<p>There are free applications to these colleges
<a href=“653 Colleges with No Application Fees for 2022”>http://diycollegerankings.com/290-colleges-with-free-application-fees/952/</a></p>
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<p>The California resident also need to check the website of each LAC to see if travel is included in the COA and how much. One of the LACs on the list that tk provided (that I randomly checked), for example, clearly states that travel is a “personal” expense and not included in its published COA.</p>
<p>Here are a few more net price comparisons: </p>
<p>California Resident
$18,104 University of Alabama (may reflect merit aid)
$16,972 Boston College
$16,734 UC Davis*
$16,150 Tufts
$15,834 UCLA*
$13,653 Colgate
$9,664 Vanderbilt</p>
<ul>
<li>Calculated with an online NPC, specifying $25K in cash but no home equity in assets.
The UCLA NPC explicitly states not to include home equity in assets; I assumed UCD follows the same policy.
For the other calculations I used College Abacus, specifying $25K in cash + $100K in home equity.
College Abacus calls for current home value and mortgage balance inputs.</li>
</ul>
<p>Assumptions, except where otherwise noted:
$80K AGI, split evenly between 2 spouses;
no non-wage income;
$125K net worth ($25K in financial assets, $100K in home equity);
home purchased in 2000; purchase price = $250K;
1 sibling, 14 years old;
both parents born in 1964.
4.0 GPA, 2100 SAT.</p>
<p>They had eyed Vandy before, as I had told them of the tremendous need-based aid, but with the C in chem, not sure if it’s out of reach. </p>
<p>I was wondering about equity inclusion for the UCs. My dh also wondered if they take into account income plus what you put into your 401K, or if they just look at AGI.</p>
<p>Thanks for running all the numbers. I probably need to sit down next to the mom and just start running NPC of the schools that would be in target of student, particularly the reach ones that meet full need.</p>
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</p>
<p>Yes, it would be nice to have more transparency into how each college determines need-based aid.
Maybe another poster can confirm whether the UCs exclude home equity.</p>
<p>I’ve assumed in the above calculations (based on UCLA’s NPC instructions) that the UCs do not count home equity in determining need. I assumed (based on College Abacus instructions) that the other schools do. Suppose we take home equity out of the picture altogether. Assume for all schools that instead of $100K home equity, the parents have zero home equity but $25K in cash accounts plus $100K in other assets. In that case, here are the rather different results I get for some of the above schools:</p>
<p>California Resident
$25,210 U Rochester (not a “full need” school)
$24,588 Case Western (not a “full need” school)
$21,546 UC Davis
$21,265 UC SB
$20,646 UCLA</p>
<p>$18,035 CSU - Fullerton
$17,582 Holy Cross
$17,272 Boston College
$16,450 Tufts
$15,714 CSU - Bakersfield
$14,852 Macalester
$14,466 UC Riverside
$13,215 Colgate
$11,780 University of Richmond
$9,318 Vanderbilt
$9,110 Colby</p>
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<p>I can tell you that this estimate is high because it includes the priciest dorm choice (private rooms), and the priciest meal plan (only required frosh year). typically, someone with the full tuition scholarship can get costs down to $15k or below…especially after frosh year. </p>
<p>If the student is an engg or comp sci major, he would get 2500 per year more. </p>
<p>since this students is iffy about med school, he should choose a major that he likes and will provide employment options if he doesnt go to med school. Many engg/cs majors are premed, and they are using their majors as back-up careers. My own son did that. he was a chemical engg major, just in case he didnt go to med school. </p>
<p>to be fairly competitive for vandy, the student’s sat needs to be 2200+ or an ACT 33+</p>
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<p>UCs (and CSUs) use only FAFSA (no CSS/Profile) information to determine their financial aid. FAFSA specifically does not include the home equity in parental assets (see question 91 of <a href=“https://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2014-15-fafsa.pdf”>https://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2014-15-fafsa.pdf</a> ).</p>
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<p>Similar cost-saving options might be available for some of the other schools as well.
Unfortunately, there is a limit to the standardization and transparency provided by the NPCs and other planning tools (including the Common Data Set documents). So it can be hard to know how close we are to getting a good apples-to-apples comparison. </p>
<p>Does anyone know if the UCs have flexibility in their dorm or meal plans? I know my oldest, at MIT, has always taken the cheapest meal plan to save money.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids,</p>
<p>Yes, that’s what I was thinking about Vandy, and he won’t have his final SAT score until the fall. I do think his athletics are a possible hook, but he’s not contacted coaches or anything. He’s a neat kid but more reserved and doesn’t really understand the whole college “game”.</p>
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<p>It presumably varies by campus, but the UCs do have differently priced dorms. Meal plan variations for dorm residents are likely to be more limited, though. Berkeley, for example, uses the weighted average dorm price in its on-campus cost of attendance. It has a lower off-campus cost of attendance for financial aid purposes; actual cost of off-campus housing and meals can vary to a greater extent than dorm and meal plan pricing (from about $3,000 under budget for the co-ops to potentially a lot higher for more expensive housing and meal choices). Note that it is common at UCs and other large public schools for non-commuter students to live in the dorm only the first one or two years.</p>
<p>For the presumed safety UCR, the cost of attendance lists room and board at:
Residence hall = $15,000
Campus apartments = $8,300
Off campus = $8,600
<a href=“The Office of Financial Aid | UC Riverside”>The Office of Financial Aid | UC Riverside;
<p>Actual residence hall costs including meal plans range from $13,930 to $16,630.
<a href=“Residence Halls | UCR Housing Services”>http://housing.ucr.edu/housing-options/residence-halls/default.aspx</a></p>
<p>The campus apartments can be very low cost, as low as $3,245 per academic year, but can be as much as $16,035 per academic year (these do not include meals). Note: the rates listed are per month; the academic year cost appears to be 10 months plus a one time $45 activity fee (i.e. $320 per month => $320 * 10 + $45 = $3,245).
<a href=“Campus Apartments | UCR Housing Services”>http://housing.ucr.edu/housing-options/campus-apartments/default.aspx</a></p>
<p>Standalone dining plans appear to be available, but there seems to be no information on UCR’s web site about them.</p>
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<p>it’s a no-win situation. if a school uses an avg amount in its COA, then it can be hard/impossible to get aid/loans up to the amount that covers a pricier selection. if a school uses the highest dorm/meal-plan cost in its COA, then someone on a tighter budget may think it’s unaffordable not knowing that cheaper dorms/meal-plans bring down the COA significantly.</p>
<p>At my kids undergrad, once S2 moved off campus, his R&B costs dropped a lot. He had been in the priciest dorms with the priciest meal plan. when he moved to a nearby student apartment, his “housing” dropped by $3k per year and his food costs cut in half.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids My son is also in the same situation with interests in premed but trying to find what would be good backup plan. Is there any reason why your son chose Chem Engr? </p>
<p>My son is strong in Math, so I am thinking Statistics might be good backup with these days Data Science is growing to be a good profession in Web 2.0 companies.</p>
<p>Also, with ECs and research in Bio, how would colleges feel if a student applies to Eng or CS but ECs in Bio?</p>
<p>@UCbalumnus do you have any suggestions on the backup plans? Especially for CAL, UCLA, UCD.</p>
<p>I am also surprised why no one talks about UCR’s Haider program where almost 50% seats (24 of 50) are reserved for UCR students. Wouldn’t that be better than CAL or UCLA or UCSD? And also you would not have grade deflation at UCR compared to other UCs.</p>
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<p>My son is strong in Math, so I am thinking Statistics might be good backup with these days Data Science is growing to be a good profession in Web 2.0 companies.</p>
<p>Also, with ECs and research in Bio, how would colleges feel if a student applies to Eng or CS but ECs in Bio?
<<<<</p>
<p>The reasons my son chose ChemE were:
- he had strong interests in science.
- he felt that ChemE would provide a good back-up career if he decided not to go to med school.
- he felt that even tho ChemE is one of the most difficult majors, his strengths in math and sciences would allow him to still get a high GPA (4.0 BCMP GPA and a 3.99 cum GPA (one A- in a Spanish class)</p>
<p>In the end, it worked out for the best. I think his ChemE education helped him do well on the MCAT and was an excellent foundation for med school. His med school doesnt give grades, but tells the students what “quartile” they are in after they complete a module and are tested. He has consistently been in the top quartile. </p>
<p>For your son, he needs to pick a major that he loves, will do very well in, and as you mentioned, could lead to an alternate career. </p>
<p>If assumption is GPA=4.0 and high SAT score, why not to look into Merit awards? There are plenty of UGs (including great privates) that offer very good Merit packages (including full tuition or close) to such students? Some research is required since the same stats will not yeild the same level of Merit awards at different UGs.<br>
I do not think that Vandy is one of such schools. But you might be pleasantly surprised by Case Western offers (as one private that very well known for both great Merit offers and pre-med and engineering programs)</p>
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<p>Read the fine print. Like most UC programs, the Haider program is targeting certain types of (hooked) kids.</p>
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<p>Even in STEM classes, Cal and UCLA have higher mean GPA’s than does UCR. Yes, the competition for A’s is significantly different, but so are the curves.</p>
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<p>Was he eligible for and did he sign up for the UCR guaranteed admission program?</p>
<p>Statistics is certainly applicable to biology and medicine, but also to other things like finance.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus , yes we applied to UCR guaranteed admission program. We are closer to Cal so natural preference to go there if gets in L&S college there but keeping all options open including bsmds.</p>