<p>I see that Wabash is on your list. They offer automatic merit aid based on class rank. I know that you listed top 25%, but if it is actually top 15% or 20%, there is still money to be earned. They also had a scholarship weekend where the admitted students take tests to earn up to $20,000 annually in merit aid. Check out their aid pages and see about an interview with the local admissions rep.</p>
<p>I may be off track but it seems rather late to be looking at sports as an angle for scholarship/admission. Isn’t that done in the junior year?
As far as the huge list…if you go (quickly and soon) visit some schools, as others have said, you will nail down some vibe factors as far as big school vs. small, etc.
Just glanced at your list but Northeastern I can tell you from experience won’t come up with the kind of money you need.</p>
<p>I’d add to your list as qualifying questions “do they take the common app?” and “Do they require supplemental essays?” </p>
<p>When it comes down to the end, it is nice to know which colleges require little or no additional work to apply.</p>
<p>Not too late for sports at many D3 schools. But have your son fill out the athletic “recruit” type forms online soon for any schools he may be particularly interested in. Or contact the coaches for some basic info on timelines they follow - no harm in that.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your input to date. Here are some additional thoughts:</p>
<p>Regarding the FAFSA 4Caster, here is a link to the image that the 4caster gave me: www (dot) prairie360 (dot) com (slash) fafsa (dot) png.</p>
<p>What is an EFC? I keep seeing the term thrown around but don’t see the words to construct that three letter acronym on the FAFSA Web site.</p>
<p>As to the gargantuan list of schools…I know it’s huge. We’re starting the weeding out process now with the goal of getting the final application list to approx 15 - 7 safety, 5 target, 3 reach.</p>
<p>How do you know if a school superscores?</p>
<p>How can I tell if my son ranks in a schools top 25%?</p>
<p>One last question: I’ve noticed a poster on the boards who constantly suggest the Univ of Alabama. As well, I was contacted by someone who suggested the Univ of Alabama. I noticed that UofA was an advertiser…I assume these folks are shills, yes?</p>
<p>Thank you all for your help to date.</p>
<p>EFC = expected family contribution. When you complete your FAFSA, this is the amount the govt. says you can afford to pay for college. Some of the posters are confused by your post because the FAFSA 4caster gives similar information and does not generally tell you how much aid your family will qualify for.</p>
<p>It would be easier to help if you found out your EFC, both Federal* and Institutional**. Here’s the one at College Board, [EFC</a> Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?](<a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp]EFC”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp)</p>
<p>*
[quote]
Choose “Federal Methodology” to calculate your expected family contribution (EFC) and financial need using the Federal Need Analysis Methodology used by the Federal processor and school financial aid administrators. {/quote]</p>
<p>**
</p>
<p>Did the calc over at the collegeboard estimator: $13,300.</p>
<p>so now the question is… can you pay 13300 per year? and now look for schools that with a combination of merit and or need will fill the gap between possibly 45K on down, schools that have a lower COA so that it wouldnt be as much out of pocket if awarded good merit etc</p>
<p>Is Carnegie Mellon a thought? It sounds like it could be great for a kid with your sons interests.</p>
<p>Yes, if he is interested in computer science, then consider Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>I’d also throw out some of the tech colleges that have good Computer Science departments - like Rensellaer (ok, my S goes there) and WPI.</p>
<p>Don’t know how there schools are for music, though.</p>
<p>Just want to offer kudos to the OP for having a realistic set of schools for your son given his grades and test scores! So many parents come to CC with inflated expectations of where their kids will get in and get financial aid.</p>
<p>I would definitely suggest that you take a look at Dickinson (on your list already), they give some substantial merit aid and your son looks like he could meet the qualifications for the higher end awards there.</p>
<p>Re: all the UA plugs (and I’m pretty sure I know which poster you mean; she was a blessing to us during our D’s college search) She is just a mom who happens to have 2 sons at UA.</p>
<p>My D is currently a UA freshman in 2 honors programs. Their scholarships for NMFs and high achieving OOS students are wonderful. My D is currently in 3 classes with 15 students or less. Feel free to PM me if you’d like more clarification or pop over to the UA forum in the individual college area; we are a prolific bunch ;)</p>
<p>Also, EFC=Expected Family Contribution.</p>
<p>I’d really go for some schools that will offer predictable/guaranteed merit aid as safeties. There are some threads about that. </p>
<p>I think people recommend University of Alabama because they offer great merit aid, a good honors program and a great education (from what I understand…I have no affiliation!). There might be shills on here, but…other schools are routinely cited for good merit aid (ie, Pitt, Case Western, etc).</p>
<p>Narrowing things down by school size/urban/rural/southern/northern/climate etc. will help!</p>
<p>My kid with similar stats got very nice merit offers at Case Western, Pitt, Kalamazoo College, College of Charleston (she focused mostly on midwest; Charleston was a wild card). </p>
<p>Definitely get the list down to 10 or fewer is my advice! There are some great resources online–the college’s web sites themselves usually cite the middle 50% of accepted student test score ranges. To be a likely merit candidate, your student will need to be OVER the middle 50%, usually well over. Collegeboard’s web site is helpful too.</p>
<p>Also, if money is an issue, be sure to look at COST OF ATTENDANCE not just tuition and room and board. (factor in travel back and forth, cost of off-campus housing if students typically move off campus after freshman year, etc). Decide how many loans you and your student can/should take on. Remember you have 2 others coming down the pike. Remember the costs will go up each year. I looked for options where, if my D lost her merit aid (not expecting it, but…what if?) we could still scrape by and she wouldn’t have to transfer (she would however, have loans if she loses merit).</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>My son is starting at Northeastern University in Boston this week (yes, we are very excited!) One of the things that tipped him towards NEU was that not only was he offered merit aid, it was an eight semester offer. IF he looses that merit aid, he will have to transfer but we’ve had a lot of conversations about that and based on what we know about our kid, it’s a risk we are willing to let him take. It’s not the right decision for all kids.</p>
<p>I would cut Hampshire and UT off your list. Neither are known for good merit aid. Hampshire is just too small and young; if he’s interested in that area perhaps UMASS Amherst? They offered our son a generous merit aid package plus admission to their Honors College, which is a nice way to have a smaller school experience at a big university. UT Austin offered our son a one time scholarship of $1000. Even though we would be instate this made several private colleges cheaper because they offered so much more money. Macalester College seems too pricey as well. If you can stand to add to your list (sorry!), we found American University in DC to be very similiar to NEU in terms of financial aid. </p>
<p>We started with selecting our son’s financial safety and that made the rest of the process so much easier. So, if I were you, I’d start on that list first and then expand from there.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Re: EFC-- Is that EFC determined by federal methodology or institutional methodology? Calculators give you both choices. The federal methodology is what FAFSA is likely to come up with. It doesn’t look at some factors (equity in primary residence, non-custodial parent info) but schools that use only fafsa don’t tend to meet need. The IM (used by schools that require Profile and these are often the schools that meet full need) takes those other factors into account so it is usually higher. You want to run both just in case one gives you a much higher number. </p>
<p>Your number matches what you can pay so you’re in a good spot. It means you can target both schools that meet full need and merit schools. Your son’s ACT is much stronger than his rank so he will likely get the best $ at schools that base scholarship $ just on ACT. Even though he’s not a Natl Merit scholar, look up schools that are generous to those kids (I believe there’s a thread over on the financial aid forums) and find out if that ACT means guaranteed money. </p>
<p>Honestly, because he’s in a rather good spot, I would focus more on schools where he is able to get the computer science and/or music he needs and then whittle down the list based on $ (including a couple of definitely affordable options: state schools and/or guaranteed merit). What kind of music program is he looking at? You have a mix of BMs and BAs in music. If he is looking at a BM or conservatory (and some of those schools have separate conservatories), he will need to audition in the next few months and that can throw a monkey wrench into his choices. Admissions rates at a school like Oberlin conservatory can be under 10%. Some of your colleges have non-audition Bachelor’s where he can major in music-- but the dept may not be as strong as he would like for his instrument. (We have run into lacs without my son’s instrument-- much less a teacher.) Carnegie Mellon and Case are good choices (CM does not meet full need however) for music and tech but I really think you need to look at the music component first and use it to narrow down that list. Here’s a link to the music forum on cc. The parents over there have a lot of knowledge.</p>
<p>[Music</a> Major - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/]Music”>Music Major - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>Please get your son involved! He is going to have to help you focus your hunt, and he should be putting his CS skills to work on sorting out your enormous list of schools. I believe he also needs to register with the NCAA, if he wants to use the soccer angle. </p>
<p>You are fortunate to live in Kansas, where the state flagship is one of the most affordable in the country. Early scholarship applications are due by Nov.1, and this should not be left until soccer season is over. Set aside a weekly college app time at your house so that the work gets done on time. It’s really challenging with a fall sport; this should have been done by summer.
[Freshmen</a> scholarships - KU Office of Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.ku.edu/freshmen/scholarships/freshman_scholarships.shtml]Freshmen”>http://admissions.ku.edu/freshmen/scholarships/freshman_scholarships.shtml)</p>
<p>You are going to get more value for your dollar by staying in the midwest and keeping a good portion of your list focused on schools with lower tuition. The competition is less keen; unfortunately, your son’s GPA is a half-point below that of the top kids. Out-of-state flagship schools like UIUC are not going to come across with significant aid. Eastern privates are over $45,000 COA; that’s a big stretch from your budget. (I’ll include Carnegie-Mellon here-COA is $53,000 this year, and their School of Computer Science is out of reach academically.)</p>
<p>He sounds like a great kid, but he needs to be mindful of his assets and his weaknesses. I do like the thought of smaller midwestern LACs, most of which are sure admits for him; whether these will be affordable is the big question.</p>
<p>I think Case Western would be a nice fit for the OP’s son.</p>
<p>I expect to look at Alabama with my son. For kids with good grades and test scores, the honors program there offers such a good value for its combination of price and quality. I think that a lot of us here on CC who have kids who have good grades and test scores - and who like big schools - at least think about Alabama.</p>
<p>Might also consider the University of Rochester. Great computer science dept. (Their UG programming team beat MIT last year: [University</a> of Rochester Dethrones MIT by Winning Regional Finals of World’s Most Prestigious Computer Programming Contest : University of Rochester News](<a href=“http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3489]University”>University of Rochester Dethrones MIT by Winning Regional Finals of World's Most Prestigious Computer Programming Contest : Rochester News)) and UR also has the Eastman School of Music (UR students are eligible to take music lessons at Eastman.) Rochester is also known for its merit aid.</p>
<p>sort list to boy/girl ratio. Better prospects for admission and FA for colleges with unbalance b/g ratio that is tilted to g majority.</p>