Hi there,
I am currently a junior in CT and I need help looking for colleges! I have been doing a lot of research, and I am mostly interested in small liberal arts schools, or just small schools in general (2,000-7,000). Right now I am looking into international relations, politics, and foreign languages, (possibly law too) but I would like to keep my options open because I’m not entirely sure that I want to go into those fields. I am also looking into private schools that offer to meet 100% of demonstated need since I can only afford to pay about 2-3000 per year. However, I have a complicated family situation (to make a long story short I’m not living with my dad but he makes a substantial amount of money) so it would be nice to only have to report what my mom makes since he will not be contributing to college financially. I am mostly looking in the northeast but I will also consider schools in the DC/virginia area. I think I would prefer a suburban area that is fairly close to a city, but I think I could make do with pretty much everything except the city. As for my academic standing, I have an estimated 3.95 unweighted GPA ( I say estimated because my school doesn’t calculate it but I’ve had mostly A’s with a couple A-'s) I have taken the most rigorous courses offered at my school and so far have gotten a 4 on the ap european history test, and I am taking 4 ap’s right now. I am taking the new sat in march so I only have my PSAT scores which I scored in the 96th percentile. If anything comes to mind let me know!
Try this site’s SuperMatch function. The CollegeBoard also has a college search function.
Also, I don’t know much about the financial aid situation, but I believe you have to go through a fairly complicated process if you have a non-custodial parent who will not be contributing to your education. I would suggest posting in the financial aid section, as people there may be able to tell you more about this process.
The 2000 student cut-off is not ideal in that it would eliminate some excellent options with solidly broad curricula just below that threshold.
With respect to suburban locations, this Newsweek article can be good for generating ideas: “The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Schools.”
For small liberal arts schools in the Northeast, NESCAC is an obvious place to look.
Need-based aid with a non-custodial parent who can pay but won’t pay is a tricky situation. It’s good that you’re starting early on looking into this. You and your mother should take advantage of the wisdom on College Confidential to navigate through the ins and outs of how colleges may calculate your estimated family contribution. As noted, go to the Financial Aid board of this site for more information.
In the meantime, it would be a good idea to focus on schools that offer substantial merit aid. For those, you father’s income won’t be an issue. I’d start by looking at Smith and Mt. Holyoke in the Northeast, Grinnell in the midwest and Rhodes in the south. There are many others. Take a look at the thread “Schools known for good merit aid” at the top of the Parents board for more ideas.
The important point is to understand which schools offer only need-based aid and which offer need-based AND merit aid. Many of the most selective schools in the northeast are need-based only. You may end up qualifying, but until you know for sure look for merit schools as a back up.
Lastly, are you sure your father is unwilling to contribute to your education?
Agree with the above poster about the non custodial parent issue. That may make getting a lot of need based aid tricky. You may need to look at schools with good merit aid like Dickinson or Muhlenberg.
But to answer your original question, schools that come to mind are Middlebury, Holy Cross and Trinity.
Agree on Holy Cross and Trinity. Connecticut College and Wesleyan could be worth a look as well. Vassar too, maybe Haverford.
I’m not up to speed on non-custodial parent impact on financial aid, but be aware, the NESCAC schools (Conn Coll, Trinity, Wesleyan, Middlebury etc.) do not give merit aid at all, so affordability hinges on merit aid. Vassar and Haverford also offer financial aid only.
Merit aid schools would include Dickinson, though its max award, I heard, is $20k per year, not nearly adequate for a student needing almost full award. Denison, St Lawrence, Earlham, Knox, Wooster, Lawrence, Beloit offer 1/2 tuition awards, but those won’t even come close for a family which can only contribute $2-3000 a year.
Spend some time on the Financial Aid and Scholarship board to explore the ins and outs of non-custodial parent issues in financial aid.
Good luck to you, it is smart to be starting the search now to better understand your needs and priorities.
I agree with the posters above, that schools in the Midwest and South tend to be more generous with aid, than those in the NE, where the schools are in the highest demand. Being from the Midwest, I would recommend schools similar to what @Midwestmomofboys suggested. Sorry, I don’t know a lot about the schools in the NE.
Once you get a list of schools, @puzzlepieces98, (and you may have a very long list to start) go to the Net Price Calculators on their websites, with your mom, so she can help you fill in the best approximated income and asset figures, and see what your results are. Some calculators take your GPA, test scores, etc. into consideration, and some do not.
For a general sense of what schools might calculate as your ability to pay, or EFC (expected family contribution) go the the College Board website and have your family’s figures calculated by both the “Federal Method” and “Institutional Method.” That will give you a pretty good idea of what schools might say your “need” is. Federal is usually used by public universities and some colleges, and Institutional is used by many LAC and more selective universities:
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator.
You and your mom may have an idea of what you think you can pay, but the schools will only care about what THEY think you can pay, and it’s very often more than you’ve planned on. Don’t forget that you, as a student, can, and will be expected to, help pay your way through college. My S16 will be contributing from the following sources: $2000 from his savings account from his jobs over the past 2 years, $2200 in work study each year (8 hours a week, on-campus is manageable),$2500 from summer work preceding his Soph, Jr & Sr years, and modest Federally subsidized loans (meaning no interest begins to accrue until you graduate college). The max for this type of loan is $3,500 Frosh year, $4,500 Soph year and $5,500 Jr & Sr years… This totals $19,000 in loans, which is far below the national average of $27,000, at graduation.) SO - he will be contributing an average of $9,300 per year, and we will cover the share we can afford, as his parents. PLUS, you can apply for outside scholarships, to provide additional funds. So don’t think that you can only "afford $2,000 to $3,000 per year.
Do you have a good guidance counselor to help you and your mom find schools? Here is an article to check out: http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2015/05/31/which-colleges-offer-big-time-academic-merit-aid-money/#454c0a2f2fef
Another good website for pure numbers is the College Navigator: http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
You can research which schools might be a good match for you, and look at all kinds of statistics, including admissions and financial aid. For admissions, (and aid) you want to look at the middle 50% of GPA and test scores. Usually identified as the 25th percentile and 75th percentiles. For the best chances you want your stats to be at or above the 75th percentile of admitted students.
Good luck!
If your mother is only able/willing to pay $2K-$3K/year, but your father makes “a substantial amount of money” (and is unwilling to contribute), then you’re likely to need a full-ride merit scholarship. That rules out virtually all the New England LACs (which offer little if any merit aid.) Some of the southern/midwestern LACs offer merit scholarships, but unless your scores are very high, you may not have a realistic shot at that amount of money.
You may be tempted to cover your costs with loans. That won’t work (or would be inadvisable) for the amount you need. Federal student loans cover no more than $31K of your total undergraduate costs.
If your scores are good, then you could realistically expect some of the southern/midwestern LACs to offer half tuition scholarships (but possibly as much as full tuition). Have a look at Hendrix, Centre, Rhodes, Davidson (and also St. Lawrence in NY). If you could persuade your father to cover room & board, you may be able to cover the balance (if any after merit aid) from your mother’s contribution and “self help” (work-study, loans).
http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts
If you’re lucky, a full ride scholarship might materialize from one of your reach or match schools, but you can’t absolutely count on that. You need to look at some schools that are within your “safety” zone, or out of your geographic comfort zone, for big merit money.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
These are mostly state universities (not necessarily flagships) that are not in popular NE or west coast locations.
The University of Alabama often is recommended on College Confidential.
http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html
In case you want target numbers, for any chance for most full tuition merit based scholarships, the minimum ACT score is 32. I think the corresponding SAT score is 1400 but double check that number. This score doesn’t guarantee a full tuition merit award, it means an ACT of 31 won’t qualify for the full tuition merit award/scholarship.
Echoing the advice to look outside the northeast. Lots of excellent LAC’s in the rest of the country - it would be shame to ignore them.