<p>The most important factors in my college search are MONEY MATTERS and LOCATION.</p>
<p>I have eleven colleges on my list, six of which I've applied to. As I have been looking into applying to are 50k -ish. Are there are EAST COAST CITY SCHOOLS (New York City, Boston, Chicago (my preferences in that order)) that are academically okay and have a cost of attendance cheaper than 50k?</p>
<p>SUNYs and CUNY.</p>
<p>You are in-state for Indiana correct?</p>
<p>I’m a little confused by your post. How much can your parents spend each year? $30k? $40k?</p>
<p>What will your major likely be?</p>
<p>What kind of school do you want? Big, small, quiet, rah rah big sports, greeks, ???</p>
<p>I’m an NJ resident and some of the schools there are definitely less than 50k/yr, like Rutgers and TCNJ.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Rutgers COA for an OOS student is $36,977</p>
<p>TCNJ COA for an OOS student is $35,171</p>
<p>We don’t know what Damon’s budget is. Damon, how much will your parents pay each year? And, what are your stats? GPA? ACT and SAT including SAT breakdown.</p>
<p>Damon, if you qualify for aid, the 50 will drop , perhaps by a lot, Have you done an EFC calculation? If you are just looking at East Coast City private schools, yes, before aid, they tend to be 50k–their real estate and labor costs are much higher than suburban or rural schools</p>
<p>University of Pittsburgh</p>
<p>just go to harvard. i heard the acceptance rates are over %7.</p>
<p>My EFC was 18k last year, but this year it should be around 15k (from talking to a FAFSA lady about our situation).</p>
<p>My parents are willing to pay for as much as the college is. They support my education 100% since I’m the first in the immediate family to go to college. However, I don’t want to force 200k of debt on them; I don’t think that’s right. So, bottom line I’m looking for CITY colleges east coast under 50k.</p>
<p>GPA: 4.0
I have ALOT of good EC’s , many leadership roles
GREAT Recommendations
The only bad thing is my test scores ACT - 27 SAT -1770 (Idk the exact breakdown, but CR & MATH are in 500s 
and writing is 650)</p>
<p>i dont know if you consider syracuse a city, but i’ve heard theyre really good with aid and you could probably get in. northeastern as well.</p>
<p>What do you mean by city colleges? Colleges that are in cities are not cheaper. Do you mean state (public) colleges? </p>
<p>OOS publics can be cheaper, but most can’t meet the need for OOS state students.</p>
<p>Merit scholarships are based on Math + CR scores, so your SAT is not high enough for any good merit. Your ACT might get you some modest merit, but not big merit.</p>
<p>What are your backup plans? Are you applying to any Indiana schools?
I know that your parents are being supportive, but do they really know how much OOS colleges can cost? Have they actually said, “We can pay $40k per year for your college.”? I’m glad that you don’t want to saddle them with huge debt because it doesn’t sound like they earn enough to pay it back with any comfort.</p>
<p>I know that you’ve said that you want east coast schools under $50k. But what does that mean? Does that mean $30k is ok? Does that mean $40k is ok? What is your annual budget?</p>
<p>I’m also concerned because it sounds like “any” NE school is ok as long as it’s not too expensive. Being in NE isn’t what makes a school a good school. You could end up at a NE school that is a commuter school or suitcase school and be miserable when everyone goes home at night or on weekends.</p>
<p>I’m also concerned because you haven’t talked about your likely major or career. Is your future career worth going into huge debt? The dream should be the career, not going to just any NE school.</p>
<p>If your EFC really is under $20K, then we don’t need to speculate about whether your parents are willing to pay $30K or $40K per year. They should not have to. I don’t understand why “under $50K” is even a significant threshold in your case. As a first gen, straight-A student with that EFC, you’d be a good candidate for significant need-based finaid from a well-endowed private school. Though your SATs are a little low. Are you a senior, or do you still have time to raise them?</p>
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<p>That may be the case for state schools but not necessarily for private schools, which usually take a “holistic” approach (not that better SATs wouldn’t help, maybe a lot). More typically, though, the students most hungry for merit scholarships are kids whose family income just barely disqualifies them for need-based aid (or families that are high earners but poor savers, or kids whose parents simply don’t want to pay more than they have to). That’s not you.</p>
<p>Pittsburgh, Northeastern and Syracuse are good suggestions. Maybe Villanova or Fordham too. Hard to say without knowing more about what you want. A smaller school such as Loyola University Maryland might suit you. Your scores are within their medians and the majority of undergrads there do receive need based aid averaging 97% of need. You should be able to make up the difference from student employment or modest loans.</p>
<p>CUNY Hunter is right in the middle of NYC its 10K for out of states.
DePaul in Chicago will probably give you a scholarship for those type of stats, but you should apply soon.</p>
<p>What major are you looking into?</p>
<p>Check your 11 schools to see how many of them meet 100% of need or close to it. Your parents’ outlay at those should be $60-70K for four years.</p>
<p>@halopower I applied to CUNY HUNTER…i just would like the dorms (and there are onlyt 600ish for the student body)</p>
<p>@momtwocollegekids yes, i applied to one indiana school (iupui)</p>
<p>my major is communications or public relations - which is why a big city would be ideal (internships, networking, etc.) or french/spanish</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids i’m a senior, so no more taking SATs/ACTs for me.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>LOL…I don’t recall asking if you were going to take the SAT/ACT again. Did I???</p>
<p>I think that you should apply to at least one more Indiana school…IU-Bloomington perhaps. Have you visited IU?</p>
<p>I’m concerned that your desire to attend a NE school is going to be too expensive.</p>