<p>I agree and can see where the problems can come in. Engineering is only one option for me, though, and I am flexible when it comes to what I want to study. </p>
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<p>I looked into Case Western and Rochester and liked them both, especially Rochester. I’ll definitely consider and look into them more.</p>
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<p>The forms have been submitted. :)</p>
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<p>I am applying to Lafayette RD. I hope to qualify for a scholarship there, but I know it is a VERY long shot. The only thing that concerns me is their attitude towards LGBTQ students, which I read are a lot less positive than those elsewhere. It’s not necessarily a deal breaker for me, but Lafayette isn’t high on my list because of it. I’ll look into Johns Hopkins. </p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I’ll reply back when I talk with my mom this evening.</p>
<p>If you’re LGBTQ, then Lafayette is probably not a good match. But, there are many friendly colleges & universities that should be great matches. This helps explain your focus on Columbia.
Not sure if engineering is offered at these schools but consider:
Wesleyan
Swarthmore
Amherst
Macalester
Vassar
Grinnell
Kenyon
Brown</p>
<p>You (and your family) signed an agreement that said if you get accepted ED and, based on their financial aid, you can afford it, you will withdraw all other applications. It didn’t say anything about whether you or your family “liked” the financial aid offer.</p>
<p>You already know what the honorable thing to do is. (Either withdraw the application, or accept what comes your way.) Really, is there a question here?</p>
<p>Obviously I agree 100% with mini. But I now also understand why Columbia is so important to this young man.
Yale is another to consider. Also, the University of Minnesota.</p>
<p>I think you should wait and see if you get in or are deferred. If you are accepted and you and your parents can afford to go there then go. Otherwise it’s better to know now that you really can’t afford it and you can focus on the other colleges. My son has applied at a number of colleges (No ED Ivy’s). Some he has been accepted at are just too expensive unless they come up with more merit money. What really needs to happen is that you need to ask your mom to commit to a dollar amount that she will pay regardless of where you end up going. Then add it to the $10,000 your dad says he can pay and see if that is close enough for you to go to Columbia when they send you the FA package.</p>
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<li> People keep talking about getting offered a package of loans, but Columbia has a no-loans financial aid policy. So need will be as it determines, but it won’t offer a package of loans and say that meets need. Parents and kid may be tempted to borrow to meet their contribution, and that’s a different matter. (They shouldn’t do it more than a little.)</li>
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<p>I’m not saying that Columbia will definitely be affordable for the OP’s family, or that they couldn’t get a better deal elsewhere. I am saying that if the OP is accepted ED they will know whether Columbia’s offer works for them, and there’s a decent chance it will. And if it doesn’t, it wouldn’t have worked any better if the OP had been accepted RD.</p>
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<li><p>It’s true that Kenyon, through merit aid, could offer much more generous aid than a mere need-based award, and the more money the OP’s parents make, or valuable assets they own, the more possible that is. However, Columbia’s financial aid budget is vastly greater than Kenyon’s, with any way of measuring it. The average annual price net of grants for entering students last year from families with $30,000-110,000 of income was about $7,000 higher at Kenyon compared to Columbia. Kenyon cost from 45% to 175% more. (And remember, the handful of students with giant merit scholarships at Kenyon are in those averages, so for other students, the gap is larger.) </p></li>
<li><p>Of the schools mentioned by Axelrod, only Swarthmore has a real engineering program, and it graduates about 10 kids a year. It’s an interesting attempt at building an accredited general engineering program within an elite LAC, but it mainly seems to serve as a gateway drug for physics majors. Swarthmore is not a lot easier to get into than Columbia.</p></li>
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<p>Probably no easier, JHS… given the small size. </p>
<p>Regarding merit aid statistics at Kenyon, the post card implies that Kenyon is increasing their merit scholarship funding this year. They have been making some hoopla about this (hence the postcard, but I think we got another mailing on it as well). Still nothing like Columbia’s deep pockets, I am sure, but looking at last year’s statistics is not a complete picture. I do think that if you are interested in engineering, Kenyon is not the right school, though…</p>
<p>Thank you for the suggestions. I’m particularly impressed by Brown and Swarthmore. </p>
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<p>I agree, but engineering isn’t something I HAVE to do. It’s something I’d like to do, but then again, I have many other things that I’d also like to do. If it comes down to it, I’d be OK with going to Kenyon for things outside engineering.</p>
<p>I discussed with my mom and she said she’d be capable of covering about $5k of the cost. I don’t think her contribution + my dad’s will be enough for Columbia, so I may have to convert to RD. She said she’s going to talk with my father and see, and hopefully let me know what I should do by tomorrow at the latest.</p>
<p>I just want to tell you how much I admire your mature approach to this whole situation. You are a person who will thrive wherever you plant yourself–remember that. While Columbia might be your first choice, there are so many other places that you could also be happy at, and I am so glad you recognize that.</p>
<p>^ Yes, and we wish you the very best.
If Dad does take Parent Plus loans, for any reason, please be sure he looks at what payments will be, as he mulls that over. Each spring, when the 2nd disbursement is made to the college, you start paying on that year’s amount. By 4th year, it’s adding up, so this should be an informed decision. Direct Loans has an online calculator.</p>
<p>OP, there a quite a few posts here so
I might have missed something. Do you have any match or safety schools on your list? The schools you keep adding are not safety schools for student’s…that would include Swarthmore and Brown.</p>
<p>Is your family income such that you will qualify for need based aid (do the net price calculators on the college sites for a guestimate). Is your family able to pay the balance for all four or five years of your college time? You say your dad can contribute $10,000 a year. Your mom about $5000. That means you are looking for upwards of $35k in need based aid per year. The colleges you are looking at cost in the $50,000 per year range.</p>
<p>He did run at least some NPCs, but it raises a question. For Columbia, OP said he got 10k EFC, looking at his parents separately and 30k if he combines their info (if I am repeating that right.) Is this discrepancy because NCP is somehow not accounted for in the NPC? Any idea?</p>
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Here’s the quote- “somewhere around $10k when inputting my parent’s finances sepeartely and $30k when inputting them together.”</p>
<p>I do, I have one that is close to home and a well-respected school. I’m guaranteed admission thanks to a program my district has with it. I also am looking into other privates and (especially!) state schools where the numbers also match. At most, if I commute I could expect $10k a year. I haven’t applied to any besides Columbia, but am in the process of UC and CSU at the moment. </p>
<p>However, I’m not too crazy about the school, especially considering a lot of my peers are going or are planning to go there. I know it sounds stupid to consider, but I’d like a fresher start, which is why I’m looking at other schools. </p>
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<p>$10k is when you input my parent finances separately. My mom would pay roughly $5k and my dad roughly $5k.$30k is when you combine my parents income and assets into one family, as if they weren’t divorced. I’m not sure how else to get an estimate, since divorced parents often have a lot different complications that the NCP doesn’t take into account. If it was just $5k we were worrying about, then we wouldn’t have an issue. The issue arises when we aren’t sure what we can expect and want the ability to “shop around.”</p>
<p>If you ran Mom and then Dad, there are allowances that could have caused their individual EFCs to drop. Also, possibly, income tiers. I am not familiar with how the schools handle noncustodial in the NPC. Someone else will be. There’s a big difference in your position, if the EFC is 30k. So, I just wondered. I agree you deserve a chance to compare offers.</p>
<p>If you’re going into engineering, I strongly suggest you look at Kettering in Michigan. They have a unique program where students work co-op jobs for a term, go to class for a term, year 'round. Most students make enough from their co-op jobs to pay for their schooling and graduate with a ton of actual work experience. Many get hired by the firm where they did their co-op and co-ops can be anywhere in the country. You could have a co-op close to your parents and live with one of them during your work terms and save even more money. It used to be called General Motors Institute (back in the day). It is no longer a GM only kind of school. It is an amazing deal for students who can get accepted.</p>
<p>I was wondering why everybody was talking about loans with regard to Columbia because they guarantee no loans financial aid packages. As someone else noted, unless parents decide to get PP loans for their share. </p>
<p>In my case, the EFC was within $2000/year for every school that accepted my D. Let’s see… Barnard, Michigan, DePaul, or American? Michigan was the cheapest, American was the most expensive. Barnard was in the middle and was her dream school. So yeah, for $2000/year, I was going to make that happen. And, FWIW, when I figured the cost of community college, it was still very close to the same EFC. No savings at all. That’s probably just the income range I was in.</p>
<p>In my case, including my ex-husband’s income with the Profile helped a lot. He’s been unemployed for three years.</p>
<p>@OP - about 18 months ago, a couple of private university calculators that I tried suggested that the $5K+$5K EFC estimate would be much closer than the $30K estimate. However, I was not looking at Columbia. Does Columbia say something different?</p>
<p>Regardless, you do have some basis for expecting your EFC to be $10K. I can’t see any obligation to withdraw or convert your ED application if your parents are still willing to contribute that amount.</p>
<p>Columbia’s instructions for its Net Price Calculator say to input each parent’s information separately, and the EFC will reflect the sum of the two parents’ separate calculations. So the expected parental contribution at Columbia may well be a lot closer to $10,000 than $30,000.</p>