Brandeis has a very small number of highly competitive merit awards. Mostly need based aid.
It’s a reach, but what about Wellesley?
Check out the Common Data Sets for schools in Boston. Look at section H2A.
http://www.brandeis.edu/opir/docs/cds1415.pdf
For Brandeis, you will see that the average non-need based award (merit) was $14,049. With COA at $63,000, you would still be left with almost $50,000 to pay and tuition goes up every year. My DS applied to Brandeis but I doubt it will work out financially.
Boston University has a competetive NMF scholarship. NEU has a $30,000 NMF scholarship.
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com
@thumper1 Wellesley doesn’t seem to have merit aid or on TE.
How about Emerson College in Boston. Anyone have an opinion there? They have a honors program and they are TE. They also have a very good Journalism program.
OP it is so important that you are researching options NOW. It will help your daughter create a realistic list. It is sobering to come across students on this website who get accepted to their “dream school” – only to learn that their parents can’t afford it. There are tons of great schools out there but developing a strategy based on your own family’s situation is so key. Your D sounds like a great student.
As the parent of 5 kids and having gone through this twice – and having learned SO MUCH from CC, thank you, experienced posters! – I would say that finances should determine the starting point. Others have pointed out that elite schools have great financial aid. However your net price will vary. You can run net price calcs at her favorites (Brown and Yale?) but tell her NOW if they would be affordable or not. By the way even at “100% need met” schools that our high-stats S applied to, net price varied quite a bit. It is really worth running a calc for each and every school.
For our kids my goal is to give them a starting list of schools I am reasonably sure we can afford. Geography counts bc of travel expenses. Strength of department of intended major / size and campus environment / and flexibility of academic requirements are next to consider. At that point the kid starts to take over, taking schools off the list. By application time they should be in charge of the process. But an unaffordable school does not make it onto the list in the first place.
You have a tremendous advantage in the Tuition Exchange!!! Also the agreement with UPenn sounds amazing.
Your D should come up with a safety that she honestly likes and would be happy at, and work from the bottom up.
If your D is open to a women’s college there are several. Another post above mentioned that Smith and Mt Holyoke are in TE? Smith has no distribution requirements so if your D is looking to avoid math and science she might like that.
Keep us posted!
I am a big fan of Emerson but two realities you need to deal with-
1- it’s not a traditional campus. It’s smack in downtown Boston, and kids generally “live” in Boston for their social lives, activities, etc.
2- Great for a kid with a good direction academically or professionally- arts, performance, etc., but I don’t know if it’s a great environment for a kid who wants to explore a lot of different things. I know a few kids who ended up on the five year plan there- I don’t think the advising is set up to get you in and out in 8 semesters although of course, most kids do that.
Could it work? Absolutely.
@blossom Thanks. The campus sounds right up her alley as she has lived in Center City Philadelphia her whole life. We’ll have to see how much traction the Journalism thing has.
@momcinco Thanks for the advice and that’s the purpose of this thread as she knows that there is a family budget and there will not be any family loans taken for an UG education. She has to find a range of schools she’d be happy at otherwise if she doesn’t find them she’ll be at Drexel.
@Dolemite, I agree with others that you really seem on your game here, and your daughter will benefit in the long run.
Pitt does sound like a great option for her, especially if she can get the TE. And even if she can’t, it should fall more in the $30,000-$35,000 range than the pricier privates. My son has two good friends who really wanted to go to Ivies but ended up wait-listed and are happy Pitt students now. They love living in the city.
I live in suburban Philadelphia and my niece is a very successful Drexel grad, FWIW. But I think of Drexel as primarily a STEM school, so I can see why your daughter isn’t keen on the idea of going there.
Penn is a great school for future journalists, even though (as I’m sure you’re aware) there is no journalism major per se. I’m guessing your EFC there will be closer to $40,000+, given your income.
There’s a CC student on here who got some amazing FA from Northwestern that still has me gobsmacked because her parents’ income is above $200,000 if I’m recalling correctly. She, too, is a journalism major.
So I did the NPC for Yale and Harvard and the EFC is significantly lower than other Ivies and elite schools. About 15K less. Are these 2 schools known for giving more aid?
Lots more. My recollection is that $15-20k less was the NPC result I got, too.
^^^ Yes. They have bigger endowments (Nos. 1 and 2 in the US) and thus award better aid.
Yes, Harvard and Yale give great aid. She just has to get in. 
Yes. Each situation is different and you should not take other families’ situations as generalizations…but at least in our case, along with Princeton, Stanford, MIT and a few others, they offer the most generous financial aid. And on the down side, they have the lowest admit rates. This website is instructive in encouraging students to not count on admits at such highly competitive schools – even if they have the stats.
Remember that most elite private schools use the CSS Profile as well as FAFSA and ask for different info which they take into consideration differently, such as how much you owe on your house, other kids’ tuition expenses, and even what year/model car you drive.
@momcinco So if we haven’t owned a car for over 20 years is that good
What bout Duquesne? Also in Pittsburgh, but well,within walking distance of the downtown. Small campus. And has TE.
mills, occidental, conn coll, trinity, BU, Clark, mt Holyoke, Smith, Bard, Sarah Lawrence, Skidmore, Dickinson, Benington
It may be too far away, but if you’re looking for a safety with a great journalism program, in a city, with guaranteed merit aid: ASU.
NMF gets free tuition. It’s in downtown Phoenix and has a fabulous honors program. If she’s NMSF they’ll even defray cost of flight to visit. (Net cost would be about $16k with room/board/all fees.)
USC in Los Angeles also has great J school and guarantees 1/2 off tuition for NMFs who are admitted.
What about Mizzou? Great journalism program.
About Brown, they do interview but as of Feb. 2015 it was optional
Vassar is need-only, no merit aid. Relatives with a very preppy kid did a tour and saw several kids with piercings, purple hair, Goth look, etc which made them head the other way.
@thumper1 agreed. I went to Mizzou. amazing program. The school guarantees in-state tuition for NMF, putting total cost around $24k. I didn’t include it because of OP’s preference for urban. I love the campus, though. OP’s D would be auto-admitted to honors program and get direct admission to the J school too. (My D16 is strongly considering it, along with the other two I mentioned from many of same reasons.)
It’s off the beaten path for most people here on CC, but what about the U of Missouri-Kansas City? Obviously it’s urban, but I understand that the Journalism Department is one of the best. I see that not only is the student newspaper still issued in print (unlike many campuses) but that there are TWO radio stations operated by UMKC. The big attraction for me would be the barbecue.