<p>I posted this originally in the Financial Aid Forum, and someone suggested I post it here instead. They are looking at the MD state schools. Nephew would like to look into some smaller or private colleges too, but sister doubts this is feasible. I said I'd pass on any info I could find-- </p>
<p>I'm trying to gather some info that might help my sister, literally the hardest working person I know, who has no time for computers and whose son is a HS Sr a little late getting started on his college search.
I can't give specifics regarding nephew's scores or grades because I don't know them, but from what I understand he has probably a B average, SATs in 500 to low-600 range, and will have taken two APs. Probably not recruitment caliber, but a good all-round athlete who runs track, plays club rugby and will have played two years varsity football at a large public HS in rural Maryland. No ECs that I know of.
His sister is an excellent student, currently on full scholarship at a small university in VA. Paying for brother's college is a real concern (single-parent family, ex-H unable to work, income well under $50,000).
Can anyone suggest any schools in MD, PA, DE, NJ or VA they might look into? Thanks</p>
<p>In Maryland, try: Goucher, McDaniel, Washington College and Hood. Check on the cutoffs for academic merit scholarships, but some might be more flexible than others.</p>
<p>Arcadia University, in a Philadelphia suburb. Generous, no additional merit aid applications (students will be notified based on their general application).</p>
<p>Just re-read your post and wanted to add that if their income is less than $50,000 and she has another child in college, it is highly likely they will also get need-based aid in addition to merit money. I would suggest they also look into need-based grants from the state of Maryland, but those would probably have to be used in-state so if they qualify, might be best to focus there first. Here's the link to the Maryland Higher Education Grants info:
<a href="http://www.mhec.state.md.us/financialAid/descriptions.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.mhec.state.md.us/financialAid/descriptions.asp</a></p>
<p>I have friends with a daughter at Roanoke College in Virginia, and she got a lot of aid. It is Division 3 as well, so he might be able to play on a varsity team</p>
<p>Well, gee, I was going to say Roanoke! Other VA colleges that come to mind are Randolph-Macon and Lynchburg. In PA Ursinus and Moravian might be financial and academic matches. I like Arcadia too. Some other PA privates, Juniata, Allegheny, Gettysburg, Susquehanna would probably be reaches if SAT scores are closer to 1000 then 1200.</p>
<p>i would say York , and not just because i graduated from there... although they don't have a football team.. all the other sports though, and tuition is 'inexpensive'</p>
<p>Thanks, everybody. I KNOW there are schools here they haven't looked into yet. He had mentioned Washington College, and also Lebanon Valley College in PA. I think athletics might be a plus in some of these smaller schools. Football always helps, and he was good enough to make it to the state meet for long jump last year.</p>
<p>If you want to try a Catholic college, Cabrini on the Phila. Main Line gives great merit awards and has a beautiful campus. It also has the advantage of having all the other Main Line Phila. colleges nearby. The down side is a car is helpful. There is also a realistic chace of playing a sport here, but no football team.</p>
<p>Washington College in MD is also generous with merit money. It is very nice but a bit more isolated and is right on the bay with a very historic history. I think founded in 1797. Many of the kids we spoke with there visited once,fell in love with the place, and were pleased with their choice .I think the education is good there, met many of the profs at a visit and was impressed. Son did not chose because he is playing Div1 tennis elsewhere.I thik playing a sport here is realistically possible, but no football team, I think.</p>
<p>Another private college with good merit money is Rider University in New Jersey, especially if her interest is business.They have a new student recreational facility and is in a nice area near Princeton. That was one college where every kid we met was sincerely happy.They have a scholarship also that guarantees the tuition will remain steady for all 4 years as long as student helps through joining a club, athletics, or help in some other way. I'd call this a positive attitude school. The kids seems to be inspired by the faculty.</p>
<p>Lynchburg in Virginia..has it been mentioned? Emory and Henry in Virginia is a very good college if he is looking for more personal. Brandywine in Delaware
Wesley in Dover, Delaware
Mary Washington in Fredericksburg is still not fifty fifty male female and it is a super college which feels like private and is public. Lots of Long Islanders find it. He would need to demonstrate interest to get in. Centre College in KY is an outstanding institution that makes a big impact on students. Consider KY in this case a border state just as you do Virginia for Middle Atlantic kids. He would be looked at by Dickinson in Pa. They also deliver a fine education.</p>
<p>Thanks again everybody--
Will pass these on. Think the smaller colleges would appeal to him very much if they are doable. There are a few mentioned that he has mentioned as well. Washington College is fairly popular with kids from our area (Long Island) as well, and the ones who attend seem very happy there.</p>
<p>Faline,
It was interesting to see that you mentioned Wesley College and Brandywine College because even though I grew up in Delaware I didn't really remember anything about them except Wesley's name. Turns out though, it's right in Dover, just 30 minutes from where I was raised and it looks like a nice little college. <a href="http://www.wesley.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.wesley.edu/</a> but does have a good percentage of non-traditional adult students going back to college and a low graduation rate.</p>
<p>The other college you mentioned- Brandywine, is not listed on the National Center for Education Statistics. <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool/index.aspx%5B/url%5D">http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool/index.aspx</a> It lists the following four year colleges in Delaware: Delaware State University(3,722 students) (traditionally an African-American College), Goldey-Beacom College (1,263 students) (My Dad graduated from there!), University of Delaware (20,982), Wesley College (2,282 students), Widener University - Delaware Campus (1,295 students) and Wilmington College (7,911 students) </p>
<p>BTW, the NCES website does an excellent job of showing the stats for all colleges if someone wants to do a quick look for information. If the link doesn't work a google with the keywords NCES college search will. I just looked up my son's college, Roanoke, and it shows that 97% of the students have "any" financial aid and that the avg. institutional grant is $11,000. In contrast when I looked up Elon the percentage of students receiving "any" financial aid is only 78% and the avg. amount for institutional grants is $5,214. Roanoke's sticker price is slightly higher then Elon's so perhaps it doesn'm make much difference.</p>
<p>kathiep raises a good point that you need to look past sticker price and try to at least get a ballpark idea of cost based on the NCES numbers (or the detailed numbers at the subscription-only US News site). The Roanoke/Elon situation is a good example. Roanoke gives more money to more kids, but Elon has a lower sticker price. Roanoke also is more generous when it comes to strict merit aid than Elon. Soooo -- for an applicant with higher than average numbers, Roanoke is probably cheaper than Elon. For an applicant relying strictly on need-based aid, it might be more of a wash once the packages come in. And I believe that Hampden-Sydney and Washington College have a reputation for even better merit-aid award that either Elon or Roanoke.</p>