CSS Profile asks about home equity, but not all schools use it. I wouldn’t get too hung up on the equity though, income is a much bigger factor in calculating EFC and with your income, you’re probably full pay most places even with 0 in assets. Also, any parent can borrow up to the full cost of attendance with a Plus loan even if they have a low credit score. The only dis-qualifier is a major mark on the report like foreclosure or bankruptcy.
This! For schools with rolling admission, the time is right NOW! The deadlines mean nothing. D’s friends who applied to PItt had their acceptances by early September. Those who waited saw no big awards, regardless of stats. Lots of other schools have Nov 1st deadlines to be considered for merit and honors college. There were also a few schools on D’s lists that students had to be invited to apply for merit/honors, so the application had to be submitted, then an invite was extended with the additional application with the essays. You need to allow enough time to get that all submitted.
Your D needs to get her applications in to the rolling admissions schools that should be on her list ASAP.
Boston Universty does not offer chemical engineering.
I can’t either. Especially now that senior year is starting up. I have a spreadsheet to keep track of deadlines for just 5 schools. And yes, two of the schools have a Nov. deadline for scholarships as well.
I suggest googling “84 Colleges with Full-ride scholarships”. I’m not permitted to link the site.
You can look at the list and then check common data sets for the colleges and get some idea how much merit is awarded. It’s a waste of time and an application to go for a school that isn’t on the list when only one full ride or full tuition award is given. You want to go for the ones flush with scholarship money.
The real prizes are the ones with guaranteed money based on stats. That’s why Alabama shows up so much on these boards. It’s a bird in hand and a might fine one too with great facilities especially for engineering. I suggest jumping on that bandwagon fast. I happen to. Relieve commuting to the local college is a viable choice that belongs on the list, but your daughter has the stats for a “get away card” guaranteed and absolutely get that nailed down.
Fordham gives money to NHRP students last I heard. Few other schools do without a need component. A lot of those big independent awards do have some need component in them even though they don’t appear to have any. The problem is the time and work these awards take. You really should target them the year before and have only not that many schools on your list to go for many of them. My one kid tackled the process and got nada on the big awards which was predictable, but Also shockingly bombed on the small ones where I would have thought he’d clean up. The only scholarship he got was a truly targeted one for a couple thousand that threw in a bit more because it was going defunct. It was directed at cancer survivors, which my son was.
I suggested Pitt, Maryland, Delaware, GT, Emory because I personally know kids who have recently gotten big merit $s from them. Contact each school and ask specifically how to go for the big awards; some need high school nomination, an invitation ( UDel), very early application (GT), etc. Things change a lot so it’s important to be current for this year.
I agree that the chemical engineering should be questioned if there is a big fat juicy opportunity at a school that is otherwise ABET certified. I know too many kids who change their minds. That is awfully specific.
As for the hockey, yes, the sports recruiting is extremely time consuming and I think you have s good idea where she stands at this point when it comes to money for the sport at her level and desirability. My one son was a D1 athlete but he had no interest in the schools interested in him. He fell just short of being such a hot commodity that the top choices and money were in the picture. And yes, the athletic scholarship and hook process was extremely time consuming. Not many athletes at D1 level are engineers, by the way. My one friend’s D who was a top drawer student could not manage both, it was fast apparent. For her, no big pressure, as she did not need the scholarship which was only partial anyways. Still was a painful choice.
You don’t just apply to these schools and sit back for the offers. You need to visit and show the love to s lot of these programs. You need to make sure essays and short answers match up with the various schools. It’s a time consuming process and all has to be done while navigating senior year. So do think carefully about what to pursue. @blossom put it very well in her post.
You have done great work and your daughters stats are stellar. I think your approach is a good one ( esp the CA schools and living at home as an option). Olin, one of the schools on your list is much less expensive than other schools. If she gets in there, it’t likely she can meet your goals. It’s also an interesting approach to engineering.
Also, have you thought about applying to scholarships for the merit aid you seek. I’d target those with a focus on women’s sports/leadership/STEM and hispanic students. There are not that many hispanic students with those stats and she’ll likely come out with some money on that front. I think she’s going to get some good packages. But honestly, I’d limit that list quite a bit. Mainly because it takes time to apply and that could take time away from her schoolwork and applying for scholarships.
What does the BS think? They should be able to tell you who got what $$ for kids with similar stats. I think the combination of brains, high level hockey and an URM is a very strong combination. Many STEM programs are seeking women and minorities. They have specific scholarships also. Check the school for minority scholarships for women in STEM, there’s a lot out there. Some are quite generous.
But the problem with outside scholarships is that they may not stack at some schools. IMO it’s safer to get the scholarships from the colleges themselves if possible.
I don’t have any insight to add about colleges to look at, but I will say, OP, that you are getting great advice here from the cream of the crop on CC.
I can tell you that your daughter signed up for a class this year that she isn’t aware of: College Applications 101. 25 applications is going to be an INSANE amount of work. And she still has to maintain top grades as a senior. Please don’t do that to her. Make a targeted list of realistic options. Save your money by not applying to schools that will not give you the FA you need. Many people think there’s some secret pot of money at tippy top schools for students they want. There isn’t.
Best of luck to your D.
WVU just started a women’s hockey team and the article said they need a goalie.
I looked at the matrix and it calculated $21.5k in merit. WVU OOS cost is about $35k\year so total cost < $15k\year.
The OP said her daughter is not NMF, and that is required for Benacquisto.
Somebody mentioned UT Dallas. Your daughter could get great merit there reducing your costs to $5000/yr but they do not have chemical engineering. UTD does have strong programs in EE, CE, ME, TE, BE and CS. Texas A&M might be considered. As a NHS, you would receive $3500/yr automatically and with your daughter’s stats. I think many other scholarships would be forthcoming. You only need $4000/yr in scholarships to get in state tuition.
I have not read all 4 pages (because trying to read on this new format still drives me buggy) but. please, for all that is good and holy, do not have her apply to 30 (give or take) schools. You can do a much better job of narrowing down your search to schools that may offer good merit $. Agree that you should run the NPC at the top schools and scratch the ones you cant afford. Waste of time and application $. If you haven’t already read this, look at the stamps scholarship schools https://www.stampsfoundation.org/partners/#wheretoapply. - She is a strong applicant for many of these elite scholarships and they are very lucrative.
Dont know if she is planning to continue her sport in college, but if not, have you looked at Tulane? Lots of great scholarship $, some of which is stackable. There are more merit scholarships now than when my DS#2 went (as a Chem E major) and it cost us less to send him there than to our flagship instate college (that also offers automatic merit $). Its been several years since he graduated, but room/board/meals (on and off campus)/books/ lab fees/transportation ,etc etc cost us about $12K/year (he had a full tuition scholarship, so no cost there). He did also have a small $2k/yr National Merit scholarship.Overall fabulous deal. Look into it. ITs probably, with merit opportunities, well within your budget if she gets one. But this will require extra applications and extra essays, so DON’T burden her with a gazillion applications/essays that won’t meet your target need. Tulane also built a new engineering building and the resources are excellent.
Your $15,000 budget might be very hard to meet. Your daughter can take out loans up to $27,000 in total over 4 years.
My kids also qualify/qualified for National Hispanic Recognition Program so I did some digging around.
The University of Nebraska
CHANCELLOR’S TUITION SCHOLARSHIP
This is a full tuition scholarship.
The University of Tulsa PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARSHIP
This is a full tuition scholarship at a PRIVATE university.
National Hispanic Scholars are eligible if they rank in the top 10% of their graduating class.
Run the NPC for ASU and the University of Arizona.
Run the NPC for Iowa State and U Delaware (Delaware is probably too expensive but is very strong in ChemE.).
Email the universities for details about the NHRP awards.
This may sound like an odd question (and sorry if I missed it within the thread) but would she consider schools with great CE programs that don’t have intercollegiate women’s hockey but do have strong hockey? Don’t know of specific schools but I imagine that would greatly open up the opportunities for merit.
There are many schools with very solid club programs (really strong athletes) that go that route for a variety of reasons; don’t want the crazy schedule of college sports to overrun their total experience, just need enough competition to keep the juices flowing, prefer certain schools but they don’t have their sport, etc.
I know you’ve put in tons of time and money with travel teams and showcases over the years. No MANY MANY MANY kids in similar situations. Large percentage of them stop playing in college due to injury, stress, didn’t like the coach, coach didn’t like them, too much of a schedule, you name it. I see it happen all the time and hope those kids are at schools that they would want to be at regardless of their sport. That’s where clubs come in. S plays club baseball and there is serious talent out there. They play a 15 game spring season, practice twice per week, travel throughout the SE, play tournaments, have a world series national tournament, etc. Keeps him playing the game he loves without the 5am gym sessions. Depends on the school. Some are pretty serious about it. Some of the better programs have kids who were walk ons of the official college team.
How is UCLA a “safe” school?
Alabama gets sold a lot on these forums, but note that its automatic scholarships have been reduced. The Presidential scholarship that your student is eligible for with a 4.0 GPA and 35 ACT is no longer value of full out-of-state tuition. It is $26,000 per year, where out-of-state tuition is $30,250 (plus $800 fees), with probable increases in following years.
https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/out-of-state/
https://financialaid.ua.edu/cost/
Other billed costs are close to $15k, so the net billed costs would be about $20k. Books, transportation, etc. are estimated to be about $6k, but that can vary considerably among students and families. But if we take that estimate, the total net price after the scholarship would be around $26k first year, leaving an $11k gap that would be a stretch to cover with a $5.5k federal direct loan and student work earnings.
If she retakes the ACT and earns a 36, she could get the Presidential Elite scholarship, which would reduce net price to about $12k ($6k billed) first year and $21k ($15k billed) following years.
For comparison, Arizona after a $35.5k scholarship would be about $19k ($15k billed), and Arizona State after the National Scholars award would be about $18k ($14k billed).
https://financialaid.arizona.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/freshman-transfer
https://financialaid.arizona.edu/cost/freshmen
https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator
https://students.asu.edu/standard-cost-attendance
Note that if you contribute $15k, then she can afford up to $20k net price if she takes federal direct loans or works part time and summers a reasonable amount. A higher net price would require both federal direct loans and work.
If all of the above are too expensive, there are other potential scholarship options for stats:
https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/scholarships/freshman-scholarships
https://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
A lot of schools are changing their scholarships so keeping current is essential. My son just a few years ago got a very nice award from them as well as from Temple, but I think amounts at Bama have been revised and Temple’s awards are no longer automatic. Back in the day, Pitt’s Honors college and very generous awards were pretty much automatic too. No more. You have to apply.
My son also got a half cost scholarship from Tulane and an opportunity to compete for a full ride. Back several years ago the award was about $38k which still left the same amount payable, and I’m sure COA has increased as well. I’ve also heard that Tulane is getting far more selective both in admissions and merit money. It’s getting increasingly difficult to get substantial awards. Full tuition is the goal here and it’s not going to be easy, as impressive as this young woman’s resume is
Make sure to consider how generous each school is with rewarding APs. My stem D just enrolled at UA and they accepted each of her AP classes, so she has 35% of the credits she needs for her degree before even stepping into a classroom. Knocking off an entire year of costs is a huge savings.
Take a look at the fullride Banneker/Key at Maryland. Your D will be competitive and being a URM will help. They have fabulous engineering facilities.
Contact Delaware as well, and ask if an invitation can be gotten from one of their full scholarships. There was a time that was possible. The scholarships are still there, the DuPont ones, but no idea what the procedure is to get them
I wouldn’t count on AP courses being able to make graduation possible earlier, especially for engineering. My D came in technically as a 2nd semester sophomore but because of course sequencing for chem e, there is no way to graduate early. It’s a bonus if can happen but I would financial plan for paying for all four years.