I was accepted to Davidson College ED, but they offered very little financial aid and won’t allow any appeals. The issue is that my mother switched careers this fall and she earns much less money than she did in 2015. This is problematic given that colleges now view 2015 tax returns and W2 forms when calculating need. We wrote and called Davidson prior to the financial aid process and after they came up with the insufficient package, trying to explain what was going on, but they didn’t care. Now I’m unable to attend Davidson and my eyes are open to just how problematic our financial situation is. My family can afford about $30k per year at the most (Davidson wanted us to come up with $45k and there’s no way I was going to take out 15k in loans). I have applications in for EA at Rhodes College and University of Miami. I already sent in regular decision apps to Wake Forest (probably too expensive) and American (possible merit aid?). I am now on the hunt for cheaper options where I would be heavily considered for merit aid or scholarships. I was told to look at New College of FL, U of Denver, and NC State.
1340 SAT (720 W 620 M)
My boarding school has a 6-point grading scale. My junior year GPA was a 5.3, senior first-semester is 5.2. The average for students at my school is a 4.6
I’m the captain of my varsity squash team, I perform in three musical ensembles (2 instrumental, 1 vocal) associated with my school, I have had lead or supporting roles in 6 stage productions, and I have taken 4 APs and 3 Honors courses
My only criteria for schools at this point is they have to be near a major-ish airport, preferably in the Eastern half of the US. The warmer, the better, but I’m open to anything at this point.
They also need to be at least somewhat reputable. I know I can’t be that choosy, but I’d like to avoid schools with poor reputations.
I think you need to run the NPCs for schools with your 2015 numbers and with the new numbers. You may find that there isn’t $15k difference in need based aid. Just because a parent makes less money doesn’t mean that any school is going to come up with more aid. If your mother made $115k last year and only makes $95k in 2016, it may not make a difference.
You’ll also have to look at what makes up the aid you do receive. Some schools will include loans in their aid package, some do not. You can’t afford Davidson’s offer, Davidson will not reconsider, you have to move on.
Well it’s actually a much more drastic drop in income. She’s earning less than a quarter of her 2015 income. I’m moving on with the college process, but I’m being more mindful of the price and looking for places with less national prestige that could provide better financial options.
If you can get into Davidson, you have potential for automatic scholarships. Find the automatic scholarship thread & get some applications going for those.
What are your state school options? Be sure that you check them out ASAP and look into whether you need to do additional applications for their honor’s colleges and scholarships. Is there a college in commuting distance of your home you could attend?
What are the colleges where students at your boarding school are often recruited and given $? What is your guidance counselor suggesting for affordable choices for you?
Also, check the automatic scholarship threads on here and apply to some schools where you know you will get scholarship money.
Finally, check and see if Univ. of Alabama, Auburn University and Ol’ Miss still have their automatic scholarships and whether or not you qualify.
I am a New Jersey resident, so I’ve already applied to Rutgers and TCNJ, though I’ve been to both and hated them. Kids at my school generally get good merit aid from Rhodes and Miami, which is why I applied to them. Other schools would be College of Charleston, Elon, Rollins, Alabama, St. Lawrence, UNH, James Madison and Delaware, but I’m worried about their reputations as party schools and how that would affect future employment opportunities.
You would need to get merit aid from these other colleges. Your family contribution is likely to be at or above the cost of attendance for these schools.
I have been speculating that colleges will not adjust aid because income is lower in 2016 than 2015. Well…Davidson isn’t!
Your 2016 income WILL be used for the 2018-2019 school year…
We thought about that, but the 2016 tax returns and W2 form would indicate 10 months at her former job and 2 months at her current place, so it wouldn’t be all that much better. I’d be under almost $30k in loans by the end of sophomore year which is unacceptable to me, even if I ended up not needing to take out any more for 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Look into the honor’s colleges at the schools you are looking at. Don’t worry about the party reputation or much else at this point. Focus on getting in and having affordable options.
Learn to love the schools that love you, as they say. Try not to grieve Davidson. Yes, Alabama for instance would be a very different experience. But you might find that they will roll out the red carpet for you and you will have kinship with other honors kids. I think James Madison gives very good merit aid and Rhodes as well, not sure about the others you list.
@thumper1 is correct about income. My nephew was fortunate in that his college of choice did adjust after they requested a Professional Judgement for 2017-18. The college had an actual form and they had to show current proof available of the huge change from 2015 to 2016 (they submitted letter showing his dad had been terminated and current pay stubs showing current income which is much less). However, I would guess that this is the exception not the rule. We have family in higher education who helped them craft all of this. They said not to request a ‘review’ or ‘appeal’ but to use the term PJ and ask in writing what the process is for that. He has more schools to hear from, but they understand that in all likelihood most schools, as @thumper1 said, will not adjust aid.
For time and energy, I really suggest that you, @hearroroym focus on places where your numbers will yield automatic scholarship money. Get those options squared away first.
Thank you for your advice! Do you have any other suggestions as to schools that might yield automatic scholarship money? I just noticed that Alabama, Auburn, and Ole Miss aren’t really close to any airports that would have direct flights to JFK/EWR/LaGuardia, and that makes it very difficult to get there.
@mom2collegekids and @ucbalumnus
Could you comment on scholarship chances…and also transportation to these schools?
Being from NJ - did you also apply to Rowan? They are near (<45 minutes) Philly Airport and give great merit aid. They are a solid reputation school, strong honors program and growing. Excellent engineering and they also have a medical school associated with the college which is in the process of building a new hospital nearby.
@hearroroym , Rowan University would be an affordable option IS in NJ, you would probably get some merit aid, too. There has been a lot of $$ invested in the campus in recent years. We have a family friend who is a bio professor at Rowan and she speaks very highly of her students. It has been overshadowed by Rutgers, TCNJ, etc. , and I think you would be pleasantly surprised if you visit, there are lots of opportunities there for motivated students.
Franklin and Marshall College in PA is a really nice, smaller school. A friend’s daughter attends and really loves it. My oldest D really liked it and applied several years back. They meet 100 percent of demonstrated need, but you may run into the same issue with 2015 income you had with Davidson.
A few more very good, but lower cost schools worth a look, are La Salle U in Philly and York College in PA.
There are 17 round trip shuttles to/from the Atlanta airport and Auburn everyday, including holidays (used to be, need to check on that) No problems - they pick up at some of the dorms, the Auburn Hotel & Conference Center and some of the other hot spots in Auburn. Getting to/from Auburn via plane is not a problem - it’s 1:30 to 1:45 minutes from the airport - I-85 all the way.
Wow that’s actually great to know! Thanks!
Elon? Warm weather, Greensboro Airport is fairly close (and Raleigh-Durham is about an hour I think?). It is a fairly affordable college to start and then they have Fellows programs (like an honors college) that give additional $.
OP-
Genuinely curious here, what about Rutgers and TCNJ did you dislike after visiting?
Our family is in nj also. Many nj students discount the value of these instate options, though they can be solid choices at relatively low cost.
Is there a desire to go out of state, for the sake of going out of state?
Truly just asking. I’m very familiar with both schools, they are VERY different.
TCNJ especially has a beautiful campus with some pretty accomplished students…
At Rutgers, I really disliked how disjointed the campus felt. Nothing felt cohesive. The fact that students had to take buses everywhere really put me off. I didn’t get the sense that anybody was excited at all about attending Rutgers. At TCNJ, the campus was pretty, but it felt lifeless and boring. I also don’t want to live and work in the Philly or NYC area after college, and I feel like the connections I could make would only be in those cities. There is a desire to get out of the state, not because I think NJ is horrible, but I just feel like there’s no character to anything. The schools just didn’t fit, but I understand that they’re good schools and if I end up there, it’s not the end of the world.
We know a bunch of students who attended Philly/mid Atlantic/NYC schools and I don’t think any of them stayed in those areas after graduation. California is where several headed, several in DC, several in Boston area, several in FL, NC. Most students can get internships as far away from their home institution as they wish, and if they do well academically, can have work options in many locations geographically. Don’t get hung up on location if the Colleges which show you love are close to home.
In August you mentioned that your mom is considering a career change. So, is her income for 2016 still highish?
What was her income for 2015?
[QUOTE=""]
1340 SAT (720 W 620 M) My boarding school has a 6-point grading scale. My junior year GPA was a 5.3, senior first-semester is 5.2. The average for students at my school is a 4.6
[/QUOTE]
That is about a 1300 or 1290 on the old SAT M+CR. That’s not likely going to get much merit at Rhodes. Your classmates may have had higher SAT scores.
I don’t think that will get much merit from Auburn. Maybe at Miss St.
What is your major?