This is an example of poor involvement by the family, and the boarding school, therefore, having insufficient information to craft a good application lost. UIUC was as unrealistic as the other given the impacted nature of this student’s major.
Anyway…as noted…that is the past. Time to move forward. I believe a few of us have offered a number of suggestions.
OP…are any of these the case?
SlackerMom, I have been told about Berea for years by a friend from Kentucky, who never mentioned a requirement that the family have financial need. However, it seems you are right: http://www.berea.edu/admissions/admission-information/admission-requirements/ Apologies!!
I think most Illinois residents are aware that UIUC is not the slam-dunk admissions for really good students the way it used to be years ago. I too am puzzled by the choice of U of Chicago over the more-obvious Northwestern if the goal was a reach school with an engineering program.
I completely agree, @thumper1 . Nothing else makes sense to me…
It’s not just “not a good application”, it is not having a plan A, B, and C.
The reason my son applied ED and EA to several schools including what we thought was a safety (but waitlisted him LOL) was that we wanted to get a gauge on how competitive he was. We plan to do this with our other children as well - at least a few EA schools including at least one safety to see how they fare.
When I was a kid, my parents did nothing except get asked for the check for each college app fee. Funny thing is, current college app fees are less than double they were back then, and tuition is now triple what is was back then…
Post #271, I’d say in general kids are dumb. My kid liked U of Chicago because something nuclear at the university. She is not even a good writer, not keen about a lot of writing nor reading but the marketing spiel got her.
Well, yes, good correction, but I meant that in a broader sense & probably thumper did, too. Didn’t have a good list, and the list is most essential, whether or not it includes Early Rounds. Diversified list, realistic list, list with limitations and goals in mind. And part of any Plan A, B is having a family conversation, and bringing that conversation to whoever should be helping, like a high school staff.
@compmom - I’m glad you found the relevant page for Berea because I couldn’t find it. 
Thought I was going nuts.
@thumper1 “This is an example of poor involvement by the family”
I think this is the lesson learned here exactly.
The college process is too important to blindly trust to an overworked school counselor, and a teenager. Especially when the parents have to end up paying the bill. At least one parent needs to understand: the process, the college options, the costs, that there are an adequate number of applications, that the student is happy with the schools, that the schools have the students potential majors, and that the schools are affordable.
I’d cut a lot of slack to parents who’ve undoubtedly been told how important it is to let the student take lead in this process, and who might reasonably assume that a private boarding school would have excellent college counseling.
I see families from a notable private school that never seems to ask about financial capacity as part of the college planning process. It happens.
^^So true, @much2learn. In our family that person was me. D applied to the 8 schools she had visited that most closely matched her academic interests, and where she felt a comfortable fit. I ran the NPCs and let her know what aid would be needed to make each school work. I double checked all deadlines, and pushed her to get items in early. Also encouraged submitting a portfolio at a few schools where she was uncertain about it.
The end result was great, and relatively stress free. But it took a considerable collaborative effort by GC, D, W and me to pull it all together.