<p>We are looking at schools now; my son's GPA will not get him into the 'school of his dreams'; if he did he would not get the merit aid that would make it possible for him to attend.</p>
<p>His idea is to to go to a local state school then transfer. But from what I understand transfer students don't usually get much in the way of merit aid (?)</p>
<p>This is my first time through this, so I'm trying to figure my way through these issues.</p>
<p>My thinking is that we should find a school that he would like and possibly grant him merit aid and not go with the plan of transferring, only go that route if it didn't work out.</p>
<p>What say you?*</p>
<p>*Part of the problem with this is that he doesn't really want to leave New England (exception - he liked Drexel). I think this is partly that none of his friends are planning on going far away.</p>
<p>I just don't see any schools close by that might meet the criteria I'm suggesting that he hasn't shot down for not very good reasons. It's very frustrating, and time is running out.</p>
<p>(P.S. he is interested in engineering/sciences)</p>
<p>You could look at the NY schools - close by but also have lower cutoffs for merit aid and reasonably priced for OOS. Several of the SUNY’s have good engineering programs. You might PM “crazed” - her son is a freshman in engineering at UB and they did an extensive search last year.</p>
<p>
This is sound thinking. To attend another college with the plan of transferring rarely works out. Mostly the kids end up staying where they are having found a niche and discovering that tranferring may involve more time to graduate.
It is hard to let go of that “dream” school. Good for you to keep him grounded in reality.</p>
<p>Attending college is two pronged - getting in where you want to go AND being able to afford it.</p>
<p>The “big merit money” is really only given to incoming freshmen and this is why. Schools offer these big money scholarships to get the highest stats freshmen they can because that helps the schools’ image and ranking. Schools get to report (brag), "our incoming freshmen class has an average SAT XXXX and GPA X.X.</p>
<p>Typically, transfer scholarships are VERY small…like $1k a year (just a token that might pay for books).</p>
<p>I like your idea of looking for merit NOW, and he could stay there at least for 2 years ) and transfer to his “dream” later if he wanted.</p>
<p>What are your son’s stats? Many of us could help you find merit schools. </p>
<p>Many schools don’t give any/much merit, but some are very generous.</p>
<p>He may have to extend his geographical area, depending on his stats.</p>
<p>How much can you pay each year for your son’s education (this will give us an idea of how much merit you need, so we don’t recommend schools that give inadequate merit.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies!</p>
<p>I am meeting with his guidance counselor on Friday, I need to nail down the GPA. I am thinking it is about 3.2. His SATs were 1260/1940 (he is retaking soon). </p>
<p>He is on track to have the best marking period of his life (he’s finally getting that he needs to put in the effort, but it’s a little late for the college search.) </p>
<p>He’s taken half a dozen honors classes, 1 AP.</p>
<p>Not much in the way of EC’s.</p>
<p>Sigh.</p>
<p>I think he would actually do well at a large school (with the right supports in place). He’s a square peg in the round hole kind of guy, and I think a large diverse place would give him the best chance of finding his niche. A small school he’d either click or not.</p>
<p>As to what we could pay, probably 12K per year. Unfortunately I think our EFC will be much higher. We can’t take on alot of debt, we have 2 other kids in the wings, we are paying down some other debts, and we are not sure about our job security.</p>
<p>martina, I sent you a PM. Most public universities in New England (at least the flagships) have engineering programs. Your instate U would be a good bet price wise. Once your son declares a major, he will be spending most of his time with students in THAT major, regardless of the size of the school. </p>
<p>I know grads of U Mass, UNH, U of Maine, U of Southern Maine, U of Rhode Island, UVM, UConn…hmmm…that’s about one in every New England state.</p>
<p>You might also want to look at U of Hartford which has a fine engineering program. </p>
<p>Your kiddo can also apply as an undeclared major and take the math/science courses that are the SAME as those for engineering majors (think calculus, chemistry, o-chem, etc). If the school allows this, he could then transfer into the engineering school and declare his major. </p>
<p>DD had similar stats to your son. She did the above…applied undeclared…took the same math/science courses that the engineering majors took…then declared her major as a mid-soph. Her school allowed this. The reality is she probably would NOT have been accepted as a freshman into the engineering program from which she will get her degree in June.</p>
<p>Thumper, I think your suggestion is a good one. He needs to focus on finding a school he can get into that he’d be happy at for 4 years, even if it means not starting out in the engineering program.</p>