New to Board: Need to help D find more <30K schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, this is my first post to CC. My D is a senior, she's been actively seeking schools since she was a sophomore, but when we sat down together recently to go over her choices (as she was filling out applications) I found a paucity of schools on her list that cost less than $30K. I think we need to have a more diverse portfolio of choices, basically - not to throw any of the $30K+ schools off her list, but find some less expensive options in case the money doesn't work out at the more expensive ones.</p>

<p>Okay, first, details about my D.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.75
Class rank: 15 out of 500
SAT: 2020 (700 V, 620 M, 700 W)
SATII: Not sure of her exact scores, but over 600 on all of them so far: American History, Chemistry, Biology
AP: American History 4, Biology 4, Chemistry 3, English 4</p>

<p>this year, she is taking AP Euro History, AP Calc and AP Physics, which means she's taken every AP class her school offers. She's a bit of a nervous test taker, she tends to do better on classwork and homework than she does on tests. </p>

<p>She wants to major in Biology, and she's particularly interested in botany.</p>

<p>EC: National Honor Society, Math Team, Chemistry Olympiad, Musicals, a capella singing group (she's the section leader for her voice part), Drama Club (she's her class representative for the group).</p>

<p>She works part-time at a grocery store and over the summer she works as a camp counselor at an overnight camp. </p>

<p>She really, really, really wants to go overseas for school. </p>

<p>Her current list:</p>

<p>Trinity College, Dublin
National University of Ireland, Galway
Smith
WPI
Sarah Lawrence College
University of Hawai'i Manoa (the least expensive college on her list, but we would not be able to afford to have her come home if she was there)
UCONN (her safety school, she does not want to go there because it's only 15 minutes from home and she's looking for smaller schools, generally.)</p>

<p>Her best quality is her incredible work ethic. She was an average student until she hit middle school, and then she decided she wanted to be a better student, so she upt the work in. She has also exhibited excellent judgement in her life, so having her far from home is not a huge worry for me (although I would miss her terribly). </p>

<p>She will likely qualify for need-based aid, because we don't make much money (I never finished college, because I got pregnant with D at the start of my sophomore year and dropped out.) I thought she might qualify for some merit-based, but her stats are certainly not as strong as some others I've seen. </p>

<p>Thus far, I've suggested she consider SUNY-Geneseo, although I don't want her to go there if it's a suitcase school. Any other suggestion for schools she should consider?</p>

<p>TIA
Mo</p>

2

<p>Consider:</p>

<p>The College of New Jersey:Out-of-State Tuition: $12,314</p>

3

<p>She can get plenty of merit aid -</p>

<p>Boston University
University of Pittsburgh
University of Mass-Amherst Honors college</p>

<p>See merit aid threads over in financial aid section of this site</p>

4

<p>We will check these schools out tonight.</p>

5

<p>i don't know what your EFC would be to her school, but the majority of the elite universities in the US offer need-blind admissions, and most guarantee to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need.</p>

<p>Her stats would give her a pretty decent shot at most of them.</p>

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<p>I just want to make sure she has options. </p>

<p>Our EFC a few years back was $14K (I was thinking about going back to school myself), but my job was outsourced and my new job pays about $15K less, so I expect that will change. </p>

<p>I did end up going back to school part-time at a local community college, but I don't think that will impact our EFC much since I generally take at the most 2 classes per semester. </p>

<p>elsijfdl - do you think she should try reaching for some more elite schools? Smith and Sarah Lawrence are both needs blind, so hopefully that will work out.</p>

7

<p>Has she considered McGill?</p>

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<p>well, i mean i'm not an admissions expert, her class rank is great, i get the impression she could write a really good essay, i'd say if you don't mind paying the application fees, have her fill out the common app and apply to at least a few of the elites, i think if she did her admissions correctly and conscientiously she would have a good chance at getting accepted to some of them, and they are almost sure to make their tutions at least affordable.</p>

<p>It wouldn't be studying abroad, but it would at least be worth applying, just so she knows what options she has. Alot of them will even grant an application fee waiver if you contact them.</p>

9

<p>I'd suggest looking at some schools in the midwest and south. They're generally cheaper than the northeast or the west coast. Some suggestions to get you started (these are all either in the ballpark, good with needbased aid, or she'd fall into the merit scholarship category, or all three): Lawrence U, Goucher, Tulane, Earlham, College of Wooster, Grinnell, Tulane, St. Olaf, Hendrix, Trinity U (TX), Southwestern U (tX), UWisc, U South Carolina (Honors College), College of Charleston, Indiana U, U of South Dakota, Creighton, Marquette. Goucher, in particular, might be a good option - they pay for travel for study abroad, and are generous with merit scholarships for kids in your daughter's stat range.</p>

<p>I'm also assuming you've already double checked on whether the two schools in Ireland offer substantial need based aid for international students, because she'll automatically be cutting herself off from many U.S. federal financial aid programs by going out of the country for school.</p>

10

<p>Might want to look at Holy Cross-very good biology program and study options in Ireland.</p>

11

<p>West Virginia University is cheap</p>

12

<p>SUNY Geneseo is not a suitcase school. </p>

<p>Look at Loyola Maryland - they have a strong study abroad program in Cork, Ireland. (Although lots of liberal arts colleges have strong study abroad programs.)</p>

<p>Check out liberal arts schools in the medwest for your best merit money. Denison University, College of Wooster, or Case Western, would be my choices.</p>