Re-evaluating college list - need advice

College Search & Selection
1

Hi All,
My daughter is a senior and we are trying to narrow down schools to make sure she has enough in reach, match, safety categories. We originally thought we were going to have the tuition exchange option, but her dad (teaches at a small private college) will not support these applications and will not commit to staying at his college while D is in school. He also will not pay any college expenses. So, the list is changing a bit and I’m thinking it might be good to add a few more reaches at more selective schools where she could potentially get a better financial aid packages. Does this make sense? Does she have a reasonable shot at these more selective colleges? Would rather not waste the time if they seem too much of a reach.

I have run NPCs at many schools and the more elite colleges are much more affordable than the great but less selective schools. I realize that they will take D’s father’s finances into account, and that in the end they may not be affordable if they weigh his income/assets heavily. D would love a small LAC and I see her thriving at many of them. She is fairly liberal and would like to be on a distinct campus that is not too far from a larger city (although may not be a deal breaker). She wants to study English/creative writing, enjoys political science and wants to be involved in musical/theater productions (not as a major).

GPA: 3.95 out of 4 (they get extra points for AP/IB but don’t get more than a 4 for an A)
ACT: 33 (E-33, R-36, M-28, S-34)
SAT: 1400
Will graduate with 12 AP/IB classes (5’s on APUSH, AP Lang, AP Gov so far)

She has some decent work and volunteer experience related to life guarding, swim coaching over several summers.
Overall, she doesn’t have many ECs other than theater because of her academic load and the huge time commitment of the theater program. Approximately 15 hours a week plus much more during shows - she has had leadership roles and has had lead roles in two plays, plus more this year.

Safeties: state flagship (honors program) - D thinks it is too big but starting to realize the reality of our situation and is coming around a bit - we will do a full visit next week (fingers crossed).
One or two nearby state flagships where she can receive full or most tuition.

Second group: (Some are matches but some would require receiving their big scholarships so they would be a reach)
University of Richmond
Lafayette college
Gettysburg?
Mercer University
Tulane
Centre College
Sewanee
Oberlin

(Other possibilities: Bucknell, Denison, Hendrix, Mt. Holyoke, Rhodes, Trinity, Wooster) ??

Reaches:
Davidson
Wellesley
Vassar
Kenyon
Wesleyan
Bates
Amherst

Are these reaches reasonable? Any suggestions about schools to add/keep/delete from various categories would be very much appreciated.

2

Denison would be a good match (they offer good merit and need based aid). Wooster offers good merit aid (not sure about need based). I don’t know why you have Richmond as a match and Kenyon as a reach. Their admitted stats are similar and Richmond meets need while Kenyon does not.

3

Ok thanks @“Erin’s Dad”. We really liked Richmond and they seem to have great FA. Would you consider that more of a reach for her?

4

When you ran the NPCs, did you include his income and assets with the parental income and assets?

If not, then the result is probably far too optimistic to be relied on. If you did include his income and assets, then the NPC results may be closer to the actual financial aid offer if she gets admitted, but divorced parent situations are still more likely to result in actual financial aid offers significantly different from the NPC results.

5

Would lower cost public LAC type schools (e.g. Truman State, Minnesota - Morris) be affordable and suitable for her as safeties?

6

These LACs are discussed in the following articles as being particularly strong for creative writing/English:

“The Ten Best American Colleges for Writers” / USA Today

Hamilton
Colorado College

“The Ten Best Colleges for Creative Writers” / The Freelancer

Hamilton
Oberlin
Sarah Lawrence
Sewanee

“The Twelve Best Creative Writing Colleges and Programs” / PrepScholar

Oberlin
Hamilton
Colorado College

“The 25 Most Literary Colleges in America” / Flavowire

Pomona
Wesleyan
Sarah Lawrence
Oberlin
Williams
Smith
Colorado College
Hamilton
Sewanee
Vassar
Bennington

This Newsweek article discusses colleges within proximity to suburban amenities: “The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Schools.”

7

Schools like Sewage strike me as a bit conservative for someone described as liberal.

I would consider adding more women’s colleges like Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke which also give merit aid. I’d put both in the match category with your daughter’s good stats.

8

https://profileonline.collegeboard.org/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv indicates that, of the schools named in #5, only Oberlin does not require the non-custodial parent profile.

However, Oberlin has its own non-custodial parent financial aid form, according to https://new.oberlin.edu/office/financial-aid/prospective-students/financial-aid-forms.dot .

So all of the colleges listed in #5 may be problematic in terms of financial aid if the OP’s ex-spouse has significant income and/or assets but will not pay (and especially if he will not cooperate with the forms).

9

^^^ Gotta love that autocorrect.

Agree about adding those women’s colleges.

10

Haha. I didn’t even notice that. I’m going to leave it instead of correcting it just for giggles. ;))

It’s a very pretty campus though and not stinky.

BTW, @elena13, sorry to hear your daughter’s father is being a piece of work and not supporting her through college. I would have expected better from someone who actually teaches at a college.

11

Muhlenberg might be worth looking into if you want merit aid.

12

Thanks for all the suggestions. @ucbalumnus - Unfortunately I agree that the NPCs are not accurate because I didn’t use his income. I think he will cooperate with filling out the forms, and there may be some significant assets (house and investments), but I think income is not that high (and has other children). I’m thinking that the honors program at our state flagship might be a better option for her than some of the public LACs but that’s a good suggestion.
@doschicos - Thanks for your thoughts - it’s a disappointing situation. We may go visit Sewanee (liked your autocorrect :slight_smile: ) and would only apply if she really likes it. But I do agree with adding some more women’s colleges. Thanks!
Thanks for your helpful input @merc81 and @happy1

13

@merc81 - Surprising that Kenyon is not on any of those lists.

OP - I would probably add Dickinson and Skidmore as matches on your list, and I agree with your adding Mt. Holyoke and thinking about other women’s colleges.

14

Rerun the NPCs with his income and assets included, except for schools that do not use non-custodial parent information. While they still may not be as accurate as with married parents (particularly if you can only make rough estimates of his income and assets), your current NPC results are far too optimistic to be of any use at schools where non-custodial parent information is considered.

15

Ohio University, Allegheny College, Ithaca College maybe

Remember that you will use 2015 tax return information for the 2017/18 financial aid forms available in October 2016.

16

@ucbalumnus I really don’t know what his income/assets are and there is no way he will tell me. It’s very difficult to make decisions in this situation and don’t want my D to do all that work for nothing. May be better to stay in state and stick with the honors program there.

17

Another reason we need to overhaul the college aid/college loan process in this country. So shameful that a bright young woman like this may have her chances limited by a father who chooses not to pay or even cooperate. X(

18

Even if they are cooperative in college funding for the kids, divorced parents usually have worse financial situations to begin with (maintaining separate households costs more than the shared household that they had when married, and they may have spent some of the potential college money on lawyers and other divorce expenses), so their likelihood of affording college even with otherwise-good financial aid is lower.

19

Given the uncertainty about the father’s financial situation and his willingness to pay, I would target schools where high merit aid is more likely, so you’re not as dependent on his compliance or her eligibility for need-based aid when both parents’ financials are taken into account.

I think she’d have a decent shot for substantial merit awards at Wooster, Denison, Rhodes, Centre, Hendrix, and Mt. Holyoke. You might also want to take a look at Lawrence and Beloit, both in Wisconsin.

Good luck to you!

20

I second targeting merit opportunities as the financial aid options could be closed due to dad.

Explore LACs that fit your D and have generous merit for top applicants.