My son is a junior in a fairly highly-ranked public high school in the Northeast. I’d be very grateful for any suggestions for the college fits for him.
General interests: mostly in the bio/envi sci range, potentially math, and possibly K-12 education. Will likely go to graduate school.
Location: he’d like to stay in New England/Northeast. His preference is a defined campus that’s not too urban.
Academics: he’s bright and motivated but not by any means an overachiever, current uw GPA 3.4 (10th grade gpa so far 3.7, hopefully will get his overall uw GPA to 3.5-3.6 by the senior year). Current SAT 1350 but he’ll retake in later in the summer. He’s taking a couple of honors classes this year (modern language, bio) and planning on 3 or 4 APs next year in math and sciences. Also took 2 years of honors band but not doing that during the junior and senior years.
EC: He’s not involved in sports although he chairs a biking club in his school. Volunteered as an assistant XC ski coach. Has a leadership position in the science team in his school. During summers, works as a student leader for a local environmental science camp.
Money: big factor. Parents are divorced; although combined incomes from his dad and myself place him solidly into a middle-class range, neither his dad nor I would be able to contribute much, and I most certainly don’t want him to get into too much college debt.
He wouldn’t do too well in a heavily sports-centered environment and would be unlikely to be interested in Greek life. He’s on the environment-conscious, slightly geeky side. I’m looking for a school with good academic reputation but not cutthroat competitive, with undergrad research opportunities, friendly, diverse, and fairly academically-minded student body. We obviously already generated a hefty list but would love to get any additional opinions. Thanks a lot!
Colby was the first one that came to mind for academics and ECs, but it might be too much of a reach. What about St. Lawrence? Dickinson? Did either of these make the list? UVM or Hobart William Smith?
Not sure about merit with those stats, but definitely decent FA.
Maybe give us your list to start us out so that we don’t repeat a lot of yours . . . .?
U of Maine at Orono is one of the top schools for marine bio and environmental studies. It also is offering tuition-matching scholarships. Campus is very pretty and not too urban–although it’s in a fairly sizeable city for Maine. I think of this as the “cheaper” UVM.
Unity College in Unity Maine is an environmental school. I’ve met one graduate who seemed interesting and focused.
College of the Atlantic – tiny but well-respected college in Bar Harbor next to Acadia National Park, excellent research facilities in the community with Jackson Lab and other organizations.
Hobart and William Smith
St. Lawrence–maybe too sporty for him
Allegheny
Alfred University (the private school not the state school) – he’d get merit here probably
Muhlenberg
Goucher
Are you in-state NY? Try SUNY Environmental. And SUNY New Paltz
Bard
St. Mary’s of Maryland – amazing coastal college
There are many others but I feel like I would like to see your list before I continue
My suggestion is that you start with your budget. How much can you contribute? Your son can take out $27,000 max in loans by himself. If you give your financial constraints, you will receive realistic suggestions. What is your home state?
Yes, your state’s public universities will be a great place to start. You’d almost certainly want a couple of these on your list from an admissions and financial standpoint.
It seems to me that, depending on the financial parameters, Colleges That Change Lives, might be a place to look. Almost all the schools are going to have high sticker prices; many will offer substantial aid but will still probably cost a pretty hefty amount.
Clark is on there, and seems like a great possibility, all around, except perhaps too urban. I believe it does a good job working toward meeting full financial need. College of Wooster is another terrific hidden gem. You might also take a good look at Kalamazoo College. It has really terrific academics and environment. I think it works hard on the financial front too. Like a lot of these CTCL and similar LACs, it has a large % of female students, which can advantage male applicants in admissions and aid decisions.
Another that I love is UNC-Asheville. This is not another large public university but a public LAC. It has a distinct campus just a couple of miles from downtown. Asheville is a great town. The sticker prices for OOS students is half what it is at a typical LAC, though financial aid would be more limited, if practically nonexistent, but, again, a much lower price tag than a lot of places for OOS students. If he is really into bio, check out the program. That may not be a strength at the school, since it has more of an artsy, liberal arts vibe; I"m just not that familiar with that field at UNC-A.
Thank you all for some terrific suggestions! Our state flagship is certainly high on the list as well as UVM - although UVM might be cost-prohibitive. Clark is another strong contender. We’re also considering Bard and Skidmore, and CT, PA, and MD flagships. The rest of your suggestions are completely new to us - we’ll happily get to researching them!
@txstella - between his dad and me, realistically, we’d be able to contribute $5K/year although the EFC calculator estimates about $15k/year. Apart from the $27k in federal loans, I hope to aim at $20K max in additional loans over the entire undergraduate career.
@klnmln look at the colleges that change lives list. You are in the same situation my ex and I are in. My son got accepted to Bard, Muhlenberg, Ithaca College, Allegheny and Knox and a bunch of SUNY schools. Some gave good aid, some gave excellent aid. Since we are in NY state the SUNY’s turned out to be the best deals but not all LAC are the same with awards. SUNY’s might be a good deal for an out of state student with your sons grades and SAT’s. There are some amazing SUNY schools: Binghamton, Stony Brook, Geneseo (practically a public LAC) and New Paltz. Send me a private message and I’ll share with you my experience with financial aid and these schools.
You need 15 posts (or replies) to be able to PM. I’ll get upgraded soon to “Junior Member” and will send you a PM about my experience with financial aid.
Check out the University of Texas at Dallas. An AES Merit scholarships would give your son instate tuition. I’ve known students who receive theses and your son’s stats might be in the ballpark.
Your best bet is to run a lot of NPCs for schools your son might like and check out the possible financial aid award.
Net price calculators won’t work for you because you’re divorced. If you can pay $5k and he takes the ~$5500 federal student loan that gives you ~$10k. If he works summers he can probably earn another $3k. That would just about cover room & board. He needs to find enough merit to cover tuition. OOS flagships probably won’t supply it. What state are you in?
@austinmshauri For the EFC calculator, I just ran two calculations for mine and my ex’s contributions, $15K is the sum of the two. We’re in MA, so certainly considering UMass. @Theoden would love to hear about your experience.
Just to save you some time: Penn State will not come anywhere close to your budget, and football reigns supreme there. Both Pitt and Temple would likely be unaffordable, as well; they offer limited need-based financial aid even to in-state students, and merit, while it can be generous, is quite competitive (1500+, high GPA).
Maybe West Virginia or Ohio U? They may be farther away than he’d like, but their merit thresholds are lower than the schools above and might get him in striking distance of your budget.
My DD sounds similar to your DS (maybe a bit more athletic) and is loving Muhlenberg for its combination of some sports, some Greek, good academics, a supportive environment and pretty good merit aid. It’s in suburban Allentown PA so it matches your geo requirements as well.
Money is going to be an issue here. For freshman year, you are looking at providing $5k a year Each or combined between your Ex and yourself? Your son will be able to take out $5500 in Direct loans. The FAFSA EFC does not include your ex’s financial information. It also doesn’t take into owning a business or a home. You might want to pick some ideal schools that use Profile and guaranteed to meet full need and run their NPCs for a closer read on how much you might be expected to pay. It still doesn’t take into account owning s business or your ex though for the latter, you can run it twice as you did with the FAFSA.
The problem with the FAFSA EFC is that that are hardly any schools that guarantee to meet full need as defined by it. UChicago maybe, but it’s a high reach school for anyone. The other school I know of is Albright College. Do check it out.
Even if you and ex come up with the $15k per year and your son borrows $5500k you are likely to come up short in what you need. What do your state schools cost? Commuting might be the way your son has to go, because coming up with what sleep away college costs is not within your budget.
The other way to go is to look for schools where your son is in the upper 5-10% numbers wise, and gives out merit awards big enough to make things work. He does have that $5500 loan and probably will need to work, so you have that to take into account as well.
I suggest looking at some Catholic schools. Local schools too once you have done sure things on your list, you can go for broke on the wish list. Make sure your son understands the cost constraints. Good luck
I second the other suggestion of adding Allegheny in NW PA to your list. Excellent Environmental Sciences program and matches most of your other search criteria.