<p>Am I the only one who finds that paying for apps, CSS profiles, SAT and ACT tests plus scores incredibly expensive. I read about kids who have applied to 10 schools and i wonder if they went ot visit them before applying? This is all just al bit outside of my means.</p>
<p>If you are truly needy, ask your GC for fee waivers. You can get up to 4 schools' fees waived if you meet the criteria. There are a number of free app that can be done online. Get a list of those schools. </p>
<p>The visiting can be a killer. The apps and other forms are nothing compared to visits especially if they are overnighters. I think it is getting ridiculous. You visit to see if you want to apply. You visit to let them know you've applied and are interested and to interview if available. You visit when accepted to see where you want go. You visit in the summer for orientation (sometimes required these days). You visit to move the kid in, and come back home to an invitation for Family Weekend.</p>
<p>Most students don't apply to 10 colleges. Probably most kids apply to only a couple of colleges, and those colleges are within a couple of hours drive of home. You can't judge the world by the posts on CC. :)</p>
<p>Check this out from the Pittsburgh, Penn. Post-Gazette:</p>
<p>"Home -- or at least close to home -- is where the heart is for many Western Pennsylvania students.</p>
<p>A Post-Gazette study of the college-going behavior of more than 13,800 members of last year's graduating classes at 95 high schools in Allegheny and surrounding counties found that 69 percent of them chose schools within just 100 miles of Downtown.</p>
<p>The study included every public high school in Allegheny County except Baldwin-Whitehall and Sto-Rox, for which data were unavailable; all Catholic high schools in the county; some other religious and private schools; and a sampling from nine nearby counties. </p>
<p>Nationwide, many students choose schools close to home, too, but Western Pennsylvania students appear to have a particular penchant for staying close. </p>
<p>According to a survey of college freshmen nationwide last fall by UCLA, 56 percent attended a school within 100 miles of their home. "</p>
<p>Home -- or at least close to home -- is where the heart is for many Western Pennsylvania students.</p>
<p>A Post-Gazette study of the college-going behavior of more than 13,800 members of last year's graduating classes at 95 high schools in Allegheny and surrounding counties found that 69 percent of them chose schools within just 100 miles of Downtown.</p>
<p>The study included every public high school in Allegheny County except Baldwin-Whitehall and Sto-Rox, for which data were unavailable; all Catholic high schools in the county; some other religious and private schools; and a sampling from nine nearby counties. </p>
<p>Nationwide, many students choose schools close to home, too, but Western Pennsylvania students appear to have a particular penchant for staying close. </p>
<p>According to a survey of college freshmen nationwide last fall by UCLA, 56 percent attended a school within 100 miles of their home. </p>
<p>Home -- or at least close to home -- is where the heart is for many Western Pennsylvania students.</p>
<p>A Post-Gazette study of the college-going behavior of more than 13,800 members of last year's graduating classes at 95 high schools in Allegheny and surrounding counties found that 69 percent of them chose schools within just 100 miles of Downtown.</p>
<p>The study included every public high school in Allegheny County except Baldwin-Whitehall and Sto-Rox, for which data were unavailable; all Catholic high schools in the county; some other religious and private schools; and a sampling from nine nearby counties. </p>
<p>Nationwide, many students choose schools close to home, too, but Western Pennsylvania students appear to have a particular penchant for staying close. </p>
<p>According to a survey of college freshmen nationwide last fall by UCLA, 56 percent attended a school within 100 miles of their home. "<a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06092/678836-298.stm">http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06092/678836-298.stm</a></p>
<p>We skipped visits until after acceptances came in, then had a busy week.
Actually, S spent 3 summers at different college campuses. I think that gave him a feel for large, medium, suburban, Gothic, ivy brick, etc. In the end, courses mattered more than location, beauty, food, or dorm rooms. Talking to HS friends who attended certain schools was a big help in deciding where to apply.
I think many schools would have been a good "fit" for S. Even more schools would "fit" sorta-stepson. Stepson's interests are liberal arts, S's more specific. Staying close to home works well for many students.</p>
<p>NSM,
I was writing before you posted. I also believe that many kids are happiest within a 2-4 drive from home.</p>
<p>Agreed that most kids stay close to home. Especially kids from families that have to watch their money closely. But if a kid has a lot of options, it may be wise to apply to 10 schools if he needs financial aid, since it is unpredictable how that can work. My friend helped her housekeeper's daughter with her apps. She did apply to mostly schools in the area. But the schools that were away came up with some nice packages that really would rival her staying at home. The local private schools did not ante up the money, I guess because they had enough kids like her that they did not feel like paying for another one. BUt when she went further away, she got some decent offers. The young lady was a good student with good SATS (not way up there) and from a low income URM single parent home. She and her mother are paying about $3000 a year for a private school where she lives, and she will owe about $20k when she graduates next year. They did apply to 8-10 schools.</p>
<p>D applied to 10 schools. She honestly doesn't have a favorite, and she is really hoping to get a good aid offer from at least one of them. She plans to go to dental school, so it is important to try to keep loans to a minimum. All of her schools were common app, and most were free app online. She did not do SAT IIs (decided there were too many schools she liked that didn't require, so did not apply to any that required). Not all the schools she applied to require CSS, so only have to pay for 4 or 5. Visits were tied into family trips, except for one trip last Feb. that was a nice mom/daughter time alone. Overnights required a couple frequent flyer tickets, which we have been saving for by charging expenses/paying off monthly. Tip: order DVD's if a school has them ... they are free way to see more of the school without visiting. All overnight trips were done alone (flying & driving).</p>
<p>The expense I am having trouble dealing with is 5 AP exams this May. D's school requires that they take the test if they take the class. That's a lot of money!!</p>
<p>For those of us who are rich on paper my advice is to call the fin aid offices at the college your D/S wants to attend and let them run your numbers. When you find out what you have to pay let it sink in. Then, look for schools that offer merit aid and apply to them. </p>
<p>No use letting the kid get excited about schools they will never be able to attend without going into severe debt.</p>
<p>It isn't so much the visiting. We, all 6 of us, had a good time visiting the schools and made it our mini vacation. The real vacation only she went on, to France and Italy, and we lived it through her photos. She only applied to schools that we had visited. Schools look much different in reality than they do in a video or on paper. She applied with common app to those that would allow it but there was still a fee for each. AP exams for us are also required if you take the class and you actually pay up front when the school year starts not when you take the exam. I just think that this has become a no win situation for many families and these companies are profiting off this. Visiting as a family affair so to speak was good as I said we could work in side trips for the other kids and it helped our junior who is looking as well see schools. I just think that between the ACT,SAT, CSS, app fees, senior pics, AP exams, Cap and gown purchase, announcements etc it is all like a small wedding. Going away is somewhat of a requirement in our household and it must be at least 2 hours away to justify the room and board aspect. I think this is a vital step, a controlled step in many aspects, to being independent and responsible as a young adult in our world. I also look forward to sending the care packages as well :)</p>
<p>Girls4mom, I really want our kids to go away for school too. But that wish is expensive, just like having a wedding with guests, reception with food, week or more honey abroad, as opposed to a city hall ceremony with a witness and a night at a hotel costs much, much more. As NSM (insightful as always) brings up, the "sleep away" colleges are not in most families' plans or budgets. A lot of kids from the local catholic highschool here are going to local schools and working part time. Fordham U offers a commuter discount which makes it possible for families that don' t qualify for much aid, but still want their kids in this excellent catholic college to go there. If both parents and kid take out loans, kid stays home and commutes (Fordham is on many major transportation lines including the trains), kid works part time all year and full time during breaks, that commuter discounts makes it just about possible. Pace, another local school has several branches, and makes it easy to go part time if a student needs to do so, which many students do. And there are the CUNY schools which are excellent bargains. Kids with above a certain SAT threshhold can go there for free with extras (summer abroad, a laptop, etc), and that threshhold is not super high. Of course, to really enjoy saving, you gotta live at home.<br>
It's the going away part of college that is the sticking point in expenses, though for us, commuting has that extra cost of getting another car, since we live far enough that it would be difficult to get to the public transportation, and our schedules such that giving rides regularly would be a problem. Throw in a job, and the car becomes a necessity, but then the expense could rival the proceeds of such a job. A real catch 22. </p>
<p>So going away to college is a rare luxery even in this country where it seems to be the essential next step in many communities and families. It is not that common, statistically. And luxuries cost money. </p>
<p>But, yes, many of us feel the cost of applying to colleges. If you budget, it is a decent line item, and starts the college money train rolling a few years before the kid actually goes to college.</p>
<p>If you think you're being nickeled and dimed to death now, wait until you see the extra charges that accumulate on your college student's bursar's bill.</p>
<p>Cptofthehouse, for us commuting would involve a car purchase too, and with that comes auto insurance expenses. We were able to save 1500 on the insurance b/c our son is not driving at college. I did not even factor in gas, and auto repair expenses. Our room and board costs are about 6700 for the school year. There are many schools that keep those room and board costs down to 7,000. Marian, we have not been nickeled and dimed at all this year. The only added fee that I can think of is the $150orientation fee, and fees associated with parent's weekend (this is optional to attend-football tickets, concert ticket prices, meals).</p>
<p>The only line items I see on our bills are housing, food, tuition, and health insurance.</p>
<p>I was thinking of such things as health center visits, replacement IDs (for when the strip on the back stops working), and printing from the college's computer printers. Little stuff -- just like the application fees -- but it adds up.</p>
<p>I was thinking of such things as health center visits, replacement IDs (for when the strip on the back stops working), and printing from the college's computer printers.</p>
<p>Some schools that isn't extra but its good to know ahead of time
D had her own printer, but her workstudy job was at the computer services so printing was free.
I also don't think she was ever charged for the health center- although she did go regularly
tutoring & ADD was also not extra ( neither was having a CSO walk you back to your place at 3am when you finally look up from your lab and decide you want to sleep in your own bed)
Its a lot more expensive than an instate school, but at least you know what the charges are going to be upfront</p>
<p>My D applied to 10 schools, 4 in state, 6 out. We live in Indiana. She visited all but 1 before applying. We qualified for fee waivers, so between those, and colleges that waive the fee when you use their application on line, we paid for 1 app, and that was a state university. SAT and ACT's were rough, but again, if you qualify, you can get a couple fee waivers. Our college visit out east this summer took a big chunk of change. We visited colleges in NY, Mass, and Maine, and worked in a visit to relatives in NH. Gas prices were high then, and we had to rent a car, but the trip was a lot of fun. Just me and my girl. We discovered the Broadway channel on Sirius, and sang and laughed and talked the whole way. I got to know my daughter a little better during that trip, so it was definitely worth it. All that being said, she applied ED II to a college in Ohio! I was a little disappointed that she didn't want to keep her options more open, but she was determined that this was the college for her. I only sent in the CSS profile to that college. If she gets deferred or rejected, I'll send it in to the other ones. Senior pictures were a rude awakening. You need to take out a small loan for those. And we have coming up AP test fees, and misc. senior expenses. I had no idea. I only have one, I don't know how my parents did it with 4!</p>
<p>If you qualify for fee waivers, you are likely to qualify for govt aid, so you should also file FAFSA unless this is an unusual college that does not take govt funds. Unless you can afford this college, the concern is more that it will accept her and not offer her an aid package that your family can manage. Getting out of an ED contract is a pain in the neck, and if all things don't work out well, she can lose out on other acceptances since many colleges will drop her app when she appears on the ED list. She is supposed to withdraw her other apps upon acceptance from her ED school. Hopefully, this is a school that is generous with aid and does not give too many loans. Senior pictures, AP test fees, gas prices, SAT and ACT tests costs are small compared to what the cost of college can be.</p>
<p>Yes, I have filed the FAFSA also. I was very leary of letting her apply ED, because financial aid is a must in our case. When she went for a visit, this college assured her that they are very generous with Finaid, if you need it. They meet 100% of demonstrated need. I know that's all relative from reading these boards. The principal at her school made a point of telling her that the school had called when they got her app and they were happy to review it and "reading between the lines" it seemed to him that they would be willing to work with us finacially if she is accepted. However, you can't do what you can't do. If she is accepted and the finaid is not doable, she has been accepted at our very fine state university and she would not be adverse to going there. She's been looking over the courses, and has mentioned some classes she would be interested in.</p>
<p>The cost of applications pales in comparison to actually visiting colleges.</p>
<p>If your daughter does her research well she does not have to visit every college she applies to. Most kids in my day attended colleges sight unseen like I did.</p>
<p>However once that acceptances come in she should try to visit the top 2 or 3 colleges on he list if possible if for no other reason than to minimize any second guessing.</p>