D2 is a rising senior and is looking for Env. Science with research opportunities. 32 ACT, 7 AP’s, good EC’s, lots of volunteer hrs, upper midwest good public HS. UW-Madison would be the good choice, but of course, she wants to leave the nest like her older sister did (even though that didn’t end well). Anyway, she will be gifted with about 45,000 over the course of her 3 or 4 years, and has a bit more from working. We all know she’ll need to take out significant loans in order to make this happen. Anyway, she’s not ruling anything/anywhere out, other than west coast only because of the cost of getting back and forth, and she’d also like co-ed. She would LOVE UNC, but that’s really unlikely given what I have read about OOS applicants. Being that science is a strength of hers, would it be worth it to take the SAT? Is a 32 on ACT really any different than a 33? Should she have another go of it? First try was a 28. Help!!! We’re so overwhelmed…
Have you told her the cost constraints? $11k per year is not a lot to work with (comes up to about $20k per year after adding federal direct loans and a reasonable expectation of student work earnings part time and during summers). Have you run net price calculators on the various schools in question to see if financial aid will bring the net prices into that range? If financial aid will not be enough, she will need to make a merit-seeking list to apply to.
She can only borrow ~$5500/year on her own. You’d have to sign for the rest.
I know she’d like co-ed, but I you might want to look into Mount Holyoke anyway - strong stats and ECs could get her a lot of merit aid (maybe even special scholarships for research), and they are very strong in sciences.
Other ideas: Beloit, Clark, Kalamazoo, Lawrence, Trinity U, Case Western, Denison, Wooster
Yup…I forgot to mention that we have 4 kids, 1 will still be in college her first two years, then the other one will be in for her last year. If she goes public, her AP’s and college level courses already taken will shave at least a semester off, if not 2. We make under 100,000 and get some aid for D1, so theoretically should get a bit more with having 2 in. We have done several NPC’s,(Elon, NC State, Tulane, Loyola NO, Miami(OH), Madison, Minnesota, and a few other privates) which were all over the board. Some put our EFC at 17, some at 27. One had only 6 questions(strange), others were generic and not school specific, with no questions regarding her scores or her gpa. Do we do the ACT again(or SAT) trying to crack the 33 level? I guess I’m looking for those schools that will likely give decent merit aid for a kid with those stats. Thanks lalalemma!
If the college’s EFC is $17k (to which she must add a student loan/work contribution of $5-10k for a total net price of $22k or higher) but you can only contribute $11k, then it looks like she needs to seek large merit scholarships.
Here are some lists, but verify on school web sites since some have changed:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ (if National Merit)
Here’s the merit aid chart for Miami of Ohio. Note that the school super-scores for admissions AND scholarships. So if she could just get the ACT super-score up to a 33, she would be in the running for half to full scholarship.
I would stick with re-taking the ACT. The issue with switching to SAT is that some schools/ programs “recommend” subject tests. As mentioned before, definitely check out the list of schools that offer full tuition merit
So, with 4 kids, are you willing to be co-signing big loans for each one?? Wouldn’t you “not qualify” at some point?
With your income, there’s certainly a limit to how much you can cosign for.
Your DD runs the risk that you might qualify for years 1 and 2, but then get denied for year 3. Then what? Coke home with no degree??
Before your DD falls in love with some schools, I hope that y’all can work out the finances/loan info, so that you all know what’s what.
WE’ve seen posts from parents who no longer qualify to cosign after a year or two because each cosigned loan is a credit hit and an outstanding debt against the PARENTS.
Understand completely. This is stressful but you will make it! I visited University of Alabama with my daughter. She was interested in engineering but her overall impression of the uni was very positive. They are kind enough to include a scholarship matrix. http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php. I have not been to berea college, but that might be interesting for an environmental science major. Much smaller college. We also discussed around our house New Mexico Tech. Again, haven’t visited. But this is a good example of waivers. If you go to the New Mexico website, do a search for non-resident waiver. They have a scholarship that gives non-residents resident tuition rates. I’ve seen similar for Texas publics too but it takes some searching. May want to check your surrounding states for regional resident tuition options. If you have a tight budget, I would just reinforce with the kid that there isn’t one dream school but there will be great options.
Berea is a really tough admit if you don’t live in Appalachia.
Looks like you can afford room and board if she gets full tuition somewhere (which she can if her GPA is as good as her ACT), and she can borrow $5K or so too, so the budget is up to $16K or so?
If I may, I’ll throw out a few Midwestern LACs w/ Env Sci majors that may be in her range: Otterbein, Wheaton (IL), Earlham. You could try running the NPCs.
ASU has a good net price calculator where you can find out the automatic merit award would be.