<p>* I am a single parent with a not-huge income and I believe loans will be available. We also have some savings.</p>
<p>What are LACs and M+CR SATs? We are new to this as you might guess! *</p>
<p>Your D can only borrow very small amounts. any larger loans would require YOU to sign/co-sign and qualify for. If you have a modest income, that isn’t a good idea becaue you may only qualify for one or two years, and then your D would have to leave the school.</p>
<p>these are the amounts that your D can borrow…</p>
<p>5500 frosh
6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr</p>
<p>It is NOT a good idea to borrow more than the above amounts for undergrads. Newish grads do NOT earn a lot of money, which is why paying back more than the above amounts can be difficult or impossible.</p>
<p>Also, many of these top schools will require the income/asset info from your child’s bio dad every year.</p>
<p>What about TCNJ (The College of New Jersey). It’s supposed to be a public LAC and has received good reviews on this site. The price would likely be right.</p>
<p>No, if you click the apply link you will see that she nominates herself. However, she will have to have some actual PSAT, SAT or ACT scores before she can apply.</p>
<p>Re: Mom2College kids–thanks for explaining. We are not choosing schools based on cost at this point. She has various possibilities re income, and her bio dad is not in the picture (dead for all we know) so that is not an issue. </p>
<p>Scores: She only has PSATs so far: 67 math, 71 writing, 63 verbal = 201(0). Don’t know if these are likely to go up (or down?)</p>
<p>*her bio dad is not in the picture (dead for all we know) so that is not an issue. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>It doesn’t work that way. These top schools will not even process your FA paperwork without getting the finance info from the bio dad. Getting waivers for this issue is very difficult and not always possible. You may not want to consider cost, but in reality, it can be very frustrating to make lists that just won’t be do-able (i.e. if a school won’t process FA paperwork without bio dad info). We see that happen every year here on CC.</p>
<p>*Scores: She only has PSATs so far: 67 math, 71 writing, 63 verbal = 201(0). Don’t know if these are likely to go up (or down?) *</p>
<p>Is she a junior?</p>
<p>It’s very possible that her SAT will be higher. Also take the ACT, some do better with that.</p>
<p>Whatever else you put on your list, I would encourage you to be sure to have at least 1-2 financial sure-things. Because as a single parent with a not-huge income, it would be good to have something that you KNOW will work.</p>
<p>Have you done the FAFSA forecaster? I would do that sooner rather than later. It may have your EFC much higher than you might imagine. And keep in mind that if it gives you an ‘estimated family contribution’ of say, $8,000/year, that does not mean that is all you’ll be expected to pay. And many, many FA packages are full of loans.</p>
<p>I second the College of New Jersey as an instate financial safety.</p>
<p>Hopefully many of the other options will work out, but I know from the experience of several friends that sometimes the biggest regret is not having a financial safety in place. Some of the kids I know were able to swing only one or two years at ‘expensive-dream-school’–then have to drop out with loans, and transfer to a local school. </p>
<p>If you know the finances more clearly, it will help you ensure that your D has good options.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids–She is a sophomore. I appreciate your comments re: finances, but I have investigated this quite thoroughly and she will get a waiver. Trust me that the situation warrants it and it is provable. </p>
<p>We have also saved quite a bit and can get more from family if needed, so I feel comfortable letting her apply where she wants.</p>
<p>FAFSA is the the government form you must fill out in order to qualify for federal loans and grants; most (all?) colleges require you to fill it out if you want to be considered for need-based financial aid. </p>
<p>There is something called the FAFSA4caster (google it) where you can do a test run using your current financials, to get an approximation. You will need to enter your savings, too. They factor all that in. You’ll get an estimate of your EFC (Expected Family Contribution). EFC is the absolute minimum you’d be expected to pay per year. At many schools (ie, NYU) you’ll be expected to pay far more than your EFC, usually.</p>
<p>I encourage all my friends with kids getting close to college to do the financial investigation sooner rather than later. If you look at the Financial Aid forum, you’ll see many posts of people with middle incomes who are in shock over their EFCs, and realize that they are not going to be able to afford the schools their kids were admitted to. When they have no good financial safeties, that just makes me sad.</p>
<p>Better to know that sooner rather than after your kid gets their heart set on something that just won’t work.</p>
<p>Just so you know, many of the schools on your list are going to be about $250k for the entire 4 years. Just as a reality check against your savings/plans - you might know this already, but you did mention that you were new to this.</p>
<p>She should definitely apply to TCNJ, which someone mentioned upthread. Strong academics with a beautiful campus. It will be cheaper instate than all of the private schools mentioned, and also has decent merit aid.</p>
<p>My son had better unweighted GPA and test scores than the OP and was not accepted at Berkeley, UCLA, Northwestern or Rice as a statistics major. Maybe, the hispanic female angle will help, but I think most of the schools mentioned are high reaches (Georgetown, Duke, Cornell, Brown, Stanford, MIT, CalTech). However, the Patriot League is definitely a match - Bucknell, American. Also, Lafayette, Lehigh. She has a good chance at CMU and Vanderbilt, and schools that need women will be a match (Rose Hulman, Case Western).</p>
<p>If she’s only a sophomore, then it’s very likely she can improve her SAT by 100-200 points by the time she is a junior/senior. She would then be very competitive at more of those top schools then with her present stats even if her gpa is a little lower then what they usually accept.</p>
<p>It sounds like you want but are hesitant to mention Columbia since you talk about NYC schools such as NYU and Barnard, but I think her chances at Columbia could be pretty good if she improves a little more on her numbers. Columbia’s mid-Ivy: not as selective as HYP but more selective than Cornell. </p>
<p>Rutgers and TCNJ should definitely be considered if you are an NJ resident. If your stats are high enough, Rutgers will give you generous scholarships that will cover tuition and either part or all of room and board. I’m from NJ and many of my hs classmates are at Rutgers despite getting into more prestigious schools because Rutgers was very generous with them for merit aid: they either got $10k/yr or a full ride.</p>
<p>Great comments, thank you! You are right–she might love Columbia. I went there graduate after doing Yale undergrad and had a mixed experience, but the undergrads I know adore it. We’ll wait and see how her scores come out (her GPA may nudge upwards as well) before making a final decision. That said, we visited both schools and she liked the feel of Barnard, plus her grandmother graduated in the class of '57 and would die happy if she went :)</p>
<p>Rutgers and TCNJ are on the list! Certainly if she got significant aid, that would make a difference. But our family wants all the kids to have a shot at the “ivy-type” experience if they do well enough and want to go, even if it means significant changes in our lifestyles in order to send them. That’s why I am not focusing on the money right now.</p>
<p>^The difference with UVA OOS fin-aid and Ivy fin-aid is that before a certain point (usually below 80k a year) Ivy’s don’t include loans in their packages, it’s all grant aid and work study. The same cannot be said for UVA OOS, in state is a different story though.</p>