Parents of the HS Class of 2023 (Part 1)

That’s quite good.

So you’ll decided between Hamilton and Colgate - at what everyone thinks are vastly different.

Is St. Lawrence in the mix?

Or will full tuition win the day - because it’s still a huge save - and she’ll be - I guess at Pitt because Bama is out?? I guess full tuition would be a $60 or so thousand save assuming room and board is about $15K a year but included in the COAs below.

Not many would see Syracuse waitlisting vs an in at the two high level LACs - but I wonder if the tuition exchange impacted that?

It’s nice to have such great schools to choose from, nonetheless.

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Grinnell’s financial aid is very generous as their endowment per student is extremely large (top 10 or there about).

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We are in-state for Pitt. And local. Which probably has a good deal to do with why she doesn’t really want to go there. Colgate is doable price wise. We have not been there yet. We will also visit Hamilton but can’t afford the price, if she loves it we could see if they would negotiate to match Colgate but I don’t know how that works for need based after the first year when you fill out all the FA and don’t have another offer to match.
St. Lawrence looks lovely but with the other offers won’t be visiting. Can’t make it there as DD lives 8.5 hours from us at an in the middle of nowhere boarding school.
@TonyGrace that is an interesting thought…. would not be able to commit on the spot as we would need a cost comparable to Colgate and I don’t see that happening. Her CC said the Syracuse waitlist was “curious”, she had also applied for TE there.

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It doesn’t mean literally. If you run the NPC and it works yet the offer doesn’t match it is reasonable to walk away.

The difficulty is that many need blind schools are not need blind for the WL (though they will still meet full need).

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From the outside, Colgate and Hamilton look similar to me (just that they are LACs). Why would you pick the one that costs more at all?

Are there large differences between the two?

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Like so many, lots of WLs for my D23: so far 2 accepts (including her one safety), 1 reject, 6 WL. Her #1 choice still to come in next few days. Fingers crossed. Keep your collective chins up everyone!

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No idea really why people say they are such different vibes. We haven’t visited either one. But she is a dancer and Hamilton has dance.
We would not choose the more expensive option but if she falls in love on a self tour (which is all we can do, and I doubt will happen) then we could see if they would match cost.

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Colgate is am amazing school, congrats!

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Thanks. We are excited to visit.

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At some level all these small LACs are very similar.

For someone who has the luxury of choice the two are very different. It’s not a difference that justifies double the tuition IMO.

I have a feeling your DD will like Hamilton better. It’s quirkier.

Both are great - will visit days line up? That would be ideal since they are so close together.

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My kids did not want to look at any of the LACs. So I have no idea.

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They line up too well! Same day and same time! I have to drive 8.5 hours on a Friday to her BS, watch a dance performance then we will drive 1.5 hours towards Colgate, spend the night and drive 2 hours to get there for the 10am admission day visit. Then we will go visit Hamilton on our own and drive 3 hours back to her BS because she has rehearsals she can’t miss the next day, and I will drive 8.5 hours home. Good thing we don’t have any others to visit!

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Down to the final decisions.

Which websites are you using to find post grad success or salaries?

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Just got the SLC packet in the mail with updated prices: 83,190 COA (63,670 tuition, 17,546 room/board). So for me, it’s not 38k like I thought but rather actually 42k after the TE scholarship. Wow!

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Ouch

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My dancer was also just waitlisted at Vassar. They seem to have a stellar program there and it was definitely one of her top choices as well. She was also looking for a strong program for non-majors.

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@AnonMomof2 I have been following your daughters progress and of course she has great acceptances, but it sounds like she’s a very tippy top student at a very prestigious boarding school with perfect scores. It’s a School having a tough here in general.

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Which colleges offer any sort of merit aid for transfer students? Do any? Is that even a thing?

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Hamilton is sending several emails a week about virtual accepted students events. Maybe if she contacted the admissions office they could pair her with a student to show her around. Not sure if you want to do that with the cost difference between Colgate and Hamilton.

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Wow! We just had a portal update from SLC giving D23 another $3k in grant money and I was wondering if that was intended to offset a price increase. Sounds like it doesn’t quite make it.

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