<p>Although some schools have later deadlines, specific programs and majors have earlier deadlines. I think yu need to check out each school and then each program…earlier is better.</p>
<p>I would apply to SUNY Purchase unless I was interested in the arts which is its strong suit. There have been articles in our local paper about things like not offering enough Spanish classes (Spanish! not even an obscure language for kids to graduate in time.) Like California, NY has severe budget problems and the SUNYs are likely to be victims.</p>
<p>As for the rest, I agree with the others. Apply early.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>They do, however, promise the same level of FA for all four years, which sounds like the right thing to do, though few colleges do it.*</p>
<p>Remember that such a promise hinges on income/assets not greatly increasing.</p>
<p>*Seattle University seems to have pretty good aid but it is expensive and I’m not sure what the gap might be. *</p>
<p>Seattle U is known for merit for high stats. It’s merit aid grid can be found here, but as you can see, his GPA would prevent him from qualifying even if he increases his ACT/SAT. .[Seattle</a> University - Undergraduate Admissions - Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.seattleu.edu/admission/undergraduate/inner.aspx?id=37010]Seattle”>http://www.seattleu.edu/admission/undergraduate/inner.aspx?id=37010)</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s know for being generous with institutional need-based grants of more than $10k. It relies heavily on Pell & SEOG for lowish incomes, Stafford loans, work-study and Washington grants for Wash residents. Therefore, it’s reported numbers include those amounts. SU also does “preferential packaging” which means those with need and higher stats get better packages.</p>
<p>Since you believe that you might be able to afford SUNY OOS (COA $25k - not including travel or personal expenses) or a UC (COA about $28k), does that mean that you might have a FAFFSA EFC of about $25k+? A rough estimate is often about 23% of income if assets/savings are modest. </p>
<p>If you don’t know your likely FAFSA EFC, you should run an EFC calculator.<br>
FA Calc<br>
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator - Finaid)</p>
<p>I would affirm the general consensus on this thread - get those applications in as early as possible. Two semesters will not raise his cumulative GPA enough to justify the risk of missing out on opportunities. </p>
<p>Our DD wrote her essays and completed her applications during the summer (last year) and handed them into the GC on the first day of school. We figured that the GC would have the time and focus to prepare the best picture of our DD’s potential (LOR/evaluation forms) before the big rush of applications flooded in. </p>
<p>DD was accepted to 10 of 12 schools and waitlisted at the other 2 within 8 weeks, so not only was the burden of applications off her shoulders at the start of school, but she was able to carefully evaluate her choices and commit before Thanksgiving break. </p>
<p>FYI, Every school still required mid-year grade updates and final grades. Great grades senior year would just be “icing on the cake” for your DS’s applications, just as they were for our DD.</p>
<p>Youdont’say and Mom of 2collegekids have given you great advice as well as the other posters. OUR GC gave my son terrible advice so you really have to be proactive in the college and scholarship application process. I have just a few comments to add:</p>
<p>1.Do you know about the Western Exchange Program? [Western</a> Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) | Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education](<a href=“http://wiche.edu/wue]Western”>Save On Tuition | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)) I am not the most familiar with it but basically here is what the website says:</p>
<p>" Students who are residents of WICHE states are eligible to request a reduced tuition rate of 150% of resident tuition at participating two- and four-year college programs outside of their home state.
WICHE states include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Da</p>
<p>Students who are residents of WICHE states are eligible to request a reduced tuition rate of 150% of resident tuition at participating two- and four-year college programs outside of their home state. The WUE reduced tuition rate is not automatically awarded to all eligible candidates. Many institutions limit the number of new WUE awards each academic year, so apply early! WICHE states include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming." </p>
<p>I would look over the list with your son and see if there are any schools that interest him since the program can save you a lot of money. As the WEU program’s own website says “apply early.” My DS also went to Catholic high school and a lot of students with similar stats got into University of Arizona. They have rolling admissions so if you want to boost your son’s confidence I would apply there since I remember they got back to the student within 2-3 weeks of applying. My experience is that money is limited so the early bird definitely gets the merit aid.I see that University of Oregon is part of the WUE.</p>
<ol>
<li> I know a lot of kids from my DS’s Catholic h.s. got into St. John’s Temple and Fordham with merit aid. Plus they got told pretty quickly of their admissions decision. I don’t the stats for Loyola of Chicago but that might be another possibility. My son’s friends love University of Portland and I hear Portland is a great city. Plus Portland was very generous with aid.</li>
<li> My son’s friends that got accepted to SFSU had trouble getting housing. Those that applied early and got accepted did get housing while the latter ones did not.</li>
<li> My son got sent via email and in the mail a lot of “priority applications” -these applications ususally waive application fees and no essay. Plus they promise to tell you very quickly of their decision. You might ask your son if he has received any. These type of apps start coming in pretty soon and are a good option to get an acceptance or two under your belt.</li>
<li>If I remember correctly schools have EFC calculators so I would look at those for an idea as to what type of money you could accept.
6 Finally my alma mater University of San Diego might be another option for your son. Jenny Craig and Joan Kroc of McDonalds gave the school a ton of money so there is the Center for Peace Studies which I believe has an International Relations Component as well as a brand new student union. The campus is gorgeous and San Diego has a done of things to do. Frankly when I got to my graduate school after being at USD for undergrad I thought I had been in a bubble for 4 years. USD is a great campus and school. </li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Sorry I forgot one other point. Teachers get bombarded with requests for recommendations. I found the later you waited the longer the teacher took and some teachers just didn’t do it at all. It has been my experience that teachers write “better” letters earlier in the year.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I cannot second this strongly enough. No matter what you read about X school offers great merit aid or Y school admits many out-of-state students, you just never know what is going to happen in your individual case. Our family was very fortunate that our son carefully selected safety schools that he liked and felt comfortable with. One of those schools really rolled out the red carpet and made him feel wanted (including a merit scholarship and an honors college invite with dorm and class scheduling privileges), so when his top two dream schools both short-changed him with their FA offers he was perfectly willing to go there and has been very happy with his decision since.</p>
<p>itsv, you are soo right! </p>
<p>DD requested teacher rec letters at the end of Junior year. Those were amazing letters, showing real personal knowledge of our daughter and of her potential. The teachers told her how much they appreciated her making her requests early. </p>
<p>A friend of DD’s waited until mid-senior year to ask for recs, and 2 of the teachers never followed through.</p>
<p>Thanks for the wonderful advice which DS will be following. </p>
<p>His TO-DO list: He’ll take a last hard look at his college list and add some suggested on this forum and delete others that simply couldn’t happen unless we won the lottery. He intends to get the Common App sent out by mid-September. At his Sept.1 appt. with the GC he says he’ll thank her politely and explain his decision to go ahead sooner rather than later if she presses him on it. He’ll hand her his brag sheet and request that she emphasize the upward trajectory in grades in her letter.</p>
<p>He emailed the HS prinicpal last week, received an immediate, warm reply, and will meet with him next week. Principal said he’d be happy to write LOR to the Catholic schools. Next up, he’ll ask the English teacher for a letter and he’ll ask soon- before she is inundated. Unfortunately the APUSH teacher has left, but he has the letters covered, I think, and by teachers who are almost as pleased as I am with his progress from meh to As in rigorous classes.</p>
<p>My HW is to get a close estimate of what our EFC will be. OMG-do I even know how to do this and how much do I fear the number?!
Thanks a ton, everyone.</p>
<p>Immediately after filing the FAFSA this year, I ran the EFC calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board) using the figures I’d entered for the real thing. The CollegeBoard calculator produced exactly the same figure as the FAFSA for the Federal Methodology, and the Finaid calculator came out about $1000 higher. Since Happykid wasn’t applying to any of the CSS Profile schools, I had no reason to file that form and can’t speak to the accuracy of either calculator for Institutional Methodology.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>calv1n, chect out the fafsa4caster. We did that a year before our actual FAFSA, and it was only $100 off the actual one.</p>