<p>I thought when you applied ED you were making a commitment to accept the offer of admittance and it is in bad form to turn down - especially if you know in advance finances are a concern? Some threads even state that some schools may share the names of kids who turn down ED commitments - not sure if that’s remotely true.</p>
<p>Thanks - for clarifying the work study and loans - all part of the package.</p>
<p>If she has been dealing with depression, how concerned are you about more than a 3 hour drive? And, is she strong enough now that you can help her up her ECs, get involved in the community?</p>
<p>I would take Sarah Lawrence off your list as they are one of the most expensive schools in the country. While the University of Maine might not be the ideal fit, you can look at University of Southern Maine, University of New Hampshire or some of the other state schools in NH and New England as the out of state costs might not be as great as others.
As a junior she should be concentrating on both the SAT and ACT as it is really hard to know where she will stand until she takes either or both of those exams.
I don’t think her stats are that outstanding for a significant merit scholarship at schools like Brandeis, Skidmore, Franklin & Marshall that would bring the costs down enough for you.
One of the other posters had a good point about travel costs back and forth. There is trips home for Thanksgiving, Christmas and generally spring break. Some schools also have a long fall midterm break. In my experience it seemed my kids were always coming and going.</p>
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<p>The ED agreement specifically states that you are not committed if the financial aid awarded does not make it affordable. You simply ask for a release and it is granted. That’s it. It’s up to you, not the school. Some school recommend that you not apply for ED if you need financial aid because they won’t be able to commit on that timetable. Others encourage it because they don’t want ED to be available only to the rich. It’s important to take the temperature of your ED school on the issue. They are definitely not all of one mind.</p>
<p>Thanks RockerDAD - great info and good to know. I did not realize it varied by school.</p>
<p>intparent, you’re right! It was St. Mary’s CA. I’ll look closer… thanks for catching that!
Well unfortunately the NPC still says $27,000. (Only $10k grant) but it was one of the very spartan ones and didn’t ask for test scores or grades. So maybe (???) there would be more merit aid in real life?</p>
<p>staceyneil, I would not do ED for MHC, not with an EFC of $6,000-$7,000. </p>
<p>I recommend that your D does early action or regular decision and then you will be able to compare financial aid packages. By doing this, you will be in control of this process. Doing ED makes no sense with an EFC which is that low.</p>
<p>Gettysburg/ colleges that claim to meet full need… I don’t know why they are on that list! They certainly did not meet our need on the NPC on their site. Net price $26,350!</p>
<p>SLUMOM, I think you are right. D will be sad about that… she really wanted to apply ED! Do all colleges have EA? I didn’t think so. We attended the “Focus on ADmission” day at MHC and they discussed ED but no one said anything about EA… We’re kind of new to all this!</p>
<p>ucbalumnus: " However, since money is an issue, then be sure to apply to other schools in early fall as well. Too many kids wait til after they get their ED results before applying to RD schools. That can be a huge mistake because many schools have Fall deadlines for merit scholarship considerations." </p>
<p>Thank you! That is really good advice. I will encourage her to send ALL her applications in fall.</p>
<p>lookingforward, she’s JUST getting a handle on the depression… and still working on making up schoolwork from a bunch of missed time. So I doubt she will have the time/energy to start actively adding in things “just” for the sake of making her college apps look good. At this point we’re encouraging her to do things that help her get well, and since stress about school & college are a main part of the depression problem, I don’t want to exacerbate things.</p>
<p>Right now she’s spending all her free time developing and printing black and white film in the makeshift darkroom we just set up for her. Of course if there were a photo club at her school she’d be doing it there and then it would count as an EC, but there isn’t so it is a solitary pursuit and won’t count…</p>
<p>Hey, how are you guys able to quote in your replies? I tried using the FAQs but it isn’t working. Maybe because I use Firefox?</p>
<p>I never learned how to quote with the box! LOL… every time someone explains it, it just does not work for me! </p>
<p>Some schools have early action, some do not. In the case of Alfred University (NY) they do rolling, I believe, so if you apply in September, you would probably get a decision before Christmas, with any merit aid, the need based aid would come out in March.</p>
<p>Stacey-I have been reading your thread with great interest and only wanted to add… since you have been getting great advice about potential schools… that your D does not necessarily need to have a “school-sponsored” club on her list of ECs. Sometimes an activity as individual and creative as photography can really stand out on apps when one submits their work to magazines, journals, starts a blog, enters competitions, etc. I think the more you can encourage her to pursue her passion, and it certainly fits with her career aspirations, the more unique her applications will be! It doesn’t need to be the standard EC and schools where she is a great “fit” will appreciate her individuality. It also sounds like the “academic pressure” is something you may want to avoid at this point in her treatment for depression. And her test score improvement may come naturally over the next 6 months as she heals. Some of those original schools on your list sound like pressure cookers… socially and academically.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t expect OOS publics to do much with need-based aid. As for merit scholarships from them, look at the middle quartiles for SAT and ACT scores (use only the Math + CR sections for the SAT). </p>
<p>To have a decent chance at merit scholarships, the test scores should be well within the UPPER quartile. A high GPA alone will not likely get any merit since schools have many, many students with high GPAs. It’s the high test scores that they usually award merit for. </p>
<p>So, if you look up a school and it’s middle quartiles for the SAT are:</p>
<p>math: 500 - 680
CR: 520 - 690</p>
<p>Then the upper quartile would have a M+CR of about 1390+ Therefore, someone with a 1420 M+CR (or higher) would have a better chance of getting a merit scholarship as long as the GPA also meets the minimum scholarship req’t.</p>
<p>I just want to point out that, in addn to the aid you need, you want admisisons to see how she matches their goals. We don’t know if she had a steep drop for a semester or two- or kept a constant B/B-, with some A’s. EC’s can show how a candidate will adapt and engage in college, the “sister side” to academics. The reason I often note community service is that the right choices do allow a kid to add some responsibilities, show some strengths, incl the ability to reach out. I know this is a time when you are holding your breaths- we went through a bad slide with D2 after 10th.</p>
<p>Here’s how to quote:</p>
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<p>Here is the info about St. Mary’s merit scholarships
[Financial</a> Aid: School Scholarships and Grants](<a href=“http://www.smcm.edu/financialaid/schoolgrants.html]Financial”>http://www.smcm.edu/financialaid/schoolgrants.html)</p>
<p>It looks like they have a Nov 1 deadline for scholarship consideration. Will your D’s GPA increase this year? it looks like they require a 3.5 GPA minimum in addition to the strong test scores.</p>
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<p>As snorkelmom pointed out, don’t think that a solitary pursuit can’t be useful in the college application process. My D is a bug collector (entomology). She started it as a 4H project in 9th grade, but kept doing it through high school because she liked it. There is not a much more solitary activity than pinning and identifying bugs. 
She listed this as an EC (with the time she spends), and also used it in a couple of different essays pretty effectively. So even if your D doesn’t win any competitions, it could be useful.</p>
<p>Although she certainly could enter her work in competitions… I think the Scholastic Art & Writing awards has a photography category of some kind. She could plan and submit a porfolio there next fall. You might want to help her with this, we found the website and due dates VERY confusing this year (dates vary by region, and the website can be kind of “circular” – we kept ending up back on the main page). 
I am sure there are other photography competitions as well.</p>
<p>She also may want to submit an art portfolio to some colleges with her admissions next year, and photos can certainly be included in that.</p>
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<p>Thank you!!</p>