<p>Any colleges in New England for an OOS 3.0 student - less than $30,000/year? My daughter (a junior, so we're really just starting to seriously look around) wants to live in CT or MA someday and would love to go to college there. She hasn't taken her SATs yet, but she's not a good test taker, so to be realistic, her scores will be average at best. </p>
<p>She wants to be a psych major. I told her that I can't pay for grad school. So of course, I'm not willing to go into massive debt for undergrad, esp for a major that is tough to get a job in. </p>
<p>She prefers New England, but would consider anything from Virginia to Maine. She would love to go to UMass Amherst but doesn't have the stats - and we certainly don't have the money. Her dream school is PSU Univ Park, but she knows she can't get accepted there. She likes big schools, but would consider a medium sized school - just nothing really small (trying to stay over 4-5000 students, 10,000 and up would be better.) She is open to city, small town, etc - but there should be some kind of town. The classic college town atmosphere is really appealing to her, but she likes cities, too - as long as there is still a real campus. </p>
<p>Look at your own state school. And I’d research some of the SUNY school system – there are a lot of schools and a few may fit her stats and wish list. SUNY schools are very reasonable even for OOS students.</p>
<p>So you want to spend up to $120,000 for a psych degree from a mediocre college?</p>
<p>As someone who wants to study behavior, she should think hard about why a person would do this.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with her in-state options? She can ultimately live in CT or MA regardless of where she goes to college.</p>
<p>The SUNY schools are close to $30K OOS, and not a bad choice if you’re willing to spend it. Other that SUNY, I’m not aware of any OOS schools in the northeast that will cost her less than $30k/year. She doesn’t sound like a candidate for merit aid, so privates will likely be too expensive. Even if you qualify, most need-based aid at non-top privates is in the form of loans. Loans are not aid. They are just a means of kicking the can down the road and delaying the bill (at considerable interest cost). As for publics, OOS aid is generally weak.</p>
<p>Chardo, that’s actually the answer I suspected, but I wanted to check. And no, I do not want to spend $120,000. My choice for her would be one of the PA state schools such as Bloomsburg or West Chester or Millersville. She’s got stars in her eyes and I get it - it sounds exciting to go someplace different, etc. And most PA state schools are in the middle of nowhere - not her preference. PSU, as mentioned, is her top choice - but she won’t be getting in there.</p>
<p>The obvious answer is for her to do the 2+2 (2 years branch campus, 2 years Univ Park) at PSU or start at a community college. She doesn’t want to stay at home. Again, I don’t blame her, but reality hasn’t hit her yet. So I thought it was worth asking, in case I’m overlooking an option.</p>
<p>I think it would do her good to have the 4 year away-from-home college experience. I don’t mind spending the $18,000 or so a year it would take to send her to any of the directional PA state schools. I could handle that. And it may come down to that. Of course, a lot depends on how she does this year, in terms of grades and SAT. But she had a very tough year last year. She basically had a severe depression/breakdown. This year she is trying to focus on college. I think college is serving as a motivation for her to do better, stay focused, keep her eyes on the prize. Which is why I’m going to let her look around, and see what’s out there. And I’m looking around too, because I don’t want to overlook anything.</p>
<p>The price appears to be based on the in-state price of Penn State (main or branch campuses), Pittsburgh, or Temple, though other in-state publics in Pennsylvania are somewhat less expensive ($21,000 to $24,000 per year). Some money may be saved by commuting from home if there is a local university, or by starting at a community college if available.</p>
<p>Ucb, you’re right. For a non-commuting school, the low 20s is the best I can do as a PA resident. (I was thinking high teens, but it probably is more like low 20s.) Sucks, doesn’t it? </p>
<p>I’d love to have the tuition options they have in Florida and some other states.</p>
<p>Another question, if anyone knows - there are some PSU branch campuses with dorms. Anyone have any idea which of these are the nicest (in terms of atmosphere, student life, etc.)? I’ll put this on the PSU board as well.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Pennsylvania tends to have relatively high net prices for in-state public schools, due to relatively high in-state list prices with measly amounts of in-state financial aid.</p>
<p>She doesn’t want Temple because of the very bad neighborhood it’s in. I would be open to looking at it, but what I’ve heard is that although it’s safe on campus, most students move off campus after the first or second year. And because the local neighborhood is awful (actually, one of the worst in the city) kids move all over the city, which detracts from having a real college atmosphere.</p>
<p>It’s a shame last year was so awful. Not just of course because she suffered (and she did) but because no matter how well she does from here on out, it’s going to drag her down. I’ve tried to be encouraging and tell her that if they see good grades in 9th, 11th and the beginning of 12th, that they could take into consideration that she had a bad time and is over it now. I want to be encouraging because she needs the motivation. But I don’t want to be unrealistic.</p>
<p>Here are a couple of private schools she could look at:</p>
<p>West Virginia University - approximately $32,000 OOS
Salisbury University (MD) - approximately $30,000
Keene State (NH) - approximately $30,000 OOS
York College of PA - approximately $27,000</p>
<p>IDK about the living on-off campus situation (I do know they just opened a new 1200-bed res hall), but the campus overall and frosh dorm specifically were lovely. D did an engineering program there this past summer and we paused, on foot, in front of a map of the campus to locate her dorm. Within ONE minute a campus officer pulled up on a bike to see if we needed directions. The Eng program leader told us that there are literally hundreds of cameras on campus. I have also read that Temple is buying and developing a lot of property in the area. </p>
<p>I thought the neighborhood around Temple looked like a place I’d walk around during the day, certainly, at least on the main streets there were lots of people shopping and walking around. Incredible amount of food trucks too :)</p>
<p>If you haven’t gone in person, you guys might give it a look and see what you think.</p>
<p>I know this is way outside of the NE but will throw it out there especially if she wants the ‘college experience’ …</p>
<p>University of Nebraska. They really want OOS students now and offer great automatic scholarships. Your costs would be (based upon a 3.0 and 24 ACT)…</p>
<p>Tuition: $19,320.00
Fees : $1,504.00
Room & Board : $9,122.00
Total : $29,946.00
Ruth Leverton Scholarship : $8,500.00
1st Year Total : $21,446.00</p>
<p>Don’t know if that fits your budget or not.</p>
<p>when I hear “psychology”, “New England”, and B/B+ student, I immediately think “Clark”.
Although the school is smaller than what your daughter wants, it’s located in a town with a couple other colleges so there are plenty of students around. Psychology is one of its strong fields. They’re quite good with need-based aid and best of all, if she maintains a decent GPA, she can do her 5th year (Master) for free in a variety of fields!
[Clark</a> University - Worcester, Massachusetts: The Gateway city](<a href=“http://www.clarku.edu/undergraduate-admissions/campus-life/worcester-community.cfm]Clark”>http://www.clarku.edu/undergraduate-admissions/campus-life/worcester-community.cfm)</p>
<p>MYO - Looking at Clark, they’d have to be REALLY good with need-based aid! lol It is quite small, but the free Master’s sounds like a great thing. Unfortunately, the avg GPA and scores are probably above her level. I guess we’ll know for sure after we see how her junior year goes.</p>