Looking for Help with college list

Posting for my S, first one to go through this process. He’s looking at SLAC with good business programs but also must have a music program. NE area, but willing to consider NY to PA area. Hoping to find schools to add to our list that either aren’t $60+ or are known for giving his financial/merit aid.
WGPA, 4.3
SAT, 1390
ACT, 33
2 AP’s as junior(5 on APUSH, 3 on AP Bio)
3 AP’s on schedule this year
Concert, jazz and Liturgical band all 4 years (EVP and section leader for leadership)
Pit Band for all school musicals
Winter/spring track
NHS
Works and will get a good reference from them if that helps.
Looking at PC, HC, Villanova, Colgate, Ithaca and UMass Lowell.
TIA!

Have you run the NPC’s on those schools and compared them with what you think you’ll actually want to pay?That’s a crucial first step because we are all very different when we say we don’t want to pay $60K and need merit.

It’s very individual, obviously, but I ran the NPC’s on all of the schools besides UMass Lowell and they were awful for our circumstances. I can’t remember about PC but the others used the CSS Profile and that usually hurts us because it takes home equity into account.

So you have to first know what you can pay, and second run all those NPCs you and see how they go. Once you get a better idea through that process, it might help as you look at other schools to add on to the lists.

I just wanted to add this: Villanova is known for poor merit and FA. HC is supposed to be a meets-need school. But in our case both were equallly stinky. By running a lot of NPCs you start to get a better sense of how this works.

Yes, run the net price calculator on each school’s website. Have you checked that all the schools on his list offer a business major? Lots of LACs don’t.

I’ve done the net price calculator on those schools and yes, confirmed they have the programs we want, geography, size etc. Just all (but UMass)have $60k+ Price tags. We’ll get some financial aid, but without merit, those would be an economic challenge, requiring him or us to pick up some debt. That’s why looking for other options.

U Scranton and St. Joe’s have very good business schools (don’t know about music). Both would likely offer him merit that would bring the cost under $40,000 (could be closer to $30,000, with a shot at full tuition awards depending on his class rank, community service, etc.)

Villanova is a tough admit for the business school and merit would be unlikely there. He should have a shot at merit at Providence. Holy Cross has no merit (except for isolated cases like Classics majors) and I don’t think Colgate does, either. Not familiar with Ithaca.

Did you look at Fairfield?

Is he planning to study music (Bachelor of Music) or does he just want to participate in music? Ithaca has a very strong music program and offers music merit to many of their admitted BM students. FYI they care a lot about demonstrated interest - I know of two applicants on the same instrument this past cycle that were both accepted - one (who showed lots of interest) got a generous merit award and the other, who was a slightly stronger musician but didn’t show a lot of interest, got no merit award at all. Ithaca also does give academic merit that your S may qualify for (not sure how much but I think there is info on their web site). I know of another person who applied (not for music) with very strong academic stats but showed no interest, no visit, etc. and didn’t even get accepted.

I’m sorry for misunderstanding.

How much are you able to pay each year?

My D has a comparable SAT score. Generally, what I have found is that the automatic, non-competitive merit awards bring cost down around $30K + or - at less selective schools. You S may get more with that ACT, but generally I’m seeing that we are maxing out the automatic merit and still not reaching $25K.

With an additional music scholarship, you may be able to bring it down a bit more.

Susquehanna? Too small?

Ooooohhhh! I have a great option! TCNJ! I think it’s the right size with strong business and music. And they’d like home for OOS diversity. Costs would be low and I’d bet he’d get merit. And since you mentioned the Catholic colleges, I believe they have a large, active Catholic group.

@LuckyCharms913 Hadn’t looked at Fairfield, I’ll check it out online. Thanks

@classicalsaxmom He’s thinking business major, music minor. I’ll have to see about an interview/tour at Ithaca or reorganizing a road trip we’re taking to not just drive through, but tour. Thanks for the info.

@macmiracle I just Googled TCNJ and it does look like a good match! Thanks for the lead. If we get to a price tag of $25k-$30k after merit money, I’d sleep easier at night! Sticker shock is keeping me up at night. Got to get that boy to write some killer essays so these schools want him enough to give merit $! He does come from a Catholic high school, but that isn’t required in the college, it just keeps happening that many we look at are…

If you ever come down to look at TCNJ, drive an hour south to look at Rowan. Brand spankin’ new business building. Decent music. It’s a little bigger than what you want but it doesn’t feel big. You can easily walk across campus. Classes are small and are taught by professors. The Honors College seems to provide nice opportunities.

I bet he’d get mucho merit.

In NJ many students who used to aim for TCNJ are taking Rowan very seriously because of more generoscholarships and the investment going on.

Scranton has a great business program and is known for being generous with aid. It also has an excellent performance music department that would offer a lot of opportunities for growth. However, Scranton does not offer music degrees apart from a music history minor (looks like it includes music history and music theory classes as well as special topics courses). However, if he’s looking for a minor with more options, Scranton does have a partnership with Marywood, a university in the city of Scranton that’s maybe 10 minutes away. City buses routinely run between the campuses. Students are able to take some classes at Marywood, and Marywood has a strong music program, so he could take classes there. I did know someone who was aiming for a double major from both schools (science at Scranton, music at Marywood) though I don’t know if that’s something done routinely or it was a special circumstance. It looks like students can take up to 6 classes at Marywood, which is enough for a minor most of the time, so that could be a possibility for your son if he likes other aspects of Scranton.

I was involved in performance music as a student at Scranton, and the director is absolutely brilliant. I can guarantee that your son would have fun performing with her. She also has a lot of strong professional connections and she regularly brings in professional musicians for performances and masterclasses. Someone was asking about the music opportunities at Scranton on the dedicated U of Scranton forum so I posted a longer answer there if you want to see more.