I agree! We scrutinized the non-top 30ish schools heavily and knew in advance whether we would pay for them over the only in-state option ours applied to (William&Mary)–some were just not nearly worth the $ compared to the rigor and opportunities at W&M. We were upfront with D21 and luckily she ended up with plenty of top options that were on par (or better, for different various reasons) and she got to make the decision herself.
The holistic admissions creates a lot of uncertainty and it is very stressful for parents as well as (maybe bubbled?) kids who hear about preparing for college applications starting in middle school. OF course there are plenty of great schools in this country outside the top 20 or 50 or whatever, but when you are wiling and able to pay the full fee yet are not a multi-millionaire, considering where your $320k is going is really important and magnifies the stress of the whole process. Maybe that is wrong–but it is reality for some.
The cost of attendance doesnt vary as much as one might expect among private schools, either. Schools ranked number 1 and number 122 both charge the same, just under $80k per year.
True, but how much? Impossible to know ahead of time, except at the few big public schools that publish a calculation chart. Thus, multiple applications. A couple of my kids’ classmates will be attending school in the Netherlands. Excellent schools, dirt cheap, you pretty much know ahead of time if you are likely to get in based on your stats, you find out within a few weeks of submitting application. Going abroad wasn’t a practical option for my own kid, but often wish our system was like theirs.
One might even expect that test optional will lead to fewer public school suburban kids admitted. Presumably those kids could have submitted test scores, and didnt, so likely they were mediocre. Kids from known prep schools, as well as those public school kids with top scores, are less of a risk for admissions to take. AOs will already be admitting disadvantaged kids without test scores, so there is likely a need to balance that with kids expected to test: suburban kids
One doesn’t know. And yes if you are chasing $$ and have no need, you have no business applying to a school that has no merit.
You learn of possible or hopeful amounts from what the school says materials (we have merit $5-30k), NPCs, websites like this where people share, the CDS and more.
It’s not exact.
My daughter applied to 21. All had merit potential. So no Ivy or Gtown although she had interest.
At some we got nothing. At some we got more than planned for. And others we got less than we hoped.
And yea it took many apps to pull that off…I’m a big fan of many apps if you are chasing $.
But you need a strategy behind it…a plan…and if you really need $$ you need to include one with auto $$.
Too many apply to schools they will never be able to afford, to schools where they had no chance of ever attending.
There’s another thread where a kid got into and wants to go to UCB and will need to borrow $280k if possible. Has a free ride to Williams and wants to consider UCB.
He never should have applied. Bcuz he can’t possibly go. There was no hope of $$ at UC.
Knowing exactly how much merit is going to be received at a school that doesn’t have a scholarship chart is very difficult. Having a decently good guess, however, at least at schools that give a bunch of aid is less difficult. For instance, using the Common Data Sets, we look at what percentage of students without financial need receive an award and what the average award is. If only 4% of students are getting awarded merit, then it can be difficult to guess if your child will get any (I usually guess NO so that there’s no unpleasant surprise). But if 97% of students are getting merit aid, then the average merit award seems to be a pretty good indication of what the discount/final price will be. Could it be different? Yes. But is it likely to be in the ballpark Yes. Interestingly enough, most of the colleges I’ve looked at have had 20% or less in merit aid or 80% or more with merit. There hasn’t been a lot in the middle, which would admittedly make it harder to guess.
That’s a good point.The schools where 80% receive merit are inflating sticker prices for prestige, then giving discounts to nearly everyone. For the schools in the less than 20% group, it is more likely to be a true merit award. Yes, you can guess by doing a deep dive into the Common Data Sets, but who would know to do such a thing? The system is sick.
Not necessarily. Many attend highly ranked grad programs and leave with less debt and the global connections. In addition, depending on the chosen field, global connections can be high beneficial.
And most highly sought after companies have offices in multiple areas. Speak a couple of languages and you increase your marketability. Companies love people who have international living/work experience esp for global roles.