I’ve spent sometime browsing the forums looking for someone that posted about a similar situation and didn’t find one. If I missed it please feel free to point me to it. However it seems like my situational is pretty typical and hopefully others can benefit from this thread too.
About me - very average I’d say…
Rising Senior
Top 10% in large public high school in Missouri
ACT: 30C - trying again this summer
GPA; 4.2 weighted (i think 3.75 unweighted)
Rigorous Course work. Lots of AP and advanced course (don’t have scores back - probably just ok)
Location: Smack dab in middle of America - not sure I will be comfortable going more than about 5hr drive from home (near St Louis)
Major: undecided but leaning towards something in Health/medicine fields
EC: really average stuff. couple of sports - but just in HS and not really competitive mostly for fun. A few clubs and such as well but really just to have fun and try new things. Nothing I am really “passionate” about.
Leaning towards mid size schools but not really sure why
Gross Family income $90K and I really don’t think we have much saved up for college - so I am going to need some help here.
I am the oldest of 3 kids - so first to go to college.
I like school and try and challenge myself. I consider myself pretty smart - but not 36 on the ACT smart
I really want help finding the best school I can get into and afford. But I really don’t know where to start.
Here is a list of a few I think I may want to consider:
Truman State
UMKC
SLUH
Drury University
Butler University
KU
Missouri S&T
Murray State
But I am mostly concerned about financing…So is there some other way to find/narrow down choice based on that…I see there are list of schools that give great merit aid and great need based aid but I don’t think I would really qualify for either
I am getting worried college might be out of reach.
You have a good first mix of public and private options there. The next step is to run the net price calculators on those schools with your parents and have a discussion about money.
Ask your parents to sit down with you and calculate projected financial aid at both your in-state publics and your other choices, using the Net Price Calculator which every school has to have on its website. It is usually located as a link on the Financial Aid/Tuition page. As a resident of Missouri, your in-state publics may be your most affordable option, but then again, some private colleges may be a better financial deal – you can only sort it out by plugging in the numbers. Your parents will need the most recent federal tax returns, plus info about savings etc.
In terms of identifying schools where you will be eligible for merit awards, some public schools are very clear about what level of gpa and test scores qualify for merit awards, as it is automatic, based on stats. Spend some time on the scholarship pages of the schools you are interested in to see if they identify automatic merit awards. For private schools and other publics which are not as clear about who gets merit, look at the Common Data Set on each school’s site, particularly the section which identifies what the gpa and test scores of the top 25% of admitted students are – schools which do give merit awards will look at the highest achieving students in order to attract them to committing to the school. If you fall within the top 25% of that school’s admitted students, you may be a good candidate for merit awards.
KU has some superb programs, especially in the sciences, so depending on reciprocity with Missouri residents, that could be a great financial and educational opportunity. And Lawrence is a great college town, so lots to love there. If Butler gives merit awards, you may be a good candidate and it is a smaller school, and a more intimate feel than KU. What about Drake or Creighton? Those might give good merit awards to a student like you.
If you want to take a look at smaller schools, Rhodes College in Memphis has great pre-med and sciences programs and offers merit, and Centre College in Danville, KY, seems like a neat school, though we never made it to visit, and also offers merit.
You will have some good choices next spring, don’t worry! Keep doing your research, and good luck!
@citymama9@londondad@OnTheBubble Thanks for the kind words. Like I said I consider myself smart but not 36 on the ACT smart. At first I thought I was smart enough to get a lot of merit aid…but after a little bit of research I now feel pretty average
Thanks for the replies and additional suggestions. There are a few mentioned I want to add to my list.
here’s a thread that has lots of information; some of it may be helpful if you dig through it.
the thread doesnt necessarily focus on midwest schools; but you might get some ideas on where to go and what scholarships were offered. You can also search this site for the name of a school and just see what pops up within various posts - might learn some info that way.
Talk to your parents! The costs are sometimes shocking when the oldest kid starts looking at college.
Also, look at Knox College in Il. A really nice school. If you can go a bit farther, check out Notre Dame, Earlham College or some of the liberal arts schools in Ohio (Kenyon, College of Wooster) or U Dayton.
@bgbg4us thanks for the link to that thread…it’s helpful.
My parents said that $10K per year is really the max they can afford. and I think that might even be a stretch especially when my siblings go to college too.
I am finding it really hard to compare costs because it seems like the really expensive schools give more merit but might still end up being more expensive than a state school without aid. It is very overwhelming.
Nebraska would likely give u a $14,000 per year merit scholarship. It has fewer than 20,000 undergrads, and has them split into 2 compact campuses campuses, so it feels more like a medium-sized school than most other prominent state schools in the midwest.
Texas Tech , Oklahoma state , Alabama, Kentucky, West Virginia, & Florida State would probably all give u significant merit aid. Also check out the Midwest Student Exchange Program.
You should try the net price calculators at the web sites of your current colleges of interest.
If your parents contribute $10,000, then your stretch budget, assuming $5,500 federal direct loan and $4,500 work earnings (part time and during summers), is $20,000 net price. However, a lower net price, perhaps $15,000 or lower, would be desirable, so that you can have some combination of lower parent contribution, lower or no loan, and/or lower or no work earnings needed, or have a buffer against unexpected financial issues (e.g. difficulty finding a part time or summer job, or parents have unexpected financial problems and can contribute less).
It will show you the average price paid for different income levels. If the price tag seems in line with your family situation, at the bottom of the list of prices paid by income level, there is a link that says “This School’s Net Price Calculator,” click that and run the detailed numbers to be sure.
This site is less useful for out of state schools because the kids paying in-state tuition skew the averages, and out-of-state students will pay more than Debt by Degrees will show you.
You’d be amazed how much more merit you could get if you could get an ACT 32 or comparable SAT.
Your parents will have an unaffordable EFC with that income. Likely their EFC will be about $20k per year, but they can only (hopefully) pay $10k.
Even schools that give “good aid,” will not likely be affordable because you won’t be able to cover the EFC.
You won’t be able to use a $5500 loan to go towards your EFC since your aid will already have that in it.
You need to focus on schools that will give you AT LEAST full tuition awards, which is why retesting and taking the SAT is so important.
People may list schools that give merit that amounts to 1/2 or 2/3 tuition awards, but those won’t be enough since the remaining tuition, plus room, board, fees and books will be $23k-30k per year…which is out of your reach to cover.
@mom2collegekids the that is exactly what I’m starting to worry about. I know I’m an above average student. I’m not worried about getting into a good school, I’m worried about paying for a good school.
I’m taking the ACT again this weekend and am hoping for a 32 or better. I’m not sure I’ll get my score back in time to try a 3rd time in the fall.
You may also want to try the SAT for more chances to hit the scholarship thresholds. Also, some students do better on the SAT than the ACT (or vice-versa).
@stlarenas “I’m taking the ACT again this weekend and am hoping for a 32 or better. I’m not sure I’ll get my score back in time to try a 3rd time in the fall.”
That is not true. There are ACT dates in September and October. Both of these are fine for any schools with early rolling, scholarship and/or early action application dates. Study over the summer and you should be able to get your score up.
