Congratulations to you son on a great score. I am biased but as a Lafayette Alumus I would add Lafayette to that list of schools to visit when you are out in Eastern PA to look at Penn, Villanova and Lehigh. Lafayette only about 15 minutes from Lehigh.
1 Like
We did think about Lafayette, but his GF of over a year wants to go there. Not sure we want to encourage that, lol. But seriously, we might check it out.
1 Like
Hi all,
Iâm new here. Have a S22 who is currently building his college list. Heâs a 3.8 UW GPA with some good/average ECs. The more we research, the more weâve realized that we have to be a bit more realistic about his target/matches.
Looking forward to sharing and learning through this next yearâs journey. Iâm biting my nails already and we havenât even started! 
@LostInTheShuffle Glad to hear your D22 got her first vaccine shot. Sheâs attending HS in the UK?
@vistajay Congratulations on your sonâs latest ACT. Thatâs an awesome score!
@burghdad I noticed a lot of recommendations for schools in Philadelphia but never Temple. Is there a reason? We are unfamiliar with schools on the east coast but had thought Temple looked promising.
2 Likes
Great scores! Nice he has a list going too.
Luanne - Iâm reading through the Operation Catapult list of things to bring. Business casual! Ok, S22 can manage that. Also, âold clothing and shoesâ. HmmâŠsounds like some activity where they get messy.
I have a question around ED and wondering if others have faced this.
I make 200K+ annually and spouse is stay at home (which can change drastically if I lose my job or have to take a lower paying job)
I read the ED Contracts (Rice and Hopkins) and they say that I can reject an ED acceptance if the School is not able to provide Financial aid.
My daughter has a very good SAT score (1570). She has a weighted GPA of 5.51 and is currently 4th in a class of 550 students (top 1%) and has taken multiple AP Classes with mostly a 4 or 5 and has done a major global volunteering initiative (spent over 500 hours).
I am counting on her getting a good scholarship or full ride at UTD or UTA, but she is also interested in Rice and some of the Ivies.
When I enter my info thru the Financial aid calculators, it shows that I will not get any aid at all, although honestly if I have to pay the full fees for 4 years, I will have $0 left in my savings account by the time she graduates.
I would love for her to go to Rice or one of the Ivies (assuming she gets in), if they are willing to at least fund 50% of the fees and so wondering if she chooses say Rice for ED, then whether we would have the ability to back out if they donât provide some kind of financial assistance.
Any info. in this area is appreciated.
@sfSTEM we find âold clothesâ are hard to come by. Usually when they are old, they no longer fit! We will probably hit the thrift store tomorrow and pick up something there. Sounds like a fun time though!
Also, we noticed pajamas are not on the list, so make sure you go through and add regular things as well. We added an umbrella, since itâs rained daily here in Michigan lately.
1 Like
You can generally back out of ED agreements if the financial aid isnât sufficient but I think that is why each school wants you to use their calculator first. Your situation is also a good general question for a financial aid thread or to just post it as a new thread in college admissions. This '22 thread wonât have all the CC financial aid experts on here. 
1 Like
Thanks Smiles.
I did use the Rice calculator and it is telling me that I have to pay 70K per annum. I have about 250K in a Stock account and will need to liquidate the same + my savings over the next 4 years to pay 300K over the next years. My concerns always is that what happens if I lose my 200K job next year and have to take a job that pays only say 100K or it takes a long time getting a new job.
Anyways, I will ask this question on the Financial aid forum.
1 Like
Coming from California, good reminder that other parts of the country getâŠrain in the summer. What is that wet stuff that falls from the sky?
1 Like
You seem to be a âdoughnut holeâ family that makes too much for need based aid but donât have the EFC for full pay. It is a lousy position to be in and definitely find those conversations here on CC - there are many people to empathize with you and share their wisdom.
They will likely tell you that Rice and Ivies may not end up making sense to focus on (they are such longshots anyway, even with good stats) - and they will be able to give you tips about merit chasing, etc. And they will likely tell you that your daughter can get an excellent education at so many schools that wonât cause stress and potentially financial hardship for you.
Good luck!!
4 Likes
Very happy to hear. All the best!
Here are my S22âs impressions of the schools we visited over the past two weeks. He is interested in IE/Stats/Data Science.
WPI: Nice, compact campus. Stem focused with emphasis on practice (projects, co-ops, internships). Close to us. S22 liked it a lot.
UMass Amherst: Not the prettiest campus, but good in his areas. Great food. Good choice for us as the in-state flagship.
Temple: Nice, compact campus with many new facilities. Got a tour of the business school because Stats is in that school. Many employer connections in Philadelphia. Campus appears to be safe, but the area around it not as much.
UPitt: Nice campus and facilities, well integrated with the city. Honors program seemed interesting. S22 liked it.
CMU: Self-guided tour. Nice campus, but a bit away from the city. obviously, top-notch academics.
Ohio State: Defined campus with its own character despite being in city. Good relationships with employers in the region. Academics strong, and football fanaticism stronger. Liked it.
Denison: Tour was good and campus is lovely. However, a bit on the smaller side from S22âs perspective.
Case Western: Nice campus, integrated with eastern Cleveland. Neighborhood appears to be safe. Strong STEM programs. Flexible curriculum.
Purdue: Strong engineering program and appealing campus. Many co-ops and internships available as a result of good relationships with employers. Lots of new facilities.
Indiana: Lovely campus with lots of greenery. Nice college town. Programs in S22âs areas of interest do not appear to as strong as some of the others.
Illinois: We toured the campus by ourselves. A bit of a letdown compared to peers because many of the engineering buildings appeared to be run down.
Wisconsin: Beautiful campus on Lake Mendota. Well integrated with city. Strong academics.
Carleton College: Nice campus. Strong academics. But S22 felt it was too small.
Iowa State: The revelation of the trip. Focused and friendly admissions department with strong attention to detail. Safe, very nice campus with state-of-the-art engineering facilities. Just an hour from Des Moines and ISU provides a shuttle.
St. Olaf: Had a good tour. Friendly admissions personnel. But, as with other LACs, S22 felt it was too small.
Macalester: Nice, compact campus in attractive section of St. Paul. Well integrated into city. Too small for S22.
Minnesota: Nice urban campus, on the banks of the Mississippi. Feels quite safe. Strong engineering and science programs with good internship, co-op and job opportunities. Nice dorms. Minneapolis transit system runs through campus.
Santa Clara University: Did a self-guided tour while visiting family. Campus is nice and seems to be safe. Strong connections with Silicon Valley and STEM facilities appear to be good.
13 Likes
Looks like he has some good info now!
The key is how much aid they give relative to the NPC. Rice also considers home equity in its calculation. Not sure about retirement funds. If you lose your job, the EFC drops the next year. I recommend UT-Austin and SMU (definitely $30k/yr) as target schools.
1 Like
@13street This is a nice summary! Did he have a few favorites? Sounds like SLACs are out?
@Luanne @Search2022 Yes, weâve been able to narrow the list to a more manageable ~10 schools now. There are no strong favorites but Case, WPI, Purdue, ISU, Wisconsin and Minnesota are perhaps the top ones currently. The LACs are, unfortunately in my opinion, out.
5 Likes
@13street Smaller list means fewer essays 
He has a nice mix of schools!
1 Like
My wife and D22 just left for an extended tour of several colleges. Iâve kind of questioned the number of schools and the duration, but W and D22 were insistent that now was the time to do it since HS in our area starts in early Aug. Thankfully my W has just about the highest premier status on the airline theyâll be using so check-in lines will be shorter, and most flights are automatically upgraded to Biz or 1st. W also uses Clear so that will help w security some.
The colleges they will be touring are: Northwestern, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, Case Western, Cornell, Duke, and Washington University at St Louis. Along the way they will visit grand parents and see some sights.
5 Likes
@Rivet2000 Itâs a perfect time to visit Northwestern! As a local, I can tell you the lake is stunning right now, especially since the thunderstorms have passed. Sounds like your wife and daughter have an exciting trip planned. Weâve toured some of these schools and will be interested to hear how it goes
2 Likes