Thanks to everyone who suggested I repost my question with more information. I am learning I have a lot to learn. So as requested here is our info. I hope I am including everything you need to make suggestions.
Financials - We are a family of 5. Our income last year was only $134,500. I have a lot of medical debt I am repaying (breast cancer) so we need as much financial help as possible. We can swing paying about 10k per year out of pocket. I do have the means to borrow from my husband’s annuity account at 0 interest but don’t really want to have to do that. I am expecting D22 to take the Stafford Loan if necessary.
D22 excels in English based curriculums. She is interested in Communications, Sociology, Journalism, English but I think she is choosing those because those fall under the social sciences which is what her guidance counselor suggested. She is unsure exactly what she wants to be. She would like a school that has a drama program she can participate in for fun and take part in shows. She doesn’t want a school that is too small. She likes a friendly, hippie vibe with a nice college town where there are things to do. We are in state in NY so she has several SUNY’s on her list. Her stats are as follows:
4.0 uw gpa
Class Rank: 11/407
8 AP’s (Scored 5s and 4s, 1 3)
Rigorous course schedule including senior year
4 years of french dual enrollment senior year college french
SAT 1330 730 english 600 math. We won’t submit to reach schools.
Officer in National Honor Society
Tri-M Honor Society
Foreign Language Honor Society
Rho Kappa Honor Society
Habitat For Humanity Club
Civic Club
Drama Club
Show Choir and Concert Choir
Community Theatre
SCMEA
NYSSMA
Student of the Month
P/T job at Dunkin
Model
Sings/plays guitar in a local rock band
First generation college student
Any school suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Should I be looking for schools that will give us need based aid or merit? Do any schools do both? Thank you.
$10k cash flow plus $5,500 student loan mean your state schools are your best bet. If your AGI is $125k or less, you’ll qualify for Excelsior, which gets you free tuition at SUNY or CUNY schools ( you still must cover room/board and other expenses, and your $15k might just do that).
SUNY New Paltz used to have a pretty decent rep in the journo world. Not sure if it still stands; hope someone can help there. SUNY Stony Brook is close to the media world. Then again, Hunter in the CUNY system is pretty well-regarded also.
I’m not sure what “too small” would be in your D’s view, but she might take a look at Denison University in Ohio - about 2300 students. Denison meets full need and is generous with merit money. My son is a junior at Denison, and loves it, but I don’t recommend it automatically - I thought of it immediately when you mentioned Communications, Journalism, drama, etc. Denison has a highly-regarded Communications department and has just upgraded its journalism concentration to major/minor. Drama is strong at all levels - my son has been welcomed even though he is not interested in majoring - and they have a good track record with alumni like Hal Holbrook, Steve Carrell, Jennifer Garner and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who recently funded a phenomenal new arts center on campus. Denison is in the small town of Granville, which is a kind of picture perfect college town - it was founded by a group from New England and looks it, so it feels comfortingly familiar to a Northeasterner. Denison is located about 30 minutes from Columbus, which provides access to big-city resources as well as the airport. Other Ohio schools to look at would include Kenyon and Oberlin. Kenyon is renowned for its writing program and had Paul Newman as an alum. I am less familiar with Oberlin, and I also don’t know as much about financial aid at Kenyon and Oberlin, but others on CC could help with those schools if you decide to consider the Midwest. I grew up in New Jersey and was initially skeptical about sending my son, who’s been raised overseas, to Ohio (or anywhere more than an hour from the ocean), but he has had a wonderful experience and I have become a convert to “Midwest nice.”
This is going to be school specific. Some will full stack. Some will go student contribution, institutional, parent. Others may not have a decrease in family contribution until the merit is greater than the financial need. What an individual college does isn’t always easy to find. You may have to contact each FA office. This may also happen with external scholarships. Sometimes people get outside scholarships and are disappointed when their out of pocket doesn’t change.
@Lulusmom55 Not sure what region of the world your daughter is interested in but I would consider looking at the Claremont Colleges (Pomona, Pitzer, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, & Claremont McKenna) in CA. Each of the schools has around 2,000 undergrads but are part of a consortium of around 7,500 students so not too big or small. Pomona offers a theatre major and you can major in at regardless of which of the five you go to. Each school has its own reputation but are top Liberal Arts schools that offer strong Sociology and English. It depends on the school but they do offer need based financial aid and can try to use their net price calculators online to approximate but all in all you won’t know for certain until you get an aid package if you are excepted. I currently attend Pitzer so please let me know if you have any questions. Good luck to you and your daughter!
I go back to the previous post - the first thing you need to do is to fill out a net price calculator. You had W&L on your first list and they meet full need.
Now need is different at every school- Rice is different than Cornell which is different than W&L. But a school like W&L will provide you some funds - and they also have the Johnson which is a full ride. You can look it up.
At $135K, at most schools, you won’t get much if any aid. You’ll likely be in the donut hole but at the tops you will. Another mentioned Dennison and they also meet need and have journalism.
I’m attaching all the schools that meet need. You’ll see in doing the NPC for a few if they work for your budget or not.
English and Journalism aren’t social sciences but Sociology is. Some schools, like Macalester, don’t have journalism but media studies. I mention it because while Dennison and W&L are great schools, they’re not what I would consider great college towns.
Finally, short of insane merit (W&L??) and need based - hence you need to fill out a few net price calculators - your best bets will be taking advantage of her 4.0. That’s Arizona, Alabama, MS. State, Arkansas maybe…you can take a flyer at Miami of Ohio and South Carolina…you can check Bradley and Hofstra but I think they’ll be too much. The publics I mentioned are all too big but you can use the Honors colleges to get smaller for a part of it.
It’s a trade off - mom is healthy (I hope) and so the dream colleges may be out!! She’ll understand for sure!!
As for taking loans or worse, digging into your hubby’s annuity - debt isn’t your friend. Obviously, college has some expense and it’s actually more than you think - late night pizza, ubers, weekend trips, etc. etc. The majors you’re looking at are typically low paying…so in this case, I think you’re smart to go for the lower cost - whether in-state or otherwise. Yes, we all want to send our kids to where they want to go - but you need to look ahead toward your life, including retirement, so resist the temptation to make your child ultra happy if it’s going to impact your financially in the long run.
Good luck.
Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid (prepscholar.com)
As I posted on your other thread, I still think Geneseo is a good bet. And with the added info that she likes a hippie vibe, I think New Paltz is good for her too. Lots of tie-dye in the town and lots to see and do.
She can aim for a few reaches that offer big merit. She has good stats, but I’m concerned that the test score will be an issue. Things may have changed due to so many colleges going test optional. Colleges are notoriously opaque about merit awards. You can usually find info about the awards they offer, but they don’t often say exactly who they give them to and how many are awarded, and it’s hard to know if they stack with need based aid, etc… You will probably need to call FA offices to get more info.
Lots of colleges offer those majors.
Really, there are excellent options in NY for in-state students, so don’t feel that she would be settling if she ends up at a SUNY. My own kid chose Binghamton, his safety, over more expensive options and he is very happy. Many SUNY’s have very high retention rates.
@MYOS1634 , any suggestions?
In-state, I second Geneseo and New Paltz as good fits (and perhaps Binghamton and Albany, with Honors application if possible, for a more personalized feel; “scholars” at Bing get the best scholarships but it’s highly selective and by invitation only, but the Source is by application; honors at Albany is by invitation but you can indicate your interest by communicating with the HOnors college). With these 4 she’s covered for affordable colleges that are low matches (not full safeties but close - I’m willing to bet she’ll get into 3 of them if not all of them, but definitely at least one.)
I wouldn’t recommend CUNYs if you don’t live in the city, they’re 99% commuter and while there’s a dorm most students have a job and live with their family, so it’s efficient and inexpensive but not the experience you’re describing as what she wishes for.
135K for 5 and medical debt would get financial aid at many “meet need” colleges but perhaps not to 10K+ federal loan level, so run the NPCs on all the colleges listed.
W&L is the opposite of “hippie”.
Denison is an obvious one, it meets all criteria except for “hippie vibe”.
Mount Holyoke, Skidmore, Macalester, Dickinson, Bates, may work, too. (reaches but excellent FA)
St Olaf if she’s interested in the Conversations programs (there are several seminars, reading/writing based). Not “hippie” but “musical” so might appeal to her. Meets need and has merit for music as well as for academics. Interest matters.
Muhlenberg has excellent theater.
Kalamazoo, Knox, Eckerd, would be other options to explore. They offer both need and merit. Worth trying, in case they come within budget.
I also think the Midwest schools are worth looking at, as mentioned on your other thread. Kenyon is a fantastic college that will probably tick her boxes and does offer a few huge merit awards, but they are like gold dust. Oberlin will probably have the vibe she likes, but I’m not sure how large their merit awards are.
I know W&L was mentioned, but I am not sure the vibe will fit her, given your description of her. It’s pretty preppy. When I looked at a list of colleges with largest merit awards, W&L’s biggest still leaves a $15,000 or so gap for this family. But, will they cover the gap with their financial aid? This is where it gets hard to figure out.
You need a LOT of aid, so she needs affordable options above all else. She has choices of good safeties with the SUNY’s, so spend as much time as you can over the next few days researching other options for her to apply to. Keep checking this thread to see what else is listed.
@Lulusmom55: Building on Lindagaf’s suggestions, how about Grinnell? My D22 got an e-mail from the school and I clicked and browsed a bit - looks like a nice community and environment; they are also need-blind and award merit scholarships.
There are also a lot of good options listed in this thread. You will see several of the same colleges mentioned here too.
Grinnell does not stack merit add on top of need based aid. The OP would have to run the NPC to see if it gets to their price point.
https://www.grinnell.edu/admission/financial-aid/affording-grinnell/scholarships
I would look at either state schools or lower tier schools that offer full tuition and R & B scholarships. For example, my S just got an email from Rollins saying they offer just that, tuition and full R & B. And the school is ranked #1 in the South by Us News. Ohio Wesleyan also offers a full tuition scholarship (not sure if they include r & b). I would scour the websites of 2nd tier LAC’s (probably ranked 50 and above) and see what you can find. Travel costs alone could eat up a large chunk of your budget if your D goes a plane ride away. Even if you drive, hotels, tolls, gas, etc really add up. This is one expense that we can afford but we really didn’t account for when our D picked a school 12 hours away.
@Lulusmom55 , for many of the colleges mentioned, primarily the privates, your D should show interest. That means sign up for emails and look at them (she should create an email address for this, might even get a fee waiver or two), and request interviews if offered.
This is because a college offering a scholarship if more likely to award it to a student they think will attend over a student who just applies as a safety. For example, Muhlenberg has been mentioned a couple of times and was on your original list I think. They consider interest. https://www.muhlenberg.edu/media/contentassets/pdf/about/ir/CDS_2020-2021_Muhlenberg_finalv2.xlsx
She should express interest to any colleges that consider it. That information can be found in section C7 of the college common data set. You can Google it for most colleges.
It will also be beneficial for her to apply Early Action, which is non-binding, to any colleges that offer it. Some colleges award merit to those applicants they really want who apply on the early side.
Also, she should complete any optional or recommended essays. They show interest and in my opinion, aren’t really optional for most students.
Not sure it would be affordable but Ithaca would check some boxes. Cool college town and they’re known for communications and FA.
We stopped on the way to Syracuse summer camp. Neat little artsy town. Beautiful area. Campus was ok. Think 1970’s dorms but after that it wasn’t bad. On a hillside overlooking Ithaca. Nice green space. Communications, journalism and FA are in their wheelhouse.
Thank you! This is so helpful!
of course - anytime. we’re all here to help.
Consider Nescac schools, many may pay for most of your daughters education if u can get in. When my daughter applied to Williams and I heard about the conference’s generous aid; at the time if u made less than125,000 it was free. We helped a friend apply to Trinity and she pays $4000 a year.
Other private schools may be generous because of her good scores and have good communications programs Dennison, Drake, Depauw, Auburn, Gongzaga, Chapman are some to think about and see how much aid u can get. We got a generous merit scholarship from Depauw (other daughter)with lower academic scores than yours.
Washington College in MD is a small LAC with a very good writing/journalism program. Good merit as well. Susquehanna gives excellent merit. Also, many of the other LACs in PA - Muhlenberg, Ursinus, Juniata, College of Wooster etc. Also check out the Colleges That Change Lives. Many great schools with tons of merit.