Help narrowing down schools my daughter should apply to

Parent Cafe
1

New to the board so I hope that this isn’t a faux pas type of post.

I am trying to help my D narrow down the list of schools that she should apply to. She is in the 11th grade and we’ve begun to look and of course it’s all a little overwhelming.

First her profile:

GPA: 3.88/4 - A special admit public high school in downtown Philadelphia. Doesn’t offer AP/IB and she’s taken hardest classes possible.
SAT: 2200 - took it in October and plans to take it this Saturday and hopes to raise it a bit as she didn’t prepare that much before.
Plans to take Math 2, Literature and Spanish with Listening Subject tests - She’s fully bi-literate English/Spanish.
PSAT: 1480/1520 - NMSI 223/228 - so based on historic data should make NMSF for PA. She is also Hispanic so she should be NHRP. Since she’s always had good grades and no non-academic issues is she likely to be NMF since 15K out 16K make it?
ECs: Not overwhelming as she is diagnosed Selective Mutism/Social Anxiety which hurts in wanting to join/participate in much. She’s a homebody that reads everything, but she has:
Piano for 8 years/ Guitar 3 yrs. Arabic Club including Arabic outside of school on weekends and Arabic Immersion Camp one summer at Oberlin through Middlebury Language Institute. Journalism Club - contributor and editor. Election Ambassador for Philadelphia Committee of Seventy and her team won the Election Innovation Challenge and are working with the Committee to implement their plan to engage ex-convicts to vote. Some volunteering in the Hispanic Community but not long or consistent.
Major interests: Journalism, Literature or anything not math, science or engineering apparently.

Parents profile regarding ability to pay:
Combined income: $175Kish household of 4 - not sure what EFC would be here but guessing 35 - 40K
One works at Drexel University so children get full tuition. Drexel University is part of Tuition Exchange program and there are 645 schools that are members so the possibility of getting 35K or full tuition is possible at a number of schools.

She doesn’t want to go to Drexel and has stars in her eyes and her top choices are Yale, UofChicago, and Brown. I am trying to make sure she understands the reality of getting admitting to these places and then the ability to attend based on cost. She wants to go “away” for college and I’m not opposed as I think it will help her with her SM/SA issues to not have the family crutch. I think she would do best in a smaller school setting (her HS is only 500 students) and I think a urban environment would be best as she’s always lived in the city without driving everywhere.

So some other schools on her list:

UNC-CH (she’s be a legacy and has family in NC - maybe chance for merit scholarship)
UPenn (probably best shot at getting admitted into an Ivy as they have an admit slot for Philly Public High school students and all the kids in her high school with her stats have been admitted in the last 6 years according to Naviance)
Haverford
Bryn Mawr
Northwestern (Journalism)

Some schools on the tuition exchange list that I am trying to get her to look at:

Sarah Lawrence
Fordham
George Washington
Bucknell
Pitt

Other smaller schools I’d like her to look at:

Davidson
Washington and Lee

It also seems the NMF possibility and NHRP should lend to looking at some schools. Looking at schools with merit aid or scholarship possibilities or ones trying to attract under-represented ethnicities.

Any advice? Anything I’ve overlooked/not thought of? Specific schools I should investigate? Everything is appreciated.

2

First, you need to run the NPC for her dream schools. With your income and if you have any assets, your EFC might be higher. Then you need to think about how much you are willing to pay. It sounds thru the Drexel exchange there are many possibilities that are affordable and with her PSAT score, there are opportunities for full rides. A big question is whether graduate schools are in the picture. If so, a cheaper undergraduate program may be necessary. I don’t know anything about journalism programs to help you identify schools but just get your parameters set.

3

Thanks for the reply.

I was planning to do the NPC in a few weeks after doing taxes to have the most up-to-date data.

4

If you’re going to explore the possibility of Tuition Exchange, make sure to get in touch with the coordinator at Drexel. Every school is different in how they manage TE. Some schools don’t guarantee this to be available to all faculty/staff. Some have qualification criteria. Then schools your D applies to may offer TE to everyone, or they may only offer a couple of TE scholarships each year, in which case TE awards are usually managed as a merit scholarship.

The TE coordinator should be able to fill you in on all the rules and maybe even give you info on the track record of prior applicants.

5

From the way you describe your daughter, not sure if Bucknell sounds like the right fit. It’s a great school, but very big with Greek life, parties and social scene. Plus, not urban at all. Not to disparage it, it’s a great school, with lots to offer academically, just not the right fit for all.

6

Most of the schools on your daughter’s current list don’t give merit aid at all. Your EFC with a $175,000 income will be $40,000-$50,000 a year most likely…and could be more depending on your assets.

So the elephant in the room…can you pay your EFC? Because you won’t receive need based aid anywhere to cover that.

Pitt, Washington and Lee, and Fordham give merit aid…highly competitive. But if you are in state for Pitt, the costs are favorable anyway.

Northwestern, UPenn, Davidson, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Yale, U of Chicago, and Brown give only need based aid…no merit aid.

And almost every school (not Pitt or Chicago) on the list uses the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA to determine need based aid.

You are smart to be looking into this now. I second the motion to speak to the Tuition Exchange coordinator at Drexal. Get the info you need, and most important…the deadlines.

7

@wisteria100 Thanks - very useful. never thought of Bucknell that way.

8

Definitely run the calculators. I think you are going to have to pay more than you think, especially if you have assets that will get counted in the CSS Profile.

I sounds to me like she is thinking urban midsize research universities. How about looking at Brandeis, GW and American? She will get merit money at American and an invitation to the honors program. Fordham is a good choice too. Public universities with good honors programs, might be another direction to look. Especially for someone with anxiety issues - the smaller community within a larger one may be helpful.

9

ETA correction for my above post. u of Chicago does give some VERY highly competitive merit awards. But mostly the give need based aid.

Your daughter would,be a great candidate for some of the guaranteed merit awards out there. These might actually reduce your costs more than TE will.

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I’ve been in touch with the TE program here and based on my seniority I’m in relatively good shape but the reciprocal side you never know.

Just a clarification on UofChi - my research shows some merit aid - 4K for NMF and 4K for NHRP and the the student can get both and doesn’t count toward EFC.

11

@Dolemite we cross posted. Yes…some merit aid at Chicago, but not guaranteed, and highly competitive. You would need to check to see whether merit reduces your need…and therefore reduces need based aid. Not likely it will,cover your family contribution.

You need to look at your college spending budget. My guess is your family contribution will be closer to $50,000 a year than to $40,000 with an annual income of $175,000 a year…with one kiddo in college. And the vast majority of the schools currently on this list give no merit aid at all anyway. If you have assets, these will also be considered. Ditto assets your kiddo has…or any college savings.

12

What does she want to major in? Have you thought about Case Western Reserve University?

13

You are still the one paying (even with tuition exchange there are costs that aren’t covered) and you get to set the criteria. If she wants to apply to Yale, Brown, etc., fine, but you can set the price you are willing (able) to pay and show her that even if she gets into some of those elite schools, you just can’t afford to pay for them. Your requiring her to go to an TE school is just smart financial planning. TE is a benefit of the parent’s job, and shouldn’t just be tossed away. There are 600 schools, and making her pick one of those is not being mean. People pick doctors on the medical plan because it is financially a better choice than another doctor who might have a nicer office or be closer to home but would cost double or triple because he’s not in the network.

If you think you can pay $30k, she’s going to have to pick schools that come in under that number. She is so lucky that many of the TE do, and that she has such good grades that she might get merit aid at others. There are schools that might just be out of your budget. She has great options. Don’t feel guilty that you can’t offer her any school at any price. Most people can’t. She needs to look at it as ‘I can go to all these schools because of TE’ not ‘I can’t go to these schools because they don’t take TE.’ She probably couldn’t go to those schools anyway because you can’t afford to be full pay.

14

Agreeing with @wisteria100 on Bucknell, and would bump W&L as well- not very diverse, definitely not urban, plenty of attitudinal holdover from it’s all-boy days.

Suggest Dickinson, which gives great merit aid- including study abroad. Don’t know if it’s far enough away, and definitely not urban, but at least in (small) town! Nice kids, does a lot to bring the world to Carlisle and send the kids out into the world.

Rice might also be an option- smaller communities within the larger school make it welcoming, and it is porous to Houston. Merit aid.

15

@collegemom3717 Thanks for W&L info. Looked at it when I was in HS and have family in Roanoke so thought about it.

@twoinanddone one of the motivations for this topic. She’ll have to attend a school that fits our budget because she can attend Drexel for about 16-18K living on campus.

Did the NPC on collegeboard so was able to check a number of schools without having to re-enter data using last years tax return - shouldn’t change much with this one. So EFC of 40-45 average with a few surprises. UPenn was surprisingly the best and I guess they really want a certain number of Phila Public School Students. It’d be cheaper to go to Duke than UNC-CH without any merit aid.

16

Dickinson is on the Tuition Exchange list, so I’d add that too, and possibly Occidental, Muhlenberg, Franklin & Marshall, and Lafayette, which also appear on the list:

http://www.tuitionexchange.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/Families%7CMember%20Schools

17

I have to toss in another vote for Case Western. She will probably qualify for good merit aid . It’s urban and medium sized. It’s a high end research institution. Plus it’s part of tuition exchange.

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Dolemite, your daughter sounds like a fantastic kid! I work at an institution on the same TE list that Drexel belongs to. At my institution, which is one of the larger ones, our kids get priority on their files being sent out depending on the length of their parent’s employment. It may be different at Drexel. My child ended up being offered all of the places but ended up turning them down to attend my institution. not a problem, because I think it’s a good one! Too bad Bryn Mawr and Haverford are not on the list, but Smith is. and Mt. Holyoke, Case Western, Hampshire, etc… Also the others people have mentioned. We did restrict our child to the employment home institution, one of the TE schools (with TE) or our alma mater. Didn’t make it into alma mater which was a relief in some ways as our EFC with income less than yours, was 59K. eek! good luck

19

How far afield are you willing to send her/is she interested in going? I was also going to suggest Case Western and Dickinson. A bit farther afield, Richmond in VA, Lawence in WI. Farther still, Tulane in New Orleans, Trinity in San Antonio. All on TE.

Congrats, she sounds like a nice, hard-working, smart girl!

20

Would she be interested in CA? I believe Santa Clara is also part of TE.