<p>There are many parents who pay full fare (60K/year) for their kids education, 50-60% of students at those top tier schools are paying full fare. Some of those top tier schools only offer need-based aid, and to families making less than 120K, and more generous ones would go as high as 180K (some CC parents are more knowledgable about this, of the exact numbers). The point is if your parents make over 120K, it is very unlikely your’ll get any aid. None of us like/want to pay 60K/year for college, but we do it because we feel that is what’s best for our kids, and we’ve saved for a long time to make it happen. Only for very few families, pay for tuitions out of current income is not possible.</p>
<p>If you are a rising senior, start immediately investigating local and national scholarships that you qualify for and fill them out. If you were somehow able to scrounge maybe 10k worth of merit scholarships it could mean being able to afford a school like Georgia Tech or Rensselaer(they give decent merit aid). A financial and possible academic reach based on your prelimenary criteria for a school would be something like Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>Most posters are right though about hammering out solid financial numbers from your folks. It sounds like your family falls in that “harsh middle,” where they make too much for need-based aid but not enough to cleanly pay the full ride. You’ll have to do some major investigating/number-crunching. Based on the academic numbers you have listed, there are plentiful schools out there that you qualify for and it’s good that you have specific wants in a school too.</p>
<p>I’ve given you three to check out . . . good luck!</p>
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<p>50-60% of kids at top schools pay full fare? Wow, I was under the impression that many of them got aid in some form or other, considering the funds that top colleges have. My total family income is less than 120 K - I guess I’m in luck then? It’s mostly b/c one of them nets most of the cash flow while the other takes care of me and my sibling. </p>
<p>True, a lot of people say that college is well worth it, and you’ll make your money back. But I’m a cynical person who thinks everything is overrated; unfortunately I usually don’t have any valid points on which to base my opinions off lol. I really need to untangle all this financial aid stuff.</p>
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<p>Will do, there’s 3 more schools that I know nothing about lol. Any recommendations for how to research colleges? Googling brings up too many sites obviously, and I don’t have a good filter as to what’s useful and what’s not.</p>
<p>I’ll come up with a solid number hopefully by tomorrow when my dad isn’t so sleep deprived (I’m not even sure where he is right now).</p>
<p>For safeties, start ‘at home’. Where did kids from your school get in? How were their grades? Course rigor? Those factors should help you find a couple of schools you’re fairly certain to be able to use as safeties. Naviance is a super tool. For us it’s through the school- there is a place the kids can go to look up homework, etc (they log in)- in addition to the current class stuff there is a tab for ‘college’ which lets them explore schools but also shows info about the past class(es) and where they were accepted. There are graphs (called scattergrams) which are a good opening tool. If you have a place like this through your school, you probably have Naviance.</p>
<p>Your parents probably have their hands full, as they are caring for a relative so you may not be able to have the detailed financial conversation soon. Still, do not assume that even with income under 120k per year you will qualify for lots of aid. You mentioned your parents sold the house, – if there is cash sitting in an account, that will be an asset they are expected to spend for college. For comparison, our family is just at the 120 range but because we had actually saved for college and have accounts for that, my son qualified for zero aid.</p>
<p>Identify your safety – that you can afford and will certainly get into – sounds like it could be UW which is a superb public university. Beyond that, narrow down your geographic and other requirements to help you build a list. For students with great stats like yours, your record gets you considered but remembe that Northwestern, Stanford, Johns Hopkins etc all reject thousands of well qualified students. </p>
<p>Good luck, this is an exciting, sometimes bewildering time for students and families.</p>
<p>oldfort–I don’t think your numbers are correct. In a quick check of the CDS for the Ivy’s, they are all above 80% of students receiving some kind of aid, and while some of that is loan aid, it is still aid. A very small percentage of what is given out, however, is loan aid, roughly 15% to 85% (grants/scholarships), meaning, maybe 20% at the most are paying full freight.</p>
<p>Hey OP,</p>
<p>A few more threads for you to look through.</p>
<p>You read the original under 3.6 thread; you might take a look at the similarly-themed thread from the next year.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1026754-under-3-6-applying-top-schools-2010-11-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1026754-under-3-6-applying-top-schools-2010-11-a.html</a></p>
<p>The following thread is a tad old but its OP was a high school student who went about searching for good deals and admissions safeties for high stats kids in a very organized fashion. She’s now at Swarthmore (need-based aid worked out for her).
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881237-ivy-caliber-safeties-matches-condensed-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881237-ivy-caliber-safeties-matches-condensed-advice.html</a></p>
<p>The biggest source of scholarship money is from schools themselves. Sometimes it’s guaranteed:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>Sometimes it’s not (e.g. USC’s non-National Merit, apply by IIRC Dec 1 for merit aid). Or, another example, University of Pittsburgh…where I would encourage you to apply. It doesn’t have sunny weather, but it’s a sports-mad town and you’d be a good candidate for some of their merit aid. Rolling admissions, meaning they accept (and award aid) as applications come in, so applying early in August or September would be wise. Sunny and strong college sports and merit aid: U Arizona (suggested upthread), U Alabama (maybe a little culture shock for a Washington guy?). In California, look at University of San Diego. Sunny but cold and great hockey team and merit: University of Denver (the private school, not the public school). Boston isn’t sunny but is sports-mad and a great college town–merit at Northeastern and Boston University. </p>
<p>You sound like you’re a quick learner, an excellent writer, and someone who’s got a clear view of things. It’s going to all work out. :)</p>
<p>Oh, and get ahold of a copy of Harry Bauld’s book on writing college application essays. It’s short and amusing and will help you whip your essays into shape.</p>
<p>While you are book shopping, get a copy of Paying for College without Going Broke. Lots of good information, and some clear explainations of financial aid, etc.</p>
<p>Univ of Washington is instate, they have an honors program and good sports teams.
Univ of Alabama offers great merit aid, great sports teams, nice honors program, love the rolling admissions (acceptance and aid).</p>
<p>When you say WA and top 30 HS, I’m pretty sure I know where you go. A kid from WA is not likely to enjoy 4 years in Alabama.</p>
<p>With your stats and your newfound enthusiasm for academics, you may want to look into Honors Colleges within the large public institutions. It will give you a better academic environment than if you were within the general classes, but you would have all of the big state school experiences. I would suggest looking into UW, Colorado, Arizona, and U. Texas - the one in Austin only.</p>
<p>Go ahead and try for Stanford. Their need-based aid is generous and automatic. My nephew with stats similar to yours is starting at UCLA in the fall, so that may be worth a look.</p>
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<p>46.3% at Dartmouth get some form of aid according to their website. 80% sounds way too high.</p>
<p>In addition to the sunny, good sports and not a liberal arts college, what other factors are important to you? This will help you narrow down your list. Off the top of my head for sports and sunny/warmish and west coast are: UCLA, USC, Stanford, possibly UCBerkeley (but not that warm). These schools have different feels to them. Arizona State or University of ARizona-- easier to get into, lots of opportunities, possibly merit, sports.<br>
I agree with Duke, UVA, Vanderbilt, Florida S. if you want to go farther away. Many of these schools, though, are highly competitive regarding admissions. You will need killer essays.</p>
<p>We found that looking at the prospective students section of the university’s websites helped. Some websites also specifically give a students’ perspective, with the caveat that there are always some people who will find fault. Take complaints with a grain of salt. Also, look at the “visits” section of this website, for some insight. You may not be able to visit these schools prior to applying. We found that we visited some after the student was accepted, if it was an affordable option to attend… but that does put visits off until April, making for a rushed month.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you. And agree that having a more detailed talk with your parents regarding finances will help. YOu can always apply to schools with the knowledge that if net cost (after merit and or need-based aid) is over what your parents can pay then that may well be a deal breaker. Don’t take on major debt for your undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>UCs (UCLA, Cal, etc) are not going to work out financially for the OP. Not worth considering.</p>
<p>OP is 3.6 - 3.7, is it even considered slightly in any advice at all? Stanford, Berkeley, c’mon, reasonable assessing of situation probably will result in much less resources being wasted. I would not attempt to advice beyond that, I would be bashed…no point.</p>
<p>Miami, these were the stats lower down:</p>
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<p>Pending what the 3.75 is out of, it seems competitive to me.</p>
<p>OP, my guy wasn’t interested in sports - a school being too focused on sports actually turned him off. He was originally looking for good weather, but that fell aside once he visited the University of Rochester. He found his “research/nerd/fun” groupies there - felt like he fit right in with an overnight visit and sitting in on classes, etc. Therefore, weather suddenly wasn’t as important… But with all you say you’re looking for, it’s probably not a good fit for you which is why I didn’t suggest it.</p>
<p>This is Cornell’s #:
Class of 2014 Financial Aid:
Full-time first-year students 3,179
Number who applied for aid 1,938
Number determined to have financial need 1,634
Number awarded financial aid 1,634
Number receiving need-based scholarship/ grant aid 1,600</p>
<p>[A</a> Look at the Facts](<a href=“http://www.sfs.upenn.edu/paying/paying-pro-look-at-the-facts.htm]A”>Submit My Documents | Penn Student Registration & Financial Services| Penn Srfs)
999 students of class 2015 received aids at Penn. There are about 2500 students per class, 1500 students are full pay at Penn.</p>
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<p>This year, lots of kids went to UW (as usual); other schools have included John Hopkins, Brown, Berkeley, Cornell etc… My grades (especially junior year) match up well, and my SAT’s are higher than kids who got into Hopkins and the like.</p>
<p>Naviance - so that’s what it is. My school doesn’t have anything like that as far as I know.</p>
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<p>Bit ambivalent about UW but might apply; I’ld like a safety that, while not necessarily throw money at me, would give me a good package. This way, I can have some more flexible financial options for my family, and feel like I can pay for a college education by myself. Call it an ego boost but I’m weird like that. </p>
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<p>Great advice. 
I’ll look into all those schools and threads; haha, I’m actually pretty excited now at the possibilities, and a lot more reassured.</p>
<p>My English teachers (actually, make that most of my teachers) would be laughing their heads off if they ever read this thread; I dislike English class with a passion, and I don’t feel like I’ve gained any new found writing talents from that class. Which is unfortunate now that college essays could be the deciding factor for some schools. </p>
<p>I’ll try and get ahold of Bauld’s book… will probably have to torrent or get a PDF version somehow since I doubt that book is available where I live right now. </p>
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<p>Sounds good to me, I’ll get on it.</p>
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<p>There’s only a few WA schools ranked in the top 100 so yep, you probably know where I go; I’ve never been to Alabama… guessing it’s drastically different from WA?</p>
<p>Honors Colleges huh? I’ve heard that term before but not sure what it is (time to google). </p>
<p>I’ll apply to Stanford - maybe if every CCer decided not to. I feel my GPA knocks me right from contention, and, even if it were a 4.0, my EC’s aren’t strong enough imo. Sometimes I wonder if I could have pursued my interests more if I went to my local high school but too late for that now lol.</p>
<p>Just being realistic about my chances, I’ll add a few reaches in all likelihood though because my parents will want me to.</p>
<p>This post is getting too long lol, will reply to other posters in a bit. Just an open question for discussion: how did your child decide on his/her college? Was it set in stone from the start -“if I get in, I’m definitely going here”? Or did he/she only really think once the acceptances arrived?</p>
<p>russ, even if your school doesn’t have Naviance the counselors should have a sense of how others with your stats did with admissions in previous years. </p>
<p>You can get ahold of the Bauld book or the Paying For College book used from Amazon or from [AddALL</a> Used and Out of Print book search](<a href=“Buy Used Books and Out-of-Print Books Online Book Finder”>Buy Used Books and Out-of-Print Books Online Book Finder) Admissions essay writing is a different beast than academic essay writing.</p>
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<p>D1 visited Tufts, fell in love, applied ED (though we the parents thought she should go RD because of merit offers via National Merit). So that was relatively easy, if expensive. 
If she hadn’t been admitted to Tufts she had match and safety schools that she would’ve been happy enough to attend; we spent a LOT of effort on that part of the process. D2 is a rising HS junior and I have absolutely no idea what is going to grab her, or how she will decide.</p>
<p>"how did your child decide on his/her college? "
-Very easy and straight forward process. We had compiled list in preference sequence. D. was applying to certain program. She was accepted to all UGs on her list, but she was accepted to this program only at 3 of them. As she was rejected from her #1, she went to #2 on her list. Worked very well, looking back it was better place for her than her #1. End result was achieved with few acceptances to Med. Schools. She is currently at her original #1 after graduation from UG. She was on full tuition Merit at UG.
The process is different from person to person. Some kids do not know their prospective major. However, it is very important that UG matches student personality and wide range of current and prospective interests. UG is place to develop personally as well as to achieve a goal in regard to future financial independence. For some prestige is their calling, for others, pretty campus is of utmost importance, for third combination of many factors. Treat your own desires and goals with respect, others have their own, you might consider their advice, but only after your own careful consideration. Otherwise, you might end up being very un-happy for 4 most important years of your life. Unhappy person will not achieve at the highest possible level.</p>
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<p>I think the more important decision was where to apply. Giving yourself a list of colleges that you’d like to attend, some of which you are sure you can get into and afford, is really the critical thing.</p>
<p>My S made his final decision on April 30th - literally the last day he had to decide. So it was never set in stone, but he certainly had favorites early on and it was one of those he eventually chose.</p>
<p>S refused to get excited about any college until he was accepted and the financial aid package came. He applied to 9 schools, probably 7 of those he’d have been happy to attend. The financial aid package offered at a few of the favorites took them off the table - just not enough for our family. There were really two at the end, and fortunately one of the two has been a long running favorite with the music major, location and “feel” that he wanted.</p>
<p>I do believe though that had one of the other schools worked out better, he’d have been happy to attend.</p>