<p>I’m here! Reading everyone’s responses and just taking notes! Thank you for all of your help and suggestions. I laughed at the one person that acted like I thought I was the only one worried about paying for college - quite the opposite, I was inspired by all of you that are in the same boat as me and thought that others could relate which is why I felt okay posting my post! (Besides CC was telling me to say Hi after I registered, lol).</p>
<p>I have had honest conversations with my son. I’ve also saved for college but with the downturn in the stock market last year - his account took a big hit, although there is still money there. We do have some money that his father and I can put forward - as someone here mentioned, sending him to a private jesuit high school already costs about $10k so we are used to the expense. </p>
<p>As I said - I’m just looking for that “sweet” spot - some suggestions of colleges that offer scholarships/merit aid to students like my son! Thank you for all your help, and keep the ideas coming :)</p>
<p>Not sure what the downturn may have done to Lemoyne’s endowment, but my neice got a sizable merit package from them two years ago with lower SAT scores, but in the top 10% of her class. They are Jesuit and have a nice campus near SU. She and her friends seem to love it there.</p>
<p>I would also second the SUNY’s. Sk8rgirl chose her safety, UB, over all the other acceptances she received last year and we’ve been very impressed with the quality of education, facilities, and campus life so far. It’s another school that many students seem to love…once they get used to the size that is!</p>
<p>mom2collegekids,
D. had GPA=4.0uw, very few APs (very few offerred at her school), ACT=33 (took once). No Val or any other status or any ranking at her HS either. Parents association give awards to top students at graduation, and that is how everybody knows. HS very well known in particular to college that D is currently attending. I beliive that made a difference in her acceptance to selective program. Her renewable Merit scholarships are numerous (around 10 or so) and all added together to cover full tuition. Her college has a lot of additional non-departmental Merit scholarships for returning students (starting sophomore year) as well as Departmental ones that are available for Juniors and Seniors (which is normal everywhere). Tell your kids that maintaining high GPA at college is very worthwhile. Make sure to research what is available as some scholarships might not be automatic, they will need application.</p>
<p>Since your D’s stats put her in the top (ACT 33 is 99 percentile), it is understandable that she would be awarded so many scholarships by great schools! Congrats!</p>
<p>As for the OP…her son’s stats are good, but his SAT is equivalent to an ACT 28 (91 percentile). Therefore, many colleges won’t offer the same scholarships to him. If the OP’s child needs merit money, they need to look at schools that typically award large merit for ACT 28 (there are some, not many). Usually, you have to look at Tier 3 national schools and lesser-known Catholic schools to get significant merit for an ACT 28. There might be a few exceptions.</p>
<p>Has your son told you what “type” of school he wants to attend? I know that he’s mentioned a few popular schools, but what is it that he likes about them? </p>
<p>Does he want a Catholic U? Does he like schools that have popular sports teams? Does he like a mid-sized or larger school? </p>
<p>Some of our recommendations won’t work if he wants a “fun, sporty school” where the world comes to your football or basketball games.</p>
<p>What schools are now on your list for reaches, matches, and safeties now that you’re more aware of who gives merit money?</p>
<p>Gonzaga(?) University, in Spokane WA, (sunny eastern Washington)
University of Portland (wet western woregon, Jesuit ?) . Even has an accredited engineering school. Powerhouse in women’s soccer l</p>
<p>I would suggest also taking ACT. D did better on ACT with self-prep than with SAT after taking prep SAT class, which she said was waste of time. I strongly suggest to prepare for test, develop your own personaized prep strategy and spend at least a week every day. I know some kids who think that they are too smart and too good of students to spend some time preparing for test. They did not get good results. There are some geniuses out there, but not very many.</p>
<p>Definitely look slightly down the Jesuit “food chain”: Fordham, Creighton, Saint Louis, Scranton, Marquette, the Loyolas, Fairfield, Santa Clara . . .
My daughter really wanted to apply to BC and Georgetown, but didn’t even bother because they have such high tuition and no merit aid.</p>
<p>Amy, welcome to the board. Your title touched the nerve that is extra-sensitive in all of us!
I just wanted to add that there is a savings in the range of perhaps $5000 a year by not having a strapping teen living with you. You’ll save on things like car insurance and gas, expenses for sports and school activities, food bills, even electricity and water. My husband was just marveling over how low our electric bill is this month (2/3 of our kids are out of the house).</p>
<p>Another significant control for us has been to have the kids earn all their discretionary money. All the graduation presents and summer earnings go into their own bank account, with much ceremony ;), and this is the money they have to spend at college. Things cost about half as much when the kid is paying for them on his own.</p>
<p>^We have not saved on any of these. Actually, if D. has decided to go to local college and live at home, that would be much cheaper than her living outside of home, even in dorms. And, keep in mind, most of them move out of dorms after junior year anyway, then it gets even more expensive. Car trips home and back (D is only 3.5 hours away), for some kids travel by plane or bus. I do not see any savings in living expenses. We still had to pay for D’s car insurance (even freshman year when her car was at home, she used it on her breaks), much more gas. Then on breaks, her homefriends get so excited about seeing each other that they go out practically every day. Living expenses of college student is definately very high (at least with our 2 experiences)</p>
<p>I agree…but Santa Clara has become a pricey reach for many. SCU only gives about 10-20 good merit schollies, and those are to super high stats and/or URMs. Santa Clara’s tuition is $40k this year plus you need to add R&B, books and other costs!!!</p>
<p>Fordham is great to NMFs, but not to someone with the OP’s stats. LMU also won’t give good merit to an ACT 28 equivalent who isn’t an URM. However, some of the other Loyolas are a possibility. Scranton has some competitive merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Spring Hill (Jesuit) will definitely give good merit for his stats (likely 50% of tuition). </p>
<p>For a private school, I don’t consider any scholarship that is less than 50% tuition as being “good” unless its stacked with other schollies. Privates are costing about $50k+ these days, so a scholarship that is less than $15k (unless stacked) is still going to leave you with a $30k+ annual bill.</p>
<p>I think what the person meant is that your household expenses may go down which will help a bit with the larger college costs. Certainly, it’s more expensive to have a child living a college than having them at home.</p>
<p>So, if you typically spend $8k+ a year on food, you’ll likely spend less with the kids gone. BUT, you’ll spend more than what you saved on their dorm/meal plans.</p>
<p>Having a son away typically causes a drop in the food budget at home. Having 2 sons away is totally changing my shopping list (less milk, less meat, less juice, less snacks, less desserts, less sodas… Our water bill significantly dropped now that DS1 takes his long showers elsewhere!</p>
<p>And…a big yes to having them earn their own pocket money!!! Summer jobs should be mandatory and a small part-time job (8-10 hours/week max) during the school year is a great thing. It’s amazing how much better DS1 is with spending his money than he ever was with ours. LOL</p>
<p>mom2 – I get what you are saying, but that might not be OP’s criterion. Maybe he/she is just looking for some tuition discounting. I don’t think it’s hard to get 10,000 or 12,000 a year at Fordham or SCU.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s hard to get $10-12k from SCU and Fordham with the OP’s stats. Fordham’s $10k scholarship clearly states that it’s very competitive.</p>
<p>BTW…SCU requires income info for merit money…they don’t like giving money to higher income people.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m wrong, but I got the impression that the OP wants more than $10k off of an annual $52k bill. The title of her thread is “worried about paying for college”. That doesn’t sound like someone who’s ready to spend $120,000 on undergrad, but is worried if the bill is $160k.</p>
<p>I guess you have a point. Son’s ECs (scouts and choir) were inexpensive. I guess when the girls depart, I’ll notice a bigger difference (not paying for drill team, dance company, cheer team, etc.)</p>
<p>I think it can also depend on the apetites. I had a skinny brother who ate like a pig! LOL He’d drink a gallon of milk per day - by HIMSELF - and eat everything in sight! My mom used to say…“you can tell your daughters that you can’t afford to buy them any more clothes, but you can’t tell a skinny son that you’re not going to buy food.”</p>
Congrats!</p>