White male
TN resident
3.9 GPA (UW)
34 ACT (took it again this past weekend because our state doesn’t include the writing portion in the school test)
We’re looking for solid merit aid, will have three in college at the same time. Prefer to get them all through with no to minimal debt. Income in the 100-150 K bracket.
(I know I’m not giving every detail of his EC’s (nothing spectacular) etc, but I’m more looking for suggestions on “in between” schools with great merit aid. It seems to me like all he has are reaches and safeties.I could use some help rounding out this list.) He wants to eventually go into the medical field (research), so probably schools with a strong Biology dept.
Stanford (dream school)
Harvard (wild card)
Cornell (high on list)
Johns Hopkins (added because it seems to fit)
Vanderbilt (high on list, hoping for a full ride)
Rhodes (made a good impression at college fair, seems like a decent fit)
UA Huntsville (great merit aid)
UT Knoxville (flagship state college, I’m “forcing” him to add this one)
I’m sure your son has more to recommend himself than just a GPA and an ACT score, but if that is the case, you can drop Stanford and Harvard right now.
Yes he does, he just hasn’t made a list yet, I also don’t have tons of time right now. Main things are HOSA (made it to Nationals), and JROTC command (organized a US record breaking 5K run recently).
Seems to be a relatively large gap between his reaches and his matches, try adding some more middle range colleges, also what does your son plan on studying? The Vols have a solid engineering program (especially chemical) if that’s what he’s into!
And “normal” stuff like NHS. Yes, we realize the chances of getting into the highly selective schools are very, very slim. I almost want to just take those off the list, but he’s determined. That’s why I’d like to add a bit more variety to the list.
If he’s willing to go to upstate NY for Cornell, what about a place like University of Rochester for more of a match? Emory seems like a reasonable addition. What about places like Wake Forest or University of Richmond? I believe they offer significant merit. Someone mentioned Tulane above.
Alabama is an option, but he’s been leaning towards UA Huntsville since they also offer room and board for merit. I’ve been debating if we should add UA.
I think there is too big of a drop between his reach schools (the top schools are a reach for everyone) and his safety schools. I’d also recommend Tulane which has generous merit aid and non-binding early action (so he should get a decision by December).
Even if he got into his reaches - Stanford, Harvard, Cornell, they do not give merit, and with your income you would get very little, if any, financiad aid (remember approx 5% of your non retirement assets ) so run the NPCs before letting him apply. There is so much effort in applying to these schools, if he gets on you will find it very hard to say no, we can’t go into $200k debt for you, son.
How much are you willing / able to pay for a non HYPS school? Answer that and you can figure out how much merit he is likely to get, and you can pick match schools.
I’m hoping that we’ll get a decent amount of financial aid (even with our income) because we have three kids in college. Not counting on that though, that’s why we’re researching merit aid. Yeah, 200K in debt is not going to happen, ideally less than 10K/ year (yes, I’m an optimist and believe it’s doable !).
Son agrees with this and actually is very sensible about what we/he are willing to pay. In other words, if he gets in , we’re going to do our best to figure out a way, but he’s not going to push if the finances just won’t work.
I agree that there’s a wide gap, that’s why I’m asking you guys for suggestions. I’m going to keep trying to warm him up to UT Knoxville. We’ll also add Tulane and UA to the list.
As far as debt goes, the student can only borrow $5,500 the first year, rising slightly in later years. Additional loans require parent co-signing or are parent loans. Colleges often expect students to work to earn a few thousand dollars per year to contribute to the cost. You will see these expectations alongside expected parent contributions in the net price calculator results.
You need to add schools like Boston College, Lehigh, Colgate, Richmond caliber - you have huge reaches and safeties. You might also add W&L, Davidson, Wake Forest if you want southern schools.
If he’s interested in Tulane and Wake Forest, I would make sure he demonstrates interest. For WF, schedule an interview for him sooner rather than later. I’d also look at Miami University (Ohio) and actually maybe University of Miami as well.