<p>I know some very nice kids at SUNY Cobleskill, which is like SUNY Delhi in terms of SAT and gpa. The campus has its own ski slope and there's an equestrian center.</p>
<p>Oh, I just learned about this one on CC; Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in the Berkshires for some reason gives NY students in state tuition. It doesn't look that hard to get into....not sure what the negatives are.</p>
<p>Thanks again for these suggestions. I will definitely pass them on!</p>
<p>I have a friend whose son goes to SUNY Delhi; I believe it is largely a technology school.</p>
<p>twinmom, I know someone who went there for plumbing certification. I also know someone who went there years ago for academics. She spent 2 years there and then transferred to a 4 college.</p>
<p>northeastmom,</p>
<p>The admissions rep for our area called us parents over toward the end of my son's interview last weekend. I asked that exact question and he told me that it was possible to get both merit aid and the regional alumni scholarship at the same time. He specifically referred to the regional alumni scholarship as a "discount" that was completely independent of everything else. If we find out that he got that wrong, I will post on this thread again.</p>
<p>BassDad, thanks for that info. I just sent a PM to you.</p>
<p>For what you get at Hartwick I think it is fairly priced, if not a bit below market compared to it's peers. Look at tuition costs of it's direct competitors Hobart/St. Lawrence/Hamilton....they are all well above Hartwick's tuition.</p>
<p>wavelength, I don't know if you are an alumni, you work for Hartwick, have family member there, but I know that you are a big Hartwick fan. Hartwick has a beautiful campus, and its location in Oneonta is very nice. The J term sounds great. All of that said, Hartwick has an endowment of about 59.5 million with about 1500 student. It has an acceptance rate of 78% and midrange SAT scores are 480-600v, 470-590m and it has a 3 tier ranking. All of this information is from USNews. St. Lawrence has a student body slightly larger at 2182, but its endowment is about 229.8 million, an acceptance rate of 59% and the student SAT midrange is 550-640v, 555-640. St. Lawrence is ranked # 58 in the liberal arts school category. I did not look up Hobart, but I would venture to guess that the midrange SAT score is higher than Hartwick's, and its endowment is larger. USNews lists other Hartwick competitors are: Ithaca, UVM, SUNY Oneonta, Siena (meaning that those who apply to Harwick often apply to those schools too).</p>
<p>Just to be clear, I didn't say Hartwick was more competitive or had a larger endowment or was better than St. Lawrence or Hobart. I just said that Hartwick competes with both these schools, and it does. For what Hartwick offers, the tuition is not out of sight compared it's competitors. The competitors you mention aren't much like Hartwick, all are much larger and only one, Siena, could be considered a small LAC, and it is still double Hartwick's size. To use your argument, and if you are to believe everything US News says is absolute and meaningful, than Bennington College with it's ranking in Tier 1 is worth it's nearly $37k in tuition (not including R&B), when they have under 600 students, a library with under 125k books and a paltry $12 million endowment. A lot of people don't put a lot of stock in the US News rankings because of weird anomalies like this.</p>
<p>The stickerprice and the bottom line are 2 different things anyway, so until the final package is received nobody knows what the cost is to them. Also, the market is determined by those willing to pay the annual tuition that they are asked to pay, and that is not usually the sticker price. In the meantime, Hartwick only retains 76% of its students between freshman and sophomore years. Why? That is a poor retention rate, IMO. I am also very curious as to why you don't mention the other schools that are seen as competitors according to USNews: Suny Oneonta (across the street), UVM, Ithaca, or Siena. They seem to be Hartwick's competitors whether they are like Hartwick or not.</p>
<p>If student is female and interested in one of the school's available majors (options are limited), look into Pine Manor College. It's a LAC outside of Boston...#1 Most Diverse by US News. Prices are above those of SUNY, but still well below those of most private schools, and the school is quite committed to making itself affordable (over 70% receive financial aid).</p>
<p>Mid-50% SAT scores are CR 370-490, Math 350-460.</p>
<p>All I know about the school is that one friend went and enjoyed her experience very much, and another friend's mother is a professor there. Might be worth a bit of research if your student is looking for a smaller, more residential experience.</p>
<p>Good luck :)</p>
<p>There is Castleton College in VT. I know a lot of students who have lower SATs who go there, but to be honest - I am not a big fan of it. I think someone mentioned Keene College, how about SUNY Potsdam. Their SATs are a little lower than some of the other colleges.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the ideas. The student in the OP was accepted into Plattsburgh and is just elated!</p>
<p>Oh, wonderful news! Thanks for updating.</p>
<p>Good news! My d has really low PSAT's but we keep hearing about people with those scores getting into the SUNY colleges even though the posted scores on the SUNY website would indicate otherwise. We'll see.</p>
<p>Muffy333: Has your daughter thought about taking the ACT? Also, an ED application may really help if she is set on one of the SUNYs.</p>
<p>twinmom-yes, she is going to sign up for April ACT (junior) and we have her in a very expensive SAT prep for the March exam. We'll definitely do some SUNYs EA; I guess ED depends on how her scores improve. Her SATs would get her into the SUNY technology colleges now, but if some miracle happens and they shoot way way up she could apply to Binghamton because her grades are good. She has friends at Cortland and Oneonta who are happy, so if she can improve her scores to their range, she'll be fine.</p>
<p>Muffy333: Sounds like a good plan. She's definitely got some time to work on getting the SAT and ACT scores up. Best of luck to her!</p>
<p>Wavelength--Hey! I'm sorry, I just can't let that one go by! The money we students here at Bennington spend on tuition is not for the cool "stuff" it has to offer, or to have a lot of other people around us (in fact, we are in part paying exactly for the luxury of that small size) and the number of books in a school's library is becoming increasingly irrelevant what with the internet and interlibrary loans, but instead for the kind of education one can get/design here, the fantastic professors, and a philosophy about life. I wouldn't pay $10, or want to go to a school that had 10 million books, only to be told that I had to take some first year college level math class I had absolutely no interest in, or need for, or for English 101. I certainly don't want to plunk down approximately $4000 per class (what one pays at $37,000 a year) for classes that have no meaning for me. I most assuredly don't believe that everything US News says is absolute and meaningful, but for me and the other 722 students enrolled here (and most of the 300 more who apply every year) Bennington IS worth the $37k!</p>