<p>I guess they did, and that’s a shame. It was the best scholarship program I found when S1 was looking. </p>
<p>Check out the University of Toledo. It’s engineering program has a mandatory coop. I believe given the scores your daughter has they will give her some merit aid (I believe $6500). They have held prices in check for the last 3 years. Your child would qualify for at least $5500 in sub/unsub loans so it means you would need to come up with around $6 - $7 thousand/ year Tuition/Room/Board. Some of that would be defrayed by coop earning in future years. She can also earn money over the summer to help out. Our D is an engineering major, and UT was her safety school. She ended up at Purdue but she chose UT to apply as an in state school over tOSU and U of Cincinnati. It’s engineering program is more selective than it’s other programs. I suggest a visit since you live in Ohio. Good luck.</p>
<p>You are actually lucky to have several kids going to college at the same time as the EFC is for all kids in the same year. You should look for schools that give some need base aids (preferably need met if possible). Your total out of pocket cost would be less than have 3 kids going to college at different time. The $30K EFC will be splitted among them.</p>
<p>I’m not sure that it’s all that “lucky” billscho. To have the EFC split between siblings, they would all have to be “lucky” enough to be accepted to a “meets need” school that actually meets need as defined by the FAFSA. Sometimes I think finding that is apt to finding a needle in a haystack. </p>
<p>If I remember rightly, billscho you have a D entering UMich as an instate student. Michigan is one of the very few public universities that meets need for instate students. As far as I know there are no public universities that do that in Ohio. </p>
<p>It’s hard enough to get accepted to a school which purports to meet need and even rarer for one that meets the need of the FAFSA. I would not count on it. If it happens, it would be a great thing but nothing I would ever count on. </p>
<p>When my DS13 was looking one of the cheapest engineering schools after merit was Mississippi State University. First off your DD would already get automatic instate tuition plus and extra $1,000 a year for being Salutatorian. along with that they also have academic scholarships and engineering scholarships. DS had a better ACT but he was not close to being Salutatorian. However after merit aid if he would have gone there it would have cost less than $3,000 the first year and around $7,600/year for the following years. I would look at MSU. There are schools out there with good merit aid they just may not be the ones you first think of.</p>
<p>I know those EFC are scary but do not let them keep your child from applying, especially at need blind schools. Wait until they are accepted and actually have a financial aid package. Even then, I know for a fact at the Ivy Leagues you can appeal the financial aid package and I have known the parents’ contribution to be significantly lowered. You have to make the case that it will impact your day to day finances in a significant way, not just that it would be an inconvenience to pay. For example, if you could not pay your mortgage or could not pay for your car, that may fly. However, if you say that you couldn’t continue to buy your BMW 700 series each year, then they may not budge.</p>
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<p>Sadly this is true. I am a bit jealous of our friends up north.</p>
<p>Maybe I missed it, but did the D study for her first ACT, or take it cold? If that was an unprepped score and she appears to have a very good record otherwise, she may have a good chance to raise the score a lot. She needs to understand that this is the one thing she must find time for between now and that test. If she could raise her score to 32, she would get automatic full tuition scholarship to U Alabama, for example. A better score on that test would open a lot of financial doors.</p>
<p>Of course it’s late, and applications must be planned with the idea that the score may not go up by much. But it is possible so long as the D is not ordinarily someone who struggles with tests. </p>
<p>@deb922 Imagine the kids are not going to college at the same time and the OP needs to pay at least the EFC for much longer time. Still, the kids may go to need met or non need met schools in either case and having them share the EFC is the best scenario to have the lowest out of pocket cost. Even schools do not meet full need, they may still provide some need based aids and that depends on the need which is related to the EFC.</p>
<p>If she can get her test scores high enough, Case will give money (and obviously, you know that they’re well-respected for engineering).</p>
<p>SD Mines is a school with really cheap OOS costs and their grads do pretty well.</p>
<p>URochester discounts in various ways: <a href=“University Reveals the Secrets of Winning Merit Scholarships - CBS News”>http://www.cbsnews.com/news/university-reveals-the-secrets-of-winning-merit-scholarships/</a></p>
<p>Better test score would help a lot there, though, I suspect.</p>
<p>Purdue does give merit money to OOS, but she’ll likely need a better test score.</p>
<p>Finally, for ChemE, UMinny is very well-respected, and not only is their OOS tuition cheap (COA within your limit, I believe), but if you get their Gold National scholarship (top 5/10% of class), you only pay in-state tuition.</p>
<p>From here <a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/</a> , and the original post of 3.98 HS GPA and 27 ACT:</p>
<ul>
<li>Prairie View A&M would give her a full ride.</li>
<li>Tuskegee would give her full tuition; raise the ACT to 29 (or 1300 SAT CR+M) to get a full ride.</li>
<li>Howard would give her full tuition; raise the ACT to 29 (or 1300 SAT CR+M) to add room; raise the ACT to 32 (or 1400 SAT CR+M) to get a full ride. Note: first come first served, so apply early.</li>
<li>If she raises the ACT to 32 (or 1400 SAT CR+M), Louisiana Tech would give her a full ride.</li>
</ul>
<p>All of the above do have ABET accredited chemical engineering degree programs. These schools can function as affordable safeties (depending on whether she raises her ACT or SAT score – she should sign up for both for two chances) while she also applies to other schools with competitive full ride merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Sorry; I have never been one to mince words. You say you don’t want to be a dream crusher and she doesn’t want to go to a state school?? Truth is she has a 27 ACT. Tell her she needs to formulate a list around her score and your affordability. Not so sure what the question is?</p>
<p>I suggest you and your D visit your state school. Sit in some engineering classes and labs. Maybe do an overnight with an engineering student. Once your D gets a chance to see the type of student going there she may decide it isn’t that bad after all. Good luck.</p>
<p>You wrote:
“Our EFC is about $30K per year, since someone asked. If I drastically changed my already modest lifestyle, and I do mean drastically, I might be able to do half that.”</p>
<p>The EFC is an equation, right? I would not take it personally. I certainly wouldn’t change my modest lifestyle over it!</p>
<p>But to the nuts-and-bolts of your problem. Your daughter wants to study engineering. At someplace like Ohio State, that is going to cost 22K per year for tuition, plus living costs. So, as a ball-park figure, it will cost about $40K a year.</p>
<p>OK, you are right. That’s a lot of money.</p>
<p>As I mentioned in #61 our D is a ChemE at Purdue and she chose to do a 5 session co-op. She is in her first session now. While we are very happy that she was able to attend Purdue and feel it was the best fit for her, other universities offer just as much opportunity to co-op as Purdue. There are at least 18 students co-oping with the company my D is working for. They come from a myriad of schools Purdue obviously, U of Cincinnat, U of Louisville, Missouri and I’m sure others I don’t know about. The point I’m trying to make is that there are opportunities available at all engineering schools. </p>
<p>@janniegirl: To elaborate on post #6: how much in non retirement savings, investments etc., do you have and can you spend some on college costs?</p>
<p>mindfully, the $22,000 COA at OSU includes rm/bd. But not transportation/books/personal expenses. Those are typically closer to $2,000-3,000 per year than $18,000. But it is still a lot of money.</p>
<p>ucb, the 3 schools you listed are HBCU aren’t they? I don’ know about Louisiana Tech, but the otheres. I always hesitaite to recommend those unless I know the race of the student.</p>
<p>ACT is in less than 3 weeks. Hope she is prepping like mad in every free moment. Is she back at HS already? </p>
<p>About EFC when multiple children are in school simultaneously. I have no personal knowledge, but from reading here on CC I got the idea that the EFC changes to ‘EFC plus.’ Plus what? Is it 15-20% higher? Others know better than I?</p>
<p>
Would you hesitate to recommend a historically white college without knowing the race of the student?</p>
<p>^ I just knew someone would say something like that, almost didn’t put that in. Don’t want to start something here, just it’s good to be aware. Most colleges are historically white so it doesn’t generally need to be noted. That is the default setting.</p>
<p>The bad news is that you seem to be in the middle class catch 22. You don’t make enough to pay the high tuition costs but you make too much to get much in the way of financial aid from schools. The good news is your daughter wants to study engineering and while it is true recruiters will recruit more from nationally known schools, the job prospects are much better for engineering majors in general than other majors. I also believe opportunities for females in engineering are are good. </p>
<p>First set a budget. Establish how much you are willing to pay for your D college education for 4 years. Find an academic and financial safety. That will likely be an Ohio public school. It’s not likely to be her first choice (for some reason grass is almost always greener in some other state). From there choose schools that fit her well. If it’s ChemE then U of Minnesota or Purdue are well regarded for her stats. Chances are she would have a good chance of acceptance and the question would come down to scholarships and financial aid. Finally, there are schools to which she can apply, however, they tend to be VERY selective. MIT, Northwestern, U of Michigan, etc would fall into this category. A problem with many of these schools is that they will likely not help fund your education beyond the EFC. Many of them require the CSS Profile which may alter your EFC further. After she gets her acceptances you will need to wait until the full financial aid package is sent and choose between ones that fit your predetermined price point. Remember to look for local scholarships as well they can help defray hundreds if not a couple thousands of dollars in costs for someone who is at the top of their HS class. Don’t be afraid to work either over the summer or even at school to help with the costs. The closer to home you are the cheaper the travel component. Our D had a donut which kept her within a six hour drive of home but outside our city.</p>
<p>Nearly any engineering program is going to be more rigorous than the academics at the school in general. It also means that the competition for scholarships are going to be more competitive since those applying to engineering programs tend to be at the upper tier of their classes. Good luck. </p>