<p>I've got an 11th son with top grades (4.0+) in an extremely rigorous course load and good scores (34 ACT) interested in math/science as majors. With home equity added into the equation, most private colleges (except the most elite--like MIT, Princeton and Stanford) become unaffordable for us--our EFC balloons up to $25,000 or more, and the most I can afford is $15,000 a year, and that's a stretch. I know most of the better private schools require the Profile and take home equity into account. We might get lucky at one of those schools with merit aid, but I'm looking to find some FAFSA-only schools that have strong math/science departments (and possibly engineering) as financially safe schools for us. Any ideas?</p>
<p>PS We live in California. The UCs are not a great bet right now, because despite the fact that we'd qualify for aid using the FAFSA, they don't have any aid to give. All the aid would be loans and that doesn't really help our situation since most of the $15,000 we can pay will be already coming out of a home equity line of credit.</p>
<p>Even with a 2400 on the SAT there is no guarantee he will be admitted to the most elite schools. Your best academic and cheapest option IS likely to be your California state universities. You are fortunate to have some of the best schools in the country for math and science, even counting all private schools in the top ten. Do be sure your son applys to the instate schools even if you hope to have other equally academically strong options. Do not let him settle for a lesser school just because they offer more aid.</p>
<p>Olin College is, I think, tuition-free to the students it accepts. It’s a top-rated engineering school. Check out Cooper Union as well. </p>
<p>Deep Springs College, a VERY quirky and interesting tiny all-male place, is a completely free ride for very high achievers with the right personal profile. Students transfer from there to Cornell, Yale, Berkeley, Chicago, etc. for their final two years of college. It’s definitely not for everyone but its alumni are more loyal and committed to the “Deep Springs experience” than any I’ve ever seen.</p>
<p>Depending on his grades and class ranking (his grades are not possible to know from the information chai provided of a 4.0+ Weighted gpa) I think he could have quite a few options at public universities outside of California well within the $15K budget; perhaps even at the $10K level.</p>
<p>Olin is no longer tuition free; it’s now half tuition.</p>
<p>Take a look at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, which is FAFSA only and gives good merit aid to top students; it’s known for science and engineeering. RPI is also FAFSA only and gives some merit. University of Miami also can be generous, has some good science programs (particularly marine biology), and is also FAFSA only. Carnegie Mellon is also FAFSA only, has great science and engineering, but is not that generous with their merit aid.</p>
<p>Most state schools are FAFSA only, but tend to reserve their best merit for in-state students. But they do give some merit to top students that they want.</p>
<p>Try Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. They have an excellent engineering program. Many 4.0 engineering students turn down UCs to go there. And employers love Cal Poly engineering grads!</p>
<p>You really need to look at schools that give assured big merit scholarships.</p>
<p>I realize what you’re trying to do, but going to FAFSA only schools is not going to solve your problem unless the schools give huge merit.</p>
<p>FAFSA only schools typically don’t meet need, so you’d end up with a big gap or big loans anyway. Yes, they won’t look at equity, but they also won’t likely give you what you need, either (without merit).</p>
<p>So, you need to look at schools that will give big merit - such as full tuition for his stats. :)</p>
<p>The thread that Erin’s Dad has listed will help you.</p>
<p>Search the forums and you will see UC students that got decent financial aid.</p>
<p>I personally know students with decent aid relative to their EFC. It is absolutely not true that UCs only give loans. Usually the package consist of some grant, work study, loans and maybe some gap.</p>
<p>Of course, financial aid depends highly on the student’s personal circumstances, EFC, which UC (some UC seem more generous than others for the same student) and some spectualte that the school gives more to the students they want more.</p>
<p>If you have a high EFC, then you are right that you won’t get anything or just loans.</p>
<p>My son has a 4.2 or 4.3 weighted GPA and will be a national merit finalist. There’s no class rank at his school, but he’s in the top few in a class of 40 or so. He’s taken all his AP sciences and is finishing Calc BC as a junior.</p>
<p>As a likely NMF, he has many options for full tuition scholarships or significant merit aid. Here’s a very useful, comprehensive list compiled by a CC member:</p>
<p>Admittedly, many of these schools are not exactly first tier, but many others, even without being household names, are still excellent choices. Do your research, and you can come up with some great financial safeties. Tack on other potential merit aid, and you might be surprised at how large the pool of choices becomes.</p>
<p>My D applied to Rose Hulman and they did not meet our need in any way. Lots and lots of loans. Someone else can comment on this but I don’t think CWRU will be affordable to $15,000 but it’s could be worth a try.</p>
<p>An alternative worth looking at is New Mexico Tech [New</a> Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology: Science Engineering Research University](<a href=“http://www.nmt.edu%5DNew”>http://www.nmt.edu) It’s a gem of a school and very very affordable. Also the University of Tulsa if he’s NMF, which it sounds like he is.</p>
<p>That’s great – he should have quite a few options that are either free ride or at least free tuition and fees. </p>
<p>Particularly with a math or science major, many of the public universities have nice programs to offer, and an outstanding student will have no trouble finding excellent research opportunities, and quite likely the opportunity to take graduate classes in math if he is interested later on in college. It will not be an impediment for graduate school, and may well allow you to fund something like the Budapest semester in mathematics for him later on in college.</p>
<p>My suggestion: He ought to investigate the math and science (which science?) departments at several of the public schools offering full rides or full tuition & fee scholarships for NMF students. (Our state’s flagship is tied for #1 along with MIT in atomic/molecular/optical physics graduate program, and the quantum physics program tied for No. 5 with the University of California at Santa Barbara. Hard to argue that students interested in these fields would somehow be getting shortchanged by choosing the public option.)</p>
<p>He can also apply to several dream schools – and if the financial aid happened to come out right, that’s great. (Chicago might be one to try.)</p>
<p>Either way, he’ll have really good options that your family can afford. Congratulations for figuring out now what the financial constraints are for you – he’ll have a much better time than those students who are blindsided by this late in Senior year.</p>
<p>I have an offbeat recommendation: New York University.</p>
<p>NYU is not known for its good merit aid. On the contrary, most kids are singing the blues after they open up their financial aid statement. But NYU is, I believe, FAFSA only (you should double-check that), and NYU has been known to give great aid to students the school wants to recruit. (My daughter’s math tutor is there because NYU gave him a much better deal than Columbia.) Being from California could also help your son. NYU has a top applied-math department, and lots of kids from my daughter’s high school (a math and science magnet) are there for that reason. NYU might be good to check out if your son would like to be in the heart of Greenwich Village for four years! </p>
<p>It is more significant to know the UW score and the rigor of the classes than to know the weighted score. Some colleges will apply their own weighting (esp UC system.) </p>
<p>Whatever you do, don’t neglect to apply to several UC’s so you will have the option. He might also get a Regent’s scholarship to one. Cal Poly is a great suggestion too.</p>
<p>For us, some privates offered as much or more that UC’s, although UC’s would have been worth the debt if we didn’t get those offers. But I think I was in a worse financial situation than you, so that may not translate.</p>
<p>The trouble with NYU is that on top of high tuition there’s the high cost of living to contend with, which won’t be covered in any financial aid assessment. Things cost more in NYC.</p>