<p>I'm looking for some advice. I am going into electrical engineering and have already applied to 6 schools. (Baylor, Northern Illinois, Missouri, Southeast Missouri, Minnesota, and Alabama) I have the presidential at bama, and full rides at SE MO and NIU. My stats are 33 ACT and 3.93 UW with fairly weak EC's. a couple other schools I've been looking at are Cornell, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, and WashU. I change my mind every day on what I want to do. One day I'm roll tide, while another day I'm feeling Irish. Ivy League one day, directional, closer school the next. I'm almost ready to give up on those schools because I don't think I would get in, and that I would be wasting time and money applying. But then again, you never know. I was just wondering if anyone had an opinion on where to go from here. Would be greatly appreciated!!</p>
<p>Where do you live & is $ an issue?</p>
<p>Illinois, and money IS an issue</p>
<p>Nick…I remember you, but refresh the details…</p>
<p>Do your parents make about $60kish? And, they can’t contribute much? How much can they pay? </p>
<p>Your mom doesn’t want you to go very far away? is that right? </p>
<p>You really like Mizzou? is that right?</p>
<p>Ok…you mentioned the full tuition scholarship at Bama. Have you been awarded the extra 2500 per year from eng’g yet? </p>
<p>You have “fairly weak ECs” …what does that mean?</p>
<p>Are you asking if you should bother filling out the Cornell, Vandy, and WashU apps? If your ECs really are weak, then those may be a waste of time. A 33 ACT is very good, but average at those schools, so I would think an app w/o impressive ECs may not get past the first down-selection process.</p>
<p>Yes my parents make from 60-70k (depending on small business income) and they have 10000 in a 529 savings for me. They have not told me whether they will contribute from their income or not, but I suspect they won’t. I have another 4000$ from my grandparents. </p>
<p>My mom doesn’t want me to go far away, but I’m not really concerned about that; it is my decision and she will have to deal with it. </p>
<p>Mizzou is my favorite school, and if I was sure I could afford it, I would go there in a heartbeat. But as it is, I estimate that I would be anywhere from 30-50k in debt if I went there. </p>
<p>I haven’t received the $2500 yet because I haven’t filled out the scholarship app, but I’m doing that this weekend. </p>
<p>My EC’s include football, scholastic bowl, a few clubs (no leadership), various church things (FCA, vacation bible school etc.), and some juvenile anti drug programs. </p>
<p>I am basically asking whether I should bother applying to these selective schools when I have a bird in the hand (bama).</p>
<p>For those more selective schools, do they have a reasonable chance of being affordable (check the net price calculator for need-based aid)? Do you like them better than the definitely affordable schools you have now on your list?</p>
<p>Tufts. Seriously. They’ll love you. They’ll make it affordable.</p>
<p>If you like the private schools, why not apply to a couple of your favorites and see what happens. If you get in, they are affordable, and you prefer them…then go. If it doesn’t work out, it sounds like you will (and you should) be happy and proud to attend Alabama. The only thing you have to lose is your time, so if you have interest and don’t’ want to always wonder “what if” then give it a shot. As long as you don’t get your heart set on attending a school that is an academic or financial reach, you will be fine.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus
Vandy came out to be ~$7000/year
ND came out as $19000-22000 before loans
Wash U -~ $15000
If accepted to these schools, (granted I haven’t visited Vandy or bama) an offered an affordable package, I would probably attend.
I really really like Norte dame but the things that are holding me back are first, difficulty in admissions, and second, if I got in, an unfavorable financial package would be a heartbreaker.</p>
<p>And to be honest, I know almost nothing about Cornell, except that its the easiest ivy to get into, has residential colleges, and looks amazing and has a decent engineering program. Also I’m in the 75th percentile there I believe.</p>
<p>In this case, you can certainly apply, as long as you realize that you need both admission and a reasonable financial aid package to attend.</p>
<p>If you don’t apply to Notre Dame, you are 100% assured of not getting in. You’ll always wonder if you could. If you get in, but can’t afford it, you can always be satisfied with knowing that you were good enough to get in, but it didn’t make financial sense to go. And then there’s always the possibility that you’ll get in and the aid package will work. That won’t happen if you don’t push the button.</p>
<p>The way it fell out in our family was that if a pricey school had no merit aid at all, like Cornell, my D refused to apply even if she loved the school, since paying our full EFC would be rather a strain. She didn’t care to apply just to see if she could get in, because in many cases there was some specialized essay that could not be retooled from her already finished stock and she didn’t want to put the time into making it as good as it would need to be. She was insanely busy and had to guard her time senior year. Are you time pressed? Do any of the schools you’ve applied to so far use common app so you have its basic essays done already? You could check and see if your possible schools have extra essays. A few don’t.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt does have some big scholarships,and their regular financial aid is relatively generous, so she did apply there, and had to do scholarship apps as well. She could put her heart in it because there was a chance of it being affordable. We didn’t know at the time how difficult those scholarships are to win or perhaps she wouldn’t have applied after all. By WashU you mean WUSTL? I think they have some scholarships too. Don’t know about Notre Dame. </p>
<p>I guess you don’t have a hook. So unless you are a pretty talented writer, the scholarships are a long shot. Maybe for you the scholarships wouldn’t even make a difference as your EFC is fairly low. It could be the scholarships would mostly replace grant money you would be given even with no scholarship. Hmm. Can’t remember if the Vandy scholarships are full tuition or full ride. I know zip about WUSTL.You could look it up if that makes a difference in your attitude towards applying…</p>
<p>There is a math teacher/BB coach at S’s HS who takes great satisfaction in knowing that everyone is aware he got into Harvard, though he chose to attend our state flagship.</p>
<p>Your parents are self employed. The net price calculators aren’t going to work well for that circumstance. CSS schools are harsh with the self employed because they “add back in” certain deductions as income</p>
<p>A 33 ACT isn’t going to be in the running for merit at WashU or Vandy…certainly not big merit… That said, even if the student got “some merit” it would just go towards need, not family contribution.</p>
<p>You can apply to some/all of these top schools and see what happens, but don’t expect merit.</p>
<p>Your family has $3500 per year to put towards college. Is that right?</p>
<p>I don’t honestly think I would be in the running for any merit aid at any of these schools. I have most of the common app done, but I will wait until I get my 7th semester grades to apply to Notre dame, because I believe that will strengthen my application (my school only has 1 AP before senior year and I didn’t take it. Taking two this year). My family contribution would be around 3500$/year.</p>
<p>Apparently you’ve already nailed down at least one affordable safety that you’d be happy to attend (Alabama). What would be your net cost of attendance? About $10K, right? If you have a reasonable shot at coming close to that COA at a school you might prefer, what do you stand to lose by applying (other than a little time and the cost of the application)? </p>
<p>If the Vanderbilt NPC estimates your net COA is $7K, then they may be in the ballpark of what you can afford from your parents’ and grandparents contribution alone. If they come in higher than that, you may have some wiggle-room to either negotiate with them, or else cover the difference from additional self-help (loans or work study, if they aren’t already maxed out in their offer). Otherwise, you still have your safety(-ies).</p>
<p>About Vandy, not sure if you know.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is a residential university. All students are required to live in on-campus housing for all 4 years, unless they are married or parents live nearby. So you can’t save money after the first year by moving into a cheap apartment and eating ramen noodles.</p>
<p>Their dorms close completely Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks. Students are required to leave the dorms. It’s in the housing contract. Unlike a lot of dorms, where kids can stay but there is no food service. Thanksgiving is the one time of year that I never have success getting cheap airline tickets. Even if you have a lot of money, when you are across country from home, it’s a lot of work to get home for 4 days to turn around and do it again 2 weeks later. Most crowded weekend of the year at airports. All the shuttling to and from airports, lucky if you don’t get trapped in one closed because of blizzard. I’m guessing some kids get invites to stay with friends who live in TN. Depending on where you live in Illinois, might be easier to drive, say get a ride with a friend going back home that way.</p>
<p>If the Vanderbilt NPC estimates your net COA is $7K, then</p>
<p>The parents are self-employed, so likely that is not what Vandy would conclude. NPCs do not work for the self-employed.</p>
<p>FYI:</p>
<p>Nashville to Chicago is $255 RT on Southwest for the worst dates at Thanksgiving, but due to sellout, you’d go back very early on Monday. It’s $315 RT for the other airlines.</p>
<p>Driving, it’s 7 hours one way.</p>
<p>I wonder if OP is in Chicago area. It would make his travel easier and cheaper if he ends up OOS. We are in a good sized city, but not a hub. Few non-stops, so can’t often fly cheap, unless we drive 1.5 hours to the closest airport with lots of non-stops.</p>
<p>*FYI:</p>
<p>Nashville to Chicago is $255 RT on Southwest for the worst dates at Thanksgiving, but due to sellout, you’d go back very early on Monday. It’s $315 RT for the other airlines.</p>
<p>Driving, it’s 7 hours one way.*</p>
<p>students often have to coordinate their flights with when the shuttles are running to and from campus. A taxi may be an option but don’t know how much those would add to the cost. </p>
<p>I also wouldn’t recommend a return flight that arrives “early Monday morning”. Not only would that get the student back to his dorm very late, but if the flight is delayed, it could really cause a student to miss a day of school.</p>