Just came back from Open House visits at both Niagara University and Canisius College. 1st of all, both were excellent, beautiful campus, considerate and kind tours, much, much information and potential great college experiences. Niagara is suburban and Canisius is urban. Daughter loved Canisius but felt Niagara was too suburban and removed. Niagara is less expensive. I am afraid Canisius would be too expensive. From a Dad’;s perspective…I would be happy with either but I was impressed with the more than 125 major’s at Canisius.
I see that Youngstown State University gets slammed online but I am wondering if any of you have any experience or thoughts? Forbes rates it at 649. How bad can it be?
Youngstown is not a very good experience due to 1° gritty surroundings 2° depressed/depressing city 3° low level of academic achievements 4° low level of support. In terms of academics it’s similar to the PASSHE schools (and in some ways, worse) but it’s worse on other criteria except sports (cool Penguins).
If you’re looking at Ohio, look at Ohio University and Bowling Green, Otterbein, Capital.
@MYOS1634 Thanks for the input. I had heard that Youngstown State was improving as a result of Jim Tressel being the president of the university.
Do any of the PA publics have good merit aid for high GPA/score students?
@bester1 : well, that’s true, but they’ve got a long way to go and changing Youngstown doesn’t depend on him. The University can change things - UManchester and Manchester would be an example of a city devastated during the early 80’s that recovered thanks to youth and the University, but it’ll be a while till YU is high enough to compete. Cleveland is another example and university circle is another hope, but YU is not where Case was in terms of recruitment, academics, etc. It’ll be long.
@classof2017: there’s instate tuition for oos students with a 3.0.
@classof2017, Temple is the only one I can think of off the top of my head with what I consider “good merit” for high stats students.
Penn State is VERY stingy – even Schreyer students only get $4,500 a year, I think, and that’s ONLY if admitted into the program as a freshman.
Pitt has some nice awards, but they’re pretty competitive at this point.
West Chester says they offer merit money for high-stat students, but it’s not clear how much.
I think you’ll have to go school by school and look for specifics.
@Classof2017 There are much better options at private schools in PA and NY. Public schools are not as competitive cost-wise or in terms of amenities.
@Classof2017- S3 was offered 3,000/yr Presidential (merit)scholarship at Edinboro with GPA of 3.99 and 1890 SAT. That gives you an idea…not sure if that was tied to his major he applied to which was the 3-2 eng’g (he’s not going to attend there). That’s about 1/3 cost of full tuition.
Well, D’s ACT score jumped up to a 23. This should help a little. She wants to take them a few more times.
Congratulations, that’s a great jump !
Thanks for the encouragement. Going to visit Cleveland State and Youngstown State this week. Better than the PASSHE school and may even cost less.
@bester1 Youngstown has a 10% 4 year graduation rate and even out to 6 years it’s only 35%. Cleveland State numbers are even worse. Don’t lose site of these metrics.
Those are low numbers.
@LucieTheLakie I’ve done some research on PA’s best schools and your assessment is pretty spot on. Temple is nice because they give exact numbers you need for certain scholarships and I’m close to the numbers needed for a full tuition+8k in stipends! My new SAT converts to a 1410 CR+M old SAT and they require a 1420 for the highest scholarship! This would be a great safety option.
Penn State is almost entirely off my list because of the cost. If I do get Schreyer’s(which is very unlikely), the price would be down to around 25k/year which is still pretty steep.
Pitt is a bit of a wildcard. They give specific numbers at which you are considered for scholarships and I am about there. I have a 1450 new SAT which is a 1410 old SAT two part and they require a 1450 old SAT. If I get a 1500 on the new SAT(~1450 old), I’ll probably get something small but if I get a much higher score(1530+ IMO) I could get something really nice there. If I could get a large scholarship to Pitt, it would become one of my top choices.
@OnTheBubble Do you mind listing some privates in PA/NY with good merit? I have looked at privates in PA but I’m hoping more for FA than merit at those places. Bucknell and Lehigh are near the top of my list and they seem to have great FA with some decent but competitive scholarships. Not sure where to look for privates that give merit.
@Classof2017 Just keep in mind that the starting price is equally important as the dollar value of the award. For example, 20k from Siena and St. Bonaventure is much more meaningful than St. Lawrence since Bonaventure all in is $43k while St. Lawrence is $62k.
NY
St. Lawrence University
Siena College
University of Rochester
Hobart and William Smith
St.Bonaventure University
Nazareth College
Union College
Manhattan College
PA
Muhlenberg College
Dickinson College
Gettysburg College
University of Scranton
Susquehanna College
Allegheny College
Ursinus College
@OnTheBubble Is it possible to get large scholarships(close to full tuition) at any of these? If not I think Temple is a better money safety school for me.
We have added Baldwin Wallace to visits this week.
@Classof2017 yes several you should go to the websites.
Daughter really enjoyed Cleveland State…Baldwin Wallace was very nice…not her thing, but I loved it!!!