@ucbalumnus @jcmom716
Just ran through the Colby Net Price Calculator based on 2016 earnings. The total cost is $66,360. My total need came out to $64,510, my estimated financial aid package $64,510 and my estimated net price is $3,650. Which tax years will be used when I apply for financial aid? 2016 or 2017? My dad was unemployed in 2016 and his earnings for 2017 should be different.
@katliamom
My coach has asked me to put a list of schools together and figure out which ones I am most interested in before he reaches out to them on my behalf.
With 2017 numbers at Hamilton the total cost is $68,670. My estimated need is $62,320 and total aid is $62,320. Estimated total grant aid is $56,820 and Estimated net price is $11,850.
@ucbalumnus After having just done a little research (including your link) it seems Bates and Kenyon do not offer CS majors (and Babson ofc but I knew that already). Off the list they go. But someone mentioned Bates is committing money to build a CS program. Would I just be a guinea pig there?
The early participants in the Liberal Arts Computer Science consortium tend, with one or two exceptions, to offer solid programs in CS:
Allegheny
Amherst
Bowdoin
Colgate
Denison
Grinnell
Hamilton
Swarthmore
Vassar
Washington & Lee
Williams
OP, also run your numbers assuming your sister is no longer in college because once she graduates, you could see a bump up in your out of pocket number. Someone I know got caught off guard by that when their old child finished school and they only had one in college. That tuition bill went up!
Hamilton CS students appear to be highly capable, here finishing first in a programming competition that included universities and some other top LACs (notably Middlebury and Wellesley):
https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/comp-sci-department-hosts-college-computing-conference
On this link you will find the full list of competitors and results:
https://cs.hamilton.edu/ccscne/
If you’re willing to look a little ways beyond Ohio, Carleton College in Northfield, MN offers solid math and CS departments and a great LAC experience. I don’t know about the paleo diet, but Carleton meets all of your other criteria.
https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/cs/
You want to make sure that the CS actually exists and offers a sufficient range of upper level courses at the school in question. It would not be a good idea to enroll on future promises of building a CS department if it is not actually built until after you graduate.
“I will need A LOT of financial aid, my parents do not make much.”
Do you know if your parents can afford to pay anything, and if so how much? Will you need to borrow nearly any cost that is not covered by financial aid?
Both FAFSA and CSS Profile now use prior prior year.
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/fafsa-changes
https://professionals.collegeboard.org/guidance/financial-aid/applications/prior-prior-year
If you will be applying to start college in fall 2018, then you may submit financial aid forms late in 2017 using 2016 financial information.
Due to the one time circumstance of your father’s unemployment in 2016, you should run the net price calculators based on 2017 income and with the assumption of a full year’s income post-2017. Your second year in college financial aid will be based on 2017 financial information, your third year on 2018, etc., so you want to get estimates of future year costs.
I would drill a little deeper into some of the other Boston or environs schools. BC, Holy Cross. Maybe, BU, if that isn’t too big.
You need to understand which schools on your list are need blind, too. Not all of them are. That means that while they may provide a lot of financial aid to students they accept, the fact that you need a lot of aid can reduce your chances of admission.
For example, Frankin & Marshall meets need (by their definition), but is not need blind in deciding who to admit. Haverford, however, both meets need and is need blind.
I like this list. It is Wikipedia, but if you scroll down to the various combinations of meeting need and need blind, you can see lists of schools of each type. You need schools that meet need for sure. And try to find a few that are need blind as well where you have s shot at acceptance with your stats.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission
You need to talk to your coach and also do some reading on the Athletic Recruits forum out here.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/
You will also need to stay current on FA issues for the year in which you are applying at each school. Schools sometimes need to shift to being need aware for some portion of the class to remain fiscally responsible. (Haverford has a very good explanation of how and why it recently changed its policy as well as what % of the class was likely to be affected. )
Richmond does not have a Men’s Soccer program.
For a D3 soccer player, head over to Athletic Recruit forum under Specialty Topics under College Admissions. The next 3-6 months are the heart of D3 soccer recruiting. Time to email coaches, send film, fill out questionnaires and invite coaches to tournament play. Some schools are much more competitive recruiting than the lay person would realize – St Lawrence, for instance. Many NESCAC, Liberty League and Centennial schools have been watching current juniors all spring season and have a good idea of who they want to bring in for the class of '22. Of course that list can change, as players move up and down.
It’s great to get positive feedback from coach at the Yale camp who said you are a lower D1/higher D3 recruit. That is the first baby step in recruiting. Now, you have to communicate with coaches directly and find out their needs. Different programs have different styles of play (straight up physicality at Amherst, more technical at St Lawrence), and depending on current roster, may not have a priority next year for your position. NESCAC and the more competitive D3 programs will generally expect ED for a recruit, and that means your financial aid homework has to be done by October. Coaches start submitting files for admissions pre-reads July 1, and will request a financial pre-read as well for recruits.
Run the NPCs to see which schools are affordable. For a family with high EFC, merit money doesn’t change the family’s contribution, it typically affects the loan and work study side of the financial aid piece. So getting merit money for a family financial aid eligibility may not work out better than a school which gives no merit but does meet need.
DS 1 applied to many on your list. A few observations:
F&M has a new initiative to recruit and support low income/high achieving students with need based aid but no longer offers merit aid. Their soccer is very strong in D3.
DS, whose stats are like yours (with a lower ACT, slightly higher GPA), received significant merit at Union and UVM. It is not on your list but he received significant merit at Hobart as well.
DS’s decision came down to the wire between Union and Lafayette and only decided after admitted student days. He liked both for the reasons that you state, liberal arts with a science engineering slant. He’s more of a math and science kid than a humanities kid. Both campuses are great in their own way. Our take was that while both were moderately preppy, Lafayette was a bit more so than Union and the students at Lafayette seemed moderately more extroverted. He’s more of an introvert but that appealed to him – go figure.
Limited Greek life would seem to exclude Bucknell, Gettysburg, Dickinson and Franklin and Marshall from your list. Bucknell and Gettysburg both have very big Greek scenes that seem to dominate the social scenes. Some people don’t mind that but for someone who states they aren’t interested in a big Greek scene I would take a much closer look. Best of luck to you!
You have several D1 schools on your list - Lafayette, Bucknell, Dartmouth, Vermont
Hopkins is Div 1 and Div 3 depending on the sport
In the midwest is Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Good financial aid, small, a nice school. I live near there!
How strict are you about it?
Would you be content just to pick and choose from a “normal” menu?
Or do you expect assurances that the meat is grass-fed, the oils are from specific sources, etc.?
If the latter, better ask around. You’re the first poster I’ve noticed on CC with this need.
Some really good financial aid and recruiting info, thanks.
Thanks for the info and Lafayette and Union, and the greek life info on the PA schools. Knew that it was big at some of them from reading their Fiske profiles but I have more work to do there.
@wisteria100
Yeah, in one of my responses I was saying how I have the talent to play for the low-end d1’s like Lafayette and Bucknell. Dartmouth is not on my list but I did tour there. Vermont is a safety school and I wouldn’t necessarily plan on playing soccer there. It’s kind of a backup in case I have some sort of career ending injury.
@somehmonggirl
Wisconsin is a little too far for me as is Minnesota, I have family in the northeast so I don’t want to be too far. The Ohio schools are pushing it a little as well.
@tk21769
I am very strict about the diet. I have intolerances to bread, dairy, and sugar. I would have to be on the diet, especially for soccer season. I do not need any of those weird assurances but I would expect a good salad bar, several protein options and enough where I don’t have to go off my plan. I don’t know how other schools food compares to Dartmouth, but I was able to get what I needed there.
Also, aren’t BC, BU and Holy Cross all city schools?
@DadTwoGirls
I will have about $25K set aside in a college fund but other than that nothing. I am willing to take out loans but I don’t want to be in too much debt.