Midwest LAC Chances and Suggestions for Aspiring Teacher

College Search & Selection
1

Well, junior year is done. Time to get serious. D19 wants to teach high school English or History. Set on LAC. Preferably Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois area!

Female White
Very highly ranked Midwest public school
Several Honors and only 2 AP
AP English Literature A-
AP Psychology A-
3.47 UW 3.56 W
ACT only 24 Composite
22 Math
22 Science
24 Reading
29 English
2 Varsity Sports
Umpiring Job
Started Book Club
Travel Softball
Some interest as recruited athlete
Service Club
Choir
Taking 2 AP senior year plus Physics and Pre Calc
Excellent recommendations
Great writer, so expecting good essays.
Taking ACT two more times. Have great tutor now!
Very upward trend 3.6 Freshman, 3.3 Sophomore, 3.9 Junior.

That’s about all I can think of at the moment.

Looking at:

  1. Wooster
  2. Denison
  3. Muhlenberg
  4. Augustana
  5. Clark
  6. Knox
  7. Mount Union
  8. John Carroll
  9. Baldwin Wallace
  10. Xavier
  11. Dayton
  12. Beloit
  13. Allegheny
  14. Gettysburg
  15. Bellarmine
  16. Miami U
  17. Ohio U
  18. Elon
  19. Furman

So the list is long. Working on visits now. Trying to prioritize. Been to OU, Xavier, Wooster, Denison, Mount Union. Liked them all.

Loves Wooster and very excited about Augustana and Denison. I’m not too into the chances thing, but go for it if you don’t mind. We can use the help. She’s somewhat liberal, but open minded.

She wants to apply early and often. Won’t qualify for need based aid. But will need merit at most schools she likes the most. She’s paying most of it on her own. Tough for a teacher at these expensive LACs.

She really wants Wooster, but Mount Union is more doable financially.

Sorry so much info. I’ll take any advice I can get. She’s worked really hard and I want to give her the right advice and direction.

Thanks

2

She has strong chances at a lot of these and with a higher ACT score she will be much more likely to be accepted. From my own personal experience, Muhlenberg is a school that cares a lot about demonstrated interest. Definitely set up an interview with admissions. I was able to do mine over the phone and it was a great experience. I spoke to the head of admissions and wound up getting their highest merit scholarship. They are also test optional, which is good. Would she consider a women’s college? If so, look into Bryn Mawr. I have many friends who have gone there and have had great experiences. With small LAC’s like most of these are, they truly value the whole person. Writing meaningful essays and showing a lot of interest will help. Good luck with everything!

3

I don’t think an all female school would be excluded. Simmons sent her some stuff and is looking at her for Sports. Good to know about Muhlenberg. I read on CC that they didn’t give the best aid. I heard it’s beautiful. Hoping to visit! Thanks for your time!

4

Does she need an education major? What schools offer a path to teaching certification? That may be a way to cull the list somewhat.

If a student is committed to a career in teaching – which is not a high paying field, particularly in the early years – start with the finances. Have you run the Net Price Calculator at some of these schools to see what the financial aid picture looks like? A student can only borrow about $5500. as a first year student, with slight increases up to about $7000 by senior year. Schools with $50,000+ price tags will take full tuition merit award for a student to manage on their own if they are not eligible for financial aid and are not getting parental help.

Without knowing the education department offerings, Baldwin Wallace, John Carroll, Knox and Mount Union might be good options. Have you considered Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg, Heidelberg, Hiram or Muskingam? Gettysburg and Denison with the current stats seem like reaches more than matches/safeties, and are not likely to give enough merit aid to make it affordable. If the ACT got to 30+, then those would be more like admission matches, though merit awards would still be hard to predict. Wooster may be a match, but again, probably not enough merit aid to make it work. I would not consider adding Bryn Mawr to the list, as that is a reach with the current stats.

It is wonderful that she has visited a number of schools which she liked – see if she can identify the elements of those schools that resonated with her, and work to identify a list if schools which (1) offer the appropriate path to teacher certification, (2) are affordable, and (3) share the qualities she identified at the school she likes.

5

What are you trying to get the cost under? If you are merit hunting, the ACT score is likely to be limiting at the upper range of schools. It looks like Beloit does it more on GPA. When I put in her GPA into their NPC, it gave me a net price of 30k/year. For Miami and Dayton, she would need higher test scores. Has she tried the SAT?

6

Consider Southwestern University in Texas. They offer excellent merit aid and have an education major. Pretty campus near Austin.

7

She has not tried the SAT yet. I hate to say we aren’t worried about cost. But we aren’t worried about cost. At least at this point we aren’t considering cost for purposes of selecting schools to apply to. It’s a difficult situation to explain, but here goes. I have 25k saved for her. I also am pretty set for retirement. I have 8 years left to work. She has 1 year HS left and probably 5 college. I cannot write a check now for her to go to school. I wouldn’t do that if I could. She will have skin in the game. I will give her the 25k. I will pay what I can along the way. I bought her a car and pay her insurance. I will put money in her pocket for expenses. I just can’t write a 50k check a year at the moment. I will sign for whatever loans she needs and make this all possible for her. She’s going in expecting that she will repay the loans. But if I can stay healthy for 8 years I will have a guaranteed additional almost seven figure chunk to add to my pension. I DO NOT have that money right now. But if all goes as expected I can write that big check for her in 8 years. I’m 47 years old. Otherwise I will assist as I can with the payment. I know that’s more detail than anyone wants, but hopefully it explains our reasoning and makes some sense.

8

Thanks, but too far!!

9

Thanks, we have tried our best to list schools that offer licensure. A few do not, like Denison. She’s not opposed to graduate school right away. She’s actually hoping to do that sooner than later. You and I actually discussed some of this about a year ago when Denison was her #1. You gave great advice then too. I haven’t posted since then. Her ACT tutor is confident she can get 26 - 28 on the next attempt. So that will help her.

I just want her to go where she wants to go. At this point (see my comments about finances below) I can’t really tell her NO anyway. I want to guide her though and not set her up for failure.

10

@topwop. At the risk of being redundant, full price at LACs is 60K+ annually and rising. At best, merit will yield a 50% discount, and her test scores probably aren’t high enough for large awards. I see she has a tutor so that’s great. If she hasn’t tried the SAT, she might want to do a practice test to see if it’s a better test for her than the ACT. For many HS students, one format is better than the other.

Your 25K in savings will likely be spent in the first year and her Federal student loans will be 5.5K for the first year, gradually increasing to 7.5K by senior year. Work study might bring in another 2K per year.

As teachers don’t make high salaries, I would think long and hard about the debt burden the two of you are contemplating. Just the 27K maximum for Federal student loans over four years of college would take a long time for a teacher to pay off.

Whatever you do, make sure you have an in-state financial safety with a good teacher certification program! She sounds like a lovely young woman. I hope she finds a school that will work for her financially, academically, and socially.

11

I think you really have to be willing to say no. Everyone tends to think the best case scenario will always happen. What happens if the economy turns south or someone gets sick? The best gift that you can give her is to start her professional career debt free or at least close to it. Also, don’t put your future at risk. If you try to limit your debt to something like the federal max, you can always pay her loans back if everything works out. If something unexpected happens, you both have a chance to get through it.

12

In PA, there’s also Juniata, Ursinus, Susquehanna University, and Washington & Jefferson College. All matches, and all offer initial certification in both secondary English and secondary Social Studies. Rosemont College is a very small (~800 undergrads) college that went co-ed 10 years ago; they’re just outside of Philadelphia, and also offer initial certification in both fields. They would be a safety for her. (I have no idea what their financial aid or scholarship situation would look like, though.) Seton Hill University and Wilson College are other options in PA. I’ve been to Chambersburg (a friend got married on the Wilson campus; her husband’s family are from Chambersburg) and it’s beautiful. Very small school.

Pennsylvania also has a number of small women’s colleges - Chatham University, Cedar Crest College, and Carlow University. All three would technically be matches, although Carlow admits 91% of their applicants.

In Ohio, there are Ohio Wesleyan University, Hiram College and Otterbein University. All matches, all offer the education major with secondary certification in integrated social studies and integrated language arts.

In Indiana, there’s also Valparaiso University, a small university, and Goshen College, a very small college.

KY borders Indiana, and if that’s close enough, she might consider Berea College. It’s a work college that grants a full tuition scholarship to every admitted student. It’s pretty selective, but looks like a match for her stats.

I see she’s also got two options in NC and SC. If she’s interested in going that far, there are a lot of small colleges out that way, too. Warren Wilson, a work college, has a merit scholarship that is specifically for families that earn less than $125K a year (https://www.warren-wilson.edu/admission/tuition-and-aid/milepost1/). There are also Guilford College (that would be a safety for her). In SC, there’s Wofford College.

13

What do you mean when you say federal Max.

14

Wow. You’re mention some options I’ve never considered. Thanks so much! Kentucky isn’t too far. We do make more than 125k though. Chatham sends her stuff every day. Glad to hear she may have a lot of matches and opportunities.

15

It s nearly impossible for kids to “pay most of it alone” for colleges these days. It was possible when we went to college, but it is exponentially more expensive now. For a kid who doesn’t qualify for need based aid and doesn’t have high stats, I’m guessing a lot of those schools are out of reach if parents aren’t giving much help, And teachers are not well positioned to pay back private loans, even if you will co-sign.

“I just want her to go wherever she wants to go” doesn’t match with her paying most of it alone. It isn’t realistic.

I think financially you are going to have to look hard at in-state publics and 4 years within commuting distance

16

It can be done, but the choices become really limited. You have to pick the school you can afford and maybe not the one you want.

My kids do qualify for need based aid, but doesn’t get either very far. One used merit aid, athletic aid, Pell grant, some state merit awards and loans to finance it all at a private school. she had to stay instate, she had to keep her grades up to keep the merit scholarships, and she had to watch her spending by living in an inexpensive place (but it was nice), finding used books, not having a car. She kept an open mind (no dream school), had some other options but picked the school that gave her the best financial deal, but it turned out to be the best school for her. She had a nice experience.

Other daughter had less in merit and other aid, so has more in loans. She also earned more last summer. She has to live very low. I did pay for their first year (no loans for them) but they didn’t qualify for Pell that year. I’m sad they have loans at all, but I’m glad they are limited to the direct loans and don’t even have the entire amount for those.This second one is going to have fewer options for living arrangements and jobs when she graduates because she has to make those loan payments (and car insurance, and health insurance, and rent, etc).

17

Have her apply to test-optional schools. I’d add Dickinson and Guilford to your list.
Also, there’s an oversupply of social studies teachers, so she must get either a special ed or an ELL/ESL/TESOL certificate, minor, or certification. This may require an MAT though.

18

Thank you!! Good to know!!

19

The ESL or special aid certificate will be essential to her finding a job (as will her teaching placement).

20

Suggest you read Frank Bruni‘s book, where you go is not who you’ll be. He recommends that students who want to be teachers should go to a school near the district in which they want to teach. That lets them have student teacher opportunities in the district and makes it easier to get a job after graduation.