<p>He’s just so not picky. I feel like he would do best at a smaller LAC or a university that has residential colleges. He isn’t adamant about film which actually makes it harder when it comes to the list because I could at least rule out schools that didn’t have a film concentration. But his goal is to be a screenwriter so I think he should at least take a few film classes. He’s expressed a preference for a defined campus and no preference for geography. The ruralness of Kenyon didn’t bother him in the least although he was only there 2 weeks. He prefers cold to heat and snow to rain. But he has said over and over that any of his preferences take a back seat to the availability of a creative writing (fiction) program.</p>
<p>Financially, we are very much in the need based FA category. I have already looked at Penn State-Erie and Kutztown as his safeties and am ok with those options. And alternatively, he can attend one of the surrounding county community colleges and then transfer although I’d much rather he stay put for 4 years. But merit for a B student would be great as long as it can be stacked with any need based aid. We will have the post 9/11 GI Bill available to him but that seems to add another variable that may just be better off considering later on down the line. In state publics will be paid for. OOS publics and all privates are capped at $17500/year in tuition benefits. There’s also a separate housing allowance and some schools even have a matching program. I have no idea how these monies will be treated as far as reducing need. Will it be treated like an outside scholarship and simply reduce the aid he is given? If so, I’d rather save it for grad school. He has up until age 26 to use it.</p>
<p>I like the idea of Googling the professors. Unfortunately, my son is more interested in genre fiction (horror and fantasy) and I keep telling him that most schools don’t really support that. They emphasize literary fiction. That’s one of the reasons that I look at the classes, since some schools do have courses that cover those types of stories/writings. But knowing the specialty of the faculty is a good idea. So far, I’ve just paid atention to whether the program and faculty seemed to emphasize poetry vs fiction.</p>
<p>And yes, I do need to get a spreadsheet started to keep things straight. My notebook is getting confusing. I keep adding colleges that I already looked at only to realize why they were not on the current list. So I guess I need to keep track of all the schools just so I don’t keep repeating work.</p>