<p>It is March 16 and we have not heard yet. We live only 35 miles from Loyola, I called and was told they were mailed on Fri. last time they mailed something on a Friday we had it on Sat. Has anyone received it today or Sat.</p>
<p>I live in Northern Virginia, and I haven't received anything yet.</p>
<p>I live in silver spring, md and haven't rec'd anything yet</p>
<p>We live in New Jersey and got the bad news today--no financial aid above the merit scholarship my son got. Now we just have to decide whether or to get a loan to afford Loyola or send him to the College of New Jersey.</p>
<p>TCNJ is a great school! Truly, if you're looking for bang for the buck -- state school vs. Loyola w/ loans. If you're looking at a huge loan and debt for Loyola, I can't see justifying that over TCNJ. Good luck!</p>
<p>We too are from NJ . My D choose Loyola over TCNJ . She liked the program better (engineering & honors program) From an education standpoint, I agreeded it was a better structure for her and what SHE wanted from the college she would be attending. Yes, TCNJ would have been less expensive with the scholorship she received but she just couldn't see herself there being happy. We must have visited both schools atleast three times. Looking back, I know we made the right choice. Of course the economy wasn't as bad , I don't know if we would have done anything different if we were deciding this year. I can't put a price tag on how happy she is at Loyola. It is a hard & tough decision. Good luck.</p>
<p>We were also very disappointed in my D's financial aid package. She really loved Loyola, but the reality is that the price tag is just too expensive compared to other schools. We are waiting for one more fin aid package, and then she can make the big decision. She has been accepted to TCNJ, and luckily for us, she is more enthusiastic every day about attending there.</p>
<p>Penny,</p>
<p>Having been through this process with Son #1, I can see that once a kid moves on campus and unpacks, whether it's at the first, second, third or last school on their list, he/she rarely looks back. :) S's dream school was Syracuse's Newhouse School (journalism), a very select program. It was a happy day when he was accepted, but without any merit we hoped for financial aid that could make it possible for him to attend. That didn't happen either. He was heartbroken, but we explained we simply could not afford $40+K/year. So he moved to his second choice school, which gave him some merit, and he is now a happy junior -- who is glad he is in NYC and not Syracuse! :) </p>
<p>My D very much wants to attend another school in MD -- so far it's the only one not to offer her merit. We're waiting on the fin aid package (if any) to see if she can go. She knows this. Loyola wait listed her. She took a spot but, again, it depends on the fin aid. All her other schools have offered her good financial aid, and she is happily looking forward to attending one of them if Loyola or the other school don't pan out.</p>
<p>As long as you're honest w/ your kids as to what you can and can't afford, they're usually pretty good with it. Some take it better than others, but eventually most settle in quite happily once they take "ownership" of whatever school they attend.</p>
<p>Sound like your D is well on her way. TCNJ is terrific!</p>
<p>Thanks PMcMScot... I know that my D will be happy where ever she goes. I just didn't realize how emotional this decision making process would be.
What is your experience with TCNJ? I know that it has a good reputation and students we have talked to have had only great things to say. I think that it would be a perfect school for her ... size, academics, type of student, etc. My D just has to accept the fact that she will be staying in NJ for college!</p>
<p>My D's first choice school was Lehigh. While she was accepted , she wasn't offered any merit nor any other aid. I was broken hearted for her as was she, but while we had saved for college, it just wasn't enough to handle that tuition without any merit help. So she moved on with what we figured we could handle . She is an only child so we don't have any other children to consider. </p>
<p>I fully agree, once they are at the school, they happily adjust. As long as it is a school they can see themselves at with programs they are interested in.</p>
<p>Penny,</p>
<p>I'm a former Jersey girl. :) Actually, S #1 applied to and was accepted by Rowan (another NJ public)-- with a good scholarship. He liked it very much and would have been fine if that's where he ended up. TCNJ (was Trenton State College when I was applying to schools in the 70s) has become the crown jewel in the NJ public higher ed system, if I'm not mistaken. It's not at all easy to gain admission, and I know kids who go there take their studies very seriously in a very supportive academic environment. You're D will hardly be "settling" if she goes to TCNJ!</p>
<p>Melby: I absolutely agree! I told both my kids to be very sure that they could be happy at their safety schools, because that's where most kids end up if they don't get the merit or fin aid packages they hoped for from their dream schools. My kids each applied to a couple of safeties -- and by safety, I mean financially and academically. In both cases, each had a public and private safety -- and I think both would have preferred the public safety if I came to that.</p>
<p>Penny, my son will be headed to TCNJ in the fall as a bio major. He got a small scholarship there, and full tuition at Rowan. I wanted to cry reading the letter from Rowan. But my son liked TCNJ much more, so that was that, end of story.</p>
<p>He also got some very nice scholarships at some private schools, including the one that was his first choice (Ithaca) before he decided that TCNJ would be a better plan for someone who wanted to go to med school. My daughter has friends at TCNJ who were excellent students in HS. All of them told me how much they love TCNJ, which really made an impression. One of them transferred from Syracuse Newhouse. Go figure, but she hated Syracuse, hated the area, and I think that $ also became a factor as well.</p>
<p>I have since discovered that admission to TCNJ is very competitive, even more than I thought. I know quite a few qualified kids who were denied admission this year.</p>
<p>What kind of merit aid have you all been offered at Loyola Maryland?</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Loyola. He was his HS’s valedictorian and had very high scores on the standardized tests. He was accepted at Amherst, where there is NO merit aid. Our expected contribution was about $40K. $40K!! It was a disappointment when we told our boy that we couldn’t pull off Amherst. Then Loyola offered him a full tuition merit scholarship for four years. We literally cried. He loves Loyola and Amherst never comes up. My wife and I just pray that his merit scholarship isn’t threatened by the economy. And I mean we pray. From the moment we first stepped on campus, the three of us knew that Loyola was the place for our boy. Two weeks into the fall semester, he called home and told us, 'This is where I was meant to be."</p>
<p>To those who are talking about TCNJ, my nephew is a freshman there and reports great things. He is very happy on campus and is required to work very hard. He didn’t even make it home to Toms River for Easter.</p>