I’m not sure the large size of UW-Madison is an issue considering one of her initial top choices was NYU.
A private college with a substantially larger student population across all divisions(~100,000) and a spread out atomized urban campus feel which caused one HS teacher to remark that NYU is “a academically decent public university at the price of an expensive private U.”
I live in NYC, and I love Madison. I wouldn’t be bored there for one minute. It’s one of the nicest, most vibrant college towns. I also think she will find lots of liberals there, with many coming from both coasts. Your D is lucky to get instate tuition for such a great school. You may have to “make her” go see it. LOL
Biochem is clearly one of UW’s strongest areas. Great facilities and tradition
I agree w endora, if it was my D, there’s no way she’s not applying to UW. I would tell her she doesn’t have to go but she has to apply and visit if she gets in. I suspect it will start to look like a much better choice once she has her results.
my D applied to mcgill, not sure of cost but I wonder if a canadian school in a big city might work. My middle kid received $22k/year merit from Kalamazoo with a much lower gpa and a mid 2100 sat. During the tour they claimed a 93% admit rate to med school. Worth a look I think.
Well, if she wants a more exotic location she could try Arizona State where she “might” qualify for in state tuition for her stats. Or she could look to the University of New Mexico where she would qualify for in state tuition under the Amigo scholarship, bringing her tuition/room/board to about 17K per year. But UMN-TC and UW-Madison are better schools, IMO, so I don’t feel that the change of scenery is worth it.
Madison is a great college town - I would exercise a parent’s choice on this one.
I can’t think of any urban colleges that offer better value for the money than the MN or WI flagships.
Run the NPC for New College of Florida. I don’t know whether they are continuing it, but they had an automatic $15k scholarship for accepted students who applied by a specific deadline (you should probably act quickly), and they have one of the lowest rates of graduating student debt around. The cost for my son to attend NCF was very close to what our state flagship would have cost, approximately $25k per annum. It is a small, progressive, liberal arts college in Sarasota, FL. That might sound too conservative for your daughter, but my son and most of his friends are very progressive, and Sarasota has a surprisingly vital artistic and cultural scene. It would certainly be a departure from Minnesota. My son’s best friend chose to do a campus exchange with UMN for precisely that reason.
St Lawrence is super rural but about 1 hour from Montreal. Beside McGill, there’s Concordia. What about Simon Fraser in Vancouver or Ryerson in Toronto?
I will put in an additional plug for New College: it is very strong in Life Sciences, with an excellent medical and graduate school admission rate. It isn’t a research university, but there are loads of independent-study and internship opportunities. You might not like the idea of her traveling so far, but budget airfares abound.
“She wants to attend a small to moderate sized school and would like to be near a big city. She has these dreams of going to school on the east coast.”
If I were the OP (who has stated a max $20k per year parent contribution), I would present the options this way:
For $20k per annum, these schools work for you financially and are the best match for your academic interests and size/location (as listed above) and you graduate debt free, or you can go to UMTC or UW - Madison;
For $25k pa, these schools work and you need to come up with $5k pa
For $30k pa, etc
For $35k pa, etc
And just let her decide what her priorities are. Also,she needs to do this asap as we are already in late November of senior year, right?
These kinds of threads make me smile. As parents we often try to do the legwork to present schools that the kids may bat away by an opinionated child. The best way for them to open up the eyes of myopic students is to set the financial limit you can afford and let them do the research to find the schools that seem to appeal to them. That way they take ownership and hopefully more engaged in a realistic way. I agree with those above who said that the best gift to a student is their graduating with little or no debt.
Again, thanks for all of the wisdom. I agree wholeheartedly with all…
We are in Chicago today. We visited Loyola and Lake Forest. She loved Loyola. She felt there were a lot of kids like her there (kind of alternative hipster types). She said it felt like it had a rich sense of history and tradition with the church bells, and the beautiful chapel. The location is amazing and they really seem to try and integrate the kids into the city. We met with admissions and they felt she would qualify for about 22k in merit which lava is about 8K a year shy. She realizes this is likely too expensive.
Lake Forest was VERY GENEROUS. They offered 30K/ yr for all four years provided she maintains a 2.0. The location is pretty isolated but the campus is beautiful. There was a strange vibe there though…we both noticed it. The campus is sparsely populated and the students were fairly aloof and genuinely seemed unfriendly.
The merit award makes this school essentially the Sam price as the University of Minnesota OD UW Madison so we could definitely swing it with no debt but I doubt she will go that route.
I appreciate the advice about UW Madison. I know it is ranked higher than Minnesota but The realistic difference in the quality of education one receives is minimal. However, I think the idea of applying and visiting campus to make a more informed decision is a good one.
Again, thanks for all of the ideas/support. It is reassuring to know I am not alone with these struggles.
Great news. This is only my two cents’ worth, but if she truly loved Loyola (and Chicago is a great place to be a college student) and she needs to come up with an extra $8k per year, I would try and make it work somehow. Maybe she could defer for a year and work full-time at Target?
Also, after she gets accepted, you can always ask the schools to increase their aid if that is a deal-breaker.
I am so glad she is finding some schools she likes, that are affordable too. I was going to mention the Colleges that Change Lives website (and book) but it looks like things are going well. Privates will sometimes surprise with what they offer and it seems that a small private is what she is looking for. From a distance, she seems persevering rather than stubborn, but I am not her parent! : )
Sometimes obstinate is just a reaction to how much a parent presses. We started visiting early, but learned quickly to keep quiet about our own opinions. Firm about limits, though.
We, too, used the car example. (Buying a new Mercedes each year, when our budget was far from that.) And made it crystal clear that no college was a “dream school,” if we couldn’t afford it.
Sometimes (and especially when it’s this late,) you just have to tell them the time for dreaming is past. Let them absorb that for a weekend, then ask for the starter list that is $ feasible and the first two safeties. Then get started on apps and supps. She can add, but is started. And has some ownership. Otherwise, we play the perfection game up to 12/31. Best wishes.
Yes, our general impression of the students at Lake Forest College was “sullen”.
That $8000 may be tough the first year, but she could and should get jobs/internships during the summer.
U Scranton and Allegheny might be options. Run net price calculator, I think they give merit estimates.
I agree, a visit to UW might be good, to see the students, facilities, talk about research opportunities, etc.
If she is actually serious about med school, she would get that instate cheap as possible is the way to go. Does your state prefer to offer in state undergrads med school places? At twin cities they cited last year’s incoming med school places had 143/170 as in state, so that would seem to be a significant stat. Does she understand the med school stuff or do you think she really isn’t going to be med school material anyway and thus the undergrad needs to be prioritised? I know from my kids peers that all sorts of kids talk up med school without a real clue.
@angstymom, don’t forget to include the cost of travel if she does go out of state. That can really add up if she comes home for the breaks.
We have a similar budget and EFC. And a liberal hipster kid with lower stats and similar school goals lol.
I would suggest looking at smaller privates where your D is higher in the stats pool as she will get more merit there. Run the NPC’s.
Goucher, Ursinus, Allegheny, Kalamazoo, Lawrence, St. Lawrence, Beloit, Mulhlenberg, Ithaca all come to mind. Temple is a bit unpredictable with merit right now and Pitt seems to be giving less but those are definitely options. U of Maine has a national tuition match program that would make it affordable.
If she wants to consider west coast, look at the Jesuit schools for money. Seattle U, U of Portland. The west coast LAC’s will offer some money but not as much as the midwest/mid atlantic ones.