<p>Hi, I am new here and would like some advice. Our son is a HS Jr and a good student working on his AICE diploma. He has a 4.5 weighted GPA, 3.75 unweighted. He is a minority.
He's getting tons of pamphlets and emails on a daily basis from some very 'sexy' schools...ie Brown, Johns Hopkins, CalTech, Wake Forest...
We are having the hardest time figuring out what schools to apply to. He has no idea what he wants to major in, although he likes math and science much more than history and english, for example.
Our son is definitely more of an athlete that does well in school, rather than a scholar who enjoys the company of other scholars. I don't even think he'd be happy at some of the schools that are recruiting him, for that reason.
But it's hard to ignore the eye-catching brochures that keep rolling in from big name schools.
Here is the issue--we live in Gainesville, FL. Home of the Univ of FL. My son absolutely refuses to even apply to this school because a) it's huge b) he was born in Gainesville and has lived here his whole life and he wants to go away to college and c) there is no soccer team at UF and he wants to try to play college soccer. So this rules out UF and also FSU, my alma mater.
He would qualify for the highest FL Bright Futures award and we have a FL Prepaid Plan for him too. So a state school would cost next to nothing if he were to go to one for his bachelor's degree.
Rollins is one of the schools he's considering. But they emailed us a college cost calculator and after we plugged in the figures, he'd still need to borrow around $25K per year to attend this school!! We're not rich but we're not poor either. I can't in good conscience recommend he take out 100K in student loans to get a bachelor's degree that would basically cost him nothing if he were to go to UF, FSU, UCF, etc etc.
Does anyone have any opinions on some of the smaller state schools? For example, UWF, FGCU, etc? Schools like these have soccer teams, are the size he prefers, and would be very economical for him to attend. I am thinking that it's best to finish a bachelor's degree with as little student loan debt as possible; that way if he decides to go to grad school he could then borrow if need be without already having amassed a huge amt of undergrad debt. Sorry for the ramble. I'd like opinions and input. I realize that just because these schools are sending mailings to him doesn't mean he'd have a great shot of getting in. I'm trying to be the voice of reason between a starry eyed 16 yr old and wanting him to be happy vs. being saddled with loan debt throughout his 20's and 30's and regretting a decision he made as a teen. Any advice?</p>
<p>May I suggest USF and UCF? They are both big schools (actually UCF is larger than UF) but I think they are more highly regarded academically than the smaller state schools you were mentioning. Another option is University of Miami. While it is private, I have two good friends whose daughters received quite nice merit money and they were able to use Bright Futures and their prepaids there. For one family, it was pretty darn close to what they would have paid at FSU. Not sure how competitive there soccer team is though. I was very thankful when our son took sports off the table for college so we didn’t have to factor that in. (he’s gonna be a Gator!)</p>
<p>Is your son recruitable?</p>
<p>My previous manager was on the soccer for either UNF or UWF and I would never hear the end of all the greats things up North (I’m in South Florida). Maybe he can look at those colleges. Look at some “semi-sexy” schools that have a lower price and a strong athletic department. </p>
<p>I understand how you feel about it financially. I’ll be getting the highest Bright Futures and have FPP. My college won’t cost a dime. I thank my mom for it, but at the same time I’m a little miffed that I wasn’t able to apply OOS. Talk with your son about how far he wants to go and how far you want him to go so everyone’s ideas are out in the table.</p>
<p>Alas, Univ of Miami has no men’s soccer team. I can understand not wanting to go to a huge school. When I went to FSU in the early 80’s, I believe there were less than 25,000 students there. Now it’s almost doubled in size since I went there. Sports on the table certainly makes things harder. It’s very hard to ignore FL Prepaid and Bright Futures money, no matter how appealing these out of state college brochures make those schools seem.</p>
<p>Yes, he appears to be recruitable. But soccer players don’t typically get big bucks scholarships. Some of the private schools he’s been to, he’s been told that basically as an athlete if he wants scholarships he’d need to be apply for academic scholarships just like the rest of the regular, non athletic students would…no athletic scholarships per se, or possibly just a fraction of one. I see people in their 30’s that are married and both husband and wife are still trying to pay off loan debt and therefore can’t afford to buy a home and that just scares me. I had zero loan debt when I finished undergrad and grad school and it was a great feeling.</p>
<p>That scares me as well. That is why I went with USF. Great job on graduating both undergrad and grad with no debt! That’s my dream. </p>
<p>Do you think talking with him about his goals after college will get him to see the benefits of going to a college where he won’t be financially dragged down?</p>
<p>My mom sat me down and asked me about what I wanted out of college and after college. I wanted a BMW, an apartment, and to be able to support her while I’m in my career. She made it very clear that making $1000 monthly payments all the way into your 30s is a sure way in not getting any of those things.</p>
<p>We are in FL also. The good thing about FL state universities is that there are 4 fairly good options (UF, FSU, UCF, USF). That is more than in many other states.</p>
<p>The bad thing about FL state universities is that those are the only fairly good options. If you have a student who wants a smaller school you have to choose from some less appealing options.</p>
<p>Just because you are receiving emails and mail from colleges does NOT mean they are “recruiting” your son. Is he a recruited athlete? If so, that is different. If not, almost every student receives a ton of mail and emails from colleges. Our DD and DS got plenty, and much of it from schools where neither had an ice cube chance in hell of being accepted.</p>
<p>Your son should crafting a list of colleges based on his preferences (with financial discussions from you of necessary).</p>
<p>For FL residents, I find it very hard to pass on Bright Futures…a great financial incentive for strong FL students.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s a very good deal if you want to go to a big school.</p>
<p>Thumper1 I totally understand and agree with you about mailings not being a guarantee. He has had actual contact with coaches. Contact is semi limited til July 1st after junior yr… but as a fl res i find the combo of bright futures and fl prepaid too hard to pass up.</p>
<p>My 2 cents: we are also Florida residents with prepaid and highest BF. my son is currently at FSU after being accepted to their film school so there was no other choice for him. With that being said, if you only have prepaid for tuition and not housing, don’t forget to add in at least 6 thousand dollars for one year(2 semesters) for the dorm and another 3 tom4 thousand for food. Also, if you don’t have a local fee plan as part of your prepaid, you still pay over 100 dollars per credit hour in fees. If you bought tuition plan prior to 2007, you are exempt from most of that but still pay about 50 dollars per credit hour in fees, so it’s not completely at no cost, but room and board are the biggest expenses. Dorms and rent continue to increase each year as do the tuition fees and BF continues to decline each year. All things to keep in mind. Fsu’s top freshman scholarship is 2400 per year which we also got. UCF actually offered more(6,000 per year) which we turned down, and they give full ride(tuition and room) for NMF’s. at least they do right now. Did he take the PSAT this past October? Do you think his score is high enough to qualify for semi finalist status? Last year cutoff for Florida was 210 I believe and 214 the year before. Anyway, that makes a big difference as you can really have no costs at UCF if you are national merit finalist.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to high jack, but, Stanton, what do you mean by paying about $50 dollars per credit if you have the FPP tuition, dorm, and local fee plan?</p>
<p>Stetson University in Deland has a men’s soccer team and is pretty generous with merit aid. It’s worth a look.</p>
<p>Also, don’t forget about the Florida Resident Access Grant for private Florida schools. I think it was about $2150 last year.</p>
<p>If you have local fee plan then you would not pay the ‘local’ fees. Those are transportation, health etc. if you bought contract prior to July 2007, you also,don’t pay the tuition differential fee but if contract was first purchased after July 2007, you still,pay that fee. Each schools fees may be slightly different Have to look at their breakdown on their individual websites. Also, Prepaid dorms will usually be the cheapest ones. If you want nicer dorms, and you have a good priority number, you pay the difference between cheapest dorm and the one you want.</p>
<p>So, basically, I shouldn’t be charged any fees right?</p>
<p>Doesn’t sound like it, but I am most familiar with FSU since that is where my son is, some would still look at your specific schools breakout and/or talk to fin aid office. The only other fees I know of have to do with specific majors, so you could have lab fees or the like. My son is film school, so they have to pay 250 dollars per semester to,cover equipment costs, etc which are definitely not covered under any plan.</p>
<p>Thank you for clearing this up for me, Stanton.</p>
<p>Isn’t the highest Bright Futures $100 a credit hour? So if they take 30 hours a year, it’s only $3000? If you have prepaid tuition, BF may pay for food, but you still have to pay for dorms. Am I correct?</p>
<p>Can’t help to look for school outside Fl where your S might get merit money. As long as you are upfront that without merit you can’t afford to attend, it doesn’t hurt to apply.</p>
<p>OP, keep in mind your DS cannot take out $100k in loans. For instance he is limited to $5,500 on his own for Freshman year. </p>
<p>Any amount over that will either have to be a private loan co-signed by you and/or a parent Plus loan. YOU are on the hook for both of those and they cannot be discharged by bankruptcy and carry high interest rates.</p>