I didn’t know Syracuse and Rochester are so expensive. Syracuse is not a reach school, why is it so expensive? BTW, He will apply a few safe schools you suggested. Thanks for all your information.
Syracuse is a private university, not a SUNY.
Most of the schools your son applied to are $70k+ a year and several are close to $80k. Unfortunately, private schools can be very, very expensive regardless of how selective they are. You should make sure these are affordable for you so you don’t get a “yes” that is really a “no” because of finances. Most of these schools give a majority of their aid to students with need as opposed to merit (there is some merit, but it does not make up the majority of the awards at the schools your son has listed).
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Each college he applied to will have an NPC (Net Price Calculator) on their website which should give you a good idea of how much they are likely to cost you if he gets in. It’s probably worth your time to fill those out (online, nothing official) ahead of time rather than being surprised. Here’s Rochester’s. Google the college and net price calculator and you should be able to pull up all the others.
https://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator/
Syracuse is a private university. It is also a major research university. There are a lot of expensive private universities.
Out of state public universities can be VERY costly too.
A school doesn’t need to be a reach school to be expensive.
Also…are you divorced? Do you own a business or are you self employed? Do you own real estate other than your primary residence? Are you international parents who earn their money abroad?
If yes to any of the above, the net price calculator MIGHT not be as accurate.
Many privates will discount tuition - i.e. via merit. Think a school like Clark or Hartwick - they are less known, may struggle to fill classes (at least at full pop) or might have to “buy” kids who get into “higher ranked” schools so they can improve their profile. Maybe a kid gets into Brandeis - but gets no or little merit - and Clark buys them in - as they’d help raise Clark’s profile.
Syracuse is one of the pre-eminent schools in many fields. It’s Newhouse School is often at the top.
It’s well know for Sports Management, architecture, it’s Maxwell School for Public Policy is #1 graduate but that draws people in undergrad (I’m a Maxwell undergrad) and it’s performing arts school is high end.
They offer merit - but the school brings in a lot of wealthy kids from the NYC/NJ area and California and many other places.
I could not find their Common Data Set to see what % earn need based aid…and yes, they offer merit based aid but not a ton - they don’t meet need.
Syracuse is definitely a destination school -and that’s the difference.
That it’s a match is no matter.
Again, for future parents, the budget talk needs to happen first - and hopefully you can find “affordable” schools that are still accepting apps.
If you’re willing to look outside the NE, google U of Alabama + out of state merit and U of Arizona + out of state merit. You can figure your cost up front. To stay in the NE, use Hofstra’s net price calculator - it will give you your scholarship up front.
Good luck. Hopefully you get an acceptance and financial offer somewhere on your list that works for you but you really need to plan NOW so your son isn’t at a community college next year.
I checked online it says Rochester is 58k
You did the net price calculator or you are looking at tuition - Tuition is $58K but cost of attendance is $79K - meaning room, board, etc. and what they tell you it costs - it costs more - budget another $3-5K more.
Then you have inflation - another 3-5% a year or sometimes more. Some schools lock tuition four years - so you can look into that.
Or are you saying you did their net price calculator - and they are saying your cost including room and board would be $58K -meaning they will offer you aid.?
Thank you for detailed information. Yes, it is too expensive.
If all your son’s choices are too expensive - or if you fear they might be, you still have time to apply to cheaper schools. For a lot it’s too late but not for all. If you are in that pickle, let us know - and we can recommend some - as a back up.
Make sure you do the net price calculators though - a school like Rochester offers merit…not easy but offers as does SU. Tufts does not.
If you have need, Tufts and Rochester will meet it. If you don’t, Tufts is pricier than Rochester and gives zero merit aid.
So you do need to do the net price calculator - but then hit your home state schools for an app if not too late - and beyond that we can give you cheap recommendations - regionally or nationally - you’ll get your best costs going South or West - like Alabama or Arizona or smaller school UAH - and that’s just a couple - there’s many many more - and he can still apply.
I would sit down this weekend - get an entire picture of where you’ve applied to, the likelihood of affording the easier schools - and decide if you need more.
You can google any school and cost of attendance and you’ll get their sheet of total expenses.
You can also find on their tuition / aid tabs and all will have net price calculators. Just make sure you fill them out accurately.
Good luck.
Thank you so much for your help. Will talk to him. He is a very stubborn kid, don’t listen to us during the college application. He likes to do it all by himself. Thanks again!
This is our first time for college application. I guess next year it will be easier for his younger brother. We will take lessons from this year.
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First step starts with the budget. What is your budget for the first S and does your S know what it is? If Rochester is unaffordable, some of the other schools are also unlikely to be affordable.
Has he applied to any SUNYs or CUNYs yet?
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Especially if he has a younger brother…what you CAN pay for kid one matters. You don’t want to use every penny you have for this first kid, and leave kid number two with nothing left.
The most important conversation you need to have with this kid…is what you CAN and WILL pay annually for his college costs. He needs to understand that any college acceptance that does not meet your price point with all aid received…is not going to a realistic possibility.
Please consider your own family budget. Please.
ETA…your budget needs to consider all four years kid one is in college. It would be a shame for you to overextend for year one only to find out that with two in college…it’s just not possible to fund an additional three years…thus requiring kid one to transfer to a less costly college.
Will your kid be eligible for need based aid? That is a very serious question you need to know the answer to.
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It’s not too late for kid one and you to take some lessons NOW.
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Yes, applied a few.
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Is there a high school counselor you can talk with, explaining the situation, and having them be the person insisting your son send out a couple more applications to more affordable schools? The counselor is going to have to do their part anyway, and at least around me, they’re very familiar with trying to align colleges and finances.
Then I wouldn’t worry about the apps he already has out. They’ll come in with exact financial packages (or not).
Let him know now what you can afford to pay so he isn’t surprised when they come back in. He’ll likely be disappointed, but better to get that started now than when he’s excited to have gotten in, only to have his hopes dashed when you can’t write out a check.
I’d be calling the school counselor today.
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My 19 and 20 year olds applied to many east coast schools with similar stats 3.9 ugpa, 33/34 act, 7/9 AP’s, and UMASS, UCONN, Temple and UDel came down to about $35,000 a year after merit. My 20 year old graduates in May a year early from UDel honors, they took all of her AP classes. We couldn’t afford prestige.
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In my opinion, if you have multiple children, you need to set a budget for your first child that you can also afford to pay for ALL of your children. Then insist that they stick with the budget.
You should try to minimize or avoid debt if this is reasonably possible. It is not always possible to avoid debt. Both of our daughters discovered after graduating from university that having avoided debt was very helpful in terms of what they could do next. Many first jobs after university do not pay very well, but can provide valuable experience.
Many, probably most students are restricted by their budget in terms of which universities they can afford to attend. In our case our budget did restrict which universities our daughters could attend, but they were able to find appropriate universities that were academically strong, were a good fit, and that fit the budget without debt.
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