Northeast and West Coast are the worst areas to look for large merit.
I’d be considering door-to-door time and cost per school (per kid) and not actual mileage distance. You may be surprised that some far away colleges are more accessible (Southwest airlines?) than a closer in option where traffic and the GW bridge (or name your own local horror show) are a factor.
Since you are from New England…are you aware of the Regional Student Program (RSP)? It depends on your state/major, but there are discounts to be had at public schools from other states within NE. It’s worth a look.
http://www.nebhe.org/programs-overview/rsp-tuition-break/overview/
My oldest is getting 11K a year discount (the RSP lowers your tuition to something in between IS and OOS; it varies by state and institution). And it is totally separate from merit scholarships - has no effect on those being awarded.
It is also worth considering if your probable major is “close” to one offered. Many programs have a lot of overlap during first couple of years (getting base requirements out of the way, for example). You can change your major at any time (most schools allow easy changes up until the end of sophomore year, for example). You will no longer receive the RSP discount if you change out of the accepted major, but there is no “penalty”, and you have already saved some $ during the year(s) you were in that major.
Your kids will need full tuition scholarships so that the $15k from parents, loans, and work can pay for room, board and books.
In other words, your kids need HUGE merit. The NE is not a good region for that kind of merit (full tuition) without higher stats or NMF status.
For the premed student who wants a small school, look at Rhodes College. She has a 1410 M+CR which is equivalent to an ACT 32.
For DD2
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SAT Math 650, Reading 550, Writing 690 ACT 29
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Her ACT is much better than her M+CR 1200 which is equivalent to an ACT 27. So, she needs to look to see where an ACT 29 would get free tuition.
Does she also want small schools?
Juniata, Muhlenberg, Lycoming, Allegheny in PA all have Biology (and lots of other majors) and might give some merit, but looks like your targeted net price is $15-20k ($5k cash, $5k loan, $3k work income, $5k plus loan), not sure if will work out with the North East.
The OP’s situation is where “some merit” or “good merit” won’t be enough. In situations where the net costs needs to be about $15k (mix of family funds, job, loan), the student needs a full tuition award.
For privates, that means awards that are $30k-40k+ per year…$120k-160k+ awards for each DD. To get those from the schools that offer full tuition awards, their test scores would likely need to be within the upper 5-10% of the school.
there are a few exceptions, but I don’t know of any privates that are giving full tuition awards for simply being in the upper quartile.
The mom needs to look at the auto-awards for full tuition for some financial safeties. For other options, go to Collegeboard and look up the middle quartiles for each school.
A small private school that DOES give full tuition awards for the premed DD, will likely have middle quartiles in around the ACT 22-27 range (or M+CR SAT equivalent). In that case, a 1410 M+CR (ACT 32 equivalent) would be one of the top students at the school.
BTW… many schools do not superscore for merit.
@WhataProcess I didn’t know about that program, thank you. A preliminary look tells me that there’s nothing for bio, daughter 1’s intended major, but I’ll look into it more for her, and for daughter 2.
@mom2collegekids Rhodes looks like a very interesting school, but it’s a plane ride away, which terrifies her for some reason. (The distance, not the airplane) Memphis is about 1500 miles from us. I did run the net price calculator on it for DD1 and it gave us almost 27k, not the 18-20 we’ve seen with most others.
DD2 is leaning towards smaller schools too, but may have to give on that one. We toured UConn on Monday and although I thought it was very nice she didn’t bond at all.
I was not aware that colleges didn’t superscore for merit, which is definitely helpful to know. Thank you.
I am looking through posts and lists for full tuition awarding schools, and so far am coming up empty as both girls feel strongly about not going any farther south than DC/VA, and no farther west than about PA/Buffalo (in other words, about 10-12 hours by car). They may need to compromise on cost to get location (sheesh, I sound like a real estate agent) but I don’t want to give up looking.
@mommdc The net price we’re getting on their top choice schools has ranged from 17,300 (Bates) to 21,000 (Bryn Mawr) with Smith, Mount Holyoke, Goucher, and F&M, and Dickinson all in between. We can deal with that. The main worry I have is that those are all schools that are tough to get into, and the easier ones (UMass, Stevenson, Salisbury, etc) have higher net prices (23-34k).
If they get into one of their top choices like Bates or Mount Holyoke I expect taking out loans will feel more acceptable. The loans will not be crippling to us, and we will probably be able to pay them off early. Having lurked around these boards for a little while, though, I feel loans in general are to be avoided as much as possible. I’m trying to educate myself while acknowledging that our geographical restrictions may seem unreasonable to some, especially given my daughters’ non-stellar stats.
A good number of the colleges on the list in post 15 do not guarantee to meet full need…and they won’t.
Are you getting this net price PER twin? Do the NPCs ask for the number of students enrolled in college?
There are other public universities in Massachusetts besides UMass. The others might be more affordable.
10-12 hours by car could get you to college in Hawaii by plane.
It could get them to Hawaii, but again, we’re avoiding planes.
Yes, this is net price per twin. The colleges do ask for how many students are enrolled in college at the same time, and I’ve entered that. If they say they meet 100% of need, am I naive to believe it? That’s what I was going on. 
^^^
Good point. Think of car-time in terms of plane travel time. I can get on a plane in the morning in Alabama and be in Calif 6 hours later. Yet, if I drive to St. Louis, it takes us 8 hours.
If you’re not opposed to the Catholics, look at some of them for big merit for the premed DD. Schools like Seton Hall, Xavier, UDayton, Fairfield, and a few others may give big merit. Nova won’t. Some of the even smaller Catholics might, too.
UDayton has a merit grid, but I know from last year’s results, kids were getting bigger awards than the grid indicated.
for the D with the more modest stats…
Look at the two UMaine schools that dropped their OOS costs and are giving merit as well…
^^^ the above is a list of low-cost schools…
Here are the UMaine schools with low OOS costs. The “yellow area” below shows the merit …check the website for any new changes!!)
The University of Maine at Fort Kent and the University of Maine at Presque Isle
today unveiled a new tuition structure for out-of-state and international students that offers competitive pricing in those markets and also acts as a catalyst for economic development in Aroostook County.
For those students, that means their tuition would see a 40% reduction from $16,560 a year to $9,900 a year. Local economic development leaders are welcoming the rate change and what it means for the area.
OOS Tuition $9900 per year (and there are some lenient merit offers that could further reduce)
COA $20,592
(full-time) 24-36 credits $9,900
Fees 2 $975
Health Insurance 3 $997
Books & Supplies 4 $1,000
Subtotal: $12,872
Residence Hall Room 5 $4,150
Board (19-Meal Plan) 6 $3,570
COA......$20,592
University of Maine Fort Kent
2014-2015 Scholarships for First Year Students (12 or less college credits)
Scholarship Name Eligibility Requirements Amount
Bengal Gold
2 out of 3:
If SAT score is 1050+ (23+ ACT), class rank is top 30% or High School GPA of 3.00-4.00 $5,000.00
Bengal Silver
2 out of 3:
If SAT score is 950-1040 (20-22 ACT), class rank is top 50% or High School GPA of 2.80-2.99 $3,500.00
Bengal Bronze
2 out of 3:
If SAT score is 850-940 (17-19 ACT), class rank is top 50% or High School GPA of 2.60-2.79 $2,500.00
======================
For both DDs
University of South Dakota
Estimated costs for 2014-15*
…SD Residents – MN Residents --Non-Resident
Tuition (30 hours)… $4,164.00 --$4,778.00-- $6,246.00
Fees…3,858.00 – 3,858.00 – 4,548.00
Books (estimate)…1,100.00 – 1,100.00 --1,100.00
Housing… 3,926.00 – 3,926.00 – 3,926.00
Food Service****…3,106.00 – 3,106.00 – 3,106.00
Total … $16,154.00 – $16,768.00 – $18,926.00
My concern is that the prime location is going to make you in a sub-prime financial situation that is not workable.
I do get the plane/car hours thing, and believe me, it’s frustrating for me too. I’ve encouraged them to look at schools in the south and midwest and took them to a “Colleges that Change Lives” event, and those aren’t local schools. I have a friend who says he can get to his son at Tulane 1500 miles away faster than to his daughter at Bucknell, 350 miles away.
In general, they’re smart, independent young women. But staying in the northeast/midatlantic is something they feel very strongly about, and I have to respect that even if I don’t understand it.
We will look at those UMaine campuses, and while the Dakotas are too far, it’s hard not to be impressed by those low costs!
I had one kid who was 130 miles away. I had another who was 3000 miles away. The one who was 3000 miles away actually spent more time home once in college than the one 130 miles away.
The northeast is not a place to shop for bargain colleges. There just aren’t that many.
Have you looked at York College in PA? Small school, with modest prices…and your kids could likely get merit aid there.
What about Keene State, or some of the other lesser well known schools?
I’d honestly never heard of York. Thank you! And yes, I do know the problem of shopping for bargain colleges in the northeast.
@Tempemom, thank you. I’m in finance, I get it, and I’m very debt-averse myself. As an example, we bought a house we could afford on only one salary (either of ours), rather than the mcmansion we could have… and I’m with the ranks of those horrified by that poor girl about to go to NYU Tisch when she clearly can’t afford it. I think I’m not always good at explaining myself here, but we CAN afford more, it’s a matter of whether we should. The balance between bargain & quality, what’s worth what, etc, etc. Trying to be careful, get more info, and educate myself as much as possible.
I can’t believe we haven’t thought of it before, but it’s possible they should consider Framingham State – we’re very familiar with it through friends and teachers and I’m certain they could get a lot of merit aid there. They’ve already qualified automatically for some. That might be an excellent safety. Sometimes you don’t see something that’s right in front of your nose!
Goucher seems like a match for your children’s stats.
You have to decide what you are comfortable with. As long as you tell the girls what your budget is. If you haven’t already say, if you want to stay close by the money won’t go as far/as prestigious. If you are wishy washy well… you know what happens then. Best to you.
OP- I know a lot of people in New England whose kids have geographic restriction (or the parents impose those restrictions). The logic is sound- you can’t drive down a highway in Massachusetts without hitting a college, why haul yourself across the country?
If your D’s are committed to staying in the region, have you discussed the commutable options with them? Draw a line around your house (if you are in a part of the area with good public transportation options your circle will be bigger) and make a list of every college within commuting distance. An hours drive seems unworkable to me, particularly for a Freshman, but an hour on the subway or a bus is time to get studying done.
You may be more inclined to stretch financially knowing that you’re not paying room and board so that the money is actually going for tuition and not duplicating their living arrangements. (You’re already paying for a roof over their head).
And if they aren’t willing to consider living at home- and aren’t willing to go further, they need to get comfortable finding a financial and admissions safety which fits the bill, whether or not their “stats” suggest they can “do better” reputation wise.
Maine is a great option btw.
Definitely run some more net price calculators if they want to stay in North East. I was also going to suggest UDayton, also Misericordia was much better on NPC than some other comparable schools.
I think Juniata is a CTCL school, I thought Muhlenberg was more affordable than York, but I might be wrong.
@blossom There are dozens of schools within commuting distance, and we’re not against it. My husband commuted to Northeastern and I to Bentley, and it worked out very well for both of us. It’s a very plausible option.
@Tempemom We are very candid with the girls, but I do feel it’s primarily their decision. We tell them what we’re willing to do, and then they can look at the permutations available to that. If anything I am afraid they will err on the side of trying to please us, and I want them as much as possible to do what they want.
This board is a tremendous resource. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who took the time to offer their expertise.