<p>We looked at ULowell but didn’t like the area so its a no-go and the others just don’t offer the things she wants. We have agreed to use the $27K as our budget. She has applied to several academic safeties in hopes that the merit aid offered will put the cost below that of UMAmherst because in reality she’d rather go to a less selective school that is smaller and I’d like to keep the budget at $20K lol. UMA offers a great education and I like the 5 school consortium ~ one of the things I hope to do today for her is to run lists of courses at the other three (doesn’t like Hampshire) schools that she could take in her major/minor. She did spend last weekend there to get a better idea of fit but came home saying “it’s not as bad as I thought but I’ll only go there if it ends up being my only choice”. OTOH, Smith, MoHo and Amherst (one of her 3 reaches) are all on her list.</p>
<p>FWIW, I want her to go away to school for the experience (which I never got) and I’m willing to make sacrifices for that. She also will be making sacrifices but in the end, its what she wants. The local CC will NOT challenge her, I’ve taken many classes there and alot of the local kids go there. While its a great stepping stone for some and its fits a purpose here on the Cape, its not the right place for her. </p>