<p>Sorry if this is a slight variation on other threads but I didn't want to hijack a thread with our situation...</p>
<p>Son applied to six schools (Biology major), and so far he's been accepted to four of them:
- Brandeis
- Northeastern (accepted for NUin)
- Clark U
- UMASS Amherst</p>
<p>We are waiting on responses from the following:
- Tufts
- GWU</p>
<p>We are still waiting on the financial aid package from Clark, but the other schools have already come back with their aid offers...which are basically nothing except for the unsubsidized Stafford Loan.</p>
<p>Our EFC is very high (over $60K) so we were not expecting any need-based aid...but the total lack of any merit aid so far is disappointing. We have saved some over the years, and between that savings and what I feel we can realistically take out of our regular budget we can support around $30K or so a year. Unfortunately, for any of the private schools that leaves us $20K/year short (give or take a few thousand).</p>
<p>While we are very pleased that our son has a number of good schools to choose from, I'd hate to force him to go the UMASS route if it isn't a fit just because of the $$...on the other hand, however, unless he changes his major and career focus in college, he is definitely looking at grad school (or maybe even med school) and he will likely incur enough debts at that point.</p>
<p>Would anyone think that the private schools he's been accepted to (and the ones we are still waiting responses on) would be worth floating $80K in loans to go to? Has anyone else had to make that kind of decision and just went for the more expensive option? If so, why?</p>
<p>If he knows grad school is in his future - I would advise him to go with the cheaper chicken and get to an amazing grad school. Going into major debt for anything - even education - is never a solid plan. Does UMass have accellerated degree programs where he could attend class in the summer and actually graduate within 3 years or less? Then if he hates the school he isn’t there the full 4 years.</p>
<p>We have a daughter at Northeastern , and although expensive, she received ok aide in terms of scholarship , grant and to a lesser extemt , loans. She also is a health science major with intentions of continuing on the grad school . I feel even more than her beginning in 2008 that this school was not only the best of her choices , but she has more of an edge over some of her hs classmates that have chosen similar paths in different schools…and I think co-op has a huge impact on that. They had more applicants this year than any other private college in the country. There has to be a reason for that.
She has completed one co-op and already has a job offer there , thought she does want to pursue her goals to become a PA.</p>
<p>Just based on the fact that your son was accepted at Brandeis I will go out on a limb and say he will probably be awarded a $12,000 per year merit award by Clark. That would cut your anticipated loan requirement in half.</p>
<p>4 YR Cost (tuition + R&B assuming 4%/yr increases) Umass 83K vs NU 218K. For someone planning grad school/med school it’s a no-brainer. Is an NU coop worth 135K? For me that’s a lot of money, but for someone with 500K+ in a savings account it may not be. Of course those who’ve already chosen the NU route will advocate for that, I’m sure they’ve convinced themselves they made the right decision.</p>
<p>UMass COA assumes you get Adams scholarship, a whopping 1700/yr.</p>
<p>Tufts does not offer any merit aid.
Brandeis recently changed their policy and is phasing it out. It appears there are very few merit awards for students who do not also have documented financial need. Check the website. This is a change from previous years. It was announced in the Brandeis student newspapers but not disseminated to applicants.</p>
<p>GWU does give merit scholarships, but I think the top award might be along the lines of $15K/year.</p>
<p>It boils down to whether you think you and your spouse can handle servicing and retiring the debt without damaging your financial security. If you have a predictable good income, one child to educate, up-to-date retirement accounts, and no other debt besides a cheap fixed rate mortgage, it might be very possible to borrow 80k for your child’s college. Finally, you have to feel that the college is good enough to deserve such a sacrifice. If your child can get an equivalent experience elsewhere, do you want to be eating beans by candlelight for 10 years to pay for a specific “dream school”?</p>
<p>To me, it is not worth considering the private school options. Your son will find a niche at UMASS, and will be grateful when he comes out debt free after 4 years. We made exactly this choice with our two youngest daughters. They both graduate this year from UMASS and have told us many times how relieved they are not to have loans because so many of their friends are totally stressing about paying back loans in such a difficult job market and/or with graduate school looming.</p>
<p>Bio major without going to graduate school is not promising field, as far as future employment is concerned. If the choice is Harvard with NE price and UMASS, of would opt for Harvard. I don’t think NE is worth that much for a BS degree. It is was Northwestern, the answer may be a little different. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>Will your son be doing co-op’s at Northeastern? If so, then part of that could go to pay for tuition. That’s what our plan is if our son decides to go to Drexel. We’ve been told that the co-ops in his field average about $17,000 each. We have told our son that we would pay a good chunk for grad school if he goes to the State U where he has been accepted. He and his Dad are visiting on Saturday to see if that’s an acceptable option.</p>
<p>Although it’s too late now, the key to getting merit aid is to apply to schools where your son is at the top of the admitted students stats.</p>
<p>I agree with the others do not take out 80K in loans for undergrad. I think UMASS is about 21K for instate? Tell your S you will save 9K a year for him to use on grad school. Nothing wrong with UMASS, I don’t know much about their biology dept but I do know some of their other science depts are truely first class. </p>
<p>good luck and sorry you found this out so late in the game. If you have other kids, make sure they apply to a mix of schools, some schools where they are in the upper 25% stat wise, some below. When you are in the upper 25% you are more likely to be offered merit. </p>
<p>good luck, don’t look at UMASS as a place you have to attend because there are no other options. Google their biology dept and find out what great things they have going on.</p>
<p>Our initial impression is that NU isn’t worth the extra $$, especially since they are offering the initial semester abroad which I’m pretty sure will extend his time a bit. I’m sure the place has changed in 20 years, but when I did my MS studies in engineering there it was a good school but not anywhere near “top tier”.</p>
<p>We are hopeful that Clark will offer a decent merit aid package, so at least our son will be able to have two choices that he won’t have to worry (as much) about $$ for. When we visited the campus we realized that it was not considered “top tier” but the size and overall campus feel really appealed to us.</p>
<p>Guess the main question at this point is whether Brandeis and Tufts (and perhaps GWU and Clark) would be worth the extra $$ over UMASS. We do realize that he really can’t go wrong with a UMASS Amherst undergraduate education…just want to make sure that it will be a fit for him and give him options.</p>
<p>Regardless of how we initially feel we have strongly encouraged our son to go to the open houses at all of the schools he’s been accepted to (well maybe not NU) and have another look. He didn’t seem committed to one school but now that he knows who “wants him” he may feel different after another visit…</p>
<p>And yes, we could have considered less competitive private schools…but in all honesty with his plans on post-graduate education I was a bit concerned about reputation, even if they would have offered him a full ride. In addition, I don’t think he would do as well in a less competitive environment.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, which less competitive but solid schools in the Boston area could he have considered? He did fine in school (and we certainly think he’s a wonderful kid) but his weighted GPA is around 3.5 (decent number of AP classes), total SATs are in the low 1900s, and aside from making Eagle Scout his extra-curriculars were practically non-existent.</p>
<p>See if you can arrange a two day/sleepover visit with another biology major at UMASS. Make sure he goes out there on a day when the student he will be staying with has a full compliment of classes.</p>
<p>My S, with a 3.25 GPA, most rigorous courseload at his school, and a 2180 SAT, got enough money from Marquette to cover tuition (right now he will have to pay about 12K a year to go there), and got lesser amounts of money from Xavier, Seattle and Loyola Chicago. He was also accepted to GMU (31K a year OOS), Pitt (38K a year OOS), UMASS Amherst, and Bryant( 49K a year). We did not look at many in state schools. My S is also an Eagle Scout btw. He is still waiting to hear back from W&M (wonderful school), W&L and Lehigh. Probably won’t get aid at any of those though. </p>
<p>We have looked closely at S’s intended major at all the schools he applied to, they all have good programs with nice affliations and coops at the types of companies he would be interested in someday working for. He did not apply to one school he would not have been happy attending. At this point it is a no brainer for him, he will probably go to Marquette and end up with money still in the bank after 4 years to put towards grad school.</p>
<p>“Will your son be doing co-op’s at Northeastern? If so, then part of that could go to pay for tuition. That’s what our plan is if our son decides to go to Drexel.”</p>
<p>– kathiep, you should really research whether this is a realistic plan. If your son is an engineering major that could work. But in some fields, those co-ops just aren’t very lucrative and it may not be possible to cover your living expenses AND save for tuition. My daughter is at Northeastern and she’s done 3 co-ops at prestigious Harvard research labs. She was paid very little - most of the lab research co-ops pay little. You’re expected to be happy enough with the prestige part, lol. Since OP’s son is interested in biology, that could be his situation as well.</p>
<p>Grad school in the sciences generally is free or low cost, but med school most certainly isn’t. If he really wants to consider med school, keep the debt level as low as possible for undergrad.</p>
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<p>Not in the Boston area, but given that he likes Clark I’d have suggested Muhlenberg in Allentown PA halfway between NYC and Philly. They’ve got a very good reputation for getting students into med school, and they do offer merit aid.</p>
<p>If son attends Drexel it will be as an IST major. We’ve been told that there are often five co-op offers for every student in his department. No decisions have been made yet and a finaid appeal is being considered. Fortunately, this is a good major for paid internships.</p>
<p>Something flying around in my head regarding Clark is a free master’s degree for Clark graduates. My niece is at Clark and I know this has been mentioned. She is not a bio major – and I am not sure if this is available to bio students. I’d think this might be worth checking out as you compare the financials.</p>
<p>OP: No real advice for you, but just wanted to say I have empathy for your situation. Our family is going through the same decision process right now and finding no easy answers. And we come from a part of the country where the state flagship isn’t perhaps the best solution for our student. My latest plan: Buy a lottery ticket and hope for the best! :)</p>
<p>A lot of us are in the same situation. My son got into schools he really liked but didn’t get any money from them. However, he did apply to some schools that have offered him some merit money. Our EFC is such that we only have a couple thousand in need if he goes to a top priced college, so getting anything other than some loan subsidy is doubtful and doesn’t affect the affordability isse for us anyways. We need more than that to make it doable. </p>
<p>All of your son’s schools are selective enough that it isn’t going to be easy getting substantial merit awards. My experience has been that kids who get those kind of awards from those schools are the same ones that also got into the most selective schools in the country and have to make a choice between the merit or the prestige. </p>
<p>I hope Clark comes up with something for you, and GW as well. We all want our kids to have some choices.</p>
We heard about that at the campus visits…and it will definitely be a factor that we will consider.</p>
<p>FWIW it was a real challenge just to get our son to apply to six schools. He did fine on the essays but would not have without a lot (too much) prodding from his parents…</p>