<p>I will respectfully disagree with mom2collegekids (and I do mean respectfully because she helps lots of folks here). </p>
<p>You never know what YOUR particular package will be until you 1) apply and 2) fill out the FAFSA and possibly the CSS Profile (on time) and 3) it’s late March or early April. </p>
<p>Our experience with the family calculators were not helpful. Sure, they give ball park numbers that may be correct for many families – but you don’t know if they are desperate for more oboe players this year and have a snootful of soccer players. </p>
<p>There do tend to be some verbal clues, as in “we feel a college education is a long term investment” (translation: expect steep loans). </p>
<p>Particularly in this student’s case, she may find some money available in some programs. She has to apply to find out. </p>
<p>I’ll also pick a bone with the aunt who says “I need a school with a good name.” There are 4000 colleges in the US. Just how many does auntie know well? There are all sorts of colleges that have excellent programs that are not advertising in this fall’s Newsweek College Edition. Let’s put this another way: Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a well known radio advice host. Just because she is “well known”, is she what you want as your personal lodestar? There might be a quieter group of professors at a quieter college who have a whole lot more to offer . . . </p>
<p>Look around. A stop at the bookstore or library to read about each of the colleges recommended is a first step. It helps TREMENDOUSLY to go do a day on the campus of any school that is sounding interesting. It can motivate you to get classwork done and it can help shape those pesky essays. It can also be when you start to really visualize your life one year from now. See if there is any way you can go do the campus tour for at least a couple of these schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>Still laughing at Olymom’s Dr. Laura joke… We saw the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg this spring-- beautiful campus, in the lovely and lively little town of Fredericksburg. D also has a friend who is very happy at Roanoke. You’re lucky to live in VA-- so many good choices.</p>
<p>Mary Washington is in Fredericksburg, a small (pop 20,000) historic city maybe 50 miles south of DC. The campus is green and leafy and self-contained, but right in the town-- which has lots of shops and restaurants and a funky/hip, friendly feeling. We saw Shenandoah and William and Mary also-- Mary Washington had the best location by a lot, I thought. It didn’t have D’s major so we didn’t explore too deeply, but in your situation it would definitely be worth a look.</p>
<p>From the OP’s earlier post, it sounded like she needed a good amount of aid and her stats were rather modest (which can mean being gapped), but now she states that her family will contribute the majority of costs…</p>
<p>Virginia Girl…do you mean that your family will pay the majority of the cost of an instate public? For instance GMU costs about $20k per year for instate. What if you go to a private that costs $50k? How much would they pay?</p>
<p>Virginiagirl as a VA resident let me offer some advice. As a parent I have two students in college here in VA. I live within a few minutes of Christopher Newport University. I am also a high school teacher in this area and work closely with the guidance department. CNU has gotten very selective. I have known several students who graduated with advance diplomas and honors and did not get into CNU. To be honest you need about a 3.6 or better to be competitive and much better SAT’s. For William and Mary and University of Virginia you need well over a 4.0 to even compare with the other applicants. Virginia Tech about a 3.8 is competitive. Okay, that being said you have some other great options. Please think about Old Dominion University. It is in Norfolk so you have the big city you like. You are near everything you can imagine from great malls, the oceanfront, concerts and lots of festivals and museums just to name a few things. The campus has so many new buildings, it is very diverse with a lot of international students. They have almost any major you can think of and they are affordable and do offer aid. Go visit! All the students there I know really like it. You have the gpa and SAT scores needed to get in. My son goes there and his scores were actually lower and he got in. He did have a lot of EC’s and some awards though. Radford University is a great choice too, however it is in the mountains and pretty isolated. Other than that I think that would be a great college to look at. Take a look at Longwood. It is in Farmville outside of Richmond. Again, it is in the country, but a nice school as well. It is mostly female and a little pricier public college. Private schools give good financial aid if you have a really good gpa and SAT scores. They run about 35,000-40,000 a year though before aid. Good luck in your search and I know you will find a college that will fit you!</p>