Still waiting for a few more decisions, but CS twin is trying to decide between Hamilton and UMD honors. Currently Hamilton would be slightly cheaper due to FA (have to confirm they will continue considering 2 kids in college at same time).
He really likes everything about Hamilton except he is worried about the CS major. He has warmed up a lot to UMD, thinks the major is great and honors housing freshman is very nice but not small classes in beautiful setting. He will do fine at either, just looking for thoughts to help him work through options.
Like most LACs they are more alike than different. But they are different. Colgate is a D1 athletics University, Hamilton is not. While both are tiny by big university standards, Colgate still 75% more students than Hamilton, while the latter is closer to the typical size of many of its LAC peers. While both are rural-ish, Colgate is more rural. Colgateâs campus has a distinct look, with beautiful classic brick buildings, pretty uniformly. And is on a steep hill. Hamilton long ago merged with a nearby womenâs college and has a much more varied and eclectic campus. Extending that into the culture, they have a more open curriculum. Both campuses have greek life, but it is a bigger deal at Colgate, with over 1/3 of the stduents participating. Both are excellent academically.
Economically. I doubt it but thatâs up to the kid and typically that 2nd degree is from a higher pedigree school. And Iâm sure the mental part seeps in.
In this case OP does have financial constraints but I know heâs thought all this through from earlier comments.
In many ways I think heâs using as a hook to get his daughter to Grinnell. And then we can see about it three years later.
I would definitely get more information about the 3+2 program with Columbia before you commit because of it. I have been researching similar programs for my S24 and several places I have seen the Columbia program described as âcompetitive entryâ and in one place as âextremely competitive entry.â
for sure. Sheâs adjusting to the reality that Bryn Mawr, Wesleyan, and CWRU arenât really options; she had kind of assumed after being accepted at Grinnell that at least one of them would come through!
MHC is still in play too, though - they also have the 3/2 with CalTech, AND they are a part of the 5-college consortium; which opens up alot more opportunities. Waiting on final COA from there - the data on the CSS was compromised on their end, so they had to clarify a couple of things.
Yeah, the 3/2 programs end up being 5 years, but you get two bachelors.
She applied directly to CalTech - she did a women in stem day there over the summer and loved it. Her thought initially was that itâs a back-door into CalTech or Columbia. She was actually being practical in that she figured IF she wasnât ready to go straight to grad school, having an engineering degree from a top school (plus access to their network) would be a great asset (she looked at starting salaries for engineers out of CalTech in particular).
Itâs 5 years, but she gets the LAC experience, but also the hard-core STEM from a top school. Conceptually I like it, but sheâs ended up more focused on the LAC side and being able to also do theater, etc. - even though her end goal is the physics (plus math, engineering, etc.)
Working to help her re-focus on what she WANTS long term, and what is more likely to get her there.
Boston College gives literally like 15 full ride scholarships. That is it for merit. You can either afford to pay or youâre hoping for financial aid. As a middle class household, we would get ZERO financial aid from BC.
One issue with 3/2 programs is that a pretty solid number of students enter intending to do them, and vanishingly few actually end up completing the programs (generally just sticking with a single 4-year degree from the first college).
It works out for a few, but for the most part itâs a marketing ploy that the colleges know wonât happen.
as mentioned in another reply, CalTech would actually be better financially than any of the other options. The hard part is getting in - from talking with the people at Grinnell and Wesleyan who coordinate, the sample size is EXTREMELY small; there are years no one applies. There are years 3 apply and no one gets in, and other years 5 or 6 apply and all get in.
But IF she chooses to pursue that route, I have no doubt she would have better odds than most - she is the most driven, determind person Iâve ever met once she decides to do something (sometimes to her own detriment!).
All things being equal, I believe the quality, quantity, and breadth of resources at Grinnell are significantly better. BUT itâs in Iowa
Working to convince her we need to do the admitted student days, let them show her some loveâŠ
Yeah, I am not worried. My kid doesnât beg, grovel, whine, plead or really even ask for much. She knows she will be happy many places, she went to a boarding school 8 hours away without ever having seen it. (On huge FA). And probably wonât even want to drive by because of the cost. She texted us that she was accepted but the FA was awful.
Yes BU gives very few merit scholarships, but if you love the school you may as well apply if you are in the range to get one. It is a lottery, but someone has to win (just like applying to Harvard etc).
I do want to say, though, that BUâs fin aid is better than a lot of schoolâs. Our FAFSA income was almost 200K for 2021 year (sadly down quite a bit this year!) and my son got 23K in need-based aid. It isnât enough for us, but it is much better than ânothing.â
ETA: now, I donât know if I misread it, or if you changed it, but I see you said Boston College not Boston University Yeah, the NPC said we would get almost nothing from BC
wow. We havenât got any update - though I am finishing up at the office, havenât checked the mail at home yet, it might be there. That would put our COA about 29K, ouch.
Did that include the 3K or so for medical insurance? We have a great plan that should cover her anywhere in the US, so we can probably waive that, as long as they wouldnât reduce the aid if we do so. Have to talk to them.
Then again, having a 6K/year difference in COA between SLC and Grinnell might help nudge D to Grinnell (we have a deal that anything over a certain baseline weâll be splitting (her share would be ending up with loans), anything UNDER a much lower baseline sheâll get back at the end of college for graduation - so sheâs incentivized to make $$ a part of the decision)
Yeah, the NPC said we would get almost nothing from BC