I got accepted into Hollins with a great financial package(only required to pay room and board) however, I moved to DC and fell in love with the metropolitan area. For those of you who went to Hollins, did you enjoy your experience? How rural is Roanoke? Is there anything you wish someone would have told you? How diverse is the student body?
If I decide to transfer, which of these schools(UMD, AU or Catholic) offers strong academics, a diverse body and good financial aid?
Is your aid need-based or merit-based? If it is merit-based without any need component, it is unlikely that you will get equivalent aid as a transfer student. If it is need-based then you need to spend some time researching the aid policy at each of the places on your list.
Is your family in DC proper, or are they in MD or VA? That will affect your possible costs at UMD.
If you want a big city/metropolitan area, Roanoke is not that place. It is a city, but it’s not huge and doesn’t have a similar feeling to DC at all. It’s in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains and is surrounded by rural towns. It’s about 2 hours away from Charlottesville and Richmond and about 4 hours away from DC.
@CE527M I see. Does anyone know anything about the school, can’t seem to find a forum about it.
@happymomof1 yes, we are in the heart of DC. I received need based aid as well as an merit scholarship.
Unless you ask to defer enrollment and reapply to a new set of institutions, chances are that you have the best aid package possible right now. You aren’t likely to get any merit money as a transfer student. Whether you get enough need-based aid to make one of these targets affordable would depend on their specific policies.
Could you be happy living at home and commuting to UMD, AU, or CU? How much can your family afford to pay each year? Run the numbers.
You liked Hollins well enough to apply there. What has happened since you applied and decided to attend?
@happymomof1 Ah. I see. So it seems that this aid package is the best I will receive. I applied to Hollins because it was a women’s college and at that time, I wanted that environment and they have the program I wanted.
However, as I learned more about the school I realize it did not have the diversity I wanted and its location was very different than I had imagined.
I really am not sure what to do at this point. I know my parents cannot afford university at all----so I don’t want to give up this opportunity. At the same time, I’m just not sure Hollins a good fit for me.
If your parents can"t afford university at all and you’re expected to start as a freshman at Hollins in a couple days, your choices are limited:
Is your family’s EFC zero, or is it a case of not being able to pay your EFC? Do you get Pell Grants?
What are your stats? (SAT/ACT, GPA, AP/IB/DE classes?)
Did you apply to Mount Holyoke? It meets full need, has merit aid, and is one of the most diverse colleges in the country. It’s not in DC and it’s not in a city, but it’s near lots of good places (Amherst is a GREAT college town, so is Northampton, and both are nearby; and of course you can get to Boston for the weekend if you wish to.)
Are you still considered a VA resident? If so, did you consider GMU, JMU, UMW?
Catholic is a Papal Bulla school, it’s very different from typical Catholic colleges. I don’t think you’d find much diversity since its goal is to educate a specific group of students.
American has some merit aid but tends to reserve it to students it especially want to attract - students who speak several languages and have high test scores, first gen/minority students, etc. It does NOT meet need and gaps most applicants.
UMD is a good deal if you qualify for instate tuition in MD, otherwise not so much.
Not sure what kind of diversity you are looking for, but the Hollins student body is much more economically and racially diverse than in my day:
https://www.hollins.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Common-Data-Set-2014-2015.pdf
I was there this past May for a reunion, and it seems to still be a place where women are taken seriously, challenged, and supported. There is a big emphasis on leadership training and J-Term internships, many of which are arranged through alumnae. I lived in Roanoke for a summer; it’s definitely not DC, but there is a farmers’ market downtown along with several museums and a number of farm-to-table restaurants. During the school year, I was busy with student government, campus newspaper, and academics so I didn’t really go off campus very often. I am still close with a number of women from my class and the classes above & below me, although we are scattered all around the world.
Feel free to PM me. Good luck!
@rose43: If your family can"t afford to pay anything, how are you going to pay room and board?
To see whether the Hollins Financial Aid package is the best you could get, here are two net price calculators:
http://www.american.edu/financialaid/Net-Price-Calculator-Form.cfm
https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/mtholyoke
Is either university more affordable?
You can make whatever institution is your most affordable option into a fit if you put your mind to it. No institution is perfect. They all have flaws. They also all have very good qualities. Focus on the things about Hollins that you do like: it is affordable for your family; it offers your major; it is a women’s college. Check through the website for information about internships, study abroad, and study in Washington. Many Hollins students do participate in programs like that.
I used to live right outside DC, and I can well understand the attraction for a young person. However, on a day-to-day basis most of your college life will be spent in the classroom and in the library. Having DC right outside the classroom door doesn’t mean you will end up taking advantage of it. You might find that you can do as much fun stuff in DC as you would as a student on a campus there just by going home for every school break.