@Dunboyne I will discuss affordability and finances with my parents sometime soon. The more I think about it, you and @ColdinMinny make good points. I have been worried about the costs long before too, since my family also needs to pay for my sister’s college tuition, so it makes sense to talk about it with my parents. You pointed out that “if * ever required even $5,000 in merit aid, [I’d] be in trouble with [my] current list.” I understand what you mean, but I’m not quite sure which colleges would be affordable safety/match schools that would give me quite a bit of merit aid. Would I have to use the Net Price Calculator for that? And yes, I will definitely research schools before applying Thank you again!
@merc81 Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into CMU more. I understand what you mean in your 2nd paragraph, and I agree! That’s what college is for, after all
Net Price Calculators will give you an estimate of what your family will be expected to pay at a particular school (Expected Family Contribution or EFC). The school’s wealth and your family’s wealth (income, investments, etc.) will dictate your EFC. This number will differ at every school, but will likely fall within a reasonably narrow range if the school meets 100% need, as several of your listed schools do.
Then the second key number is what your family can pay per year, on average, out-of-pocket (call it your “actual family contribution”). Ask your parents to figure that out.
Run the Net Price Calculators for the schools on your list. Get your parents to help; be accurate with the inputs. Compare your EFC with your actual contribution. If your EFC at Wellesley was $25000, for example, but your folks can only pay $15000, you’d have to cover that shortfall somehow, probably with merit aid.
So the NPCs won’t tell you exactly how much merit aid you need, but they can indicate that you will need it. If you do require merit, then you have to start looking for schools that are good targets for merit aid. There are lists on here for that, and several posters can help with that sort of thing.
But don’t start worrying that your list is unviable financially or that you will need merit aid. As noted, maybe your parents aren’t forthcoming about finances because they know they’re in a good situation. Straighten that out soon, though, because there’s no sense moving forward with your list if you’re in the dark with respect to net cost/financial aid. Let us know what you discover.
@Dunboyne Thank you so much! I honestly can’t thank you enough haha. I will try to keep this thread updated as I begin to finalize some of my decisions; it may take a while though, because it’s not easy coming up with a good, realistic list!
You are getting good advice here. You need to address the financial issue head-on, and add that to the list of other factors in choosing a set of schools. There is no sense applying somewhere that your family will not be able to afford.
When we went through this with out S last year, we ruled out a number of great schools that would have been great fits, but which offered little to no merit aid. $60K plus per year for undergraduate is insane, IMO, unless you are wealthy. You would need to earn over $400K before taxes to pay that kind of money!
There are plenty of great schools out there that will be a fit academically, socially and financially that will work for you without bankrupting your family or putting you behind the eight ball with massive student loan debt.
You noted that “You would need to earn over $400K before taxes to pay that kind of money!” and I agree that no college, no matter how prestigious it is, is worth full price for students like me who don’t come from extremely wealthy families. And you’re right-- there are many colleges in the US to choose from, and it wouldn’t make much sense to attend a really expensive one and be in tons of debt.
if teaching is where you are headed, then you can really do no better than TCNJ. I know you mentioned it with {}
explantation that you are from NJ. I don’t know why you felt the need to “explain” that. But fact is its either #1 or 2 teaching school in the country. So it that’s really truly somthing you wish to pursue , it sounds like a better choice than many of the schools you mentioned. Plus reasonable price , merit scholarship , and need based money readily available. Save your $ for grad school
I’m following this thread with great interest since my daughter is a rising HS senior in NJ with a desire to study secondary math education in college.
My comment is to consider college costs in light of your chosen vocation. If your goal is to get a teaching certificate in NJ, then why pay $60K+ for a big name OOS private school when TCNJ or Rutgers will get you that same certification for a fraction of the cost? Once you have the teaching certificate, I doubt if your choice in undergraduate education will significantly affect your chances of employability or your salary.
@stones3@ekdad212
TCNJ is a great school, and I agree that it would be wise to save money and stay in-state if I am certain that I want to teach secondary math. I am keeping my options open in case I go to college and end up not wanting to be a teacher, since my interests from high school may change, but I will still keep TCNJ in my college list. Thank you
Update:
I have been accepted to Vassar College (ED II) as a potential math major and education minor!
The financial aid package hasnt arrived yet, but my family and I used the NPC before and it came out fine.
My college list from the summer (the original 8 colleges I had listed in post #1) is actually different from the one I ended up with, so thank you everyone for your suggestions and help!
Thank you again!