New here, mom of 2019 grad trying to figure all this out

College Search & Selection
1

We are in the beginnings of our college search. First priority for me is paying as little as possible. Second, attending a decent school.

My daughter would really like to go to school in NYC, preferably my alma mater Fordham but I don’t think we’ll be able to afford Fordham. I am a single parent in the low income range.

A little background:
My daughter is in the top 10% of her class. She takes honors classes. The local community college offers classes at our HS so she takes those also. There is only a total of 5 AP classes offered in our high school. I was so surprised to see that most students take on average 9 AP classes! How do they fit that in? So my daughter is taking APUSH this year. Next year, she will take AP BIO and AP Calculus. Instead of taking AP English, she is opting to take college English. The only other AP class offered in our high school is AP Art, which she isn’t taking. I hope that the colleges that she applies to realize that few APs where offered so this won’t be held against her. There have been students accepted to Ivies and other highly selective schools from our high school. Currently, my daughter is taking a Marist online Poli Sci class through a leadership program.

My daughter’s Stats:

Top 10% with a challenging courseload.
PSAT Score: 1280 (will take SAT in March)
GPA: 94.7 unweighted and a 99.8 weighted
EC: Varsity swim team, Winter track. Takes several dance classes at local dance school, licenced life guard and water safety instructor. Internship currently with a local PR Firm
Active in leadership program she attends through the local chamber of commerce
Tutors math after school one a week
HOBY alumunus
Soon to be inducted into the National Honor Society (our school doesn’t induct until the spring of Junior year!!)

I feel like she has some good ECs but could probably use more community service.

It is my hope that my daughter will have strong enough stats to get into a good school that will cover 100% of our financial need. I know schools send out emails, mail to students they don’t intend on ever accepting just to increase the number that apply. We have gotten an email from Harvard and mail from Yale but I don’t think we have much of a chance (but you never know). I wrote down a list of all the schools that will cover 100% of financial need or meet that need with loans. Then I have highlighted the school’s on that list that we have heard from. We have also heard from Colby, Swarthmore, University of Chicago, Duke, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Colgate, Overland, Union, Boston College and Williams College so far. Does my daughter stand a snowball’s chance getting into any of these schools? Then there are schools such as Siena that may offer a lot of merit-based awards and grants that could make it affordable. My friend’s daughter goes to Siena. There is the Empire scholarship, I think it’s called, for New York State residents can go to SUNYs with the tuition covered, when the income requirement is met. My daughter could also go to the local community college for free as there’s a scholarship offered for those who graduate in the top 10% of their class. My daughter does not want to go to the local Community College. She wants the experience of going away to school and I want that for her. She is very much interested in going to school in NYC or Boston, within about 3 hours from our home in the Hudson Valley of NY.

From what I’ve read it appears that applying early decision will increase one’s chances of getting into these more highly selective schools. But can you apply to all of them early decision? Early action is the one where you’re locked in right? Early decision is just applying early but you’re not locked in? But will they see that we’ve applied to the other schools early decision as well? There seems to be a lot of politics around what schools you apply to, which one you put as your first choice, and this can affect if you get accepted or not. I’m still learning all of that however.

So I guess based on my daughter stats I’m wondering do we stand a chance in getting into some of these higherly selective schools? Will early decision help? Should we get the extracurriculars more diversified? Are there other schools out there that might not pay 100% that are more affordable? We’ll still apply to Fordham but I highly doubt we’ll be able to afford it. We’ll look for every scholarship available out there. We will begin to work on the college essay very soon so we can get that edited and reedited until it shines! Thank you for any feedback

2

Welcome to CC! Others will chime in on specific questions, but just three points:

  1. Do join in on this thread: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1732893-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2019.html#latest – it’s basically the support group for all the parents of 2019 grads.
  2. Make sure to run the Net Price Calculators (NPC) at the various schools you’re interested if you haven’t already. I know I was surprised to see how much of the cost colleges will cover. (Others are surprised how much of the cost colleges will cover. The lesson being: run the NPC.)
  3. Look at Common Data Set scores for colleges you’re investigating – they will give the 25th/50th/75th percentile for test scores for enrolled students, along with data on GPAs, etc. While they won’t tell the whole story, they will give you a good sense of what schools are reasonable shots. I think the 1280 score, if that translates into an SAT score, will diminish the likelihood of acceptance at some of the more well-known names (e.g., Swarthmore, Chicago). Admissions are holistic at many of those schools, but they probably would look for a higher score as part of that. Other posters, I’m sure, will comment. :slight_smile:
3

Ok great info. I will join the thread. Do the calculations. The PSAT Score of 1280 I don’t think is equivalent to a 1280 on the SAT. The test has changed its scoring, this year I think. I think my daughter’s PSAT score was in the 95 percentile. She may have given me the wrong score. Lol.

4

It does not matter AT ALL who she has “heard from”. All they are is marketing mailings. It means absolutely nothing in terms of admissions. Zero, zip, nada.

Don’t worry about the APs. Colleges take in to account what is offered at her school.

Your D should study diligently for the SAT. A higher score would make a huge difference in her ability to get into a college that meets financial need.

I also think you need to help her get over the idea of NYC for college. She can move to NYC after college – her options for a college that meet need are going to be much better if she expands her geography dramatically.

My guess is given her stats, even with better test scores, she needs to forget about Ivies and top universities like UChicago, Duke, etc. She would need MUCH better scores to be competitive, and her ECs are good but lack the “pop” that tippy top schools look for. Suny’s might work as a safety, you should look at the finances for them.

The good news is that there are quite a few schools that meet need that aren’t in that top 10-ish range, but could still be affordable.

A nuance you need to be aware of is that among the schools that meet need, not all are “need blind”. So a student who needs a lot of aid essentially needs higher stats than their average student to have a good shot at admission. I know this is Wikipedia, but I find these lists the easiest to parse on this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission

I’d have her pick a couple of schools from the “meets need/need blind” section. Not the very hardest once to get into, though. And then a couple from the “meets need/not need blind” category. And then see if SUNY’s are workable as safeties financially, and find a couple of those she would like.

Regarding ED and EA:

  • ED is “early decision”. It is binding. If she gets in, she has to attend, unless the FA package is completely unworkable. If the NPC shows it isn’t workable, then she should NOT apply ED. If you want to be able to compare packages, don’t apply ED. If she gets a cheaper offer while waiting for the ED decision, it doesn’t matter. All things to think about. It is pretty difficult for a kid to get in, then have to reject the offer due to finances. A student can only ED at one school. Neither of my kids applied ED.
  • EA is not binding. They can continue all the way through the RD cycle with multiple schools, compare all the offers they have, and make a decision by May 1. It is nice to have an EA acceptance in hand (takes some pressure off), and some schools like that students have their act together enough to put in the EA application (the school knows they weren’t an afterthought). I’d highly encourage EA applications where available. A couple of very top schools have some restrictions around their EA process, so you need to read the websites, but I don’t think those are schools she is competitive for anyway.

Also… “we” aren’t applying or working on the essay. Your D is. :slight_smile: Make sure she is fully engaged, and the essays should be all her work. She could work with her college guidance counselor or English teacher to help with polishing. There are some tips at the top of our essay forum she should read before starting. Note that most colleges that give a lot of aid also have supplemental essays, so she will have more to do there.

One other thing to look into is Questbridge. You should Google it and also look for other threads out here on it. Since she is low income, she might be a candidate for that as well.

Final thought – the best aid comes from the colleges themselves. Don’t spin your wheels a lot on outside scholarship. If some organization she belongs to (Girl Scouts, etc) has scholarships, apply for those. See if the GC has a list of local organizations that give scholarships that other students have gotten. But stay off online sites with scholarship listings. Those are competitive and difficult to get – not a good use of her or your time. Getting into a school that meets need or comes close is a much better option.

5

There is a lot of useful information here in the Financial Aid Forum. So go look at the threads there. There is an entire sub-forum just for Questbridge.

Run the Net Price Calculators, but even more importantly get honest with yourself about just exactly how much you are ready, willing, and able to pay, and under what circumstances. What do you mean when you say you hope to find a place that will meet 100% of your daughter’s need? No loans? Full ride that even covers the books and transportation? Leaving only what you believe you can pay? Make certain that anyone else who will be helping to cover the parents’ share of costs is also on board. Then you will be able to have a united front when discussing money with your daughter. The sooner everyone is on the same team about this, the less grief during the college search/application/acceptance process.

6

Thank you. You said it all. I thought in my gut that she didn’t have the scores for the highly selective schools but I just needed to hear it. Also, yes there isn’t that pop in the ECs that the tippity tops look for. Seems like you need to cure cancer or start your own non-profit to get into one of those schools.

How do I find those schools that aren’t in the top 10% range but still are affordable? Those are the schools I want to find. Was that the Wikipedia link? And yes, she needs to stop thinking about going to school in NYC, though I went there, it is probably not possible for us. She can move there after college.

I agree about the essay. I need to back off.
We did get an email about Questbridge. They said the application process for their program will start soon and more information will be forthcoming. Thank you!

7

don’t overlook automatic merit scholarships. the higher the SAT (combined with high GPA), the better the scholarship.

post back with SAT score when you get it.

some popular auto-merit schools are Ole Miss, Alabama, UAH.

8

Is she a good at swimming? A friend’s daughter went to Fordham on a (small) swimming scholarship. By her senior year it was a full tuition scholarship and while I think she was a decent swimmer, I think the increase came because of her dedication to the team.

9

Everything I have heard at all the financial aid sessions that I have attended say not to take out loans if at all possible and do not go deeply in debt for an undergrad education. Perhaps, take out loans for graduate school. But not for undergrad.

I guess I have a lot to figure out. I could afford to pay $5,000 maybe $10,000 at the most a year and maybe take out a loan of $5,000 a year but definitely cannot afford more than that. My daughter will have to get a job during the summers to help pay for the costs. There is no one else helping us to pay for this except maybe my mom and dad who are in their 80s right now.

10

Sadly, she isn’t really a good swimmer. She loves it and is a great teammate but sadly, we got started too late for her to get really good.

11

Thank you Wien2NC, I’ll keep that in mind. Lots of great information here. Will I always be able to go on my profile in the future and come back to these helpful threads? Thank you.

12

Most schools, even those that meet need, are going to expect that she will take out her federal loans. $5,500 freshman year, $6,500 soph year, and $7,500 each jr and sr year. Ideally she won’t take out more than that. Federal loans have some decent consumer protections that private loans don’t have.

You should have her visit some LACs if possible. Don’t discount women’s colleges, either. What is her possible major?

13

@intparent
She had been focused on making lots of money and thought maybe being a dentist or going into the business world would accomplish that. Then recently, she is worried about not being skilled in anything when she graduates, so then she started thinking about teaching. She likes math, enjoys tutoring once a week so is also thinking about teaching. She attends a leadership program through the local Chamber of Commerce. Right now they are doing internships in something that is of interest to them. Her mentor thought she would be good at public relations. My daughter is pretty outgoing and likes to interact with people. Right now she is doing an internship at a local PR firm.

14

@intparent Thank you. I didn’t know that about the minimum amount for loans and that it increases each year. Thank you.

15

@intparent interested in business, Dentistry or teaching

16

Is your daughter’s other parent in the picture in any way?

Colleges that use CSS profile for financial aid will ask for the non-custodial parent’s financial information, or a waiver which is only likely to be granted in special circumstances, eg if the NPC has never been in contact or is abusive. If the NPC is merely uncooperative, these schools won’t work.

17

@Icb56787
The non custodial parent is not in the picture. He does live in the area. Is obligated to pay a small amount of child support a week. My D has never met him however. I sure hope that isn’t something that comes into the picture. We have absolutely no contact with him. What is a CSS profile?

18

It’s reasonable to incur a moderate amount of debt (price of average car, not price of average house) for a good undergrad Business degree. I’d be leery of incurring much debt for an Education degree; starting salaries tend to be low, and she may want to go for a part-time master’s ASAP for the salary boost. For dentistry, it’s very important to minimize undergrad debt because dental school is expensive.

19

@BasicOhioParent that makes sense. Thank you!

20

Would your daughter be a candidate for Macaulay Honors College (CUNY)? That may be the most affordable option if she is intent on being in NYC.

Based on the info that you’ve posted, I think Barnard would be a reach for your daughter— probably worth her while to apply, but more likely to be rejected than admitted. I think it’s more than a “snowball’s chance” – but still a fairly big reach when you really need to have some financial safeties.

Despite all that you may read online, ED is not a boost for students who are “iffy” for admision to a school. ED serves a purpose, to benefit the college by locking in full and nearly full pay candidates, and by locking in students who have something to offer that the college wants. (example: recruited athletes). For students who are in the upper half of the applicant pool in terms of stats, ED provides an edge because of the generally higher admit rates – but it does not benefit the college to relax its admission standards for ED when the ad coms know there will be more highly qualified candidates applying in the RD round.

Top 10% is generally not good enough for the very elite colleges-- unless the kid is outstanding in some other way. It doesn’t matter if your daughter’s high school offers fewer AP’s, but the colleges are turning away great students who are class valedictorians, or top 2% at very competitive high schools. Your daughter would need to demonstrate that she is exceptional in some way, and “top 10%” just puts her in the category of very bright, not amazingly so.

There might be ways that she can make herself stand out more in the application process, perhaps through LORs and essays – which is why I wouldn’t entirely shut the door on Barnard, given her desire to come to NYC.