<p>Oh, I know all about the CC elite. You quickly learn which people are truly interested in helping others and those that just want to brag about their kids accomplishments. You take the bad with the good.</p>
<p>Her PSAT scores averaged out to the equivalent of a 1500, all 3 sections. I know that will improve but I would expect not much more than maybe a 1700 combined. One thing I forgot to mention is that D1 stated that she would not want to be in an urban campus, or one without a traditional campus, like an NYU. I think ultra rural would also be a concern. A traditional campus within a city, like a Dayton, would be okay.</p>
<p>Bobby - I’m guessing you get lots of speeding tickets if your daughter wants to stay within 5 hours of western CT and you’re considering Dayton! I’m in central NY and it’s 7.5 hours from me.</p>
<p>I also think Ithaca is doable with her grades. My son is accepted there with a 3.3 (but lots of APs and dual enrollment classes), 28 ACT (29 superscored) and 1860 SAT. </p>
<p>What size school is she looking for? That would also help with recommendations.</p>
<p>Hi Bobby, I also thought Clark and Siena. New England College in NH might be good, but it is very rural. Other thoughts would be canisius and st michael’s. St Joe’s has a pretty campus…a bit compact, and students move off for housing in upper years. But a grat school with many resources. Also, consider Wheaton in Mass.
McDaniel - I know gcs who rave about the place.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC</p>
<p>I only used Dayton as an example of a college that I think she would love. Good size, decent campus, large course offerings and close to an airport. Plus I always loved the student culture at Dayton, very friendly kids.</p>
<p>Her ideal school size, as of right now, would be larger than an LAC but smaller than a larger university, that 3,000-10,000 range. It is a tough category.</p>
<p>Sienna is on our list, I have a friend that is a very enthusiastic alumni of the college. Common Data Set shows it might be more selective. I will admit that I don’t know anything about McDaniel but I have been hearing that name so I will take a look at their info. Thanks</p>
<p>@BobbyCT Medium size is so tough to find! Lots of the Jesuit and Lasallian schools fit in the around 5,000 student category. Take a look at Fordham (might be too reachy?), and also Providence College and Bryant in RI, and Quinnipiac (too close to home?). URI might work, too. It’s a “small” flagship, 12K students. Then there is Wheaton and Emerson in MA, and Ithaca in NY as already mentioned. </p>
<p>Also, we’ll all tell you: Have her try the ACT also!</p>
<p>@Bobby, I went to U of Dayton for undergrad! I would take your D to visit and then she may rethink the distance :). I loved my time there (all 5 years, lol!). I know that their stat avg.s have gone up, but with the URM, and an upward trend already well into B range…well, I think she has a good chance of being accepted to UD. It IS super friendly and I honestly could go on and on about how much I love UD.</p>
<p>I am a newcomer to this so take my advice knowing that! (As in, feel free to discredit as I am working off of Naviance.)</p>
<p>Clark seems a reach, assuming people mean Clark in Worcester. Have you considered Stonehill in Easton, MA? A bit smaller than you requested (2500) but I was very impressed when we visited there. It is a bit isolated geographically. (Well, not isolated in the way Ithaca is isolated. Stonehill is about 40 minutes into Back Bay or 40 min the other direction down to the start of the Cape.)</p>
<p>Her stats seem in line for Ithaca and a bit low for Loyola and Fordham, but Naviance stats do not tell the full story.</p>
<p>Loyola MD would give her the size and campus feel she wants. Downtown Baltimore is available 20 minutes away, but the campus is in a pretty, almost suburban area.</p>
<p>@ jkiwmom: I was probably going to take her out to Dayton if her grades go in the direction we hope. It has become selective. I can combine that visit with Xavier. That will be tough for me since I am a University of Cincinnati alumni. I brought my son to visit Dayton but he ended up choosing Miami, I then took D1 to visit but she decided on Furman. Maybe third time is a charm?</p>
<p>@CT1417: I wouldn’t be interested in Clark in Worcester. Wrong fit. Loyola and Ithaca may be considerations. Her best friends older sister attends Stonehill but is looking to transfer. I think that has colored her opinion. </p>
<p>@SLUMOM: Marist was actually my very first thought based on location, campus size,etc. However, it looks like it could be a reach. It is only an hour away so we can easily visit. Alfred is on the list. She already told me in no uncertain terms that she did not want to consider a women’s college. </p>
<p>If you look at my previous posts you can see what I have posted about Alfred University.
I just got a new tablet & have not yet gotten the hang of copy and paste!</p>
<p>@NPRMom: If I remember OU has about 13,000 students? It might be a little difficult to get to but I will look at it. I do know a few OU alumni and they were very happy. All I know about the school is their past party reputation and their renowned writing program.</p>
<p>OK, so DS saw online that he has been accepted to his top choice private (envelope to come) - big hurrah here! - but the information shown for financial aid is a bit perplexing. </p>
<p>Merit award is lower than expected (spoke with FA office as followup to NPC) but only $1,000 below what I was told was the “top merit award” he would qualify for so no real quibbles there, I guess. </p>
<p>But the only other aid was a $3,000 subsidized loan along with another $2,500 unsubsidized loan - which, if I understand this correctly, is simply “passing through” the available federal aid. </p>
<p>Our EFC is just under $16,000. The gap after the loans is $33,000+. I knew that they didn’t meet 100% of need, of course, but wasn’t prepared for essentially NO need-based aid. </p>
<p>Am I naive? Missing something? Is there even a chance that after verification and the IRS retrieval tool does its magic with the FAFSA that this might improve? DS is so happy, and I just don’t know how I feel…</p>
<p>onesonmom–Is this the “official, they’ve seen your FAFSA info” financial aid package? What did the Net Price Calculator show for how much you would pay? Either this school gives our really crappy aid or something is wrong with the numbers. I would call the financial aid office and clarify. I’ve seen schools that only meet about 50% of need, this might be one of them. You can check the common data set to see what that percentage is.</p>
<p>SteveMA - thanks for the response. The online NPC showed $19,000 in merit. I spoke with the FA office in late January to get an explanation of the differences I saw between December and January NPC totals. The explanation I heard was that in early January they revised their NPC with this year’s FA guidelines, including some changes. I heard something about shifting need-based aid over to merit, and we were encouraged to apply for additional scholarships, due Feb. 1, which DS did even though it meant scrambling to get essays in. The common data set seems to indicate more in the needs-based FA, but I plan to call and see what I can learn.</p>
<p>The “gap” is $18,015 after the merit award of $18,000 plus the $5,500k in federal loans (our EFC is $15,500). We filed our FAFSA on January 8th, but just filed IRS returns on February 8th, and we’ve been identified for verification (OOS, last name different, no IRS retrieval yet, who knows? but our financials are pretty straightforward: single parent W2 and the only assets are a prepaid tuition plan and a college savings account)</p>
<p>I do feel this is the right college, major, size, fit, etc for my only child - tough choices ahead.</p>
<p>Onesonmom, does your S have other choices if this school is not financially feasible?
NPC’s are not reliable, of course, they just give an estimate. </p>
<p>Can your family afford this school if this FA package stands?
We have never made two lump sum payments for college for our four children.
We have always paid 10 months out of the year through Tuition Management Systems or school’s similar payment plan. This could be an option for your family.</p>