First Post-be gentle :)

Parents Forum
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DD has been working on this list for a while. We have done quite a few tours. She doesn’t like big schools and/or schools in a city setting (though there is an outlier) She really doesn’t want to add any at this point.

Some stats: female, junior, 3.7W, almost all honors and AP. Will have 4 years at 3 V level sports but is not good enough to play V at college level. She would like to play something at intramural or club level though. Has maybe 100 volunteer hours, will be shadowing a doctor this summer (was originally thinking premed, is unlikely now) May major in English or Bio (again, not sure; it may change depending on school she’s applying to), is currently on student executive board, will have two years of mock trial, is a peer minister at church, will be a stretch leader at her Catholic school next year, would love some merit but realizes this is probably only possible at her safety schools. Ran some net price calculators and looks like we may get about $20-30,000 in FA. We can comfortably afford about $20,000 but may be willing to borrow a little.
First time SAT score 1290 (yikes!) She took a prep class and is now waiting on scores from her second try; was testing at mid 1300 prior to taking. Taking ACTs in June so no score there yet. Will study more and re-take SATs again end of summer probably. Would like to clear 1400.
She has a lot of interests and will be involved in lots of extracurriculars, very social. Refuses to play the college admission game and only does activities that interest her. So far she really likes the feel of the small LACs and a very traditional campus.

Here is what she’s come up with for Reaches, Matches, and Safeties.

Reach: Hamilton, URochester (loves the open curriculum!)
Match: UMass Amherst (the outlier large school), WPI & Clarkson (only if she decides on bio), Sarah Lawrence (may take off due to expense), St. Lawrence, SUNY Geneseo, Allegheny, Franklin & Marshall, Juniata, Lafayette. Didn’t really like Geneseo but it looks to be the cheapest option so we will visit again.
Safety: Wheaton (MA-open curriculum), Siena, Union (NY), Gettysburg, Muhlenberg, Susquehanna, Ursinus, UScranton, Washington & Jefferson (may come off—possibly too far)

Any input as to whether these schools are in the correct category would be welcome. There are different stats depending on what book or website you’re using, so we’re not really sure. Also, any input as to potential merit aid would be appreciated. She’s visited all but the PA schools, so any information you think might be helpful about them is welcome!

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I’d probably call Lafayette a high match/low reach, Union a match, and Juniata a safety. The key will be those test scores.

I know she doesn’t want to add schools, but I wonder with the strength of her ECS that are church related if catholic colleges wouldn’t be very interested in her. Based on geography, Holy Cross, possibly?

Overall, though, I think your list is reasonable. When you visit F&M and Gettysburg, you may want to swing by Dickinson - there are quite a few similarities.

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I just wanted to say welcome.

My d seems similar, as do the finances, and I look forward to seeing how your list develops.

My D really isn’t interested in the college search. I’ve contacted schools that I think would be a good fit for you and she doesn’t care to even look at the stuff that comes from them. :frowning:

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If you can only afford 20k, why are you giving short shrift to suny geneseo? Are you a New York resident? SUNY G and Binghamton (have you checked it out?) they are considered the Crown Jewels of the SUNY system. Why would you even consider taking on tremendous debt if you have the option of in state tuition at either one? They are also both substantially cheaper at out of state rates than all the private schools you mention. I’m a NJ Junior with higher stats than your daughter and I recently came to the conclusion (after getting caught up in worrying about status schools) that choosing a major where there are better employment prospects (STEM)and having little or no debt, is far more wise than overextending to pay for an expensive private school. My parents both went to state schools and are very successful. When we started our college tours I was convinced the only place for me would be an Ivy or expensive private school like Stevens. I’ve done a 180 since then and my top two choices are in state at Rowan engineering followed by The College of NJ. Good luck to your daughter. Take a look at Binghamton, it’s less than 40k out of state and less than 30k in state

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Except for Geneseo if you are instate…ALL of the schools on your list will exceed $20,000 in costs.

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Welcome to CC and the parents forum

What is your home state? I agree with @thumper1 that any public university outside of your home state will end up being out of budget.

If you are a NYS resident and your family meets the income threshold, she could be eligible for free tuition at SUNY bringing the cost in under budget.

https://www.suny.edu/smarttrack/types-of-financial-aid/scholarships/excelsior/

You need a bottoms up approach making sure that she has at least 3 sure bet (safety schools so that she can have a choice) that meets the following:

She will be able to get admitted
the school is a financially feasible option for your family
It has her intended major
If it is the last option standing, she would be happy to attend.

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UMass Amherst is about as far from a small LAC feel as you can get. Have your D look at Hampshire College, which in a college consortium with UMass/Mt Holyoke/Smith/Amherst. She could take courses at UMass.

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In my opinion, the private universities on this list will come in over $20,000. Many are $50,000 plus a year schools…some above $60,000 a year.

If you can’t afford Sarah Lawrence, how will you afford the other private schools on this list?

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If you are a NYS resident, SUNY Binghamton is generally regarded as the best SUNY. Have you considered the state supported schools at Cornell? She could get a great bio education at the Ag school. Check it out.

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Thanks all for the replies.

gardenstategal: DD attends a Catholic school so many of her extracurriculars skew in that direction, but she isn’t really looking for a Catholic college (though we have Siena and UScranton in the mix) She really disliked Holy Cross, unfortunately. Also, the reason we put Union into the safety category is that Naviance showed dd had higher stats than all students in her high school that were admitted.

aspringingeng: We are not instate for SUNY schools and certainly don’t look down on them :slight_smile: dd just didn’t like it when we visited. However, we weren’t able to do a formal tour so we will go back and check it out. They are still the least expensive option, even as an OOS. An admission rep we spoke with thought that there could be some decent merit as they are looking to increase their oos student body. We looked at Binghamton, but it was too big.

thumper1: we have several siblings that have been through the college search process. All have told us that both financial and merit were all over the place and not to keep anything off the list due to price. All kids had similar stats (actually my dd has higher rigor classes) and we are of similar incomes. I think they have all paid less than $20,000 between financial and merit for their kids, in the $16,000 and $17,000 range per year. They all went to “known” schools in the Northeast.

sybbie719: we are instate for UConn and she absolutely hated it. I mean sure I could force her to go, but I’d like not to have to do that unless we really had no other choice. She just doesn’t want a big school/big classes. I don’t know where the love for UMass Amherst came from, but I suspect it will come off the list when it’s time to apply.

bromfield2: can’t see her at Hampshire at all. Have a cousin who attends. Not her type of scene at all. Mt. Holyoke maybe (if she wanted to be in the consortium) but not Hampshire. She actually liked Mt. Holyoke but decided against an all girls college.

Again, new to all this, but I figured if financial aid would bring the price down to $30,000 maybe we could get some merit to bring it to $20,000. This may be very naive thinking, but with the experience of my siblings I was hopeful we’d have similar results.

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We found Juniata’s net price calculator to be very accurate when my son was applying a few years ago with very similar stats (3.7 GPA, 27 ACT). With an average EFC of about 9,000, they’ve come in under 20K net all four years.

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In many cases…if a school gives you merit aid…it will reduce your financial need…and you will get less need based aid.

There are some schools that will allow you to stack need based and merit aid…but NOT all will allow this.

In terms of “known” northeast schools…if your family members got need based aid, that would be income dependent. Merit aid competition has gotten more competitive every year…so even awards received two years ago might not be there now for the same stats.

In addition, I do not know ONE college in the northeast that has guaranteed merit aid…which means that even having the same stats would not guarantee merit aid for another student having the same stats.

Please…you need a safety on your list first and foremost. A safety is a school that your kiddo will absolutely be accepted to, that she is willing to attend…AND will be affordable. Which school is your safety?

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I think Geneseo could be her safety. She didn’t like it but she didn’t hate it as much as UConn. Its size is attractive and the campus was nice. That’s why we’re taking another look. She may ultimately be forced to go to UConn, though without merit or FA it’ll be over our budget too :frowning:

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Cost of attendance for OOS students at Geneseo is $30,000 plus this year.

That is over your budget of $20,000.

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Re your siblings’ experiences: did they have more than one kid in college at the same time? Do you have more than one child, and how many years will they overlap? Their merit and financial aid might differ significantly from yours, even if the cousins’ stats and income are similar, if the number attending at the same time is different.

Use the NPC for each school. Merit and FA really aren’t all over the place unless you have unusual finances (divorced parents, small business, etc.) If you get a number under $28,000-$30,000 or so, you might look further. But if you’re getting prices in the $30,000+ range, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to afford those schools.

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If you are willing to look at St Lawrence, you could also look at SUNY Potsdam. Good school, great value. Cute college town.

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So you live in Connecticut. Why oh -why given what I assume to be your modest financial resources would you go to either private or out of state public when you have so many great in state public schools that would would be far cheaper and provide as good an education??? If you are like my family, you’re neither rich or poor, you’re middle to upper middle class. Why go into greater debt than you have to??? My hope for you and your daughter is that you come full circle and realize the impact of large debt will outweigh ANY subjective edge any of the private or out of state public schools have in terms of the value and future opportunity.

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Also don’t forget that heaven forbid if you fail to carry the min gpa for merit aid at some of those schools the price will shoot up and then what do you?

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@taverngirl , I am a huge fan of Naviance because it gives information based on your school, and based on that, I would guess that your DD would be accepted at Union (although her scores don’t put her in the top 25%, which is usually what makes a school a satety.) BUT, you should be aware of a couple things… if your school uses 5 years of data (which our smaller school did to create a reasonable size data set), it may miss a trend of a school getting more competitive, especially if kids don’t apply consistently every year. It also doesn’t flag hooks your DD might not have (athletic recruits, legacies ). Which is all to say that while Naviance is a great tool, you would be well advised to ask the CC at your DD’s school this same question and he/she probably knows more about the details of those kids. Naviance can really help you have a productive conversation with the CC.

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Eastern CT State University is about $23,000 a year.

Southern CT State University is about $25,000 a year.

If your student takes the $5500 Direct Loan, these would be within your budget.

Both of these schools have had lots of infrastructure work done…and really are fine places.