@Spineappletwists, your first obvious pick is Michigan. I’m a Michigan grad, as a disclaimer, but in state, it’s a really good value and it satisfies all your requirements, minus the cold weather. OOS it is not a bargain.
But I would agree ASU Barrett, South Carolina Honors, and Alabama Honors are all very good choices if you want to go somewhere for free if you indeed are a NMF. The latter two are big Greek schools I believe. ASU is about 10% Greek.
My DD is from SoCal, passed up Michigan, Wisconsin, and some of the UCs for ASU Barrett and Business. She got a great deal, but that’s not why she went there. Best of both worlds…small school attention, BIG school resources and opportunities, in a warm (OK, hot) climate. ASU is very strong at business but not as much in the liberal arts. She is progressive minded too, but not in your face. And she is really happy there.
Take a look at the book Public University Honors by John Willingham, which talks about state school honors colleges. There is also a website publicuniversityhonors dot com. I think state university honors colleges are great schools with an opportunity to have it all at a lower cost than privates and many OOS public schools. They are all big enough to find your niche.
Honest question - If college cost is a significant issue, how can you be considering colleges all over the country with the high attendant costs of travel?
Thank you for your kindness and your recommendations!!
The first problem is getting into Michigan - my HS literally has a 10% acceptance rate. In state. I know, right?
But UNL looks really cool, and ASU is definitely going on my list too! I’ll check out the other options you mentioned too.
And yeah, ED is probably the worst decision I could possibly make… lol. I’m actually kind of against it for a handful of reasons (benefits financially stable even more, locks kids into binding agreements at 17, etc). My plan is to EA to a bunch of schools that offer merit, then go for the big names in RD.
It strikes me that some posts are unnecessarily harsh. OP is a KID. She is new to this, getting information as she goes. Of course she has some misconceptions and doesn’t understand the finances yet. There are plenty of adults who are clueless. She is doing her due diligence. At least she is asking now, rather than after she applies.
She put herself out there - I applaud her for that. Heck, she asked in her title to be corrected in her misconceptions. That’s brave. She wrote a post that caught people’s attention and asked a great question and is probably is pretty representative of where a lot of students are. And not for nothing, she seems to be doing this alone. Insulting her does nothing but chase her away. That helps no one.
OP: Since you seem to be really excited about Claremont McKenna College, you should consider applying ED as the odds of admission are significantly higher than for RD. If accepted ED, but CMC is unaffordable, then the ED portion of your app is not binding.
CMC is an exceptional school for one interested in economics/government/international affairs.
Talk to your parents, sooner rather than later, to figure out realistically what your financial situation is.
Learn more about how financial aid works for your situation (people here can help)
Run some net price calculators at CMC, Michigan, ASU, and a few other schools
Dig in on learning about the schools that fit into your financial reality
Flesh out your list at least 2-3 likelies, 3-4 matches, 3-4 reaches. (People here can help you with that). If you can get to this stage by June or July, you are on pace for working on essays starting this summer.
2)know the NPC cost estimates for each school…for CSS Profile schools, OP will have to estimate the NCP’s income/financials. If either parent owns a business, investment real estate, second home, farm…the NPCs may not be accurate.
If the NCP will not contribute, then OP will be limited to FAFSA only schools and CSS Profile schools that do not require NCP financials, which can be identified here:
A lot of public Us and a few privates don’t require non-custodial CSS. Vandy and Trinity TX may be a couple. Apparently Michigan, UVA and UNC require CSS.
I know someone who makes $200k+ but his unmarried ex who makes under $50k is custodial parent of a Texas senior. He got a “surprise” $6-$9k extra grants from TX public colleges due to custodial arrangement.
And that may change for this family (and OP’s situation) on the 2022 FAFSA (for 23/24 school year)…when the parent who provides the most support to the student becomes the one who files FAFSA, regardless of who the student lives with 51%+ of the time.
“The new legislation will require the parent who provides the most financial support to complete the FAFSA, instead of the custodial parent. In cases in which the support provided is 50/50, it defaults to the parent or household with the highest adjusted gross income (AGI).”
Good to know. This kid spends equal time with both and works about 25 hours a week. Doesn’t seem fair that he gets a large grant based on who claims custody. Kid will commute and grant plus merit makes college close to free. Parents saved some 529 funds but intend to roll it to second kid if grants continue.
Not applicable to OP but I hope OP gets clarity on what everyone’s willing to contribute. $5500 in loans is okay but doesn’t go very far.
My parents wouldn’t co-sign loans or contribute much to my college so I worked a good bit and fortunately attended an undergrad with high merit.
You’d be eligible the for Honor College (requires a separate application) and all the perks that brings. https://honors.unm.edu
No snow (unless you want to drive to the top mountains on the edge of town to go look at snow), not religious, less than 30% Greek, not rural, but Albuquerque isn’t super urban either, laid back students body, and the Anderson School offers some very unique options–like an interdisciplinary film & digital art production/management track.
On the other hand, many kids with divorced parents are not so lucky. The parents probably spent the college fund on divorce lawyers, and are probably poorer collectively than when they were married (separate households cost more than one shared household), the visitation schedule may interfere with the kid’s extracurricular activities, and the usual disadvantages of having only one parent (at a time). And if the parents are still fighting their divorce, any cooperation in terms of college money is likely to be nonexistent.
That vibe does exist at CMC, although not everybody partakes. This is one reason why Scripps can be best-of-all-worlds - it’s centrally located both physically and conceptually, with access to everything (course offerings, parties, you name it) but with a peaceful campus culture and the freedom to pick and choose. Plus merit scholarships, unlike Pomona. But OP doesn’t want a women’s college. (Although, it depends why… there are lots of students at Scripps who didn’t set out to land at a women’s college but were later convinced - and there’s plenty of mixed-gender interaction in the consortium and even in Scripps-specific classes outside of the core humanities sequence. But anyway.) The important thing to know about CMC and the consortium is that their econ department is the one notable exception to easy cross-consortium access. Non-CMC students are lucky to get into even one CMC Econ class. For the most part if you want CMC Econ, you’ve got to commit to CMC.
